This week's program: Stela Center, Rotary Peace Scholar
Stela Center is a recipient of the Rotary Ambassador for Peace Scholarship 2006-2007. With this support from Rotary, she completed her Masters degree in International Peace Studies from the United Nations Mandated University for Peace, in Costa Rica. Stela is originally from Bosnia, but her family was forced to leave during the 1990's war there. After living in refugee camps for about a year and a half, Stela and her family moved to Minnesota. Not speaking English, and not knowing much about the culture and the country, Stela persevered with the help of a scholarship and support from Wallin Education Partners, making it possible for her to graduate from the U of M.
Guest speaker Willie Dean told us about YouthCARE, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that focuses on youth development. Willie is executive director of the organization, which serves about 600 metro-area youth over the course of the year – most of them girls, and almost all of them from multicultural backgrounds. (Willie Dean is pictured between Rotarians Bev Aho and John Crudele.)
The organization’s mission is to help urban youth make a successful transition to adulthood, and so it works in three primary areas: education (including mentoring), employment, and leadership. The heart of the program is youth stays at Camp Sunrise, a rustic camp located on the St. Croix River about an hour north of the Twin Cities. For many of the young people, Camp Sunrise is their first extended experience with outdoor living and environmental education.
Donations to YouthCARE support the week-long camperships, where young people discover the importance of teamwork and cross-cultural friendships. You can find out more about YouthCARE and its programs at www.youthcaremn.org.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The club will soon be recruiting members for a Rotary Reads program where adults meet weekly with a schoolchild to read a book together and improve the student’s reading skills. Contact John Estall for details.
Thanks for your patience with our new meeting place, Bearpath. We’re still working on room set-up so that everyone can see the presentations and hear the speakers.
SPOTLIGHT ON PEI LING JAMISON
Pei Ling Jamison let us know through her vocational that she’s from Sioux Falls, S.D., where her immigrant parents own a Chinese-food restaurant and where she learned to be an entrepreneur. She graduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls and attended optometry school in Portland before opening her Eden Prairie business, Jamison Optical. She and her husband have been married for 10-plus years and have two daughters: Leela, age 4, and Evie, 21 months.
HAPPY FINES We’re happy. And we’re willing to pay fines for being so.
Bob Starr is happy that son Ryan did well in his first semester at the U of M’s Carlson School of Management.
Roger Jorgensen was happy not to confront a javelina (also known as a “skunk pig”) during a recent trip to Arizona – especially after being warned about these critters by fellow Rotarian Cathy Haukedahl.
Matt Crane was happy to note the recent outstanding state hockey tournament, with Eden Prairie High School winning the big-schools title.
John Crudele was happy to laud the meaningful impact of Fr. Ambrose Mahon, a longtime Edina pastor who recently died.
VISITORS
Prospective Members: Janet Gibson and Beth Landers of Brookdale Senior Living
Students: Art Matanboon (exchange student) and Natalie Page and Jake Leibold (interns)