Welcome: President Pat Hurley welcomed all and opened the meeting. He announced that he was contacting the Westin to “shoot for an in-person meeting on May 17.” Mimi Gaffey led the Pledge; Gloria Foote provided the day’s Words including “God chose your heart,” and Paul Kartzke led recitation of the Four-Way Test.
Guests were introduced. Terry Green, a Carlsbad resident, and former Rotarian from both Grand Rapids and Rancho Bernardo. Bryan Brockette, Principal of Carlsbad High School. Jesse Schuveiller, Principal of Sage Creek High School. Jeff Spanier, AVID instructor at CHS and AIDA Salah, AVID Instructor at Sage Creek. Ann Collins, former member of CHNR. Linda Hammond, today’s speaker from Thermo Fisher.
Mexico House: Rocco Ciesco, International Service Director, reported that 11 people joined in the building of the 21st Mexico House last week in Chula Vista. As chairman for the first time this year, Ciesco was “amazed at the outpouring of support of this project from the club.” The building team included: Rocco Ciesco, Joan Boughton, Velyn Anderson, Tom Applegate, Mary Fritz-Wilson, Paul Kartzke, Jeff Segall, Maureen Simons, Mo Taylor, Lisa Walsh, Richard Weston, plus other family members. Providing home goods to the family were Beth Garrow, Alicia Clark, Gloria Foote, Wendy Wiegand, Joan Boughton, Mary Fritz-Wilson, Mo Taylor; providing cash were Velyn Anderson, Bob Kreisberg, Pat Hurley, Yvonne Finocchiaro and Rocco Ciesco; and Lisa Walsh provided a solar generator. Ciesco thanked all who participated, reenforced the fun involved in putting it together, and remarked that a second home each year was discussed (although the club budget would have to include the cost of the second home). “Next year we’ll probably get to go back to Mexico to build it, to meet the family and to see it all come together.” Special thanks also to Craig Applegate for providing the lunches from his Board and Brew.
Community Service: Director LeAnn Rytz, from her beach chair, reported that the fifth Food Bank warehouse activity was also held last week. Special thanks to Ken Clark, Kurt Filipovitch, Beth Garrow, Maureen Simons, Mo Taylor, LeAnn Rytz and Wendy Wiegand and other family members for the help.
Music Competition: Bob Kreisberg, Youth Services Director, reported that the Music Competition (originally set for last week) was moved to Tuesday, May 4, 6pm (logon email forthcoming) because of a bomb threat at San Marcos High School last week. Please Zoom into the competition as we have a variety of new schools participating.
AVID Honorees: Ken Clark, Chairman of the club’s AVID (Advancement Via Individualized Determination) program, introduced Carlsbad High School Principal Bryan Brockett and Sage Creek High School Principal Jesse Schuveiller and each school’s AVID instructor: Jeff Spanier and Aida Salah. Additionally, Superintendent Dr. Ben Churchill specifically thanked the club for its continued support of the District’s AVID programs in both schools. Five students from each school were honored and introduced. Each student received a Certificate, a photo as one of the Top Five, and a copy of Ross Urbina’s recent book Take Advantage of Your Youth: Accelerate Growth Now to Create Future Success.
At Carlsbad High School Alyssa Atempa will attend UC Riverside, majoring in Biology; Arelly Ibarra will attend San Diego State University, majoring in Biology; Alex Beltran will attend UC San Diego, majoring in Math; Abraham Lopez-Gomez will attend CSU San Marcos, majoring in Software Engineering; and Leonardo Preciado will attend MiraCosta and UCLA, majoring in Biochemistry.
At Sage Creek High School the honorees were Paola Gonzalez who plans to attend UC San Diego, majoring in Oceanic/Atmospheric Science; Viviana Rodriguez will attend CSU San Marcos, majoring in Nursing; Joe Venancio, plans to go to UC Irvine, majoring in Environmental Science; Chantel Taylor is looking forward to CSU Chico, majoring in Social Work; and Samantha Romey will attend CSU San Marcos, studying Business Finance. Each student was very appreciative of the honor.
Roto-Rooter: President Pat took on the assignment of RR off the cuff, including:
- Lisa Walsh – what about those vacations? Taking the family to Hawaii for 10 days in July since all have now graduated college.
- Josh and LeAnn Rytz – fined $100 each for the beach chairs and the beach so visible on the Zoom call (a jealous president, methinks).
- Jani Jackson – are you in a cockpit? No, but camping on the South Carlsbad State Beach. (Thanks for the breakout sessions.)
- Bob Kreisberg, reiterated the Music Competition logistics and the fact that Sage Creek and Pacific Ridge are now both offering students this opportunity as well.
PROGRAM
Limda Hammond, Ph.D.
Past President Lisa Rodman introduced the day’s speaker: Linda Hammond, Ph.D. from Thermo Fisher. Her responsibility is the Community Action Council and the company’s focus on Corporate Social Responsibility. Hammond’s focus today is to share information on Thermo Fisher’s STEM educational and volunteer components.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is a world leader in serving science, with annual revenue exceeding $30 billion. Their mission is to “enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer.” Thermo Fisher purchased Invitrogen (a Carlsbad company) which is now incorporated into the larger Thermo Fisher corporate structure. There are approximately 100,000 Thermo Fisher employees worldwide, with corporate offices in Waltham, MA. They believe in “operating responsibly and giving back to the communities in which we live and work.”
Four legs of their Corporate Social Responsibility include operations, colleagues, communities and environment. Linda Hammond described the methods (pre-Covid and during Covid environments) regarding their community outreach via Community Action Councils. The councils want to encourage volunteering, align local efforts with corporate goals, and promote science education via STEM careers among the youth.
The four STEM programs include:
- Innovation Nation – science-based hands-on experiments for all ages.
- STEM Design Challenge—team-based competition integrating 21st century learning skills
- STEM Credible Kit Program –donation of safety kits created by Thermo Fisher colleagues
- Career Connections—events and activities focusing on career exploration and preparation.
They like to work with local organizations but have specific grant application guidelines; grants are funded quarterly.
Service Above Self
Carlsbad, CA 92008
United States of America