Happy September to you all! It is the time of fresh beginnings with the start of the new school year and although our official Rotary year begins in July, (maybe) we can agree that that’s a “soft opening” where we enjoy the short but amazing summer in New England, and now the real work starts.
September, as you know, is Basic Education and Literacy Month, and what a great theme of focus, especially for our area of the world.
Many of you also may know (by now) that I spent the better part of my career as an educator, primarily elementary and middle school. The last twenty years, as the founding director of Cricket Hunt School in Freeport. I suppose it’s a bit of an understatement to say that our September focus is important to me.
I have seen the power of education in real time. Lives have improved because people have learned to read, they’ve been given an opportunity to attend a secondary or post-secondary school to further develop their education. They’ve learned and then taught new skills that created a pathway out of generational poverty, and I have seen most of these transformations through the power of Rotary.
Spending the past week travelling to club meetings and events, I’ve of course noticed kids waiting for buses, school yards with lots of excitement and joy to be reunited with friends and it’s easy to reflect on how fortunate we are to have a free and accessible education system.
Could it be better? Of course, show me something that’s perfect- I just think it’s important to notice with gratitude and to remember that we have an impact on the continued path forward. In our communities, each time we raise a dollar for scholarships. Each time we stock a food pantry so kids may have less food insecurity, and each time that we provide books to mobile or traditional libraries we continue to promote educational opportunities. On an international scale, the same opportunities are available to us in the form of supporting Global Grants that focus on developing educational programs small and large. We can become a member or supporter of BELRAG (Basic Education and Literacy Rotary Action Group: https://belrag.org/) and most importantly we can continue to contribute to the Rotary Foundation, because this is the life blood, the magic of everything that we have the potential to achieve.
I want to close by sending a great “shout out” to all the Rotarian Educators who went back to work in the last two weeks! May you all have an amazing year and may we all work to continue a positive impact through a pathway of education.
Thank you all for the important work that you are doing- it is amazing to share this year with you!
All the best, Michele
Important “Bits and Bobs” to remember:
Outreach Program Application Deadline: September 15th
Mental Health/Recovery RAG- Mini grant deadline: September 30th
Foundation Celebration Event at Port City Air- October 17th 2-4 PM
Finally, an article from Past President Peter Bennett from the South Portland Cape Elizabeth RC, about an important Global Grant they are working on in Uganda.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JGqB7i3920WPYXd_p6ch8087VH0taBiwy-tcV4iUEaY/edit?tab=t.0