MEMBERS ATTENDING (13): Jim Leyhane, Andy Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Kevin Leyhane, Debbie Rodriguez, Phil Kellerman, Peter Brown, Dick Drumm, Ray Hannan, Terry Brewer and Pat Bailey. Via Zoom: Becky Raymond and Charlie Foote.

GUESTS (2): Maria Coady and Dina Sevayega.

President Kevin Leyhane called the meeting to order.

Theme for the Year: “Growing Fellowship and Service Locally and Globally.” 

Hybrid Meeting:  Please let Kevin Leyhane, Jim Leyhane or Roberto Martinez know if you plan to join the weekly meeting via Zoom.

Proxy Votes:  If unable to attend please submit your proxy votes to President Kevin Leyhane or any board member who will be attending the meeting. Proxy votes can also be submitted using the Remind App. Text to the number 81010.

MEETING NOTES

Club Email and Phone Number: The new Club email is SRCRotary1960@Gmail.com. The email and the Club’s phone number have been updated on website.  If you notice any information that needs to be updated on the Club’s website, please notify Kevin Leyhane. Roberto Martinez also suggested that the Club appoint Peter Brown as the Membership Chair so that he may make edits in My Rotary.

One District One Book: Jeff Simons, Superintendent of the East Greenbush Central School District, sent a letter on behalf of their Global Education Committee thanking the Club for our $1000 donation to purchase copies of the book “The Elephant in the Room.” The Committee is sponsoring a Project to have the entire District read the book by Holly Goldberg Sloan. The start date has not yet been determined because of delays in obtaining the books.

Iron Giraffe Project: Students from the Maple Hill International Club spoke last week about their fundraiser for Water for South Sudan.  The Club will donate fifty percent of the proceeds from the Rotary Bowling Event to the Maple Hill International Club for their fundraiser. In addition, the Club will also donate another $500 for the fundraiser.

Rotary Bowling Event:  Per Phil Kellerman, the event will be held on April 2nd (Sunday) from 2 pm until 4 pm. Phil will also check to see if the event can be held from 1 pm until 3 pm. To date, Phil has commitments for 12 sponsorships at $50 a lane. He would like 16. He proposed a raffle for a $50 gift certificate. It was suggested that participants who bought food to donate to the Anchor Food Pantry will get a free ticket. Phil contacted the Pantry. The Pantry suggested donations of peanut butter and jelly, toiletries, instant mashed potatoes and cereal. Please let Phil Kellerman know if you are planning to attend. Pat Bailey and Ray Hannan are helping Phil plan this event.

Rotary Plaque for Moscatiello’s: Moscatiello’s management approved the plaque and will place it by one of the doors.

Albany Water Project Presentation: Len Tantillo, noted historical artist, and B.J. Costello will speak on March 9th about the proposed waterway in downtown Albany. Attendance is limited to 50 people. A buffet will be served. The cost is $25 per person. The buffet choices will be Penne with Marinera Sauce, Chicken Lemone and Sausage and Meatball with Cannoli for dessert and coffee. Capacity has been met, anyone else interested in the presentation is invited to join via Zoom.

Pre-PETS Schedule: Roberto Martinez joined the February 15 meeting on Club Finances and Insurance. They discussed taxes, budgets and membership counts. The new District will consist of 100 Clubs with 3,000 members. PETS training will be held in Syracuse. Let Kevin Leyhane know if you are interested in attending.

Next Meeting: Note that there is no meeting next week. The next meeting will be Thursday, March 2, dinner at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant, Route 4, North Greenbush. Also, you can join the by Zoom using the link on the websites calendar page.

Entree choices for March 2 will be Penne Ala Vodka, Rustica Salid and Baked Sausage and Peppers.

Dr. Coady is Professor of Multilingual Education and is the Goodnight Distinguished Professor in Educational Equity at North Carolina State University. She holds a Ph.D. in Bilingual, Multicultural and Social Foundations of Education from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She has been a teacher, teacher-educator and advocate for English language learners in the US and abroad for over 30 years. She also provides educational professional development in the US, Ukraine, China and the United Arab Emirates. She was awarded the American Educational Research Association “Exemplary Contributions for Practice-Engaged Research” in 2020 for her work with rural, multilingual communities.

There are over 5 million multilingual learners (ML) students in grades K through 12 in the US who are learning English as an additional language. Seventy-five percent of these students are Spanish speaking. In North Carolina, 80 percent of the counties are rural and have population growths attributed to Spanish speaking families. North Carolina has 1.4 million students in grades K through 12. Of these, there are 270,000 students who speak a language other than Englis with Spanish is being the most widely used. The rural districts have found an increase in the number of students from Haiti. Only 50% of rural districts offer English as a second language (ESL) compared to city districts where 89% offer ESL Bilingual education is more effective than ESL.

Dr. Coady did a Talking Tour, speaking with ML educators about problems they have encountered. There are issues with teacher retention, teacher to student ratios that vary significantly, no access to bilingual social workers and psychologists, no native language assessment materials and ML family engagement.

The LEAD Foundation was incorporated in 2013. They provide scholarships for high achieving students whether they are documented or undocumented, migrant or ML. Students submit applications, their GPA and usually an essay about what they want to study. Their submissions are reviewed. The applicants are interviewed by Phil Kellerman regarding what obstacles and challenges they have overcome, their goals and plans as to how they will finance the remainder of their education after the $1000 per semester scholarship is awarded. These students contribute back to their communities. To learn more about LEAD, go to http://www.languageeducate.org.