Vocational Service Report, October 11, 2005
Vocational Service Committee: Tricia Timmermans, Tom Croft, Jim Force, Bob Beauvais, Doug McDougall, Bedrija Hromic, and Don O'Coffey.
The Interact Club had a excellent sign-up at the recent Club Day at Oak Bay High School, with about 35 students showing an interest. Doug McDougall came along to help set up and talk to the kids. The teacher liaison is Steven Price, a music teacher who is new at Oak Bay High; Lesley Cobus from the Rec Centre will attend the meetings, as will Rob Smith, from the Oak Bay Police Department when available.
As the teachers are on strike, there is nothing planned for this week, but from the buzz in the gym, it sounds like we have a keen group with lots of ideas - everything from having Interact T-Shirts made, to arranging to bring in to Canada children from war-torn lands! I offered to design a web page for them if they were interested.
This year there will be two students acting as co-presidents: Leyland Cecco, our rebound exchange student from Slovakia who recently spoke to the Club; and Emma Loy, one of our returning Adventures in Music students. You'll meet her on November 1 when she comes to perform and tell of her experience, along with Rachel Elliott and Elizabeth Skinner. The three young ladies all attended the OB Rotary-funded Orchestra/Concert Band Music Program in Comox in July.
As soon as the Teachers' Strike ends, we'll be having a pizza party to start the year off. From speaking to Leyland and Emma, it sounds like the club will continue the traditional (does one year maketh a tradition?) K-nitting for the K-needy, and again, Interact will organize the Bike, Board, Blade to School Week.
In the past, the Rotary Club of Oak Bay has sponsored one or two Interact Club members to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) conference held in March in Tacoma Washington. I have contacted Clark Townsend in Port Orchard to get the current information on this coming year's RYLA program. For those of you who are new to Rotary, RYLA is designed to help train students who have demonstrated leadership abilities and who wish to adopt community leadership roles. They attend an all-expenses-paid, packed, 4-day seminar/ camp/ workshop to discuss and learn leadership skills. John Edgell will be encouraging Interactors to take advantage of this highly-acclaimed program.
As well, we hope that a student will take advantage of the Adventures in Citizenship program in Ottawa, usually held in early May. It's designed to develop students' potential as leaders in their communities and in the Canadian society, with a special emphasis on the Canadian political scene. Tom Croft, as in the past, will encourage the Interactors to apply for this scholarship.
And finally, we hope to send students again to the Adventures in Music program which was so successful this year.
I will be away over the next few months so will need some of my committee members to occasionally attend meetings just in case the students need any Rotary-related help. Some have already offered to help out when they can. I'll continue to do the website while I'm away. So please, bulletin reporters, email me your reports and send a few photos too. But don't send gigantic files as I'm on a slow dial-up downunder.
Tricia Timmermans, Director.
