Our meeting this morning took place at the Lehigh Career and Technical Institute (LCTI) as part of our Vocational Service efforts.
The Greeter this morning was Halyna Stegura and she did a great job.
President Herb Klotz rang the bell at 7:30 a.m. Dale Heffner gave a very nice invocation.
GUESTS:
Kate Miller, Director, Miracle League (Lehigh); Brian Faust, LCTI Academic Center Principal; and Dave Dries, Spring Township RC.
STUDENT OF THE MONTH:
Rev. Jeff Kistler introduced Autumn Medea as our April Student of the Month. See separate article.
RI PRESIDENTIAL CITATION:
Congratulations go to all AW Rotarians. AWRC was one of only 4 RCs of the 43 in D7430 to earn this coveted award for this Rotary year.
CENTENNIAL SCHOOL TEST RESULTS:
Herb showed us two graphs of the Sierra Leone student test scores over time. To qualify for High School less than 20% passed in 2011; it was 80% last November.
And to qualify to go from HS to attend the University, it was Zero in 2011 and 43% last year with 90% taking the test.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
President Herb extended our thanks to the staff and students of LCTI for hosting our meeting there today.
Last Wednesday was snack packing at NWL.
Friday 4-8 was volunteer time at Kingdom Life; WE NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS.
April 8 to 10 was the D7430 annual conference held this year at Pocono Manor Inn. Herb showed some photos and there was a special bulletin e-mailed to us on April 11th.
Today, Apr 13th is another snack packing day at NWL.
Tomorrow is our next Thursday evening Happy Hour meeting at the Holiday Inn in Breinigsville 5:30 to 6:30 PM. Come and enjoy and bring some friends.
Next Wednesday is volunteering at the Lowhill Food Pantry and also snack packing at Parkland HS.
Also New Member Orientation will be held on April 20th
Friday April 22nd is DINING OUT at Wert’s Café.Seating will be random.
April 23rd is the Community Resources Fair at Jordan Lutheran Church and we plan to have a Rotary info table. We need volunteers for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Contact Gloria.
The Tempting Tastes 2 April 22nd meeting is cancelled, since the plans are well under control.
TODAY there is a meeting of the International Committee to plan the next steps for the Ukraine project.
The next Youth Services Committee meeting is scheduled for May 4th -- after our regular meeting at which we get to sample snacks from “29 Cooks.”
April 30th there is a LV Farm Festival at Ontelaunee Park and we plan to have a Rotary info table from 11 to 6 pm. We need volunteers for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and someone to lead them. Contact Gloria.
May 14th is the District Training Assembly at DeSales University. All new committee members are urged to attend.
May 15th is Tempting Tastes 2. Buy tickets and also sell to others, please.
May 17th is the Million Dollar Journey Dinner in King of Prussia. RI President “Ravi” is the keynote speaker. Tickets are $45 each.
May 18th our meeting is at LCCC with our annual scholarship awards.
Opportunities to Volunteer are listed in the weekly e-bulletin.
Next week our scheduled Greeter is Bill Weber and the program will be a Club Assembly.
LUCK of the DRAW: -- Not today.
FINES: -- Not today
HAPPY DOLLARS:
S-a-A Don Davis asked each of us to contribute a dollar as an expression of how happy we were to be here at LCTI.
PROGRAM:
AW Rotarian and Executive Director of LCTI, Dr. Tim Rushton began by congratulating Autumn Medea for her Student of the Month award. He then introduced our speaker for today, Ken Midgett, who is the Plumbing & Heating Instructor at LCTI. He is a very dynamic presenter, uses a great deal of technology in his instruction, and has a tremendous success rate with his students both in their end of program assessment as well as job placement, said Dr. Rushton.
Ken began with a short video of a recently graduated student who expressed great happiness over his LCTI training and what he has accomplished so far because of it. That student now is earning $19/hr. and in January he will join the Steamfitters Union and be earning $34/hr. Ken also mentioned a 2013 grad now earning $53,000 a year.
Using a series of slides, Ken reviewed the program that is set up for 50 students and currently includes 57 of them. They are encouraging and looking for a greater percentage of female students.
Before becoming this program’s leader, Ken worked as a Contractor in the Plumbing and Heating business for over 20 years. He is an expert, said Dr. Rushton.
Technology is a large part of their program. The industry continues to change with improvements and students need to keep up. One way is that they take trips to Vendors and spend a day in a classroom setting learning about new products and systems. In the Summer the program arranges for most Juniors to intern with licensed Plumbers. And the Seniors usually shadow a prospective employer for a full 8 hour day as their way of being interviewed for a job.
Since 2012 all of the program’s students have advanced based on the PA competency exam. And in 2014 the students had the highest test scores in PA. In 2013 41% of students had a job at graduation. In 2014 it was 65%, and in 2015 it was 87% and almost that this year. The average wage rate is about $34,000 per year.
CLOSING:
Halyna Stegura hit the right note to start us on a nice rendition of “God Bless America.” Then we recited the Pledge to the Flag of the United States and then the saying “One profits most who serves the best.”
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