WEBVTT 00:00:00.386 --> 00:00:08.054 - Good afternoon. Welcome to the Bloomington Rotary Club's weekly celebration of service. I'm Steve Wicks, 00:00:08.054 --> 00:00:14.919 - and I'm honored to serve as your president this year. Please silence your electronic devices. 00:00:14.919 --> 00:00:23.025 - We have a full, full schedule today, so let me get right to it. On this day in history, May 12, 1978, the U.S. 00:00:23.025 --> 00:00:29.598 - Commerce Department announced that hurricane names would no longer be exclusively female. 00:00:31.522 --> 00:00:42.474 - Marcy Hibbard has today's reflection. Good afternoon, fellow Rotarians and special guests. We have a 00:00:42.474 --> 00:00:53.534 - lot today. Today is May 12th. And for me, May 12th is a very special day. Today is my dad's birthday. 00:00:53.534 --> 00:00:59.390 - That's my dad. He would have been 90 years old today. 00:01:00.290 --> 00:01:08.517 - This is something, my dad's name was Robert Wanywood and he went by Wayne. My dad was a very active 00:01:08.517 --> 00:01:17.403 - rotarian when we lived in Squim, Washington. He was very wise, kind, gentle, caring, and a very hardworking 00:01:17.403 --> 00:01:24.478 - business owner. But mostly he was a funny man. And yes, he really did wear a monocle. 00:01:26.914 --> 00:01:34.180 - I chose today to give the reflection to honor my dad's memory. My dad had been a member of the Kiwanis 00:01:34.180 --> 00:01:41.304 - Club in Issaquah, Washington for many years, but when we moved to Squim, he wasn't too thrilled with 00:01:41.304 --> 00:01:48.922 - the Kiwanis Club there, so he tried out the Sunrise Rotary in Squim. He took to the club and their four-way 00:01:48.922 --> 00:01:50.686 - test like it was gospel. 00:01:51.298 --> 00:01:58.579 - He would come back from his meetings and share about the happy dollars he gave because of something 00:01:58.579 --> 00:02:05.934 - special happening in his life. By the time he joined Rotary, I was an adult with a family of my own. 00:02:05.934 --> 00:02:13.434 - I can remember the countless times I would go to my dad with a problem or an issue. And nine times out 00:02:13.434 --> 00:02:19.550 - of 10, he would ask me, is it the truth? Or sometimes, is it fair to all concerned? 00:02:20.898 --> 00:02:29.176 - Often he would throw in a, will it build goodwill and better friendships? And his favorite question 00:02:29.176 --> 00:02:37.453 - was, will it be beneficial for all concerned? And sometimes he asked me all of them. I used to roll 00:02:37.453 --> 00:02:45.731 - my eyes, but it always made me think. That's what our four-way test does. It makes us think and act 00:02:45.731 --> 00:02:50.366 - accordingly. My dad visits me in my heart every Tuesday 00:02:50.818 --> 00:02:57.489 - and at the times where I spontaneously think, will this be beneficial for all concerned? I told you 00:02:57.489 --> 00:03:04.560 - my dad was funny. And he was. A member of his Rotary wrote in his memory book, I had the honor of meeting 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:11.297 - Wayne through our mutual activities with the Sunrise Rotary gang. He always had a twinkle in his eye 00:03:11.297 --> 00:03:18.034 - and most definitely a quick wit. That's why it always makes me giggle every time we end our meetings 00:03:18.034 --> 00:03:19.902 - with, and fifth, is it fun? 00:03:20.770 --> 00:03:28.872 - He would have loved that and wondered why he didn't come up with it all by himself. Happy birthday, 00:03:28.872 --> 00:03:36.974 - Dan. I love you. Thank you very much, Marcy. Glenda Murray will introduce some of our guests today. 00:03:36.974 --> 00:03:43.294 - Our speakers will introduce their guests during their portion of the program. 00:03:48.354 --> 00:03:59.226 - And I welcome all of you who are guests with one of the students. And I celebrate that they're introducing 00:03:59.226 --> 00:04:09.386 - you and not me. So welcome. We do have other guests. Becky Wan, who is the guest of Steve Engel and 00:04:09.386 --> 00:04:16.702 - spouse. Colton Riggs, who is the guest of Claire Kest, who's not there. 00:04:17.730 --> 00:04:30.321 - and my sister Betty Coffee, who is my guest. So again, welcome to all. Thank you, Glenda. Joy, do we 00:04:30.321 --> 00:04:42.787 - have any guests online? Yes, Steve. We have joining us Eric Ost, who is a guest of Jeff Richardson. 00:04:42.787 --> 00:04:44.158 - Thank you. 00:04:47.426 --> 00:04:55.046 - So we have three birthdays to observe. On the 15th, Mark A. Winston and Claire Kest, who's joined us 00:04:55.046 --> 00:05:02.590 - today there in the middle table. And then on the 17th, Marcus Whited. And a couple of anniversaries 00:05:02.590 --> 00:05:10.210 - to observe. On the 14th, Alan Barker and Dave Meyer both joined the club 12 years ago. And boy, that 00:05:10.210 --> 00:05:16.094 - was a good day for the club. Tyler, can you go ahead and start my PowerPoint? 00:05:34.882 --> 00:05:47.093 - So I'll start with a somber and a sad. I'd like to observe the death of a couple of former club members, 00:05:47.093 --> 00:05:58.723 - Roger Fierce and David Rogers. And may they rest in peace. And now moving to the happier. We have a 00:05:58.723 --> 00:06:02.910 - little bit of service to celebrate. 00:06:05.090 --> 00:06:14.395 - So last week, we did our club drive for the club portion of our annual scholarships. We had a goal starting 00:06:14.395 --> 00:06:23.355 - the day at $900. And by the end of the week, after a very generous match, we raised the total of $5,000 00:06:23.355 --> 00:06:32.402 - last week. So thank you very much. So help wanted. Our club executive assistant, Mandy Stewart, resigned 00:06:32.402 --> 00:06:33.694 - last Thursday. 00:06:34.050 --> 00:06:40.211 - So we're looking for a replacement. We plan to find someone as quickly as possible. Key is accounting 00:06:40.211 --> 00:06:46.312 - bookkeeping expertise, above average aptitude for learning and operating multiple software programs, 00:06:46.312 --> 00:06:52.413 - and usual things, personality, and character strengths. So if you know of anyone, send the person in 00:06:52.413 --> 00:06:58.574 - my direction. We'll have a hiring committee. We're about to update the job description, which will be 00:06:58.574 --> 00:07:00.990 - very similar to what we used last fall. 00:07:03.426 --> 00:07:15.253 - Also help wanted, Wonder Lab Summer Blast Off. So the club executive assistant is a paid position. This 00:07:15.253 --> 00:07:26.624 - is purely a volunteer position, and you'll be paid with fun. And what you have to do is you have to 00:07:26.624 --> 00:07:30.718 - assemble this really cool bookmark. 00:07:30.914 --> 00:07:38.445 - It's summer blast off, Wonder Lab trying to get kids to read during the summer. So the bookmark, 00:07:38.445 --> 00:07:46.364 - once again, has a little light so that they can read in bed when they're supposed to be asleep. So we 00:07:46.364 --> 00:07:54.284 - need people to work shifts this week at Wonder Lab, inside, good working conditions, and then day of. 00:07:54.284 --> 00:07:58.942 - So here are all the different times you can work this week. 00:07:59.490 --> 00:08:07.265 - And then day of, we'll have shifts on Thursday, May 21st, some setup, some helping children assemble 00:08:07.265 --> 00:08:14.963 - their bookmarks, or it might be children helping you assemble the bookmarks, and then teardown. And 00:08:14.963 --> 00:08:23.200 - then you have information on your tables. And then Leslie Katsenko is chairing. Michelle Cohen is helping. 00:08:23.200 --> 00:08:24.894 - Leslie is over there. 00:08:25.378 --> 00:08:36.027 - So if you want to volunteer, just sign up on your table or see Leslie after the meeting. Sure. Toot. 00:08:36.027 --> 00:08:46.571 - Next, please. Second Excel looking for sign up is for the actual event day. So two separate things. 