Submitted by Will Arscott 

 

 

This was a Zoom meeting with some nineteen members in attendance. Thanks to Paul Gauthier for organizing the invitations and having the Zoom feed and special screens ready to go. It has become quite seamless. Thanks to Gary Rusu for arranging the duty roster.

 

Mark Gryba was the MC for this meeting and began by welcoming the members. Paul put up the graphic and the meeting opened with ‘O Canada’. Avis Hardy provided a special blessing in honor of International Woman’s Day. It is hard to believe that accepting women members into Rotary was controversial in the relatively recent past. Our club could not possibly function without our women members. The presence of women has enriched Rotary.

 

 

We had one visiting Rotarian, Dale Worall, of the Riverside Club. Dale represents ShelterBox in our district.

 

Later in the meeting we were joined by our guest speakers Winston Blake and Brandon Stroh.

           

 

Gary Kerr reported that Vic Dubois is still waiting on his surgery. Nothing else to report. If you have information on the health of a member or spouse, please inform Gary.

 

Picture of the Club's very oldest member, Otto, receiving his COVID-19 vaccination. We wish Otto continued good health. Picture is courtesy of his daughter and Will.

 

 

International Woman’s Day was recognized by all the woman members present during the happy and sad dollar section of the meeting. One of Rotary’s signature international projects, ShelterBox, benefits women and children around the world. This year ShelterBox International held an online panel that our members were invited to attend. Unfortunately, notice was late, and the panel took place in the hours following our meeting. Hopefully, next year we will receive notice in time to have members participate. Our district ShelterBox representative, Dale Worall, was present at our meeting.

 

Sioux Lookout Eyeglass Project has asked for help from clubs throughout the district. The clubs in the district are asked to help by donating any unused eyeglasses. The contact person in Saskatoon will be Brenda Banbury of the North Club.  As explained by Brenda herself: “A great opportunity has presented itself - a way for you to give away any eyeglasses sitting around and GIVE the gift of vision. A win/win. The Rotary Club of Sioux Lookout is working to put a Global Grant together with the Rotary Club of Arequipa Primavera and Medical Ministry International (MMI) in Peru. The US$54,000 GG will provide Ophthalmology services via a van staffed and equipped to travel to the poor areas of Arequipa and the surrounding rural areas.   Services – such as vision testing, surgery and eyeglasses are provided based on need. Recipients are charged based on ability to pay - a little or not at all. The Rotary Club of Sioux Lookout has put out the call across our Rotary district, for eyeglasses which will be sent to MMI in Peru for distribution on visits to the communities. THIS is an opportunity for us to ‘give the gift of vision’ while cleaning out a drawer or cupboard!  Put your glasses together and send me an email (blbanbury@sasktel.net). I would be happy to pick them up from your mailbox OR if you are wanting to see the Mountain of Snow you can drop off at #20 Redwood Drive, Cedar Village Estates – in the mailbox at the front of the house.” Brenda’s phone number is 306.260.0768.

 

Our Club Website is being renewed. The project will be done by Kaitlyn Cholowski under the direction of Drew Byers, Paul Gauthier and Mark Gryba. The object is to make it current.  Gary Rusu and Avis Hardy have completed a new Calendar that will take the club through to the end of the year. The site needs new material. If you have something to add, the contact person will be Drew Byers.

 

New Membership Model will be discussed at our meeting on March 22. The meeting will be a club assembly on this subject. Materials on this subject and the results of the survey have been sent to members. If you have not received a copy or cannot find yours, please contact President Paul. The goal is to slightly reduce fees ($315 down to $300) while making club operations self-sufficient. Self-sufficiency will be achieved through fees paid for online meetings and the sale of grocery cards. There is an allowance for contingencies. It is hoped that fees can be held at this level for some time. In the model, the club will only pay for twenty memberships in Rotary International. Of these, eighteen have been assigned to club leaders. All members may apply for the additional memberships. This matter is the subject of the next meeting and it is expected that there will be a vote on moving to this model.

 

Board Meeting will be held this Wednesday, usual time, and place.

 

Honoring Indigenous People (HIP) Program is becoming a major initiative at the District level. Our club needs one or two members to take an interest in this program. If you have any interest, please contact Mark Gryba.

 

Grocery Cards are available. This has become an important club fundraiser please contact Donna or Paul Gauthier if you need cards.

 

 

 

 

A second Hope of Malawi video was played for the club. The six- minute video was highly informative and inspiring. Rather than try to sum it up here please go to  www.hopeformalawi.com and see it for yourself. You will be glad you did. We are very blessed to be able to be a conduit for the wonderful work the Zakreski’s have done and continue to do for the people of Malawi. After the video Elaine remarked about what a great reward it is to make others happy.

 

 

Winston was introduced by Gary Rusu. Gary has supported the RAP project generously by being a sponsor of the Badge Shield and Star Dinner. Gary reported that this year he was debating whether to continue his sponsorship. It was the Star-Phoenix article in January about RAP that reminded him how valuable it is and how it fits with his own values. Gary will be a sponsor again this year. Gary told a little of Winston’s extensive qualifications in mediation and conflict resolution for the benefit of our newer members.

