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This Week at Centerville Rotary 
March 23, 2017
 
 
Centerville School District Superintendent Dr. Tom Henderson provided an update on our award-winning schools!
 
 
Speakers
Mar 30, 2017
Service Days Debrief (March 11, 17 & 18)
Apr 06, 2017
Business Life Lessons & Co.'s Charity Work
Apr 20, 2017
Club Assembly @ Kennard Nature Nook
May 04, 2017
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) Retreat
May 11, 2017
Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission - A Shared Vision Across the Region
May 18, 2017
Montgomery Cty Planning Commission- Latest Developments/ Plans Overview
View entire list
Bulletin Editor
Kitty Ullmer
Sponsors
Interested in being a sponsor?
Download the website sponsorship guide
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
J. Thomas Broadwell
March 2
 
Tracie Hoker
March 2
 
Jennifer Webb
March 7
 
Brandon Gross
March 11
 
John D. Laufersweiler
March 11
 
Dick Hoback
March 23
 
Frank Perez
March 25
 
Spouse Birthdays
Chad Lifer
March 29
 
Anniversaries
Butch Spencer
Julie
March 1
 
Brian Hayes
Erica Hayes
March 9
 
Join Date
Robin Parker
March 1, 1975
42 years
 
Brian Hayes
March 10, 2016
1 year
 
Patrick Beckel
March 15, 2012
5 years
 
Chuck King
March 24, 2016
1 year
 
Russell Hampton
National Awards Services Inc.
Sage
ClubRunner
 
Rotary's Theme for 2016-17
 
The GREETERS​​​: ​​​​ 
 
03/30/2017 Adam Manning and Sara McGarvey
04/06/2017 Carrie Lifer and Brian Bergmann
04/13/2017 Sara McGarvey and Joyce Young
04/20/2017 Graham Ross and Brian Bergmann
If you cannot greet on the day assigned, contact Kitty and she will schedule a replacement.
 
Meeting on 03/23/2017
 
The greeters at this meeting were stand-ins Jim Briggs and Dale Berry, with Jack Durnbaugh coming a bit late.
 
Jim and Dale are seen here greeting member Frank Perez 
 
Dale Berry is seen here greeting member Mark Febus
 
Jack Durnbaugh, club member and Principal at CHS, also a greeter this day, is seen here introducing
Centerville School Superintendent Tom Henderson, PhD., our speaker for the day, later in the meeting.
 
Pat Beckel greeted guest Kisha Taylor at our previous meeting. The club board has approved
her membership application.
 
 
The greeters at the next meeting will be Adam Manning and Sara McGarvey
This week's guests included: 
 
Our speaker for the day, Tom Henderson, PhD.; Brad Huffman, guest of our club president Ron Hollenbeck. Ron said Brad was in a meeting with the District Governor Mike Kelly, and mentioned he wanted to get involved in something, and that he had been an exchange student in Austria, so it looks like we have another ready prospective member here; and Dottie Overly, wife of member Don Overly. 
 
Our speaker, Tom Henderson,is seen here with president-elect Peachy in the background
 
 
Superintent Tom Henderson greets past Centerville Superintendent Don Overly, of club
 
Brad Huffman (L) is seen here with club president Ron Hollenbeck
 
Dottie Overly is pictured here, with her husband Don in the background 
 
Before the meeting member Rob Hendrix met with PDG Harvey Smith to learn about the Rotary Foundation. With this meeting Rob completed the initiation requirements to remove his yellow new member's ribbon on his membership badge. Harvey did the honors during the meeting. The two are seen in the picture below, taken before the meeting. Rob did not have his badge on yet.
 
 
The Centerville Rotary Club met at noon at the Clubhouse at Yankee Trace Golf Course. President Ron Hollenbeck led the Pledge of Allegiance, Brian Hayes gave the prayer, and Drew Carter led the singing of God Bless America
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS: 
 
President Ron Hollenbeck reminded people to bring in wine, shoes and socks, for the April District Conference in Mason. The golf outing is April 28. Rob Hendrix is collecting the shoes and socks for the Shoes for Orphans Souls program. Doc Hoback is collecting the wine and cheese/snacks..for the wheelbarrow of wine from our club, to be auctioned off.
The club will pick up the $100 cost of the conference.
 
Ron mentioned the Rotary Leadership Institute April 22 at the Greene County Career Center in Xenia. Cost will be picked up by the club. 
 
Ron thanked club members who participated in our Rotary Service Day March 18, with March 17 the day for those serving at the House of Bread. There were six options: House of Bread, Centerville-Washington Park District, Daybreak, Hannah's Treasure Chest, Project Read, and St. Vincent dePaul. Also two alternative work days were added, one at Hannah's Treasure Chest March 11, and one April 1 at the Park District. Ron said about 40 Rotarians participated, giving about 300 hours of service.
 
Ron said Kisha Taylor was approved as a new member of the club at the club's Monday board meeting, and should soon be inducted. 
 