00:08:46.571 --> 00:08:55.006 - If you are in a parade, maybe you want to be at the greeting table. If you are. 00:08:55.394 --> 00:09:02.019 - what to, can't make the event, but what it still helps is the nicotine. Thanks. So for those online, 00:09:02.019 --> 00:09:09.104 - Leslie told us that there are two different signups, before and day of. The work is a little bit different. 00:09:09.104 --> 00:09:15.992 - The day of work will be outside. They've got a canopy for us, so it'll be good working conditions unless 00:09:15.992 --> 00:09:22.814 - it's 97 degrees. Okay, a few save the dates. So the annual refugee summer pitch in on Sunday, May 24th. 00:09:23.138 --> 00:09:29.261 - Here are the details here. The details will also be in the roundabout. And club member Cindy Neidhart 00:09:29.261 --> 00:09:35.623 - can help you with more details. And others save the dates. The Chamber Business After Hours. After you're 00:09:35.623 --> 00:09:41.986 - done working your shift at Wonderlab on the 21st, go to the Business After Hours. We have Meals on Wheels 00:09:41.986 --> 00:09:48.109 - right behind that. A couple of people on the 29th. Then the Beacon Solidarity Sleepout in early June. 00:09:48.109 --> 00:09:50.750 - The Large Teacher's Warehouse Supply Drive. 00:09:51.106 --> 00:09:59.251 - And then the Rotary Toast in November. And the Rotary Toast Committee is selling tables. So if you need 00:09:59.251 --> 00:10:07.162 - any information about that, please see me. So this picture, so last week we heard from ROI, Regional 00:10:07.162 --> 00:10:15.464 - Opportunities Initiative. And the second speaker, Jen, played a video. And this is a clip from the video. 00:10:15.464 --> 00:10:18.910 - And one of our members online, Bill Murphy, 00:10:19.298 --> 00:10:27.811 - watching via zoom a 55 year Rotarian notice something special about this particular part of the video. 00:10:27.811 --> 00:10:36.158 - Bill, do you want to tell us what you noticed? Well, I was greatly pleased last week when I observed 00:10:36.158 --> 00:10:44.505 - the video and there was my son Mark and Mark is the president of PRD. It's a plastic molding company 00:10:44.505 --> 00:10:46.654 - located in Lawrence camp. 00:10:46.914 --> 00:10:55.615 - in Lawrence County, just over the Monroe County line. He's also on the board of directors of ROI representing 00:10:55.615 --> 00:11:04.317 - manufacturing. He encourages high school students to pursue careers in manufacturing by providing internships 00:11:04.317 --> 00:11:12.464 - for them. So Vera and I are greatly proud of Mark and we couldn't get him to become a teacher like his 00:11:12.464 --> 00:11:16.894 - parents, but we're proud of his promotion of education. 00:11:17.602 --> 00:11:25.647 - So thanks, Steve, for showing this. So anyway, you watch Rotary on Zoom, you may see a family member 00:11:25.647 --> 00:11:33.851 - someday. Thank you, Bill. OK, Rotary is seven areas of focus. I show this slide all the time. And then 00:11:33.851 --> 00:11:41.975 - May is Youth Service Month, and we're here today serving some of our best and brightest youth. And go 00:11:41.975 --> 00:11:43.966 - ahead and turn that off. 00:11:44.130 --> 00:11:51.768 - And then one other thing on the announcements, there is one other handout on your table with about America 00:11:51.768 --> 00:11:59.191 - 250. If you have any interest in that, Liz Fiddle has lots more pamphlets in her car. So Liz is sitting 00:11:59.191 --> 00:12:06.686 - over on the far left, back left table. OK, if I can get Brad Meyer and Steve Engel to come to the front. 00:12:19.778 --> 00:12:25.433 - So we haven't had enough of these this year. We're having a new member induction. This will be a little 00:12:25.433 --> 00:12:31.088 - bit abridged because Brad, like the rest of us, really wants to hear what the high school students have 00:12:31.088 --> 00:12:36.743 - to say. So Brad Meyer applied for membership in the Bloomington Rotary Club months ago. I'm embarrassed 00:12:36.743 --> 00:12:42.507 - to say his application fell through the cracks. In the meantime, he occasionally attended weekly meetings 00:12:42.507 --> 00:12:48.162 - as a guest of Steve, though finally we got organized. And in April, the club board unanimously approved 00:12:48.162 --> 00:12:49.086 - his application. 00:12:49.378 --> 00:12:55.902 - And today, we'll induct him into the club. A native of Brownsburg, Indiana, Brad Meyer is a seventh 00:12:55.902 --> 00:13:02.948 - generation Hoosier. He married his high school sweetheart, Debbie, at age 18. Brad and Debbie then attended 00:13:02.948 --> 00:13:09.603 - Purdue together, where Brad studied electronic engineering. After graduation, Brad and Debbie started 00:13:09.603 --> 00:13:16.649 - a family. Brad began a 25-year career in local manufacturing, followed by nine years as a civilian engineer 00:13:16.649 --> 00:13:17.758 - for the US Navy. 00:13:18.690 --> 00:13:26.540 - A week ago, Brad won the Indiana Ninth District Congressional Primary and became the Democratic Party's 00:13:26.540 --> 00:13:34.088 - nominee for the general election in November. So Brad, on behalf of the board and membership of the 00:13:34.088 --> 00:13:41.939 - Bloomington Rotary Club, it is a great pleasure to welcome you as the newest member of the club. Though 00:13:41.939 --> 00:13:44.958 - Rotary is not a political organization, 00:13:45.346 --> 00:13:52.537 - Rotarians are vitally concerned with good citizenship and election of effective leaders to public office. 00:13:52.537 --> 00:13:59.525 - While Rotary is not a religious organization, it is built on those highest principles that have served 00:13:59.525 --> 00:14:06.649 - as a moral compass for people throughout the ages. Rotarians believe that worldwide fellowship and peace 00:14:06.649 --> 00:14:12.958 - can be achieved when people work together and uphold the Rotary motto of service above self. 00:14:14.210 --> 00:14:21.825 - Brad, you have been chosen for membership in the Bloomington Club because your fellow members believe 00:14:21.825 --> 00:14:29.440 - you to be a leader in our community and because you possess the qualities to champion the message and 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:36.906 - principles of Rotary. Our community will know and judge Rotary by your character and service. Steve 00:14:36.906 --> 00:14:43.774 - will now pin you or hand you the distinguishing badge of a Rotarian, your Rotary pin. Okay. 00:14:45.026 --> 00:14:52.050 - All of us have limited dexterity, so we're handing him the pin. Fellow Rotarians, please rise if you 00:14:52.050 --> 00:14:55.806 - are able and welcome our newest Rotarian, Brad Meyer. 00:15:14.850 --> 00:15:22.804 - Thank you. Thank you, Brad. And welcome to the club. So this was a segment I've been trying to work 00:15:22.804 --> 00:15:31.076 - in. And so when I found out Brad would be available today, just jumped on it. Another segment that I've 00:15:31.076 --> 00:15:39.269 - been trying to work in is a DEI update. And club members Lance Eberly, Jim Sims, and Patrick Smith all 00:15:39.269 --> 00:15:43.166 - serve on the Rotary District 6580 DEI committee. 00:15:44.130 --> 00:15:51.298 - Earlier this year, past club president, past district governor, Lance Eberly, agreed to chair this district 00:15:51.298 --> 00:15:57.470 - committee. And Lance will spend a few minutes to provide us with a rotary DEI update. Lance? 