Speaker:  Lara Beaulieu, Executive Director, English in Action  This non-profit program was founded in 1994 with the intention of bridging the cultural divide that exists when immigrants without English skills attempt to assimilate.  The program started in conjunction with the Basalt Library and has grown to the point that 250 non English speaking people are brought into the program each year.  It depends on volunteer tutors who provide one on one tutoring on a regularly scheduled basis with the goal of better job opportunities, promotions, citizenship qualification, and a better understanding of one's English speaking children.

 

The motto for English in Action is 'Me + You=We'.  Students have come from 33 different countries with Spanish being the language of a large percentage of the students.  Currently, there is a waiting list of two years with 120 people on the list.  This can be improved by the addition of more volunteer tutors.  John Keleher, Peter Johnson and guest Mike Connelly have all had rewarding experiences as tutors and spoke about these experiences.

 

                  

Guests:  Christina King hosted Danielle Arca and Amanda Wagner . Mike Connelly was again the guest of Jeanette Darnauer. Adam Harrison, Aspen High school student and winner of an Aspen Rotary Student Scholarship along with his Mother, Halley.  Adam is a senior at Aspen High School and has been accepted to Georgetown University in the fall.  He spoke about how grateful he felt and thanked us enthusiastically. Ann Harris, Carbondale Rotary member and former District Governor

Thursday, May 19:  Noah David of Solar Rollers, a non-profit bringing highly engaging energy education to young people.

 

Thursday, May 26: Barb Pitchford, internationally-renowned author on the topic of why highly-effective principals are critical for highly-effective schools. (A few of our younger Rotarians may remember Barb as their principal at Aspen Elementary School!)

The board meeting scheduled for May 13 has been moved to Friday, May 20 at 7:30 a.m.  Same location.

Ducky Derby Sponsorship Committee:  Dwayne Romero enthusiastically announced that we have broken the $100K mark and that prospects for meeting this year's goal are rosy.  He said "our committee is kicking butt while saving Chris Bendon's butt".  Apparently, no ifs ands or 'butts' are accepted as an excuse for weak performances.  He credited John Engels and Llwyd Ecclestone, in particular  for their efforts to reach out to businesses in our community.