September 10, 2020

Selinsgrove Area Rotary Club

Vol. 93, No. 10 – President – Dan Mahoney – Editor – Carol Handlan

 

Next Meeting:  September 17, 2020 –  Our speaker will be Michael Bobb. You have to attend to find out what his topic will be.  Ken Wagner, host.

September 10, 2020:  23 Rotarians and (2) guests joined us for our social distant lunch meeting at SVCC. Host, Marv Rudnitsky, introduced Dr. Frank Jankowski, his neighbor and Superintendent of Selinsgrove Area School District. Dr. Jankowski is married and lives in Selinsgrove borough with his wife and three children. He was second in command under Dr. Chad Chors so he was very familiar with the school district, which serves 2,674 students and has 324 employees, when he assumed the role of our Superintendent. The COVID-19 pandemic was already upon us and stated they started preparing on how to open the 2020-2021 school year when school ended in June. Three factors went into that planning process: Preparation, Stakeholders and Feedback to maximize a safe reopening environment while following policies and guidelines.  The difficult part was understanding and interpreting state and/or federal communications: What were “requirements”, “mandates” or are they “recommendations”? The school district reviewed closely all of the feedback from the stakeholders in making their decisions. It was critical to establishing the policies that would be followed and getting the buy-in from the stakeholders. While ensuring the process allowed flexibility since there are so many unknowns. Striving to make decisions while remaining cognizant of all aspects pertaining to a “gray area” situation that may arise.  Selinsgrove school district was the first district in the region to reopen. Dually providing in-school and on-line academics. Though academics are first priority, extracurricular activities will take place with limited attendance to ensure compliance to the 250 maximum capacity for large groups. Marty Blessing shared this month’s book selection, in the name of our speaker: The Room Where It Happens by John Bolton.

Announcements: 1) President Dan acknowledge, in addition to our speaker, guest Sharon McCuen. 2) Dave shared that the Car Show Committee had a good first meeting with the borough. 3) Art noted that the Golf Ball Drop will be November 7th at 1:00pm. He has the tickets to be distributed and thanked Malcolm for stepping up to take over maintaining the spreadsheet. 4) Hal shared that we received an acknowledgement of our donation on behalf of Bob Fogel from Sharon Luthern Church. 5) Dottie installed Shawn Felty as a member of our club.

Sergeant at Arms:  Marv Rudnitsky acknowledged Melissa and Tom’s birthdays. He provided some humor and collected $43 in happy fines. Again, with social distancing, and masks being worn, I may have missed a few. Carol (Speaker/Guest /Tom) Toby (Speaker/Guest/Shawn) Raven (Speaker/Guest/Shawn) Malcolm (Speaker) Marty (Speaker/Assateague Island) Don (Speaker) Earl (Making Goal) John (Speaker/Tom) Art (West Virginia) Mike F (Speaker) Mary (Speaker/Shawn/Eggs) Hal (Speaker) Kelly (Speaker/REC) Dr. Jankowski (Invite/Beautiful day).

Future Programs:
September 17 – Ken Wagner, host. – Michael Bobb speaker
September 24 – Stacey Napoli, host – Joanne Troutman President/CEO of the Greater Susquehanna Valley United Way.
October 1 – Kelly Feiler, host – TBA
October 8 – Carol Handlan, host – TBA

Birthdays:
September 3 -Tom Gates, 5 – John Fischer, 6 – Melissa Laniewski, 24 – Don Summers

Quotation: “Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.” – John F. Kennedy