00:16:03.778 --> 00:16:09.616 - Good afternoon, everyone. As mentioned, my name's Lance Eberle. I've had the privilege of being a member 00:16:09.616 --> 00:16:15.176 - of this club and certainly stepping into the role of being the Diversity Equity Inclusion Chair for 00:16:15.176 --> 00:16:21.070 - the district this upcoming year. I really just want to take a few minutes today to provide a brief update 00:16:21.070 --> 00:16:26.686 - on Diversity Equity Inclusion initiatives within Rotary International and how those efforts continue 00:16:26.686 --> 00:16:32.190 - to evolve. As many of you know, Rotary International recently did announce a change in terminology 00:16:32.578 --> 00:16:39.394 - by renaming the Advisory Council on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to the Enhancing Participant Engagement 00:16:39.394 --> 00:16:45.648 - Committee. While the name has changed, the underlying focus remains largely the same, strengthening 00:16:45.648 --> 00:16:52.276 - participation, engagement, and belonging throughout the Rotary clubs. I think this is important to remind 00:16:52.276 --> 00:16:58.529 - you that Rotary's efforts in this area have always been rooted in membership engagement and service 00:16:58.529 --> 00:17:01.406 - effectiveness rather than politics or labels. 00:17:01.954 --> 00:17:08.896 - The objective is to ensure that Rotary remains welcoming, relevant and sustainable for future generations. 00:17:08.896 --> 00:17:15.709 - At its core, Rotary has always been about bringing together people of different professions, experiences 00:17:15.709 --> 00:17:22.457 - and backgrounds to improve our communities. That philosophy aligns naturally with the idea of expanding 00:17:22.457 --> 00:17:25.182 - participation and encouraging engagement. 00:17:26.594 --> 00:17:32.752 - Several key initiatives with this are again expanding participation. Rotary clubs are strongest when 00:17:32.752 --> 00:17:39.033 - they reflect the communities that they serve. That could be in professional experience, age, community 00:17:39.033 --> 00:17:45.008 - involvement, leadership styles, certainly cultural and personal backgrounds, all kinds of things. 00:17:45.008 --> 00:17:51.167 - Many clubs, including this club, have actively worked to attract younger and different professionals 00:17:51.167 --> 00:17:53.118 - and emerging community leaders. 00:17:54.274 --> 00:18:00.582 - and maintaining the traditions of Rotary, why we continue to do that. We're also continuing working 00:18:00.582 --> 00:18:07.143 - to improve in our engagement strategy as reflected in the updated committee name, enhancing participant 00:18:07.143 --> 00:18:13.703 - engagement that really emphasizes the involvement and connection. Across Rotary clubs, we're continuing 00:18:13.703 --> 00:18:20.074 - to work for ways to increase membership participation and improve mentorship activities, encouraging 00:18:20.074 --> 00:18:23.102 - newer members to become involved in leadership, 00:18:23.618 --> 00:18:30.717 - create flexible and meeting times and service opportunities and strengthen fellowship and collaboration. 00:18:30.717 --> 00:18:37.748 - The goal is simple, helping members feel connected and valued so that they remain active in road reach. 00:18:37.748 --> 00:18:44.576 - Inclusion is often a big part of that as well. And it's much less about policy more than it is about 00:18:44.576 --> 00:18:51.742 - our club culture. And people stay involved in organizations where they feel welcome, impacted, and heard. 00:18:51.874 --> 00:18:58.453 - Rotary is long-term to sex. It continues to depend on creating that type of environment where members 00:18:58.453 --> 00:19:05.161 - of all backgrounds and experiences levels feel that they could contribute meaningfully to the club kind 00:19:05.161 --> 00:19:12.128 - of going forward. So plan is simple. We continue to invite newer members into projects, encourage different 00:19:12.128 --> 00:19:18.578 - perspectives and being intentional about our mentorship opportunities and continuing to support our 00:19:18.578 --> 00:19:20.126 - leadership development. 00:19:20.738 --> 00:19:27.219 - So Rotary continues to evolve just as communities involve. The challenge and opportunity is balancing, 00:19:27.219 --> 00:19:34.140 - you know, Rotary strong traditions with the need to remain relevant and accessible to all future generations. 00:19:34.140 --> 00:19:40.621 - Ultimately, whether we call it diversity, equity, inclusion, the purpose remains aligned with Rotary's 00:19:40.621 --> 00:19:47.102 - membership of fellowship leadership and above all service, you know, above self. So again, here in the 00:19:47.102 --> 00:19:48.990 - district, we're continuing to 00:19:49.218 --> 00:19:56.478 - basically march forward as we always have. And when I kind of came in, I was fortunate to be a district governor. 00:19:56.546 --> 00:20:02.283 - As Jennifer Jones has stated, that we want Rotary to be welcoming to all. So we continue to kind of 00:20:02.283 --> 00:20:08.192 - move forward with that and certainly would be available afterwards to answer any questions or anything 00:20:08.192 --> 00:20:14.044 - that anybody has. But again, thank you for the time to provide you a quick update of some of the work 00:20:14.044 --> 00:20:19.380 - that we're doing. And we're continuing as committee to move on, meeting monthly, looking for 00:20:19.380 --> 00:20:24.830 - ways, opportunity to make Rotary more welcoming to all members of our community. So thank you. 00:20:33.826 --> 00:20:41.539 - Thank you, Lance. At the club level, we have a DEI committee and don't see a need to change that. So 00:20:41.539 --> 00:20:49.634 - we'll continue to roll along as we do. Rotary, we want to look like the community we serve. With a couple 00:20:49.634 --> 00:20:57.500 - of exceptions. One, the people attracted to Rotary have to be above average in their level of care for 00:20:57.500 --> 00:20:59.486 - the community. People who 00:20:59.586 --> 00:21:06.386 - who want to do, want to belong to Rotary. They want to work at the polls. They want to be Little League 00:21:06.386 --> 00:21:13.186 - baseball coaches, various things. The other is as an international organization, Rotarians have to care 00:21:13.186 --> 00:21:19.921 - about things overseas. We need to care about polio being eradicated in Pakistan. We need to care about 00:21:19.921 --> 00:21:26.459 - clean water in Rwanda. We need to care about education in Peru. So anyway, doesn't matter if you're 00:21:26.459 --> 00:21:28.094 - a rock rift libertarian, 00:21:28.514 --> 00:21:37.099 - big government democrat. If you care about the community and you care about places all over the world, 00:21:37.099 --> 00:21:45.768 - there's a place for you in Rotary. So thank you, Lance. Jeff Richardson will introduce our four dynamic 00:21:45.768 --> 00:21:47.102 - speakers today. 00:21:55.874 --> 00:22:03.884 - We need more joy. We need to embrace joy, lift up joy, and share joy. In that spirit, welcome to our 00:22:03.884 --> 00:22:12.290 - club's most joyful meeting of the year, the celebration of our Bloomington Rotary High School Scholarship 00:22:12.290 --> 00:22:20.221 - awardees. A special welcome to the families and teachers of those we honor today, and thank you for 00:22:20.221 --> 00:22:25.534 - your devotion to cultivating intellectual curiosity and integrity. 00:22:26.658 --> 00:22:35.985 - The scholarship committee interviewed nine high school senior finalists this spring, all remarkably 00:22:35.985 --> 00:22:45.312 - talented. Today, we'll hear from the four outstanding seniors who were selected as Rode High School 00:22:45.312 --> 00:22:54.732 - Scholarship awardees. Each will receive a $25,000... We had a secret match came in just minutes ago, 00:22:54.732 --> 00:22:56.318 - actually $2,500. 00:22:57.890 --> 00:23:05.879 - Hmm, someday we'll get there. I'd like to have just for a moment the scholarship committee members. 