Ron noted that club member Carol Kennard is looking for someone to take over the Community Affairs Director position she has held for the past five years. The position involves working with the other club directors and driving the club forward. Carol is willing to work with that person to create a good transition, he said, noting that this is a good opportunity to see how the club works.
 
At this point in the meeting, Ron announced that Rob Hendrix had completed the initiation requirements as a new member of the club, and asked Harvey Smith to remove Rob's new member yellow ribbon. He said Rob had come to a board meeting on Monday, which helped complete his requirements. The club clapped loudly for Rob no longer being a Rookie.
 
Happy Bucks: Sgt.-at-Arms Erich Eggers collected Happy Bucks for Homefull. 
 
Erich had the club sing Happy Birthday for Dick Hoback and Frank Perez, who paid their $5 at the last meeting for their March birthdays, at which time the birthday song had accidentally been omitted. 
 
Judy Budi gave several Happy Bucks, and it was brought to our attention that she was Happy about Xavier, who she has been rooting for, and she noted that her son graduated from Butler...this for the Basketball Crowd...
Greg Horn gave a policy Happy Buck, noting that he had promised Boyd Preston he would show up for our club Service Day March 18, but was a no-show at Project Read, as his mother in Wooster had fallen and needed his attention that day. Luckily it turned out to be just a bad sprain and not a broken hip as in the past, he said.
 
Jim Briggs gave for Rob having his yellow ribbon removed, and Rob gave, saying, "ditto." Adam Manning gave and Lee Hieronymus gave, noting "I'm just happy to be here with great Rotarians."
 
Doc Hoback gave several Happy Bucks for heading to West Palm, and John Callander gave for Homefull.
Raj Grandhi gave a couple Happy Bucks, stating, "I'm happy to be back."
 
Chuck King gave for being in the club a year, which gathered the club's applause.
 
Jim Harris gave for Frank Perez jumping into the box at Project Read on Club Service Day, when towards the end of the morning the tall boxes had books out of reach at the bottom. "I jumped into the box, as I figured they were going to throw me in," Frank joked. He even sorted as he gathered up the books, and lithely jumped out, jumping into two others before the project was done. That's our Frank!
 
Boyd Preston said he was proud to see that 40 club members showed up for the service day projects.
 
Kim Senft-Paras gave a couple Happy Bucks, noting that she had a wonderful time at Daybreak on our Service Day, and mentioning the library book mailboxes and the annual Foundation Committee meeting, etc.
Jim Hester gave $5, mentioning the start of highway construction, with it's orange cones, etc., and then said he was reminded of this by Brian's tie, a bright orange, that would have made a great photo tie-in, had our photographer been quick enough to snap a picture while taking these notes. 
Peachy gave and our guest Brad gave, noting he was Happy to be out of the office today.
President Ron Hollenbeck gave, noting that "it was great seeing Tom (Henderson) here again, and welcoming Brad, our guest, and congratulating Rob. Ron said Peachy has always aspired to be on the NASCAR pit crew, changing belts and all, but it was not going to work, as he spent four hours trying to change a belt to make a vacuum cleaner work at Hannah's Treasure Chest on our service day.
Eric then gave $5 for Peachy, noting that while not likely to make it on the NASCAR pit crew, Peachy went out and got a new vacuum cleaner on his own for Hannah's Treasure Chest. 
 
Carol Kennard gave several Happy Bucks, noting that she got to be with her 16-month old grandson while in Pennsylvania and that the blizzard headed that way did not drop 18 to 24 inches of snow as predicted, but only six and a half inches of snow and ice. She also said she was going to miss the next two weeks of meetings.
 
Rebecca Quinones gave, noting she had a great time at the House of Bread and found a new boyfriend of sorts, and that the House of Bread needs peanut butter and that anyone buying some for them could drop it off at her house and that Kroger stores had a deal that if you bought 10 jars you got one free.
Jeff Senney said he was happy to win $100 thus far in a basketball pool, but that it cost $200 to get in, so he was not home free yet.
Mark Febus gave for Peachy.
John Beals gave for Greg Horn, noting that the city manager had to go to three nights of meetings, two of which were four hours and one two hours, with the nights all in a row. John is a Centerville City Councilman, so his nights were long too. 
Brian Hayes gave for a good time at Daybreak on our service day.
 
Today's Speaker:  Tom Henderson, Superintendent of Centerville Schools
 

Club member Jack Durnbaugh introduced our speaker Centerville School Superintendent Tom Henderson.

Jack said Tom became the superintendent in 2009. He had previously been the director of personnel at Tower Heights Middle School and an administrator at Trotwood Madison High School.

Tom said he is a member of the Noon Optimists, and would give Boyd a dollar as a fine for being a member and for us to keep it under wraps that he was visiting a Rotarian Club, as his club was sure to fine him if they found out.

Tom said that on Jan. 18 he gave an hour-long State of the School District presentation, and planned to give us a shorter version of that presentation.

He said school enrollment in the district has plateaued at 8,200 students and that projections show it is going to grow a little bit but is not going to explode. He said he planned to talk about different areas of operation. He said he has a great staff and support staff that deal with curriculum and student services. He also praised the school board, noting that several members, David Roer and Brad Evers, have been on the board for years, making it nice for the superintendent and leadership. He said he is proud of the high performance school district, noting that it is in a changing community with a more diverse population.

