Spokes November 2, 2021

 
SPOKES VOL. LXVIII NO. 15                                                                            November 2,
 
 
President Bill Roberts called the meeting to order promptly at 7:00 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance.
The invocation today was by Pastor Jeffry Dick prayed today for the healing of our sick members.
Announcements
We have two guest speakers today Caryn Locker and Kelly Netzley.
We have purchased a new computer for the clubs use by the president and to accomplish the hybrid meetings. 
Thank you from Amanda Quinn and Brandon Hinz for our contribution to this year’s fire prevention activity. 
Thank you from Erika Morrison of We Care for our donation to the Golf Outing Fundraiser. 
We successfully sent the required $25,814.00 to Kenya for the water collections system. 
WZZM-TV in Grand Rapids has featured our Kenya project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDOlJR_qL3c
Tom Renner submitted this to them a while ago. Nicely put together by TV-13.
 Jerry Gruber got in touch with Sylvia Sperry who is his contact for the holiday dinner that we have prepared and served at the Methodist church. I'm thinking that the last time we were able to do this was 2019.  
Sylvia says that the Methodist church has partnered with the Epiphany church to prepare for takeout their Tuesday evening meals. Evidently this has been the arrangement for some time and the December meal last year was a takeout meal prepared and served by the partnership. They plan on continuing this Tuesday meal partnership, including this Christmas's meal.
 So, our Rotary club will not be planning, cooking, and serving a Christmas meal this year.
 The next Blessings in a backpack will be November 4th at the South Haven North Shore School at 10:30 am. Masks and vaccinations are required. I updated the website calendar to show the Blessings Rotary Schedule through January 2022.
 The Salvation Army Bell Ringing this year will be December 11th. Sign-up sheets will be coming at later meetings with times for the two Walmart Locations and the Golden Brown Bakery.
 The Holiday Party is December 7th.
 The educational fundraiser is April 30th, 2022, which is a Saturday.
 We have received an application from Holly Boyd.
 President Elect P.E. training is being planned for next year. Information will be coming out soon. It looks like two opportunities to complete one zoom pre-pets district meeting in January; two opportunities to complete one pre-pets district meeting in February; and in person President Elect training at the Radisson in Kalamazoo on March 10, 11, and 12, 2022. I think this is like Thursday afternoon or evening, all day Friday and Saturday till noon. Registration opens December 1st. They have 300 room reserved at the Radisson. Overflow will be at the Hilton across the street. Registration is at greatlakesrotarypets.org.
 Rotary Youth Leadership Academy is planned for July 8-10, 2022, at the Battle Creek Outdoor Center. Rotaries training program for young leaders, emphasizes leadership, citizenship, and personal growth. Designed for high school students. Next year’s camp will not be limited to one person per club so early registration is advised.
 Next week at the regular November 9th Rotary meeting we’ll open as usual and after some quick announcements Marjorie Haas will lead the group in goal setting for the priorities that were established during the visioning session. We expect that the effort may take a little extra time and we’re shooting for a meeting end no later than 8:15 if required.
 A Board meeting will immediately follow next week’s meeting.
50/50 and Fines
Art Ayers was deemed our Honest 50/50 raffle draw person this week and Rhonda held the winning ticket!
Rhonda asked Art to rearrange the cards for her to pick and he thought she wanted him to choose her card! So the cards were rearranged and Rhonda won the pot!
Tom  won the $2.00 consolation prize.
 
Shout out to our Home Zoomers!
  • Paul Hix
  • Bob Brickman
  • Steve Miles
  • Clarence
  • Scott Marks
Richard’s son is celebrating a Birthday Wednesday!
Dan- Youngest son is celebrating the BIG 40!
John- son Jared turns 43 this Friday! 
Larry Wittkup played a Jazzy version of Happy Birthday to celebrate!
Happy Bucks
Tom Renner’s Happy buck was a challenge  to the membership  to visit a dermatologist.
Art Ayers- Happy buck was a Thank you to all who contributed  the Kenya Projects.
