President Doug Person opened the meeting and asked Jonnie Dukes – proud Rotarian and everyone’s favorite bar manager from Sapore Italiano – to lead the pledge. Mark Johnson provided the invocation, focusing on the importance of teachers and administrators, highlighting how their work fosters creativity and innovation in students. Rotary awards for just these types of individuals in our community were bestowed shortly thereafter.
Visitors:
Thirty-three people attended the meeting. Our club continues to draw a big crowd, thanks to the many local service projects we are connected to, as well as our compelling speakers. The delicious lunch for this meeting was provided by Luis Gonzalez, owner of Los Triki Tacos and a former BHS student and Rotary Scholar. Our other visitors were Sandy Kaur who was visiting for the third time; Krista Birrell, winner of Outstanding Teacher from Burlingame Intermediary School (BIS); Karen Hartmann, Outstanding Teacher from BHS as well as her husband and parents; Carlos Moreno of Peninsula Clean Energy and former BHS student and Rotary Scholar; and Greg Land BIS Principal and San Mateo Union High School District Board Member
Club Business
Jeff Krolik alerted members to a Survey Monkey being sent out to gather opinions on meeting frequency.
Bobba Venkatadri provided an update on the club's international service project in Andhra Pradesh, India, where $450,000 has been successfully raised for computerized facilities at residential schools serving 800 girls. He invited members to visit the project in December and see the good work of this initiative firsthand.
Awards
The Club presented Outstanding Teacher Awards to two teachers. BHS Principal Jen Fong presented the award to Karen Hartmann, a biology teacher recognized for her work with special needs and multilingual learners. BIS Principal Greg Land presented their award to Krista Birrell, a teacher known for her leadership class, theater program and peer counseling initiatives. Both teachers were roundly applauded and celebrated for their outstanding work. We are proud to have these great teachers in our community.
Program
Matt Biggar, Ph.D., himself a former principal at Burlingame High School and Burlingame Rotarian, delivered the main presentation, based on the themes of his new book, Connected to Place. It was a fascinating discussion about how people and communities can become reconnected to their natural surroundings, community and local economies. He described a framework for action that can be restorative and can help heal the environmental, social and health crises our country is facing.
Matt outlined eight systems that could be transformed at the local level to promote place-based living, including housing, work, shopping, transportation, public space, nature access, food systems, and regional economy. The presentation concluded with four catalysts for systems change: strategic collaboration, restructuring government, place-based education, and personal change.
The New Standard in Satellite Navigation from Burlingame, CA
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