Chineese Exchange Students Visit Rotary
September 30, 2014
By: Stephen Kent
Map from Chongquing web site
Rotarians welcomed the group of students from
Friends High School in
Chongquing, China on Tuesday. The students are spending a couple of weeks at Western High School and are visiting many places in the area. Coming up in a few weeks, a group of Western students and teachers will be going to China for the second half of the exchange.
Judy Cox, Principal at Western High, and Amy Bailey, Principal of Western Middle School, each spoke to the club. The student's interpreter, Thomas Chang, translated each part of the Principal's talk, which gave Rotarians a feel for the differences in the language. Also present was Brian Johnson, Director of Assessment with the schools.
Thomas, the group's interpreter, took a few moments to teach the Rotarians to say a few words in his language, which is becoming more popular in schools. He had the group repeat the Chinese words for hello, thank you, and bye.
When asked how the students dealt with the language, he noted that it was the teachers who had more difficulty. The students have been taking English since third grade and have a fairly decent grasp of the language.
The students toured Dow Corning and learned about silicon. They also went to Auburn Physical Therapy, the Bay County Library, and Bay View Food's pickle factory near Pinconning. Following Rotary they went to the new Chemical Bank in the Uptown development and to the YMCA, then to McLaren Bay Regional Hospital.
Judy and Amy both spoke about the positive fallout from the exchange. "As I walk the halls, our students ask 'hey when are you bringing them to our room?'" said Judy. The message both Principals left was that kids see what they have in common with the Chinese. They don't see the differences.
For more information visit
wikipedia.org/wiki/Chongqing
OR
wikipedia.org/wiki/Chongqing
CLUB NEWS and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Brenda Scramlin stood in for President Ron. She opened the meeting with a greeting from China and gave a few facts about Rotary in that country. This and many other facts are available at the
The Rotary Global History fellowship and at
Rotary 1st 100.
Cherri Burzynski presented the day's business spotlight. She talked about her own background then told about some of the services of Bay Special Care Hospital, where she is President. Her hospital is licensed as an Acute care hospital and takes care of very, very sick people. The average patient says about 25 days. When opened in 1994 Bay was the second such facility in Michigan and one of 8 in the country. There are now 16 and over 440 in the United states.
"
The change in your pocket could change a life." That challenge from District Governor Brock is being met by our club with the pocket change containers at the front table and a second one being passed around. Keep that change in your pocket until you get to Rotary so you can help fill these containers.
Lyn Weaver talked about
International Night, which is right around the corner in October. She talked about the changes in auctions and prizes. It should be a great evening for all.
Remember that our annual
Rotary Homecoming meeting will be on
November 11. Wear your school colors and bring guests to that meeting. We will present the ROSE award and kick off the annual membership drive. Start thinking NOW about prospects and invite them to a meeting. The goal is TEN new members before the end of the year.
The
Centennial Committee has set the goal of EVERY MEMBER achieving
Paul Harris Fellow status during the Centennial Year. There are matching points available that allow a member to receive their first Paul Harris level at a fraction of the normal $1,000 contribution.
Rotary Club of Bay City
View Centennial Year Celebrations Schedule
July 2014-June 2015
DATES TO REMEMBER
International Night Committee
- Monday, September 16, 2014
- 11:00 pm
- at the Pere Marquette Depot.
International Night 2014
- October 23, 2014
- 5:30 to 9
- Bay City Country Club
Rotary Homecoming 2014
- November 11, 2014
- Regular meeting time
- Doubletree
Upcoming Programs
(See the official schedule at
RotaryBayCity.org )
October 7, 2014: The 2011-12 GLIAC Coach of the Year, Jeff Rekeweg is entering his fifth season at the helm of the Timberwolves. Jeff will speak on College Basketball.
October 14, 2014: Update on Global Status of Polio.
Our own Chuck Cusick will provide us with an update about the global battle to totally eliminate polio.
Octover 21, 2014: SVSU update.
Dr. Don Bachand, President of SVSU will talk to us about the state of the university, the opportunities and the challenges, and his vision for the future.
Rotary is an intimate affiliation of carefully selected business and professional people,
having as its objective the promotion of high ethical standards in private, commercial
and civic life, and dedicated to the ideal that the basis of all worthy endeavor is unselfish service.
Current and past
DISTRICT DISPATCH newsletters are available on the District site shown in the LINKS section below.
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