00:23:05.879 --> 00:23:13.949 - We don't have time to introduce you, but if you could just stand or wave, we'd like to thank you for 00:23:13.949 --> 00:23:22.098 - your service on the committee. Thank you. Interestingly, but not by design, this year all three local 00:23:22.098 --> 00:23:24.894 - schools are represented. Edgewood, 00:23:25.218 --> 00:23:31.628 - Bloomington High School South and Bloomington High School North. And two are going in state, turns out 00:23:31.628 --> 00:23:38.100 - both to IU Bloomington, and two out of state. Last year, just for your information, three awardees went 00:23:38.100 --> 00:23:43.888 - to Purdue and one went to Ball State. So every year it's different. I'm not going to go into 00:23:43.888 --> 00:23:50.422 - long introductions because I want to ensure that we have enough time to hear directly from the students. 00:23:50.422 --> 00:23:53.534 - Each awardee will introduce and thank their guest 00:23:53.762 --> 00:24:00.671 - And then we'll spend four to five minutes on what's ahead for them post-graduation and any other comments 00:24:00.671 --> 00:24:07.319 - they would like to make. So our first awardee who will speak is Hannah Crane, an Edgewood High School 00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:14.750 - grad. She's going off to Murray State and she's going to be studying agriculture science. Hannah, please join us. 00:24:24.898 --> 00:24:31.525 - Hello, everyone. Thank you for having me today. I'm very honored to receive this scholarship. So just 00:24:31.525 --> 00:24:38.412 - want to thank you all for being here and giving me this opportunity. With me today, I have my mom, Lindy, 00:24:38.412 --> 00:24:41.726 - and my dad, Damon. So thank you for their support. 00:24:45.762 --> 00:24:52.737 - So as he already said, my name is Hannah Crane. I'm from Edgewood. A little bit about me. This is my 00:24:52.737 --> 00:24:59.849 - 10th year of 4-H. I'm an active member of Harry Hopper's Rabbit Club, Country Sunshine Junior Leaders, 00:24:59.849 --> 00:25:06.962 - Swine Club, Horse and Pony, and Country Sunshine. I'm going to tell you about one of my most memorable 00:25:06.962 --> 00:25:14.558 - community service projects today. And it was a project I did last year. I created garden kits for Pantry 279. 00:25:14.658 --> 00:25:22.730 - and I applied for and received a $1,000 yes grant through Indiana 4-H Foundation, which funded my project. 00:25:22.730 --> 00:25:30.349 - The kits that I created included a tomato or pepper plant, a tomato cage, a bag of soil, fabric grow 00:25:30.349 --> 00:25:37.968 - bag, plant food, and then a little info sheet. And then I distributed the kits around this time last 00:25:37.968 --> 00:25:44.606 - year to Pantry 279, which is in Ellitsville. And the goal was to reduce food insecurity 00:25:44.994 --> 00:25:50.739 - you know, the surrounding areas, give people the opportunity to try something new. And that was also 00:25:50.739 --> 00:25:56.825 - an opportunity to share my love for agriculture, which I'm going into next year. At Edgewood, I'm involved 00:25:56.825 --> 00:26:02.797 - in Student Athletic Advisory Committee, Leadership Academy, National Honor Society, Key Club, Fellowship 00:26:02.797 --> 00:26:07.518 - of Christian Athletes, and Mental Health Club. I also run Cross Country and Track. 00:26:08.002 --> 00:26:15.266 - And cross country and track have been a big part of shaping me into who I am today. They've taught me 00:26:15.266 --> 00:26:22.458 - many valuable skills that I will carry far beyond college even into my, whatever I do after college, 00:26:22.458 --> 00:26:25.022 - whether my job and just daily life. 00:26:25.826 --> 00:26:32.242 - And they've taught me to work towards these long-term goals that might not come easy, but with dedication 00:26:32.242 --> 00:26:38.416 - and this hard work and commitment to my sports and my social life and my extracurriculars and school, 00:26:38.416 --> 00:26:44.953 - those goals are achievable. And this fall, I'll be attending Murray State University, which is in Kentucky, 00:26:44.953 --> 00:26:51.187 - and I'll be running cross-country and track. And I plan to study agronomy, which is like crop and soil 00:26:51.187 --> 00:26:53.790 - science. So thank you for having me today. 00:27:05.186 --> 00:27:13.311 - When I hear these students talk, I have to be kind of reminded that they're just seniors in high school. 00:27:13.311 --> 00:27:21.205 - They're like 17 or 18 years old. They've already done so much. And each one is this way. And our next 00:27:21.205 --> 00:27:29.717 - awardee is Lilliam McKaylee from North. She's also, you'll hear from another person, going to IU Bloomington, 00:27:29.717 --> 00:27:35.134 - and she'll be studying elementary education. Lilliam, please join us. 00:27:44.514 --> 00:27:51.290 - Hello everyone. My name is Lillian McHaleon. As he just said, I'm a senior at Bloomington North. 00:27:51.290 --> 00:27:58.344 - Next year, I am going to Indiana University to further my passion for elementary education. I'm very 00:27:58.344 --> 00:28:05.749 - honored to receive this scholarship and I couldn't be more grateful. And I just really appreciate getting 00:28:05.749 --> 00:28:07.006 - this opportunity. 00:28:07.810 --> 00:28:13.899 - Teaching was always something that I saw myself pursuing. I grew up with amazing teachers in my life. 00:28:13.899 --> 00:28:20.047 - Two of my grandparents are educators, and I looked up to them really, like, a lot. I looked up to them 00:28:20.047 --> 00:28:26.017 - greatly. And every teacher that I've had has helped shape me into the person I am today, and I look 00:28:26.017 --> 00:28:32.106 - forward to doing the same for my students. I'd like to shout out my parents and my teacher, Mr. Fife, 00:28:32.106 --> 00:28:36.702 - for being here today to support me. Mr. Fife, one of those amazing teachers. 00:28:40.674 --> 00:28:46.112 - At North, I'm involved in a few clubs. So I'm in Habitat for Humanity. I'm a co-president this year. 00:28:46.112 --> 00:28:51.764 - I've been involved for a couple of years now. It's just a really great way to connect with the community 00:28:51.764 --> 00:28:57.363 - and do things that I'm interested in. And then I'm also in a club called Project Middle Way that raises 00:28:57.363 --> 00:28:58.494 - money and awareness. 00:28:58.658 --> 00:29:05.579 - for Middle Way House in Bloomington and just the domestic abuse survivors there. So we get to do a lot 00:29:05.579 --> 00:29:12.365 - of work for them. And then I also do a lot of things that help me work towards my future of being an 00:29:12.365 --> 00:29:19.151 - educator. So after being a camper and counselor in training at the Boys and Girls Club Camp Rock for 00:29:19.151 --> 00:29:25.534 - many years, I received the opportunity to work as a part-time counselor last summer. And so I, 00:29:25.666 --> 00:29:33.448 - This like allowed me to work closely with larger groups of students or kids and grow some of those skills 00:29:33.448 --> 00:29:40.790 - that I will use in my career. And the Boys and Girls Club staff provided me with training that will 00:29:40.790 --> 00:29:48.352 - be really applicable to my future classroom such as behavior management and just like safety protocols 00:29:48.352 --> 00:29:54.078 - that will come in handy throughout my whole future. And just the community at 00:29:54.370 --> 00:30:00.395 - Camp Rock means so much to me, and I can't wait to go back this summer and continue that. Also, 00:30:00.395 --> 00:30:06.733 - this year, this school year, I was placed in a fourth grade classroom for my cadet teaching class. I 00:30:06.733 --> 00:30:13.259 - was at Binford Elementary School, and throughout the year, I've gotten countless opportunities to build 00:30:13.259 --> 00:30:19.723 - my knowledge of the classroom and see all of the behind the scenes work that goes into being a teacher 00:30:19.723 --> 00:30:23.614 - that I don't get from the student perspective in high school. 