The school district has always accommodated special education students, which requires additional funds for support staff and materials. He said they have about 1,000 special needs students, or 12 percent of the student body that qualifies for special education. He said 15 percent of the student body qualifies for free and reduced lunch. Five years ago only 11 percent qualified, he said, noting it is clear that there are families with special needs.

He said from the last school year to this school year, special needs had a 39 person increase. "People tend to seek us out," he said. They know the school district has extra staff, with occupational therapists and psychologists, etc. The district contracts with Montgomery County for audiologists and hearing and visual aids, and contracts with South Community Mental Health Center for therapists to work with kids with special needs. They also have ELL additional staff to help students with English as a Second Language. Students have been directed to Tower Heights for the ELL programs, he said. They also have EpiPens for emergency allergic reactions and other items to provide health safety in the schools, he said.

The state mandates a lot of tests, he said. This year they required that all seniors take the ACT test. He said 700 students out of 2,800 students in the high school, took the test last Tuesday. They could not use classrooms so they used the main gym and back gym and had to rent tables and chairs to set up for the test. The lunch period got squashed by the test, which took longer than the lunch period, so the athletic director went out and got pizza donated for 700 students, he said.

He said the schools have math intervention on all grade levels, and English teachers at the Middle Schools and high school are coming together to share information.

In the area of finance, he said the district has worked hard not to eliminate any programs. Mitch Biederman, the school treasurer and former member of our club, got an unmodified rating from the County Auditor, he said. The school district is like owning 13 big homes, he said. 

He said the high school got a new wood floor and that painting was done last summer and that $4.2 million was spent on needed equipment over two summers. 

Tom said the changes in the State Teachers Retirement encouraged eligible teachers to retire and last year they had over 100 school changes, which included hiring 31 new teachers and 25 support staff. They had about 41 resignations of support staff and retired classified staff. 

They currently have one device for every two students, but hope to improve that ratio, with Chromebooks in grades kindergarten to 12 for every student. 

New this school year is the district's full-time Community Relations person, recruited from having worked at the Wright Patterson Air Force Museum, with the skill set to do a Web site, YouTube, etc., Tom said.

He said they are working to brand the district, with EPND, Elk Pride Never Dies, he said. He said he has lived in Centerville for more than 40 years and loves the township, school district and parks. "I am so fortunate to live here," he said.

He said he lives in a Zengel home in the Pleaant Hill area.

He said the district has not completed the purchase of 66 acres of vacant land next to the high school, but is working on the deal. There is no immediate plan for the land, he said, though another entrance and exit is needed for the high school. They have money ready to go, but are still working on things, he said.

He said they are also working on making pre-schoolers ready for kindergarten and the older students college and career ready by doing some restructuring. They are having parent and staff meetings to get input and keep people informed, he said. Every school district has issues with drug problems, but the district works hard at controlling it, and is policing with K-9 units. Alcohol use and marijuana use are the biggest issues, he said, and school dances take a lot of monitoring. 

The school district is working with the Kettering and Oakwood school districts and sharing some programs, such as automotives and fire fighting, he said.

Club member Donald Overly expressed his personal thanks and appreciation for Tom Henderson's content and delivery of the presentation at the end of the discussion, knowing what it was like to be in his position. 

The Centerville Schools Web site, gave this bio account when Tom was chosen to be superintendent in 2009: 

Dr. Henderson began teaching in the West Carrolton Schools where he was a high school social studies teacher and wrestling coach. In 1987 he went to Trotwood-Madison Schools, serving as the principal in the East Unit of the high school. Dr. Henderson began the Centerville part of his career when he was named as Principal at Tower Heights Middle School in 1991. Dr. Henderson has a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from the University of Dayton and a PhD. from Miami University. He and his wife Mary Ann have two sons, Jonathan, a graduate of Ohio University, and Michael, currently a junior at Wright State. 
Although anxious to begin his duties, Dr. Henderson will use the next eight months to work closely with (Gary) Smiga and assist the Board with the selection of a new Treasurer and the decision about what action to take following the failure of the operating levy in November. “I am extremely happy to be selected as Superintendent and look forward to the challenge of providing the type of leadership the schools and the community demands and deserves,” commented Henderson.

Note: According to AP style, Dr. as a title is reserved for medical doctors, whereas other receivers of doctorates are referenced as having a PhD. Our bulletin editor uses the AP style, though the school district's material was left as it appears as it does on their Web site. No disrespect is meant by the absence of the title Dr. in the rest of the copy in AP style.  

The club members ended the meeting by reciting the words of Rotary's Four-Way Test.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Club Information
Welcome to our Club!
Centerville
Service Above Self
We meet Thursdays at 12:00 PM
Golf Club at Yankee Trace
10000 Yankee Street
Centerville, OH  45458
United States
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THIS WEEK ON SOCIAL MEDIA
 
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