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Clark Tenney, Superintendent of our Prescott Unified School District, began his message to our club as a Myth Buster. He addressed 7 popular negative myths related to our Prescott Schools — none of which he says are true; and he shared with us the reasons why each is an inaccurate representation of the facts. Education in Arizona, he said, tends to be categorized as being at the very botttom of all of the states. Those ratings, he explained, are primarily based on the comparative amount of money which is being allocated by each state for education. That part, he said, is true. Education in all of Arizona is seriously under-funded, and that urgently needs to be addressed and corrected, for many reasons he cited. However, he said an accurate evaluation of education in Prescott needs to be based on the quality of the education that is being delivered, the test results that are being achieved, and some of the really exceptional student leaders our Prescott schools are producing with the limited funds which are available to them. Overall, according to Tenney, our students are scoring well, our schools are highly-respected, and we have good teacher retenion, in spite of their below-average pay. One of our greatest maintenance challenges is that the average of our school buildings in Presott is 70 years old. He said school bonds can help greatly to provide more essential local funding for education; and he encouraged us to help support a school bond issue, the next time one appears on our ballot. While they used to be routinely approved, with our aging population, and the large influx of retirees from California, it has been increasingly difficult to get any local school bonds approved. Among other things, Tenney expressed appreciaton to our Sunup Rotary Club for our sponsorship of a top-notch Interact Club at Prescott High School, and for the remarkable number of students from that program who have served as Interact Ambasadors to Kenya and to Mexico. He said he was happy to learn that we are sponsoring this year a new Interact Club at Mile High Middle School. All of this adds to the excepional opportunities youth have to get an outstading education from our Prescott Schools. Rotary's PolioPlus Polio Eradication Initiative Paul Alexander, Polio Survivor, Attorney and Author, in his iron lung Paul Richard Alexander (January 30, 1946 – March 11, 2024) was an American paralytic polio survivor, attorney and author. After contracting polio in 1952 at the age of six, he spent the remainder and vast majority of his life in an iron lung, and is currently recognized as the person to have spent the longest period of time occupying one at almost 72 years. Within a week of developing synptoms, he lost the ability to breath independently and was paralyzed for life, only able to move his head, neck and mouth. Decades following his disablement, Alexander earned a bachelor's degree and Juris Doctor at the University of Texas in Austin. He was admitted to the bar in 1986. He self-published a memoir in 2020 and, late in life, built a following on TikTok. Paul said,. "I spent a lot of time in the iron lung, but I didn't live in it — I lived outside it, in my mind, my heart, and the life I created. He was, indeed, a remarkable man, and his full story is worth researching and reading! During a major U.S. outbreak of polio in the early 1950s, thousands of children were treated in large wards of iron lungs in hospitals across the country. It was a time of major panic in this country. Children were not permitted to go to movie theaters or to swim in public pools. No one was certain how the disease was spreading. City-dwellers caught trains to escape to small towns in the country, only to be prevented from getting off the trains in those towns by residents who feared they would be carrying the dreaded disease. After the Sabin and Salk polio vaccines were developed, and polio was contained in this country, and after sponsoring a successful initiative in the Philippines to eradicate polio there. since 1985 Rotary has been leading a worldwide initiative to eradicate polio from the face of the earth. We are almost there, with only two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, remaining where the wild polio virus still exists. Every Rotarian should be proud of our Polio-Plus program, and what we have accomplished so far. Most important, we need to be continuing to contribute to this initiative, until we have reached our goal of a polio-free world. CLUB SERVICE Four More New Members Inducted Chris Cox, shown here with Co-Presidents John Williams and Bob Ticer, is a retired Contractor from California.  Rotary DG Jim Schmidt was able to assist in the induction of Ramona Burton-Ogburn, a Contract Administrator, and with George Umlauf, a transfer from Prescott-Frontier, and Tim Wiederaenders, who is tranferring from Prescott-Sunup. Our Satellite PV Rotary Club has announced that their next meeting, on October 14, will be the last meeting that their members on record will be designated as "Charter Members." They expect to induct four more new members at that Oct. 14 meeting. Sunup's First Annual Chili Cook-Off fundraiser is coming up quickly. It is being held at Touchmark at the Ranch on Saturday, October 25, from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. We have three hundred $25 Chili Sampling tickets needing to be sold, and all club members are urged to help sell those tickets. Parshalla Wood, our ticket coordinator, will have tickets available at this week's Wednesday evening meeting. She can also be reached at parshallawood@gmail.com, or by calling (928) 713-6716, to answer your questions, and to obtain tickets.. COMMUNITY SERVICE Diaper Bundling this Wednesday This is the week when our quarterly social meeting at 5:00 this Wednesday evening will be devoted to bundling diapers for our Bundles of Love Diaper Drive project. Your help is needed! INTERNATIONAL SERVICE International Service Director Todd Clancy and John Stewart are looking for additional club members who might be interested in joining them in Yuma for this conference, Oct. 25 - Nov. 3. This is an exceotional opportunity to learn, first-hand, how large Rotary Foundation Global Grant Projects are put together with the necessary Rotary partners. For more information, you can reach Todd at (480) 285-7719, or taclancy2000@yahoo,com. You can reach John at (928) 445-1786, or johnlump@msn.com. DISTRICT NEWS An Invitation from District Governor Jim Schmidt Are you curious about all the ways you can grow, connect, and serve beyond your club? Thinking about getting more involved but not sure where to begin? Join us for District 5495 Opportunities Information Night—a welcoming, interactive session where you’ll discover how your talents can make an impact at the district level. Event Details:
Date: Wednesday, October 8th
Time: 6pm
Location: Zoom –https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88474042455?pwd=PWkkMH84NWtSubDmTDbz9gcJP5Ho8C.1 Meeting ID: 884 7404 2455
Passcode: 039533 What You’ll Experience: - Explore district committees and projects making a difference.
- Ask questions in a relaxed, open Q&A format.
- Learn about flexible roles—many can be done entirely online, no matter where you live.
- Discover opportunities to grow your leadership skills while serving causes you care about.
Whether you’re looking for a small role that fits your schedule or a larger leadership opportunity, this is the perfect place to see where your passion meets purpose in District 5495. Don’t miss your chance to connect, learn, and step into new possibilities. We look forward to seeing you there! We are contginuing to operate the Snack Shack on Thursday and Friday nights through Oct. 17. Use Signup Genius and this link tso check for remaining dates where your help may be needed: httRs://www.signuRgenius.com/go/10C0945AAA92BA1FAC07-55674747-little  We understand the National Weather Service published instructions this summer on how to bake lasagna in your mailbox. __ L:ast night, my wife asked me if I’d seen the dog bowl. I said, “I didn’t know he could.” __ I switched all the labels on my wife’s spice rack. I’m not in trouble yet, but the thyme is cumin. __ Pre- means before, and Post - means after. Using them both at the same time would be preposterous. __ WARNING: Do NOT give Rice Krispies to young children. Now, when I stand up, I snap, crackle and pop! __ I am so tired of my friends who cannot handle their alcohol. Last night they dropped me 3 times, while carrying me to the car. __ It’s perfectly OK to talk to yourself,
And it’s perfectly OK to answer yourself.
But it’s totally sad that you have to repeat what you said
Because you weren’t listening. __ |