00:30:24.130 --> 00:30:31.362 - I've just gotten to build my knowledge of the classroom and one main project that we did was the kids 00:30:31.362 --> 00:30:38.523 - got to write fairy tales about IU women's basketball players. So they kind of worked those into like 00:30:38.523 --> 00:30:46.038 - a Cinderella story. And yeah, it was so fun to see like their creative minds come to life and incorporate 00:30:46.038 --> 00:30:47.102 - the stuff that 00:30:47.458 --> 00:30:53.743 - they don't usually get to talk about in a classroom setting. And then some of the players actually came 00:30:53.743 --> 00:31:00.148 - in and they got to read their stories to them. So it kind of brought the magic to life. And it was really 00:31:00.148 --> 00:31:06.251 - cool to see the kids' hard work pay off. And they got to go and shoot hoops with them too, which was 00:31:06.251 --> 00:31:12.476 - fun for them too. But yeah, it was just really fulfilling and rewarding throughout the whole year just 00:31:12.476 --> 00:31:16.766 - to see all of the hard work the kids put in and seeing it come and put 00:31:16.930 --> 00:31:24.241 - be put together and seeing it all work out and pay off. I've had really amazing experiences inside the 00:31:24.241 --> 00:31:31.339 - classroom and out, and it really just affirms that this is what I'm meant to do. And I look forward 00:31:31.339 --> 00:31:36.734 - to pursuing it in the future. Yeah. Thank you so much for this opportunity. 00:31:45.794 --> 00:31:52.487 - another thread that runs through all of these candidates. I get choked up talking about it. You know, 00:31:52.487 --> 00:31:59.179 - their love for learning and to share with others. You know, it's repeated over and over, including in 00:31:59.179 --> 00:32:05.806 - the ones that we couldn't give scholarships to. I mean, they were also incredible. That's one of the 00:32:05.806 --> 00:32:12.958 - hardest jobs that we have is getting it down to four people. Our next awardee is Aviv Seraf from Bloomington 00:32:12.958 --> 00:32:14.270 - House School South. 00:32:14.370 --> 00:32:23.947 - going to Duke in mechanical engineering and robotics. Aviv. Hi, I'm Aviv from Bloomington High School 00:32:23.947 --> 00:32:33.431 - South. First of all, I'd like to thank my family for supporting my whole life, my mom and dad and my 00:32:33.431 --> 00:32:43.102 - sister who's here today. Next, my amazing AP chemistry teacher, Mrs. Floyd, thank you for coming here. 00:32:43.362 --> 00:32:51.049 - and supporting me throughout the whole year. And so good afternoon, everyone. And thank you to the Old 00:32:51.049 --> 00:32:58.736 - Rotary Club for providing me with this scholarship. I'm very appreciative and thank you for supporting 00:32:58.736 --> 00:33:06.348 - students in our community. It's truly an honor to be speaking to you today. So I'll talk to you about 00:33:06.348 --> 00:33:13.214 - a couple of my activities. The first one is one of the most meaningful community activities 00:33:13.666 --> 00:33:22.699 - I've done, and it's my involvement in a group through my synagogue called Student to Student. And so 00:33:22.699 --> 00:33:31.822 - through that, with a few other high schoolers, we go around Monroe County and the surrounding area to 00:33:31.822 --> 00:33:40.766 - middle schools, and we talk about Jewish culture and introduce them to our traditions. And we teach 00:33:41.090 --> 00:33:48.222 - that it's important to be open-minded of all cultures and all people that are different to you. And 00:33:48.222 --> 00:33:55.997 - so many of the schools we visited, we go to middle schools. Many of them had very few or no Jewish students. 00:33:55.997 --> 00:34:03.415 - So us speaking to them was their very first interaction with Jewish culture and Jewish people. And this 00:34:03.415 --> 00:34:09.406 - is incredibly important because it's their first interaction with the whole culture 00:34:10.178 --> 00:34:19.032 - we are able to stop, to put a face to community and kind of tell them who we are to help prevent the 00:34:19.032 --> 00:34:27.974 - spread of harmful stereotypes and misinformation, especially today with social media. It's incredibly 00:34:27.974 --> 00:34:36.741 - easy for harmful words to spread quickly. And so by speaking to these people, to these students, as 00:34:36.741 --> 00:34:38.494 - students ourselves, 00:34:38.850 --> 00:34:47.390 - We put a human face to a culture that they're not familiar with. Um, and it becomes much harder to spread 00:34:47.390 --> 00:34:56.253 - fear and hatred, uh, when you've actually met a group of people. Um, and so this has been the most meaningful 00:34:56.253 --> 00:35:05.438 - community experience that I've done, but in, on the side of academic experiences, the one that has shaped my, um, 00:35:06.370 --> 00:35:13.817 - my experience throughout high school the most has been my involvement with FIRST Robotics. And this, 00:35:13.817 --> 00:35:21.412 - it's a local robotics team that we compete in competitions and we have students from all the different 00:35:21.412 --> 00:35:29.007 - high schools in the area and middle schools. And so now as a senior, I've been a student leader on the 00:35:29.007 --> 00:35:33.726 - team and my role has not only been to build the robot, but also 00:35:33.858 --> 00:35:40.336 - to help newer students develop the skills and confidence they need to meaningfully contribute to our 00:35:40.336 --> 00:35:46.878 - team. And one of my biggest goals as a leader on the team has been to make the team feel approachable 00:35:46.878 --> 00:35:53.420 - and collaborative, especially for newer students who might be intimidated or unsure of their place in 00:35:53.420 --> 00:35:59.898 - the team, as I definitely was when I first joined. And what I value most about this experience doing 00:35:59.898 --> 00:36:01.950 - robotics in high school is that 00:36:02.082 --> 00:36:08.639 - The success of the team depends on not just people's individual skills, but people being willing mentors, 00:36:08.639 --> 00:36:14.948 - as well as student leaders being willing to teach one another and help the whole team benefit. And no 00:36:14.948 --> 00:36:21.134 - one builds the robot alone. The team works together and every student improves because someone else 00:36:21.134 --> 00:36:27.382 - has taken out of their time to guide them. And so that's what I try to do as a student leader on the 00:36:27.382 --> 00:36:29.918 - team. And so these experiences shaped my 00:36:30.370 --> 00:36:36.647 - Um, belief that leadership isn't about just having experience and knowledge about a certain subject, 00:36:36.647 --> 00:36:43.234 - but it's about creating an environment where the people around you can really learn and grow all together 00:36:43.234 --> 00:36:49.760 - for the benefit of everyone. And so these two experiences have shaped both my goals and my future plans. 00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:55.974 - Um, I plan to go to Duke university and study mechanical engineering, uh, where I hope to continue, 00:36:55.974 --> 00:36:58.398 - uh, working on robotics in particular. 00:36:59.458 --> 00:37:07.437 - And throughout my time in college, I also plan to continue with high school robotics now, not as a student, 00:37:07.437 --> 00:37:14.825 - but as a mentor of local teams. And beyond college, I hope to pursue a career in robotics that help 00:37:14.825 --> 00:37:22.434 - specifically medical devices that help people in their daily life. I really am incredibly grateful for 00:37:22.434 --> 00:37:28.862 - this scholarship and thank you to everyone for investing in students in our community. 