Jeff- Happy about the Buffalo Bills
Larry Wittkup- Gave a happy green back for a happy Green Win!  GO GREEN! It was discovered that Larry was wearing some one else’s Lanyard so he did pay a fine.
A Happy Buck was given to keep Harbaugh at UofM!
Dene Hadden- Happy buck because he was asked to be the Color commentator for the South Haven football game.
Griffin was happy to be at Spartan Stadium Saturday for a Great Game!
Bill Roberts introduced Dene Hadden whose program this week is South Haven Scholarships
  • Scholarships deemed high priority at the Visioning Session
  • Revamping Scholarship Process
LMC and Rotary Scholarships
  • Original agreement was signed in 2004 when Rotary donated the first $9,000 to LMC to provide scholarships and begin an endowment for students from local school districts, such as South Haven, Bangor and Covert, who are attending Lake Michigan College.
  • The $9,000 was raised from the first Educational Fundraiser held by South Haven Rotary
  • The fundraiser has existed in various forms since that 2004 event.
  • Whirlpool Corporation donated a matching $25,000 to the endowment.
  • Current Endowment sits at more than $176,000 plus funding for an emergency Student
  • .
HISTORY OF EDUCATIONAL FUNDRAISER
  • Originally an auction first chaired by Steve Larsen.  All Proceeds to LMC Scholarship Endowment.
  • Later proceeds were split in half and then in thirds, between the club and the scholarship program.
  • As the event turned into a dinner/social gathering with a small auction an assessment of $100 per member per year was approved. Scott Mark has organized the silent auction for several years.
  • During Larry Wittkup’s term as Rotary President with the endowment surpassing $100,000, it was determined that a portion of the proceeds would be donated to the South Haven Public Schools Foundation.
    • The SHPS Foundation placed these funds into an endowment held by the South Haven Community Foundation.
    • That endowment now stands at $54,000
LOCAL SCHOLARSHIPS: OUR BEGINNING
  • Two years ago, it was determined that, with the LMC fund surpassing $160,000, we would use the educational fundraiser to support scholarships for South Haven High School seniors in addition to the SHPS Foundation.
  • Donations from the Pietenpol and Hixson families plus from the educational fundraiser provided four $1,000 scholarships. District grants and fundraiser dollars continued to fund scholarships last year and this year and into the future.
  • Applications were on paper and used the Community Memorial Scholarship application with the addition of a letter referencing the student’s commitment to the Four Way Test.  Selection of winners are determined by the Community Foundation Scholarship Selection Committee that currently includes at least one Rotarian.
SOUTH HAVEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
  • The Greater South Haven Area Community Foundation holds endowments for three scholarships
    • The Grace Calvin Memorial Scholarship
    • The Community Memorial Scholarship
    • The Richard and Mary Barden Memorial Scholarship
  • These funds total $900,000 and generate about $45,000 worth of scholarships per year
INDEPENDENT SCHOLARSHIPS
  • There are about a dozen independent scholarships provided each year from various organizations
    • AAUW
    • Filbrandt Family Funeral Scholarship
    • Our Town Players
    • Edward Bocock Memorial
    • Devon Smiley Legacy Scholarship
    • South Haven Steelheaders
    • Seeds of Hope (Ward 2 Action Committee) Scholarship
    • Caleb Grimes Minority Student Athlete Advancement Scholarship
    • South Haven Garden Club Scholarship
    • South Haven Moose Scholarships
    • Music related and church connected scholarships
INDEPENDENT SCHOLARSHIP REQUIREMENTS
  • Most of the independent scholarships have specific requirements
  • AAUW must be a female
  • Our Town Players, Moose, Steelheaders and others require a connection to that organization
  • And so on, depending on the donor.
  • Currently each scholarship requires a separate, paper application with individual essays and/or letters of reference.
WHO IS QUALIFIED
  • Last year’s SHHS graduating class included 82 seniors with GPA’s of 2.5 or better and more that 30 with GPA’s of 3.5 or better.
  • A total of ten seniors applied for these local scholarships last year.
