On November 18th, a delegation of President Ed and members Frances and Diana from our club attended the General Assembly meeting of the Vancouver School Board (VSB) where we made a presentation to elected School Board Trustees and other Board representatives and staff, including teacher, union and student representatives.
The purpose of the presentation was to share the good work that Rotary does to support VSB's mission and Vancouver schools, including funding and hands-on service support for scholarships, computer equipment and reading/literacy, learning and youth leadership programs. We also provided an overview of Rotary's presence in Vancouver which currently comprises:
- 7 Rotary clubs whose 250+ members are professionals of all ages.
- 3 Rotaract clubs of 100+ post-secondary students and young professionals. The purpose of Rotaract is to provide an opportunity for young people (ages 18-30ish) to enhance the skills that will assist in their personal development, to address the needs of their local communities, and to promote better relations through international service.
- 5 Interact clubs of 100+ high-school students (Strathcona, King George, Centennial, Point Grey & Winston Churchill). Interact is a service club for students ages 12-18 that strives to inspire, develop leadership skills, and provide a fun opportunity to connect with other youth focused on providing service both locally and internationally. Sponsored by Rotary Clubs, Interact Clubs are either school, community, or online based, and are self-governing and self-supporting. The term Interact, is derived from "inter "for international, and "act" for action.
- 1 EarlyAct club of elementary students ages 5-12 which is launching at Strathcona Elementary. EarlyAct is a school-based club for elementary students from ages 5 to 13. It is sponsored by a local Rotary club in the community and provides young students the opportunity to gain an increased involvement, awareness, and knowledge of their community and the world.
VSB Chair Carmen Cho thanked us for our presentation and sharing some "good news" during these challenging times. She also indicated they would be following up on our two requests to provide us with a designated VSB contact person for Rotary information sharing or partnership requests and our invitation to have 1-2 VSB members consider membership in a Vancouver Rotary Club.
A final shout out to Frances and Ron for their persistence and efforts in reaching out to their VSB contacts to get us this opportunity to share the Rotary story with our community's educational leaders.