00:37:29.346 --> 00:37:45.992 - I'm hopeful that I'm able to pay forward your kindness in the future throughout my school and career. 00:37:45.992 --> 00:37:58.558 - Thank you. Oh, great. So another, not last, but next in line is Halit Patel. 00:37:58.690 --> 00:38:05.979 - We've had three scholarships. Last year we had four. It's a longer story, but we ended up with four, 00:38:05.979 --> 00:38:13.197 - and that was for kids to go anywhere they want to in the country. We still have three that are that 00:38:13.197 --> 00:38:20.197 - way, that are wherever you apply, and if you're past muster with the committee, you're selected. 00:38:20.197 --> 00:38:27.198 - This year, for the first time, we have a standalone award for someone who is from Monroe County, 00:38:27.330 --> 00:38:33.674 - and going to IU Bloomington. It turned out we had two people going to IU Bloomington this year, 00:38:33.674 --> 00:38:40.481 - which was, again, unplanned, a coincidence, but outstanding candidates. And so Halil is getting, Halil 00:38:40.481 --> 00:38:47.419 - is getting the first Bloomington, IU Bloomington award. And congratulations on that. And we look forward 00:38:47.419 --> 00:38:49.534 - to hearing from you. Thank you. 00:38:55.394 --> 00:39:03.102 - How are we doing, everyone? Good afternoon. All righty. Thank you, everyone, from this Rotary Club to 00:39:03.102 --> 00:39:11.112 - have me today. I'm honored to be here. And with me, I have my dad, Kulpish Kumar Patel, my mom, Dharmisa, 00:39:11.112 --> 00:39:18.366 - and my sister, Deep, who I love and hate at the same time. And I also have my favorite teacher, 00:39:18.626 --> 00:39:25.847 - Well, all my teachers are my favorite, but Miss Norris, she's my German teacher and she's been with 00:39:25.847 --> 00:39:33.069 - me, seen every single one of my crash outs for the past four years. And I'm eternally grateful that 00:39:33.069 --> 00:39:40.290 - she's been with me and I look up to her a lot now. Now, a community involvement that I've had and I 00:39:40.290 --> 00:39:47.006 - am really proud of is something called Global Minds. And it's similar to what you said about 00:39:47.106 --> 00:39:54.002 - teaching people about culture. But I want to tell you an experience that I had that was a catalyst for 00:39:54.002 --> 00:40:00.763 - this all. So me and my sister, one summer, we went to St. Louis with the Love the Loot organization. 00:40:00.763 --> 00:40:07.659 - And basically, this organization takes you and it takes you to an underrepresented community where you 00:40:07.659 --> 00:40:14.487 - volunteer. And in this case, we cooked, we garden, we set up all kinds of community events. And I saw 00:40:14.487 --> 00:40:16.094 - this bridge or this gap 00:40:16.866 --> 00:40:24.085 - between culture and the community that was there in St. Louis. And when I came back, I had this idea 00:40:24.085 --> 00:40:31.448 - that let's make a nonprofit organization with this. And so that brought me to Curate Global Minds. And 00:40:31.448 --> 00:40:38.238 - I took one of my classmates and we went to our administrators and they loved this idea. And so 00:40:38.338 --> 00:40:45.539 - With this organization, our entire goal was to spread cultural diversity. Because we know statistically 00:40:45.539 --> 00:40:52.533 - that when you're younger and you're exposed to diversity more often, you're going to grow up to be a 00:40:52.533 --> 00:40:59.596 - person who thinks more diversely, who critical thinks even more, who sees all the global perspectives 00:40:59.596 --> 00:41:02.366 - on an issue. And that is what I wanted. 00:41:03.394 --> 00:41:10.969 - And this is something that I want to take into my career at Indiana University and my studies at Indiana 00:41:10.969 --> 00:41:18.256 - University. Um, and hopefully I, um, do something with, um, nonprofits and yeah, a student activity. 00:41:18.256 --> 00:41:25.543 - Um, that I want to tell you guys about is, um, my internship. I intern for the coffee corral, um, at 00:41:25.543 --> 00:41:32.830 - Edgewood high school. I don't know if you guys have known it's, um, a student led, um, business and, 00:41:33.506 --> 00:41:40.339 - We sell coffee, we sell all types of drinks, all types of, hopefully all types of food now. And as a 00:41:40.339 --> 00:41:47.240 - financial manager, I track our expenses and profits, and I ensure that they meet our margins. I price 00:41:47.240 --> 00:41:54.615 - our new items, pay our vendors, and do much more. But that's all the boring stuff. But with this internship, 00:41:54.615 --> 00:42:01.854 - I have learned so many communication skills, all the soft skills that you don't learn in classes nowadays. 00:42:02.082 --> 00:42:07.618 - And I found a passion for business and problem solving, and which is why I chose to attend the Kelly 00:42:07.618 --> 00:42:13.319 - school of business at Indiana university. Um, and again, I went to honor my dad and mom. They are, they 00:42:13.319 --> 00:42:19.239 - immigrated here in 2001. They're from India and they built everything from ground up. And that is something 00:42:19.239 --> 00:42:24.940 - that I wanted to take. And I want to honor because that's hard to do nowadays. Like you can't just come 00:42:24.940 --> 00:42:30.476 - here and do something, um, fresh out of the ground. And it takes a lot of courage and it takes a lot 00:42:30.476 --> 00:42:31.134 - of bravery. 00:42:31.394 --> 00:42:38.027 - And that is something that, with social media nowadays, it's hard to come by. You don't find pure people. 00:42:38.027 --> 00:42:44.472 - And I want to share a quote that I go by. It's called, you make a living by what you get, but you make 00:42:44.472 --> 00:42:50.854 - a life by what you give. And I see my parents honor this quote all the time. They are genuine people, 00:42:50.854 --> 00:42:55.422 - and they've taught me that you are the person you are by what you value. 00:42:55.586 --> 00:43:02.760 - At the Kelly School of Business, I want to major in operations management and finance and hopes to be 00:43:02.760 --> 00:43:09.793 - well versed in public policy and hopefully attend law school, hopefully at the Marner School of Law 00:43:09.793 --> 00:43:16.825 - and be a practicing attorney. Don't know what type of attorney yet, but that'll come later in life. 00:43:16.825 --> 00:43:23.929 - But yeah, thank you. And I'm honored to be here. And I I hope that I as well honor the Rotary Club's 00:43:23.929 --> 00:43:25.054 - values as well. 00:43:33.730 --> 00:43:43.667 - So let's say congratulations once again to our newest Rotary High School Scholarship winners. So what 00:43:43.667 --> 00:43:53.800 - I'd like now is for the awardees to come forward, please. And we have some time for questions for them. 00:43:53.800 --> 00:44:01.886 - And let's do that. Let's ask them a few questions. All right, please come forward. 00:44:03.746 --> 00:44:12.195 - Or you can stand over here so you're not in the lights. How about right over here? We do have the checks 00:44:12.195 --> 00:44:20.322 - here. We'll be taking them. The checks won't be in the middle. They're actually here. And then we'll 00:44:20.322 --> 00:44:28.449 - present them shortly. We'll have some pictures. So please, question. Yes. Dave. I heard social media 00:44:28.449 --> 00:44:30.782 - mentioned a couple of times. 