 

RAP is the signature project of all five Rotary Clubs in Saskatoon.  RAP continues to evolve and adapt to the circumstances of the day. Winston provided insight into these changes. Brandon told the same story from the perspective of a school administrator having RAP in his school.

 

Winston began his presentation by saying: “When you start with Rotary, good things happen.”   Rotary and our club have been integral to RAP since its inception at Mount Royal Collegiate in 2003. RAP or the Restorative Action Program is a program based on supporting the whole community. It is now in nine Saskatoon High Schools - four in the public system and five in the Catholic system. All these schools have embraced and supported RAP.

 

RAP is connected to the larger community through Rotary and from the excellent community board that has been developed. Many of our members have contributed greatly to this board over the life of the program. The current board has strong leadership skills.

 

Over time the RAP program has changed somewhat and evolved. The original conception of RAP was to be more reactive responding to problems in the school and in the lives of the students. The program has evolved, and workers are doing more work with students and developing attitudes where potential conflicts are resolved before they become problems.

 

Winston told a story he has told before involving his own daughter. His daughter was at Holy Cross (a RAP school) and was having some issues getting along with some of her peers. She told Winston about these problems and he was full of excellent fatherly advice. His daughter did not seem to appreciate this advice as well as Winston thought she should. Finally, Winston a little exasperated, suggested she talk to the RAP worker. She did that the next day and came home all smiles. Winston asked what the RAP worker said only to get a play-back of much of his own advice. Winston concluded that sometimes a different voice and a little different perspective can really help.

 

Each RAP school has a RAP facilitator who is a highly trained professional. These individuals do not spend their time in their offices like school administrators but are out and about in the school to interact and make contacts with the students. The whole program is dependent on the development of trust between the RAP worker and the students in the school.

 

Winston turned the talk over to Principal Brandon. Brandon began by noting that he was familiar with Rotary and with our club because when he was at E.D. Feehan, he led students in packing a container to be shipped to the Hope For Malawi project. Brandon began his RAP talk by saying how the old system was reactive and punitive. In the past students who, for example, got into fights would be shipped to another school in the system. This was not fair to the students. He talked about how, when he was a student at Holy Cross, many conflicts were settled in the parking lot of the Lion’s Arena. The new model is to teach better resolution skills and intervene where necessary. Moving a student or calling police is seen as a last resort.

 

Brandon talked some about the leadership training that is also part of the RAP mandate. Kids come to school to learn not just academic material but also life skills. All people experience conflict and must learn how to deal with it. Conflict can also be internal with kids. This leads to poor mental health. This is particularly important now with the COVID restrictions. High school age kids are extremely social and much of this natural social interaction is being blocked by the restrictions created by the pandemic. This can lead to poor mental health. At present the schools are running with half-time attendance. Students are stressed. The RAP workers have been as busy as ever although there are only half the number of students in the school at any given time.  It is important for everyone to show empathy through this time.

 

In summary, Brandon emphasized that as an administrator his role is mostly reactive.  Administrators have many roles and are not good at doing follow-ups. The RAP program is just the opposite and reaches a huge number of students. Brandon emphasizes that creating contributing citizens is the most important goal of schools.

 

Following Brandon’s presentation there was time for questions from the club members:

 

Mark Cheriyan and Gary Rusu asked questions about why we have RAP in nine schools and why there are schools (both major high schools and special high schools) that are not part of the program. The answer is that there is simply not sufficient funding to expand the program further. The pandemic situation has put further pressure on the program. It costs about $84,000 to run the RAP program in one school for a year. The school boards pay 50% of the worker’s salary the remainder is being paid by the ministries of justice, education and the Saskatoon City Police.  The involvement of the of the police in the program is particularly welcome. Our Police Chief Troy Cooper is a board member, and the RAP administration office is located in the community section of the new police station. Corporate funding is relatively small but important. This funding has come under increased strain in the current circumstances.

 

Graham Pearson asked about teen mental health and suicide. Brandon answered and his answer is incorporated into the summary of his talk.

 

Mark Gryba asked if RAP workers do personal counselling. Deep personal counselling is not in their mandate. The workers act as a conduit for students who may need this kind of help. They are to get students the help they may need. This can include counselling, mental health services, family services or social services. Statistically, mental health issues often first appear in the teenage years, particularly in males. In this regard Winston spoke briefly about a concern that males under-utilize the program. There are initiatives being undertaken to encourage more males to use the RAP services.

 

Winston thanked our club for all we have done over so many years to create and sustain the RAP program.

 

Mark Gryba thanked Brandon and Winston and said that the regular donation will be made to Bethany Homes.

 

Next Meeting                                                                    

 

Next Meeting Monday March 22 by Zoom. As above, it will be a club assembly concerning the new membership model with a vote to take place on that model.