Submitted by Will Arscott 10^th of April 2017

MEETING RECAP - Meeting at Walter Murray Collegiate Institute (WMCI) The RAP Program at Walter Murray

 

The meeting was presided by President Jack Brodsky

Cashier - John Davies

[Lunch was catered and the charge was $10 so we did not get either caviar or lobster again this week.]

 

O Canada - was sung and carried down the hallway as your scribe arrived.

 

Grace - An appropriate grace was led by Adriana Van Duyvendyk who recognized the importance of youth and our Rotary club’s commitment to serving the youth of Saskatoon through the RAP program. RAP provides opportunities for service for students and Rotarians.

 

Visitors and Guests - Our club members were joined by:

Teresa Michayluk - the Walter Murray RAP Facilitator

Jericho Schmidt - senior at Walter Murray and supporter of RAP. Jericho was a nominee for the John Dewar student leadership award at our recent Badge Shield and Star Dinner

Tom Sergeant - Principal of WMCI , RAP Supporter, and well known football coach.

 

 

Adventures in Technology: A big thank you goes out to Steve Wilson for a very successful project. Thanks to all or provided billets, drove or took part in this year’s AIT. It is our project again next year and it is never too early to become involved.

 

Rotary Membership Seminar: This took place online last Saturday. The session was watched by President Jack, Joanne F and Dave S from our club. They were joined by Betty Ann Arscott and Walt Pawlovich from the Nutana Club. There were some good ideas presented which will come up in future club discussions.

 

Meewasin Rotary Lobsterfest: Keep Saturday June 3^rd open for this delicious event. President Jack should have tickets soon. Let’s have good club representation again this year and riase some money for our club. ($40 of every $75 ticket we sell goes to our club.

 

Grocery Cards: Please see Gary R. Next week is our club assembly and it would be a good meeting to bring your chequebook and get ready to stock up for the long weekend.

 

 

Club Board Meeting: There will be a club board meeting this Wednesday at 7:00 am. The location was not announced but I am sure the lucky members who get to attend know where it will be held.

 

Club Meeting at King George: Joanne F. Reminded us that the meeting on June 5^th will be held at King George school. The meal will be bannock and stew. Joanne is planning to have an elder speak to our club.

 

Club Dues: These will be due soon and watch your email for your invoice. We need members commitment and payment by June 15^th in order to simplify our remittance to RI. Please help Wayne S to make this a quick and simple as possible and get your $25 discount by having your fees in by June 15th.

 

 

 

Theresa Michayluk WMCI RAP facilitator

 

Theresa described RAP as working to empower youth to create respectful and caring communities. Two areas where RAP is most needed is in the school environment of our youth and in their online environment. Much of what comes to RAP involves the student’s online life. Basic education about online safety is a start.

 

Theresa is back with RAP after an absence. WMCI is a very busy place and it is necessary to prioritize work and make good use of other resources. Her work involves individual students, interactions of groups of students and even student groups such as sports teams.

 

Jericho Schmidt WMCI Senior Student

 

Jericho is a grade twelve student, quarterback, basketball player and RAP supporter. His leadership and RAP commitment led to his being nominated for the John Dewar award at our BC&S dinner.

 

Jericho spoke about how RAP works to bridge between people of many backgrounds. Through RAP, Jericho has learned leadership and how to reach out to others. RAP has taught him that violence is never the answer to solving problems. He got involved with the GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) at Walter Murray. It is fantastic to see successful sports oriented students taking an interest in these issues.

 

In answer to questions, he said that most students at the school knew about RAP and viewed it in a positive light. RAP is more used by the younger students in the school as they struggle to establish an identity for themselves. The identity of the older students is more set. The success of students is set by how well they integrate into the school when they first arrive. Interpersonal conflict and bullying are much more common with the younger students.

 

Jericho has used RAP himself: First for some personal issues, then for some team issues the RAP worker helped solve.

 

Tom Sergeant - WMCI Principal and long-term RAP supporter

 

[Tom has been a Principal at both RAP (Bedford Road) and non-RAP high schools. Several members remember Tom’s attention to the program at Bedford Road.]

 

RAP is definitely working at WMCI but serious events still occasionally occur. Help is needed in all aspects and it seems some of the issues are growing larger over time. Some issues are too big for RAP and require justice and police intervention. Theresa interacts continually with outside agencies to help students that have come into contact with those agencies.

 

There are 1,500 people each day at WM this includes students and staff. Walter Murray is very complex and organic. For the administration time is always an issue. Often Tom would like to simply dictate a solution but he has enough experience to know this seldom works. In this respect RAP is invaluable.

 

Drugs and now Fentanyl are growing problems. Even as improvements are made in many areas things could still get better.

 

Tom was asked about how being principal compares with coaching football in the 18 to 22 year old group. It is quite different as the football players he works with have a dream and are very motivated. However, they are still young and can make very poor decisions. Tom and President Jack commiserated a briefly about getting middle of the night police calls when one of their players has made a very poor decision.