Newport Rotary Hears About Boys & Girls Club Plans

Leisa Smith, Rotarian and Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Coastal Carolina was the featured speaker at the August 25, 2008 Newport Rotary Club meeting. She is Director of centers in Morehead City, Beaufort & Havelock that served approximately 650 students this summer.

A Past Club President in the Morehead City Noon Rotary Club, Ms. Smith revealed some startling statistics to the club. Nationally, 30% of high school students drop out before graduating. While Carteret County's statistics may be slightly better, a whopping 90% of children attending Boys & Girls Clubs graduate. She described the program of health & life skills, academic support, and mentoring that improve on the chances for students in grades 1-12 to be successful in life.

Ms. Smith announced the funding of a one year state grant that will provide B&GC services to 35 Newport community at-risk students during this school year. The $43,000 grant will fund 15 students at Newport Middle School and 20 students at Newport Elementary School who will participate in B&GC at the Morehead Center. The students assisted by the grant are "at-risk" as identified by their school Principal and other economic criteria, although regular attendance at B&GC is open to all students.

It will be up to the Newport community to determine whether to provide a home and funding for B&GC services in Newport in future years. She indicated that the Morehead City - Noon, Morehead City - Soundview and Beaufort Old Towne Rotary Clubs provide about $6,500 annually in support for the existing centers. She challenged the Newport Rotary Club to provide leadership in the process that is beginning in Newport. She invited Rotarians to visit the Morehead Center to tutor.

In other club business, the club heard a report on Rotarian Harold Chartley's health and agreed to help provide transportation for him to meetings from Britthaven. Larry Howard filled the club in on some recent travels including a trip to Saltville VA. Bevin Wall told of his road trip to take his children to PA and various locations.

August 18, 2008: Community Service Program

Newport Rotarians used the August 18, 2008 meeting as an opportunity to do a visible and needed community service project in Newport. Through a Rotary Foundation Grant, 2 Park Benches were purchased and installed on Howard Boulevard, one in front of the Rotary Building and the other at the south end of Howard Boulevard near the "Welcome to Newport" and "Rotary Meeting" signs.

This project was started during last year's President Maher Saikali's term and continued into Pres. Cliff Schweitzer's term. Rotarian Amos Parker and Amos Parker Builders lended technical expertise. PDG Bevin Wall applied for the Rotary Foundation Grant.

Click here for lots of pictures showing the excitement!

New School Principal Seeks to Make Positive Changes

Beth Lanning, the new Principal of Newport Elementary School, was the guest speaker at the Newport Rotary Club Meeting of Monday, August 11, 2008. She was accompanied by her husband Bud Lanning (both pictured).

Beth was a student at Newport Elem. starting at grade one. She has come full circle and is now the Principal of the same school at which she started her educational career. She was raised in Newport and after getting her teaching degree, she taught algebra at West Carteret. One of her students in that algebra class was our very own new member, Steve Blizzard. She met her husband, Bud Lanning, Principal of Newport Middle School and together they moved to Wisconsin, where she was the Principal of a local High School. They returned “Home” and she went to work at Croatan High School.

Beth’s goal is to make Newport Elem. the best in the county. She wants to engage the entire community to participate at the school and at the programs she is planning, such as Adopt a Grandparent Day, where seniors will mentor the young students, or planting trees with the students.

Another goal is to bring the primary school back to its former glory, where youth will have the opportunity to form fond memories of walking the halls, as she has.

Beth addressed the recent new articles regarding the grade in the students’ growth in basic skills such as math and reading. The article mentioned a meeting at West Carteret High School, encouraging parents to remove children from Newport Elem. and send them to other schools in the District. Federal funds help children from disadvantaged families (those who receive free or reduced lunches) by enabling the school to fund teachers that will help all the children who are not achieving in their classes. If a certain number of students do not make the grade, then the school fails to make the growth. Newport Elem. figures reported that one child over the growth level did not make it, therefore the school failed, which is not true. The school is holding workshops and using new software to analyze data, so the school may make plans to make sure the children “make it”. (for further info on this confusing subject give her a call).

Her plans include some of the following:

PLAN - The assistant Principal and the Principal will be holding weekly meeting with their teachers on a weekly basis.

LAB - for a new reading program called “Read 180” for teachers to set up individual plans for children in reading. Teachers will be able to use new computer programs that will enable them to analyze kids in real time, instead of after the fact when it is too late to help them.

Teachers need help in their classrooms with discipline. It needs to be consistent, and Beth is going back to an “In-school-suspension” program. Students will go to the “Hot Help Room” for some time and then be sent to “Read 180” for remediation.

Beth is looking to set up a site based management team that utilizes the commitment of the people in the community. There will be collaborations, such as students from the Middle School mentoring the younger students in the Elem. school.

A very good dinner of Spaghetti, tossed salad, garlic bread and desert was prepared and served by by Cliff and Inez Schweitzer.

Thanks to Marilyn Everett for this report!

Rotary in Greenville SC

Past District Governor Sue Poss was this weeks program at the Newport Rotary Club. PDG Poss, a resident of Greenville, South Carolina and Past Governor in District 7550, entertained the club with highlights of her Rotary District, Rotary Club and her town of residence, Greenville, SC.

Rotary District 7750 comprises 55 Rotary clubs in the western half of South Carolina, excluding Columbia. The District is a major advocate of the CART Project (Coins for Alzheimer Research Trust) and has had major projects in Haiti during the past several years, including projects involving HungerPlus, and sustainability projects. Newport Rotary has been involved with many of these or similar projects.

Her Rotary Club, the Greenville East Rotary Club, is comparable in size to the Newport club, being 24 members. They have many of the same concerns and issues that Newport Rotary has regarding the size and nature of their projects, and fundraising. She described the Greenville SC metropolitan area with pride, and told the club also about the Greenville SC Rotary Club, which was established before the uniform rules went into effect requiring weekly meetings, thus meeting only twice a month with its 375 members.

PDG Poss, a Zone 33 Regional Membership Assistant, was guest of Newport Rotarian Bevin Wall, and was in town for two Rotary-related conferences, one on Membership Development & Strategic Planning, and the for The Rotary Leadership Institute.