Mike Kelly led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Rob Brewster said that the kids at Kizirian inspire him. He has been in Mr. King’s second grade’s Mixed Language Learners class. The kids range from speaking English at home, no speaking Spanish to fully bilingual to some who have just arrived from the Dominican Republic who speak almost no English. He said that the kids help one another to catch on to English. The teacher teaches in English, occasionally switching to Spanish to get something across.
Mr. King is very adept at keeping the children focused, to the extent of using a simple breathing exercise- “smell the flowers, blow out the candle” to help them settle and focus. It’s not easy for the kids-the main thing he noticed is there are always 4 or 5 kids who are just head-down-on-deck tired. They’re not getting enough sleep. Also just functioning in a new language is exhausting. This is a classroom of caring teachers, good kids learning and cooperating and a real place of growth beyond the abstract measure of test scores.
On Zoom
Lew Hassell, Ben Hadsell and Paul Pimentel.
Visitors
Tammy DeBarros from the Fall River Rotary Club, and David Peart, Tyler’s father from RIFC, the new football/soccer team in RI, and Elaine Fain.
Installation
President Pete Brock, and sponsor, Past President and Assistant Treasurer, Peter Loescher installed our newest member, Tyler Peart. Tyler is very excited to be a part of the Providence Community through our Rotary Club.
Announcements
President Pete asked Art Norwalk to update our club about the Childhood Literacy initiative Committee. Over the past 5 years, the Legends of Literacy Gala have brought in over $200,000 to help children in the Providence Schools. Their vending machines filled with books at Kizirian and George West Schools have been very popular with students and teachers. Children are rewarded with tokens to select a book of their choice.
The Literacy committee has also initiated a partnership with authors and illustrators of children books. Many of the authors are from Rhode Island. Books are being purchased and distributed in the schools. Art mentioned that he and his committee need help putting Providence Rotary labels in all the books. Volunteers are needed. Announcement will be going out to members.
Sharon Garland who is chair of the Nominating Committee has a slate of officers and Board members. Ballots will be sent out shortly.
Immediate Past President, Kris David reminded everyone about reserving tickets ($10 a person) for the Rotary After Dark, Into the Woods Benefit performance on Thursday, March 27 at 6:30 pm. She will be looking for volunteers to bring in food and refreshments for the pre-show reception. 50 plus tickets have been sold. Contact Kris David if you want a reservation.
Kris also mentioned that she and Diane Riccitelli from Johnson and Wales are having a Zoom Call for the Rotaract Club.
Past President Holly Applegate informed the club that the Valentine cards for Veterans are being delivered to the Providence Veteran’s Medical Center at 830 Chalkstone Ave. Providence on Tuesday, February 11 at 10 am. Any interested Rotarians can meet in the parking lot at 10 am to help bring in the cards.
Happy Bucks
- Bill Applegate 2 Happy Bucks for today’s great attendance at the meeting and hoping that the credit card processing working.
- Anthony Hollingshead gave 4 Happy Bucks for Michael Zemper’s help at the desk, to welcome Tyler Peart to Rotary, to welcome our speaker today and to wish Walter Cotter a Happy Birthday from his administrator assistant at Swan Point, Sharon Carpentier.
- Sharon Garland gave two Happy Bucks for Rob Brewster’s great inspiration and to Holly Applegate for organizing the Valentine Cards for Vets and Happy Birthday to Walter Cotter.
- Allison Mascolo gave a Happy buck for being back at our meeting in person and thank for welcoming Team Merit.
- Emily Bernstein gave a Happy Buck for Rotary being her anchor point.
Speaker
Past President, Anthony Hollingshead introduced our speaker, Dr. Eliza Collins. Anthony met Eliza at Swan Point. She is a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine and a certified Functional Medicine Practitioner.
Dr. Collins founded her acupuncture practice on the East Side of Providence in September of 2014 and has enjoyed serving the people of Rhode Island for over 10 years. Her primary areas of expertise are chronic pain management, injury, rehabilitation, post-surgery recovery and stress management.
She was excited to share the history of acupuncture. Chinese Medicine started 5000 years ago and acupuncture started 2500 years ago. Acupuncture is based on channels or functions of our organs.
Acupuncture is not just for pain, it can regulate our hormones and our immune system. It can also improve sleep and digestion.
