June 6 – Next Bike Tour Meeting – Following our regular meeting.
June 8 – Joint Club Painting Project – Dave Maxwell from the Adrian Morning Club announced that he needs members of each club to assist with painting that day from 8am-4pm. A sign-up sheet was passed around today and will be again at next week’s meeting.
June 28 – Meet the Governor Night – Please let Prez Kathye know if you can attend.
June 27 – Annual Changeover Dinner – At the Gage mansion at Loch Erin. More information coming. MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
October 11-19 – Open World - Adrian Morning Club member, Ray Lennard asked us to post this:
The Adrian Morning Rotary is hosting the Open World program from Azerbaijan that will be in Adrian this coming October. Here are the details:
- The group is interested in expanding pre-school and early childhood education while developing broader community support for education.
- I am working with local educational institutions including (but not limited to) Adrian College, Siena Heights University, LISD, Madison Schools, etc. to have around 45 hours of programming related to the theme.
- The delegates are seeking opportunities to share both professional expertise with US counterparts as well as presentations about their country/culture to the general public. As such, we will likely have a couple of opportunities for public presentations
- There will also be a welcome reception on October 11th or 12th.
To assist with information sharing with your club, I have included the official description of Open World and the write-up on what the exchange team from Azerbaijan is seeking from the program.
Azerbaijan is interested in expanding its pre-school programs and exploring how to get the broader community interested in education. The education model in Azerbaijan has not provided support to parents and other community leaders who want input in the education process. This Open World program would take the Ministry of Education and community officials and explore the role of government, business, and the community providing well-rounded pre-school education. Such a program could highlight public-private partnerships and collaborations within local communities, particularly in rural or other low-income communities. It could also demonstrate the ways the U.S. pre-school education model provides greater access to pre-school education, examine best practices in pre-school education, experiential learning, internship programs, and teachers’ professional development.
About Open World
The Open World Leadership Center administers the first and only international exchange agency in the U.S. Legislative Branch that is completely controlled by Congress. In 1999, Congress authorized the creation of Open World as a Legislative Branch agency that offers bipartisan support to Members of Congress in creating cultural exchanges for Eurasian leaders to witness democracy building in action. The founders of Open World were united in the belief that widespread, direct contact between American leaders and those of other nations would greatly benefit all involved. Since then, Open World has expanded its reach to over twenty countries. With Congressional vision and leadership, Open World continues to be one of the most important U.S. exchange programs with post-Soviet countries. The program is a long-term investment in U.S. relations with Eurasia and is a demonstrably a cost-effective tool of public diplomacy and Congress.
Delegations consist of political and civic leaders selected through a competitive vetting process. Open World has always focused on recruiting leaders who came of age in the post-Soviet era—a goal that was reemphasized in 2011, when the program launched an initiative to have 30 percent of each year’s delegates be younger than 30.
While in the United States, delegates take part in tailored, in-depth exchanges in themes of interest to Congress and of transnational impact, including human-trafficking prevention, government, and court transparency, nuclear nonproliferation, and environmental protection. Most Open World hosting programs examine the role that legislative bodies play in these issues and in democracies and provide opportunities for the delegates to share their expertise with their U.S. counterparts and host communities.
Cindy Kojima, retired in 2017 from the LISD after 34 years in education there, spoke to the club today and brought with her, Hachi, Masahiro’s pet to talk about Therapy Dogs. Hachi is a 7-year old Pembroke Welsh Corgi. Hachi is an official Theray Dog licensed through the Alliance of Therapy Dogs headquartered in Cheyene, Wyoming. To qualify, Hachi had to pass three tests in a medical care facility.