00:44:30.914 --> 00:44:42.640 - Can I have a volunteer that would like to talk a little bit about how in your own life you balance the 00:44:42.640 --> 00:44:54.025 - negative and positive aspects of your participation in social media? Sure. So social media has been 00:44:54.025 --> 00:44:59.262 - a really great and a really bad thing for me. 00:44:59.426 --> 00:45:07.496 - on different aspects. On the good side, it's been a source of a lot of inspiration for the projects 00:45:07.496 --> 00:45:16.374 - I do with robotics. And there's so many great ideas that other people are doing that you can take inspiration 00:45:16.374 --> 00:45:24.767 - from social media. And a lot of the time, that is what I use it for, for learning and seeing just great 00:45:24.767 --> 00:45:28.318 - things. On the other side, there's a lot of 00:45:28.578 --> 00:45:36.580 - bad on social media. As I talked about earlier, there's a lot of, it's incredibly easy to spread hateful, 00:45:36.580 --> 00:45:44.432 - you know, hateful words. And so you just got to, for me personally, you just have to be careful of what 00:45:44.432 --> 00:45:52.359 - you, what you choose to expose yourself to on, on social media. And if you choose to use it in the right 00:45:52.359 --> 00:45:58.398 - way, it can be a great, a great tool. Yeah. Anyone else want to add to that or? 00:45:58.818 --> 00:46:05.523 - Well, you know, other than that, it takes a lot of your day away. Like, you know, the mics, other people 00:46:05.523 --> 00:46:11.908 - online. I just want to say it does take a lot of your time away. Like as a student, I swear to God, 00:46:11.908 --> 00:46:18.485 - I'm at school and I'm just scrolling sometimes because it's just it sends in what's it called dopamine 00:46:18.485 --> 00:46:25.126 - to your brain and it just keep going. So I guess that's also a con that you have. You just got to learn 00:46:25.126 --> 00:46:28.574 - to put it away and and just focus on what is it's at. 00:46:28.674 --> 00:46:36.836 - It's at your hand. Congratulations to you four wonderful students. I'm curious about whether any of 00:46:36.836 --> 00:46:45.325 - you hold jobs outside of school and aside from that activities and sports extracurricular. I heard lots 00:46:45.325 --> 00:46:53.813 - of extracurriculars and how you balance that with maintaining your academic schedules. I'm just curious 00:46:53.813 --> 00:46:56.670 - to hear how you manage your lives. 00:47:01.314 --> 00:47:07.359 - Um, I work only in the summers, so I don't really have to worry about balancing my work life with school, 00:47:07.359 --> 00:47:13.232 - but I play tennis. And so right now I'm in season and like sectionals are next week and during finals. 00:47:13.232 --> 00:47:18.934 - So there's a lot going on, but luckily, um, Bloomington North does block schedules. So we only have 00:47:18.934 --> 00:47:24.637 - four classes a day and it like switches off every other day. And so it helps a little bit with like 00:47:24.637 --> 00:47:29.598 - balancing when I'm going to do my assignments. Cause I know that I have two days until 00:47:29.986 --> 00:47:35.868 - I have that class again. So I really just like staying organized and like planning out when stuff is 00:47:35.868 --> 00:47:41.866 - due and when I have to get stuff in by so that if I have a match one night, I can do that stuff before 00:47:41.866 --> 00:47:44.894 - it's actually due. So that kind of helps out a lot. 00:47:49.538 --> 00:47:54.895 - For me, yeah, I also do run cross country and track. So that's a year round. I'm training in between. 00:47:54.895 --> 00:48:00.305 - I have like a two week break after each season, but that means I'm training all through the winter and 00:48:00.305 --> 00:48:05.610 - all through the summer. So, I mean, I don't have a lot of free time, but I mean, I enjoy being busy, 00:48:05.610 --> 00:48:10.968 - especially with 4-H, whether it's club meetings or, you know, organizing these things outside of club 00:48:10.968 --> 00:48:16.798 - meetings. I have those responsibilities because I'm holding these leadership positions in my club. But I mean, 00:48:16.962 --> 00:48:23.324 - Obviously I've learned lots of time management skills through 4-H and I always say it's like the animals 00:48:23.324 --> 00:48:29.747 - have to be fed and then you can go in when it's dark and be doing your homework and doing all that stuff. 00:48:29.747 --> 00:48:36.049 - So 4-H has definitely played a huge role in developing those time management skills. And then also just 00:48:36.049 --> 00:48:42.169 - using your time wisely during school. It's easy to go on social media and scroll all day, which I do 00:48:42.169 --> 00:48:45.502 - sometimes, but I also have to hold myself accountable. 00:48:45.634 --> 00:48:54.176 - and be responsible during school hours so I can have free time after school to do things I enjoy. 00:48:54.176 --> 00:49:02.893 - Anyone else? Sure. So time management has been a big struggle for me, especially the last two years 00:49:02.893 --> 00:49:11.610 - of high school. I play soccer, travel soccer. I did play travel soccer. And so my junior year I was 00:49:11.610 --> 00:49:12.830 - doing travel. 00:49:13.218 --> 00:49:19.837 - I was traveling for robotics and traveling for soccer. Um, and a lot of the time it meant I had to sacrifice 00:49:19.837 --> 00:49:26.091 - one or the other. Um, and eventually this year I had to sacrifice soccer completely during the spring, 00:49:26.091 --> 00:49:32.223 - at least, uh, for robotics. So I think that's just the nature of, uh, wanting to do a lot of things. 00:49:32.223 --> 00:49:38.174 - You have to choose which ones are, are like most important and which ones you have to prioritize. 00:49:45.026 --> 00:49:55.203 - The younger generation seems to be more enthusiastic about change than a couple of the previous generations. 00:49:55.203 --> 00:50:04.540 - For all of you, what do you see around you that maybe is something different to encourage change in 00:50:04.540 --> 00:50:11.262 - the world and to make the world a better place without being political? 00:50:20.610 --> 00:50:26.614 - For me, especially with working with kids, I see a lot of like, I think it really inspires change or 00:50:26.614 --> 00:50:32.916 - like inspires me to like want to work for their future as well. Because I see all the things that they're 00:50:32.916 --> 00:50:39.277 - capable of. I see all the things they like doing and the things that they are passionate about, especially 00:50:39.277 --> 00:50:45.459 - the younger kids where they're still excited to come to school. They're excited to learn. They're still 00:50:45.459 --> 00:50:50.334 - like kind of developing their own personalities. Like I think that it like sparks 00:50:50.658 --> 00:51:01.090 - a little bit more like, I see more of what I want the future to look like for them. Does that answer 00:51:01.090 --> 00:51:11.522 - your question? Yes, congratulations to each and every one of you. So I would like for you to quickly 00:51:11.522 --> 00:51:17.822 - reflect and just speak to the role that mentoring has played 00:51:18.306 --> 00:51:27.221 - uh, in your lives, uh, up until this point. And then as you proceed on through your trajectory, how 00:51:27.221 --> 00:51:36.404 - do you see yourselves, uh, contributing to the lives of others as mentor? Um, so to touch on that, um, 00:51:36.404 --> 00:51:45.854 - I, my biggest mentors have been my teachers and as well as my parents. Um, I feel like nowadays a lot of, 00:51:46.018 --> 00:51:53.369 - us teens and younger generations are starting to like get heated in the moment and think of responses 00:51:53.369 --> 00:52:00.648 - sporadically without without thinking things throughly. And a lot of us take responses way too deep. 00:52:00.648 --> 00:52:08.072 - Um, and so sometimes, um, all the time our mentors teach us like to slow down, think about what you're 00:52:08.072 --> 00:52:14.558 - going to say. Um, and that's always been like a thing that I struggle with. Um, and they, 00:52:15.458 --> 00:52:21.494 - They remind you like I know Ms. Norris always reminds you making