HOW TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF APPLICANTS
  • The work by the students has been done.
  • They have achieved the grades, done the community service, demonstrated the integrity and leadership to qualify for scholarships
  • Steps to take
    • A single application window for all scholarships
    • A single application form for all scholarships (with added sections for those with special requirements)
    • One essay or short answer questions to show the work/service they have done as part of the single application
    • One letter of reference as part of the single application.
    • Online application process
ONLINE APPLICATION ADVANTAGE
  • Kids live online. They can fill out the application on their phones
  • One application can be distributed to several scholarship selection committees
  • Individual Scholarship requirements included in applications
  • Students are informed when they qualify for additional scholarships
  • Example:  All female students will be informed that they qualify for the AAUW scholarship
  • If additional information is needed for a scholarship they qualify for, the student will be informed
  • Example:  Some music scholarship applications require an audition
ONLINE ADVANTAGES FOR DONORS
  • One application for all donors with possibility of special requirements included
  • For Foundation Scholarships
    • Online Rubric Scoring
    • Managing Award Distribution
    • Communicating with recipients
    • Follow up, including thank you notes to donors
  • For Independent Scholarships
    • Online application process available
    • Single application
    • Paper copies of applications provided to selection committee
WHERE WE ARE HEADED
  • A unified application period has been proposed and supported by the school system
    • December 15 to March 1
  • A company (AwardSpring) has been contracted to provide the online application process for the Foundation and Rotary Scholarships
    • AwardSpring is currently used by a number of foundations, including the Allegan County Foundation
    • The process of implementing their program will begin in the next week
  • Work on developing a single application for all scholarships is underway
  • Plans to include independent scholarships in the online application process are part of the conversation.
WHO IS INVOLVED
  • Kelly Netzley, South Haven High School College and Career Guidance Counselor
  • Caryn Locker, Chair of the South Haven Community Memorial Scholarship selection committee which also selects the Rotary and Barden Scholarship winners
  • Scott Raue and Celest Wheeler who led the selection process for the Grace Calvin Scholarship
  • Pam Loftus, Michael TeeKamp and Jenny Romero from the High School Student Success Office
  • Many Community members who chair the scholarship programs for their organizations.
  • Citizens who serve on various selection committees
Dene then Introduced Kelly Netzley, South Haven High School College and Career Guidance Counselor.
Kelly Netzley
  • Originally from Saginaw.
  • Been here in South Haven almost 5 months.
  • Taught High School Social Studies for over a decade.
  • Was a Career College Coordinator advisor on the East side of the state.
  • Kelly applied for and got a position as a Social Studies teacher but was asked if she would take the College and Career Guidance Counselor job, which she happily accepted.
South Haven
  • 2021 South Haven has 109 Seniors
  • Trying to get higher numbers of students to apply for scholarships.
  • Most of the High School class is college bound.
  • Students applying for scholarships are usually 3 sport athletes, band members and hold jobs, so the current application process wasn’t working.
  • The 2022 Early Decision Deadline was Monday November 1, 2021
  • Goal is to make the application process easier with a common application.
  • They would like to have the students be able to complete the scholarship applications. during their downtime, Christmas, Thanksgiving Holidays.
  • Some scholarships are restricted to High School students only.
  • College scholarships can be re-applied for through the college. Some College scholarships are for the full four years.
  • Sometimes scholarships go unfilled, Peace Lutheran Scholarship has gone unfilled for the past two years.
  • Kelly suggested that the guidelines be broadened to include all Lutheran Students not just Peace Lutheran.
Unfortunately we ran out of time and did not get to hear from Caryn Locker.  Thank you for being here today Caryn.
Bill thanked Kelly for her presentation and presented her with a $25.00 gift card courtesy of Fleming Brothers Oil and Value Mart Convenience Store.Thanks to Kelly and Caryn!
Bill  adjourned the meeting at 8:10  a.m. with the Four Way Test
  • NEXT WEEK :  The Club assembly, Continuing the Visioning Conversation with the Past District Governor Margie Haas