SCHOOL IS IN SESSION!

In honor of the start of the 2009-2010 school year, the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise welcomed Dr. Max Rose, Superintendant of the Washington County School District to speak to the 654th Meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise.

Dr. Rose, well known to many of the members of the Club, has devoted his life to his passion for teaching. Dr. Rose, born and raised in Garfield County, has Bachelor’s, and Masters’ degrees in Mathematics and a doctorate in Math and Chemistry from BYU. He keeps his fingers in the classroom not only in the public schools of the district, which he visits frequently carrying his crusade for study of the sciences, but retains his title as a professor of math and chemistry at Dixie State College where he also currently serves on the Board of Trustees.

In his engaging style, he talked about “the kids”, it’s all about “the individual kids”. He is proud of the District, the 7th largest in the State of Utah with its many leading edge programs. The District offers “Success Academy” which allows completion of a high school diploma along with a 2 year Associate Degree from Dixie State College, and is able to boast of a 90% high school graduation rate, staggering considering the national graduation rate is only 60%. The dual immersion, bilingual school Dixie Sun is accumulating great success stories.

Dr. Rose addressed member’s questions about Trust Lands, Charter Schools and N1H1 preparation in the schools at the end of his presentation. We were informed that the Washington County School District does not intend to close schools in response to “flu” due to the disruption to the community that could cause. Instead prevention such as strong emphasis on hand washing is in place. In conclusion, Dr. Rose invited any one with a few minutes to spare to volunteer at a school. Another example of how Rotarians can make a difference “one person at a time”.

With very mixed emotions this club accepted the resignation of President Elect Nominee, Kyle Ashby who will be leaving the community for a career opportunity. Kyle, we will miss you.

Next week: Lynn Spafford on Costa Rica and related ways to make that difference “one person at a time”. You won’t want to miss it!

See you next week,
Marla Shelby-Drabner, President

What is PHotovoltaics?

This week, the 653rd Meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise and the 8th of this year, we were privileged to learn about Energy from Dr. Kim Mitchell of EnergyWise Consultants. His program, “We Are Challenged, not by Problems but by Opportunities” including some truly thought provoking information.

Dr. Mitchell is proud to have been a member of a Rotary Interact Club in High School. Surely that connection helped his career path through a B.S. from California Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Materials Science from Stanford.. His work with Sandia Labs in Albuquerque and the Solar Energy Research Institute in Golden, Colorado focus on Photovoltaics or, to simplify, complex solar energy.

The photo above clearly paints how Photovoltaics has applications which can help the most isolated parts of the world. The camel is carrying a Solar Powered vaccine refrigerator. Solar power has applications in water acquisition with solar water pumps, health care applications in places such as Afghistan where 400,000 children are amputees by bringing light to hospitals, clinics and operating rooms.

In Utah 82% of our electricity comes from coal while only 49% of electricity nationwide comes from coal. Here in southern Utah where the Sun Mostly Shines we have a huge opportunity to make a difference.. Sustainable electricity could help our area with renewable energy, energy efficiency, and a substantial influx of jobs, Dr. Mitchell suggests this is the way of the future.

Please join us next week when we will welcome Max Rose, the Washington County Superintendent of Schools.

Marla Shelby-Drabner, PresidentRotary Club of Dixie Sunrise

Scott Hirschi--Washington County Economic Development

Welcome to the 652nd meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise!

"Every time a dollar leaves town, it takes seven dollars to replace it." Scott Hirschi, Executive Director of the Washington County Development Council.

We were delighted to have Mr. Hirschi reflect on the changes he has seen in St George over his life time. He reminded us of the quality of life we enjoy here, much of which has been fueled by positive growth. We do face challenges with the economic downturn that has affected everybody. In particular, as construction is such a big part of our economy, the loss of 42% of our construction based jobs over last year has a huge impact. The only two sectors of our economy to experience growth in Washington County this last year were Education/Health/Social Services at 3%, and Government at 5%.

Mr. Hirschi spoke about the psychology of the market and felt that both sides of the political spectrum worked to scare us, and the stats show that the downturn seems to coincide with the election cycle. He also used the current economics to remind us how much we depend on each other and how important it is to keep our business local. Studies show, he told us, that a dollar we spend changes hands seven times before getting back to us.

DG Visit--Gil Trujillo

Welcome to the 651st all time meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise and the 6th of this Club Year.

We were honored this week with a visit by our District Governor Gil Trujillo and his wife Patricia. Governor Gil shared a wonderful video presentation made by Rotary International President John Kenny in which the accomplishments and goals of the International organization were described.. President Kenny’s theme, The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands is so timely in our world today. We, as Rotarians, have the opportunity to shape and drive the future of this magnificent service organization.

Governor Gil spoke about our Club’s commitment to RYLA, Rotary Youth Leadership Award experience and was pleased to hear of our continued support of an opportunity which all who have attended speak of as life changing. This opportunity has given many attendees the perspective of working as a team to accomplish great things. We were also told that his year District 5420 would have a Group Study Exchange with Argentina and the District Leadership is considering a single vocational focus of water management for the team.

Patricia introduced this year’s District Conference. The meeting this year will be held in St. George where “Things are Cooking!” Mark your calendars now for this great event, May 10, 2010!

After presenting Governor Gil with a special gift representing one of the Club’s favorite projects, dictionary distribution to 3rd grade students in surrounding schools, Marla thanked the Governor for visiting and adjourned the meeting.

Lots of great programs in our future, you won’t want to miss a single meeting.

Marla Shelby-Drabner
President, 2009 -2010