Rotary Log Aug 8 2017 (Aug 08, 2017)

THE ROTARY CLUB OF EVERETT meeting on August 8, 2017 was called to order and led in the Pledge of Allegiance at 12:05 by President Will McMahan. (We were greeted at the door by Greeters Amy Norman and Tara Eckstrom.

The Thought of the Day came to us by Judge George Bowden who spoke about Judges and Robes which commands respect. His story included being the presiding judge in juvenile detention and the individual dropping the “F” bomb (in which Judge Bowden did that day). The thought of the day was “Even if your work is serious, don’t take yourself too seriously”.

Meeting Sponsor was Compass Health. Tom Kozaczynski stated that Compass Health’s mission is to advance behavioral health in Snohomish County and surrounding counties. Compass Health is hosting a fundraising event at the Tulalip Resort Casino Spa for two camp programs; Camp Outside the Box and Camp Mariposa.

Introduction of Visiting Rotarians by Amy Norman. District Governor Elect Linda Murray from South Everett/Mukilteo club. Guest: Lyle Ryan introduced Katie Kelleher who is the granddaughter of Past District Governor Kathy DeTurk and an intern at Coastal Community Bank this summer, Janice Ellis introduced Espen Diamond our current exchange student who will be going to Norway, Tom Kozaczynski introduced Jarod Drozdaski from Compass Health, and Sean Kelly introduced Scott Beers, speaker for the program.

Announcements:

Introduction of new Members: Kelly Shepherd, Sequoia High School, has been the principal for 7 years and 8 years at North Middle School, and is a graduate of PLU. She is sponsored by Roy Yates and introduced by Lyle Ryan. Tony Orso, Bridgeway – Director of Manufacturing is a third generation Everett-ite, has five children and four grandchildren. He sponsored and was introduced by Ed Petersen. Both were given a name tag, Rotary pin and history of the club.
Rotarians around the World – Josh O’Connor reported that the program was a huge success last year. The Herald will continue the program for this year. The program is to take the Herald paper with you on your travels and take a photo and send to Josh. The Herald will place the photo in the newspaper.
Membership Committee – Lyle Ryan thanked the ones who brought in the two new members. We have three more individuals going through the process to become new members. Membership goal is 3.5 Rotarians a month. Thank you everyone!
Fellowship Committee – Joe Gaffney stated that the WSU Tour is August 21^st at 5 pm. 27 people have signed up. Thank you to Paul Pitre for setting this up.
Happy Hour Social – Sean George stated that Thursday, August 10^th, is the first happy hour monthly social. It will be from 5 pm to 7 pm at Anthony’s Home Port Everett.
Rotary Leadership Institute – President Will McMahan reported that September 23^rd is the day for the RLI in Mount Vernon. The club pays the $85 and other are going so we can carpool.
Rotary Youth Exchange – Espen Diamond leaves Wednesday, August 9^th, for Norway. Janice Ellis had a BBQ to thank the families and welcomed Courtney Hooks home. Will McMahan thanked Janice for a great youth exchange program.

Happy Dollars/Birthday Bucks/Raffle:

Amy Norman gave $50 for her daughter’s birthday.

Michael Hawkes celebrated his 40^th anniversary. Janice Ellis thanked Michael Hawkes for stepping in for the Thought of the Day as she was stuck on the bench. PP Tom Koenig is $20 happy as Zeb is back to cut his hair. Rich Toyer had a birthday on Sunday and it was a $100 bell ringer. Mike McGinnis is happy as his youngest son surprised him at this birthday celebration in Lake Chelan. Paul Stoot is happy for the opportunity to see Kenny Easley inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Ed Peterson had a $100 bell ringer as seven grandchildren were given an opportunity to choose there to visit and they chose Norway – had a 24 day vacation in Norway visiting relatives. Tammy Dunn gave happy bucks for the Snohomish County Sports Hall of Fame Banquet, September 27^th, tickets are available and our own Rotarian, Steve Miller, will be inducted in to the Sports Hall of Fame.

Raffle: wine, hat and lunch to Rich Toyer; hat and wine to Todd Morrow, and Autographed placemats and cups to Paul Pitre.

Program introduction by Sean Kelly. Scott Beers has been a faculty member at Seattle Pacific University for 13 years and brother-in-law of Sean Kelly.

Program: “The Gender Gap in Writing” presented by Scott Beers. Scott surveyed the audience on who wrote in a journal when they were in school. More woman Rotarians wrote in journals than men Rotarians from his survey taken of the audience. Surveys indicate that women write in a journal or diary more than men and women are engage in writing. Comparisons have been made between school aged boys and girls writing. He showed examples of the real world such as job application, interview and menus.

He discussed how writing happens. It begins with generating ideas (what do I want to communicate?). The translation which is mapping ideas onto appropriate language. Children have some difficulty with this complex process. Transcription is the handwriting and keyboard part of the process. For some spelling can be complex so spelling skills affect writing skills. Last part of this is review/revision. He showed graph charts on the difference between boys and girls with reading, math and writing. There is a gap of 20% between boys and girls in 4^th grade. Not only Washington, but nationally. There are many reasons why there is a gap with writing. The reasons could be attitudes about writing/cultural messaging, amount of independent writing, “girl-friendly” topics privileged in class, biological/genetic differences, and differences in writing fluency in early grades. He stated that teaching transcription improves writing. Recommendations he gave are must write more – in and out of class, achieve handwriting and keyboarding fluency, choice of topic, genre matters, and adults should counter the message that “writing is for girls”.

1:05 Thank you and wrap up by President Will.

Next Program: August 15: “Camp Korey” presented by Dan Stearns.