Lynwood Rotary Meeting Update 01.12.2017
At the January 12, 2017 meeting, members and guests again talked about how the New Year was celebrated with their friends and families.
Rotary Events. President Ramon mentioned again the annual Rotary District conference will be held May 4 thru May 7, at the Lake Arrowhead Hotel & Spa. Rotary member Joe Wang mentioned that he attended a meeting on Sat, Jan 7, to interview 5 candidates for the position of District Governor for Rotary District 5280. He explained that there were 15 members on the selection panel, including 3 past District governors, who could not vote. As Joe mentioned last week of the 5 candidates, 4 are women and 1 is a man.
Rotary visitor from Argentina: Before the presentation from the speaker, a Rotary guest from Argentina spoke about her club's activities and expressed her interest about Rotary activities at the Lynwood Rotary Club. Daniel and President Ramon provided a translation of her remarks. She explained that her city is close to Paraguay, a long air flight from Buenos Aires. For possible communication in the future her contact information is included: Maria Luisa Mudwtti, Ciudad Resistencia, Chao, Republica Argentina, armonyspa@hotmail.com, cell 54-9-3624842082.
Tony Hua, Director Secondary Education, Lynwood Unified School District (LUSD). Assisted by a power point program, Mr. Hua explained the purpose and programs of Career Tech Pathways. (CTP) The purpose is to train students for specific career paths with the assistance of businesses and governmental entities.
Mr. Hua provided statistics showing the growing accomplishments of Lynwood students, to include the fact that this last year the graduation percentage was 94% for Lynwood High School and 96% for Firebaugh High School. This compares with around 60% some years ago.
CTP, Mr. Hua noted is not about programs per se, but about encouraging students to be productive. “We have a chance to save all these kids, not to give up on them.” It is important to develop partnerships with businesses, such as dental offices and retail businesses, and culinary arts and engineering skills. Our goal is that 100% of the students be enrolled. He noted he has observed the accomplishments of students who never expected to graduate from high school. “Within LUSD we have a moral obligation that we ensure all students share in these opportunities that will provide an equitable opportunity for all. We know that the world is changing so we have to adopt what we can do as educators. When caring people come together, it shows that ZIP codes will not determine career successes.” As an example of the competitive situation in college acceptances, UCLA only accepts 20% of the student applications.
Questions from the audience included Martina who stated she hoped universities come to evaluate the effectiveness of the programs. Mr. Hua stated that they are partnering with universities, noting that besides partnerships with businesses, coordination with colleges is important, one example of which, is Cerritos College. Another question from Club Secretary Lulu was what the role of parents Mr. Hua responded that we have workshops for parents to learn how to advocate for their kids. As to community support, Mr. Hua that there is a CTE Advisory Board with the next meeting on Feb 9. Additional volunteers are encouraged to come to this meeting.
In answer to questions from Daniel, here is some background info about Tony Hua. He graduated from Des Moines HS, and obtained a BA in English from U. of Iowa. At Loyal Marymount in LA he obtained a Master’s in Education. He started as a classroom teacher at Lynwood Middle School in 2001, and then in 2010 he served in an administrative position at Firebaugh HS. He started his present position three months ago. He has participated in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), and currently resides in Garden Grove. Happy New Year!!! Again, President Ramon Rodriguez encouraged everyone at the meeting to have a great Happy New Year for the Year 2017!
Daniel Miller / Omar Franco / Rowland Becerra –
Public Relations and Community Outreach for the Lynwood Rotary Club