High Gear May 3, 2017

Posted by Rosalie McCloud on May 04, 2017
 
 
 
Superlatives to describe the weather fail me.  Just know Himself loves us!!!!   Duffy and Mark Johnson manned the greeting table.  Mr. Galligan took time to rest up from tax time.  President Stan could not be with us today. Perhaps he is sunning himself on some beautiful island in a broad-brimmed hat, long-sleeved shirt, and long pants over his Sunscreen 150!  Dr. Webb was a bit of a spoilsport methinks.  In any event we were treated with the President Pro Tem Fritz Brauner, who shall hereinafter be referred to as PPT Fritz or PPT Brauner, as the occasion may suggest.
 

Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation

PPT Brauner invited Bill Tiedeman to lead us in the pledge.  Nary a stutter.  No Rotarian identified him- or herself as the invoker.  Rosalie McCloud volunteered, uttering the immortal words “Bless these sinners as they eat their dinners.”   Inspired, one must admit.

Guests and Visiting Rotarians

Marilyn Orr introduced guest T. Anne Lassahn, MPA, CLPF.  Her business is fiduciary services.  Please come back and visit, Anne; you can tell us why we need fiduciary services.  Jennifer Pence introduced her colleague Chino Baluyut, CEO of Sentence Center in north Burlingame.  Chino’s company offers Writing Classes and Tutoring.  Accompanied by Burlingame Rotarian and Principal of Burlingame High School Paul Belzer,  was our guest and speaker Dr. Kevin Skelly, Superintendent of the San Mateo Union High School District.
 
 

Announcements

Sadly, we all signed a card of condolence to Marianne Kristofferson who has lost her business partner, Mr. Vocker, with whom she worked for many years in their firm Vocker Kristofferson and Co.  We’re thinking of you and your staff, Marianne.
A note of fun and promise, Cary Koh will be joining Emily Matthews on the Fun (and games, apparently) Committee.  Whoop! Whoop!!!  At least one of us will not be participating in anything with a potential for drowning!
Bob Doerr announced an upcoming (May 21) fundraiser which will be known as Burlingame Bistro and held at the Doubletree Hotel on a Sunday from 4:30 to 7:30. Dinner will be provided by various Burlingame restaurants.   More details next week.  SAVE THE DATE.
 
The membership committee is hoping to assign each new member a mentor.  This person is in addition to the sponsor.  The mentor is meant to guide the new member in the process of working through the list of tasks to be performed prior to receiving a square badge.  The sponsor can help as well, of course.  In honor of our May programs featuring educators and with the school year moving toward its end, PPT Fritz asked if the Rotarians would share stories from their high school years, early the last century. Professor Kimball had some challenging years with a wonderful teacher named Winston Grant Gray.    Mr. Gray queried the future Professor Kimball:  What is the definition of a sentence? The answer was, “A word, or a group of words used to express a thought.”  Mr. Gray thought this important, so “suggested” Mike write the sentence 100 times.  It worked.  All these years later, Mike retained the question and the answer.  What exactly would be a one-word sentence?  Nonsense.

Program

Dr. Skelly’s first visit to Burlingame Rotary was May 16, 2016, almost exactly a year ago.   He became Superintendent in 2015.  We learned then that Dr. Skelly was born in England and came to us from Ireland at Age Two. He holds degrees in economics from Harvard University, and a Ph.D in Education and Policy Administration from U.C. Berkeley.  He came to us from Palo Alto Unified School District and was Superintendent of Mountain View Whisman School District.
Dr. Skelly is married, has four children, one still at University. Schools are an important community resource.  Dr. Skelly has spent a lot of time dealing with a variety of protests, ensuring all participants are safe. Burlingame High School is enriched with a great number of children of Italian descent. As such, the school continues its Italian classes and sponsors student exchange programs to Italy, and visits from Italian kids.
A major challenge in our high schools is to ease and encourage the transition from high school to college. Accredited Community College classes should be taken in high school.  Remedial classes don’t give credit toward college requirements.  Expansion of “Middle College” as operated at CSM should allow our high school Juniors and Seniors to attend on the Middle School site.
Social-emotional needs of students must be met.  In our day it was drugs and alcohol, binge drinking. Today it is stress: kids are stressed about everything, especially their futures.  They always feel stress.
Dr. Kelly pointed out that “breaking up” is stressful;  today it’s called the“slow fade.”  Sounds just about right.  Seeing signs of “slow fade” can certainly be stressful.  Some Rotary jokester observed that Professor Kimball, having had many ladies in and out of his life, most chivalrously confesses “It’s not you, it’s I.”  Always punctilious, that Professor Kimball. The District has received grants to institute programs directed at relieving stress. It has been widely discussed that a later start time for school could increase sleep time and alleviate stress.  It is felt that the unintended consequence would be putting the school population and their chauffeurs out on the street in peak traffic. Teacher housing is a great challenge.  Housing ratios had been 6:1, now is 17:1.   The District is hoping to acquire Mills High School. Housing would be built with the playing fields preserved for community use. BART is immediately accessible Dr. Skelly knows teenagers and deems them talented and ethical.  They don’t fight, they don’t drink and drive. College is not for everyone.  Burlingame High School offers a course in “Green Construction.”   Our continuation school should be close to businesses where the students could study part of the day and work in real, private businesses part of the day. Thanks so much, Dr. Skelly.  We will look forward to your next visit!
May 10  Ron Galatolo, Chancellor, Community College District of San Mateo
May 17  Paul Belzer, Principal, Burlingame High School
May 21  James Higa and Sheryl Young, PVF
 
MAY BIRTHDAYS
May 13      Pierre Bouquet
                  Rose Camarena
May 17      Mike Mahoney