President Dave Stechholz opened the meeting at 7:30 am with the Pledge of Allegiance followed by Victoria Haltom’s Invocation and Happy Bucks.
The Celebration of Life memorial program for club member Dennis Wright, former City of Livonia Mayor, was passed around for viewing. A thank you letter from Seedlings, for receiving our $2,000 grant, was acknowledged. They are part of our Legacy Gift Giving Grant Program.
Pres. Dave gave a shout out for the participation and success of the Spaghetti Dinner
that served a crowd of 245 people. It is estimated that $5,000 will be split between the
two Rotary Clubs.
Pres. Dave called attention to the dates November 4-10th, as World Interact week, and
is hoping that the Churchill Interact Club will submit videos and pictures to Rotary
International to be recognized for their amazing contributions this year.
Pres. Dave shared his thanks to the club for sending he and his wife, Janet, to
Schoolcraft College’s Foundation fundraiser called CulEx 2024, “Culinary Extravaganza”, an outstanding event that didn’t disappoint the pallet.
The AAA Pregnancy Resource Center organization that we support, by giving a grant to purchase children’s car seats, were able to purchase 85 car seats and store them at a local funeral home. The grant for $2,500 was matched and then Walmart donated another $1,014.00, making the total grant $6,014.00. That’s how the act of giving grows!
Today’s speaker was the Superintendent of Clarenceville Schools, Melissa Carruth.
This is a new position for Melissa (July, 2024) having previously been the District’s
Assistant Superintendent of learning services, a former Principal at Grandview
Elementary and 14 years as a teacher in the Novi School District. Melissa cited some of
the major challenges in education today and how she, as Superintendent is addressing
those challenges. Clarenceville schools serve about 17,000 students from Detroit,
Livonia, Redford and Farmington. Two major challenges to combat is that student
attendance is at an all time low and mental health issues are at an all time high. Melissa
and the district have spearheaded a Social and Emotional Curriculum Program that
allows students time to talk about their greatest concerns in a classroom setting. The
district provides free breakfasts and lunches, Wellness Coordinators, Engagement
Coordinators and Social Workers that work with the student and their family.
Melissa is no stranger to Rotary and shared that her Mother was an avid Rotary
member and in her own words, “dragged to Rotary meetings as a child.” Little did
Melissa know that one of her greatest partners to help disadvantaged families receive
healthy food on a daily basis would come from the Livonia AM Rotary’s Clarenceville
Cooler Project that was initiated by former Rotary Pres. Claude Kendrick, and raised
$30,000 to purchase and install a walk-in cooler that will provide perishable food
items alongside their non-perishable food pantry that is open all year long. Kudos to
Clarenceville and to our very own Livonia AM Rotarians whose gift of a cooler will keep
on giving for years and years to come. Melissa has many ideas for improving the
educational experience and lives of Clarenceville students—not enough time to
mention at today’s meeting, but is hoping to increase enrollment to 1,800 students, get
a bond proposal on the ballot for 2025, and continue to seek grants that will bring in
additional support people into the district. Pres. Dave suggested that the LAMR club
consider setting up a scholarship fund to support one or two eligible Clarenceville students. Pres. Dave also mentioned the possibility of starting a Clarenceville Interact
Club sometime in the near future. Melissa is in favor of seeing that happen.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 am, immediately followed by a LAMR Club Board Meeting.
Victoria Haltom
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