Lynwood Rotary Meeting Update 12-10-2015

The December 10, Meeting,members and guests heard Alex Vasquez who is currently working in administrative coordination and customer relations for a hotel chain in LA.

Alex Vasquez ; described his experiences since he came to the country back in 1985. The obstacles that he had to overcome to achieve his goals and dreams; he explained that one of his major difficulties was the language barrier since his primary language is Spanish. Another obstacle that he had to overcome was his parents; he mentioned that they wanted him to become a doctor; but he disliked the idea of working around sick people. Against all odds he decided to study hard to become a teacher because he wanted to help other students like him. He went to high school were he managed to get information about a college program that helped him obtain a BA in Spanish and French at CalState Long Beach. He also spoke about his experience as a first year teacher at Roosevelt HS in ELA; he explained about the school system of managing the financial help from the government to the students; help that didn’t reach the students. Mr. Vasquez mentioned that he confronted the school coordinator about this problem. He said that the books that they were using were not updated and the students needed new materials for maximum benefits in their learning process. He also mentioned about his current activities at a community center in Van Nuys; he is a ESL teacher every Friday from 12 noon to 2Pm and even though he doesn’t get paid he mentioned that his reward is the satisfaction he gets from students who are learning the new language and to use it for their benefit in their daily life.

Comments and Discussion. Daniel brought photos from the Lynwood yearly Christmas Parade to display for the member and guests. Also there was an additional photo exhibition of Teleton USA which took place in Plaza Mexico; which event Daniel attended after the Parade.

Club President Martina Rodriguez, mentioned about this upcoming Thursday, Dec 17 Christmas give exchange, the gift price was set to 20 or more; also she encouraged Rotarians to bring extra gifts for potential visitors.

J D Whitaker shared with all who were present about the planned Gospel Brunch event for Feb 16, 2016, and he invited Rotarians to be part of it. The event is going to be televised, he will come back with more information about it and will bring flyers.

Daniel Miller/Omar Franco

Public Relations and Community Outreach for the Lynwood Rotary Club