mistakes is okay. I think a lot of 00:52:21.494 --> 00:52:27.892 - us try to be perfectionist, but that's not how the way life is. You have to be constantly making mistakes 00:52:27.892 --> 00:52:34.350 - to learn and grow from that. And I know nowadays our culture is very like be perfect or you're not perfect 00:52:34.350 --> 00:52:40.507 - at all. And that's not how you should live life. And yeah, and you should always like keep in mind of 00:52:40.507 --> 00:52:43.102 - what others like put, put others feelings, 00:52:43.202 --> 00:52:50.860 - Like think about what others would feel if you said something to them. And yeah, like put yourself in 00:52:50.860 --> 00:52:58.668 - other people's shoes for sure. That's always been something that my mentors say to me. For me, the most 00:52:58.668 --> 00:53:06.175 - obvious example of mentorship are the mentors on my robotics team. And they are 100% volunteers and 00:53:06.175 --> 00:53:09.854 - they give so much time and effort into the team. 00:53:10.370 --> 00:53:17.498 - And they have been really what's inspired me to continue with the team and want to actually become a 00:53:17.498 --> 00:53:24.909 - robotics team mentor in college and throughout my life. Just the work they give to the team just because 00:53:24.909 --> 00:53:32.038 - they want to is really amazing. You know, spending nights sometimes until like 1 a.m. working on the 00:53:32.038 --> 00:53:34.014 - robot, traveling with us to 00:53:34.466 --> 00:53:41.252 - They just, we all just went down to Houston for a competition and their volunteer mentors just coming 00:53:41.252 --> 00:53:47.906 - with us just cause they love to do it. And it's really inspiring. It's been inspiring for me. Yeah. 00:53:47.906 --> 00:53:54.625 - To kind of answer your question too, is that like, I keep referencing 4-H because it's a big part of 00:53:54.625 --> 00:54:01.811 - my life. So, but I have all these mentors that I look up to. I follow their lead and, you know, incorporate 00:54:01.811 --> 00:54:02.942 - their leadership 00:54:03.106 --> 00:54:09.178 - into my leadership qualities. I've been surrounded by so many great people the past 10 years in 4-H. 00:54:09.178 --> 00:54:15.250 - So, and I just, I look up to them. I want to be just like them. And surrounding yourself with people 00:54:15.250 --> 00:54:21.263 - is just with the people with the same goals as you, you know, it builds you up and it's something I 00:54:21.263 --> 00:54:27.275 - want to continue to do in my future. I want to be surrounded with people that want to make a change 00:54:27.275 --> 00:54:32.926 - in the world. And I see myself after college, you know, coming back to Monroe County. I mean, 00:54:33.090 --> 00:54:40.519 - The 4-H program has been a big support system for me in the past 10 years. So I think I'd probably come 00:54:40.519 --> 00:54:48.090 - back and whether that's using my education from college to help or just volunteering my time as a leader, 00:54:48.090 --> 00:54:55.233 - something like that, something I see myself doing. If my math is correct, I believe the four of you 00:54:55.233 --> 00:55:01.662 - would have been sixth and seventh graders when COVID hit us. And I'm just curious to know 00:55:02.754 --> 00:55:14.313 - Do you still take any of those times with you socially, academically? Is there a long-term impact from 00:55:14.313 --> 00:55:25.086 - that? I believe that yes, there has been a long-term impact. The isolation that we were in just 00:55:25.506 --> 00:55:31.394 - like hindered our learning abilities. And when you're young like that, you need to be tactile with things. 00:55:31.394 --> 00:55:37.062 - You need to have one-on-one communication. And that just really took away communication skills. I feel 00:55:37.062 --> 00:55:42.620 - like a lot of us in my grade don't know like good communication skills, email etiquette, all of that 00:55:42.620 --> 00:55:48.287 - stuff. Like it's just taken away because our time was taken away. And I have a younger brother who was 00:55:48.287 --> 00:55:49.278 - just a child when 00:55:49.474 --> 00:55:59.563 - Corona hit, and I can definitely see the impact it's had on him. It's definitely made him more close-minded 00:55:59.563 --> 00:56:09.185 - than open-minded. And so yeah, that's very sad to see. But yeah, I do want to make sure that he's more 00:56:09.185 --> 00:56:17.406 - open in the world and sees things that he never got to see when he was little. So yeah. 00:56:18.722 --> 00:56:26.556 - For me, COVID, I think it had good and bad effects. Well, I think the bad was obviously, moving, 00:56:26.556 --> 00:56:34.876 - transitioning from elementary to middle school, I already was switching, like the middle school I went 00:56:34.876 --> 00:56:43.275 - to, only a couple of the people from my elementary school had gone there. So already that, I would have 00:56:43.275 --> 00:56:48.606 - to make new friends, but being online the whole year made it even 00:56:48.930 --> 00:56:56.225 - harder coming back in eighth grade trying to meet new people. And I didn't have, you know, an established 00:56:56.225 --> 00:57:03.451 - group of friends. And so I had to figure that out in eighth grade and throughout high school. So I think 00:57:03.451 --> 00:57:10.609 - that my life would have looked quite a bit different if, you know, I had had that whole start of middle 00:57:10.609 --> 00:57:18.110 - school in person. And so that was a negative thing. The good thing for me, I feel like it allowed me to have 00:57:18.338 --> 00:57:25.320 - some freedom to kind of find what I was interested in instead of being in school all day, you know, 00:57:25.320 --> 00:57:32.303 - being taught kind of a structured curriculum. I was able to kind of explore things on my own on the 00:57:32.303 --> 00:57:39.355 - internet, find what I love to do, robotics and watch videos and see stuff like that. So that was one 00:57:39.355 --> 00:57:42.078 - good thing that came out of it for me. 00:57:56.130 --> 00:58:02.624 - Thank you all. One of you mentioned the concept of doing an assignment before it's actually due. I wish 00:58:02.624 --> 00:58:09.117 - I had known that when I was in high school. So the four of you are going to inherit a world filled with 00:58:09.117 --> 00:58:15.486 - tremendous challenges, but also tremendous opportunities. So thank you for inspiring us and giving us 00:58:15.486 --> 00:58:22.229 - all hope for the future. So in honor of your talk, a donation will be made this quarter to Wheeler Mission. 00:58:22.229 --> 00:58:25.726 - I'd like to thank today's volunteers, Daniel Schliegel, 00:58:25.890 --> 00:58:34.694 - Glenda Murray, Jeff Richardson, Joy Harder, Marcy Hibbard, Bill Oates, Lance Eberly, Hank Walter, 00:58:34.694 --> 00:58:43.858 - Alan Barker, Sally Gaskell, Sarah Loughlin, Brad Meyer, Steve Engel, Jonas Chang, Diana Hoffman, lots 00:58:43.858 --> 00:58:53.021 - of volunteers. Our next meeting, thank you. Our next meeting will be here in the Georgian Room on May 00:58:53.021 --> 00:58:55.806 - 19th, excuse me, next Tuesday, 00:58:56.162 --> 00:59:05.355 - Dason Anderson, the Limestone Post, will speak to us about stories that inform, engage, and inspire. 00:59:05.355 --> 00:59:14.548 - Please join us. Tyler, if you would share the graphic for the four-way test, and please stand if you 00:59:14.548 --> 00:59:23.832 - are able, and join me. Of the things we think, say, or do, first, is it the truth? Second, is it fair 00:59:23.832 --> 00:59:25.470 - to all concerned? 00:59:25.986 --> 00:59:35.109 - Third, will it build goodwill and better friendships? Fourth, will it be beneficial to all concerned? 00:59:35.109 --> 00:59:43.070 - And fifth, is it fun? Right here. Go ahead. And now we're giving out the $25,000 checks.