Stephen Briggs, business liaison for Congressman Paul Gosar, joined us for lunch. Congressman Gosar just opened a new office on Kings Ranch Road. Stephen informed us that staff members there are available to assist with many constituent services, such as social security, medicare/medicaid, disability, VA – any federal issue. “We would love to sit down and learn about the problem and see what we can do to help.”
Richard Ward passed around a photo album created by his 15-year-old granddaughter, who went to the Rotary International conference with them in Sydney, Australia last May/June. Richard shared their story, including the convention and a two-week RV Fellowship tour of historical sites and national parks in the area. His granddaughter even got to fulfill her dream of holding a Koala at the Wildlife Park in Brisbane. After returning home, the Wards’ summer continued with an annual RV Fellowship rally in Bowling Green, KY; a Rotary service project in Estes Park, CO; a Scottish Festival; a son’s wedding in Maryland; and much more.The story ended on a tragic note, however, as Richard shared that the granddaughter they had just spent three wonderful weeks with in Australia, passed away in a plane crash in July. Richard and Lynn, we offer our heartfelt condolences and our joy that you were able to spend some very special quality time with her before she passed.
Sharon Stinnard provided an update on the Save Our Schools petition to place the AJUSD override on the ballot again in November, 2015. For those who are participating by collecting signatures among neighbors and community, the petitions will be collected at Rotary at the next two meetings. “We need your support; we cannot endure any more cuts.”
Tim Sicocan informed us of a great event coming up May 23. The “Club of Rock” is a rock concert produced by the teens at the Club. “Produced by Teens, Benefitting Teens.” The show will feature two professional rock bands. The kids wrote the contracts and produced the tickets and the posters.The teens are learning entrepreneurship, business, and production so that they can give back to their club and their community with what they have learned. Jeff Cutler has been working with the kids, teaching them about the business end of the industry.
Larry Johnson thanked fellow Rotarians for supporting the Chamber of Commerce golf tournament. $5000 will be awarded through the Chamber scholarship fund, thanks to a successful event.
President Bryant reminded attendees that the Bi-District Rotary Conference is coming up May 15 & 16 at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak in Phoenix. All club members are encouraged to participate.
Bill Burrows presented, “All the news that’s fit to read.”
Dean Holmes is from Livingston, MT where he is the owner of a land title business. Dean lives in San Tan Valley when in Arizona. His wife is Rose and they have been married for 26 years. Dean was previously a member of the Rotary club of Livingston, MT. His club sponsor is Len LaFlesch.
Jared Gibbs is the owner of the American Family Insurance agency on King's Ranch Rd. in Gold Canyon. Jared lives in Florence, AZ with his wife Brandy. Jared is new to Rotary. His club sponsor is Ben Fellows.
Harvey Clark introduced our speaker, Debbee Donahue, Special Events Manager for Junior Achievement of Arizona. Junior Achievement has been around for nearly 100 years and is now in 177 countries, serving 10.6 million kids. The goal of the organization has moved beyond teaching high school students marketing skills by making and selling a product; JA now has national curriculum writers who create age appropriate lessons that meet educational standards for students at all K-12 grade levels. Heavily laced with math, the lessons teach entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and workforce readiness.
In Arizona, 7,300 volunteer professionals teach the JA curriculum to students in the classroom. They serve about 57,000 students (about 8% of the state’s student population), working with 368 schools. 59% of the students served are from low to low-moderate income families. Debbee explained, “ We teach students about the workforce and different types of work. We empower them for their own success.”
JA BizTown
Junior Achievement operates two 7,000 SF facilities in Tempe, filled with shops. Students in grades 4-6 come in and run the shops for the day. 17 classroom lessons prepare them for the 4 ½ hour simulation. During the in-classroom lessons, the students create a business plan, calculate operating costs, explore career options, and design a marketing campaign. In the town simulation, the students put their lessons in practice, working as employees on business teams, pricing goods and services, managing finances, and marketing. Students even practice responsible citizenship by voting and paying taxes.
JA Finance Park
JA Finance Park is geared toward middle and high school students, teaching financial literacy and personal accountability. Preparation includes 17 lessons over 4 months. The simulation assigns each student a profile consisting of a job, salary, and family situation. Students spend the day working on their finances, including insurance, cars, housing and utilities. When the students start creating a budget, they soon realize how far the money doesn’t go.
Stock Market Challenge
Junior Achievement also operates a Stock Market Challenge that teaches high school kids about investing. The students have 5 classroom lessons, then are given $500,000 fictitious money to invest in 30 mock companies. Teams come to the simulation where they compete to trade stocks and see who can earn the best ROI.
