President Adam Manning welcomed everyone to the Centerville Rotary Club and led reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Brian Hayes provided the prayer.
Today’s quote provided by Don Overly: "Each day provides its own gifts." Marcus Aurelius, Roman philosopher
Thanks to today’s greeters, Sivaji Subramaniam & Socks Bowersocks.
Welcome today’s guests: Arnie Biondo’s guest Terry Vandeberg who is with St Mary’s Development Corp; Jeff Senney’s guests Ron & Eva Campbell; and Ron Tringali who has submitted an application to join the club.
Announcements:
- Harvey Smith was recognized Wednesday for his generous donations to the Centerville-Washington Park District to assist with the new Normandy bridge at Grant Park. The replacement bridge is large enough to accommodate vehicles, which increases the safety and access to the hiking trails in the park. Thank you, Harvey!
- The Rotary magazine this month shared an article that noted as of April 1, the Rotary Foundation has awarded $57 million in global grants in 2024-25. Basic education & literacy: $4 million; Disease prevention and treatment: $28 million; Community economic development $7 million; Peacebuilding and conflict prevention: $2 million; Maternal & child health: $5 million; Environment: $3 million; Water, sanitation, and hygiene: $8 million. Our donations go far to help others all over the world!
- Rotary Women’s Connect met last week with a small but mighty crew. Reminder they meet monthly - 2nd Thursday of the month, 5:30 pm at Old Scratch Pizza on Miamisburg-Centerville Road. Men are welcome, too!
- The next Rotary Board meeting is Monday, July 21, 5:30pm at Woodbourne Library. The Board meetings are open to all members and attending can help new members check another thing off their red ribbon list!
- Pancake committee’s next meeting is 11 am at Yankee Trace next Thursday. Please join us to help plan our largest fundraiser!
- Brian Hayes gave thanks to all who have paid their bill and reminded those who haven’t, please do so!
Happy Bucks this quarter will go to Disaster Relief for those affected by the recent flooding in Texas. Rotary District 5840 will distribute the funds.
Brad Thorp was our Sergeant at Arms this week.
Happy Bucks were generously given for:
Adam M for today’s guests.
Rand O for TX and today’s guests.
Arnie B for today’s guests.
Frank P for today’s guests.
Jim H for guests and asked them all to please return to another meeting!
Wyatt T for TX.
Chuck K for TX.
BIll M for TX.
Socks B was happy.
Lee H. for the State Fair on Saturday, and also for lots of rain lately so you get to mow grass more often.
Ron for TX and successful trip to the vet for his dog.
Bob D gave thanks to Cassie Barlow for her long time efforts in Education.
Harvey S for TX and concern that it’s raining again in that area.
Kelly M gave thanks to CWPD for the wonderful park system. He noted Grant Park is amazing and thanked Harvey for the new Normandy Bridge.
Carol K for Harvey’s generosity and steadfast support of the Park District, and thanked him for hiring her and being one of her first bosses at CWPD.
Jeff S for guests and invited all to his baptism this weekend (see info below.)
Gina S survived her surgery, for our guests, and that her cousin in Kerrville, TX is safe from the flooding.
Mike W is a native Texan and remembers a similar flood when he was in college.
Jake H for the Normandy bridge dedication, and shared there are 80-100 camp kids crossing that bridge 3-4x/day during the summer. It is well used and well needed.
Brad T got back from a great vacation to Greece and western Turkey.
Our speaker today was Dr. Cassie Barlow, president of Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE).
Dr. Barlow is the former 88 Air Base Wing Commander at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and retired from active duty in 2014. She graduated from Georgetown University followed by achieving a PhD and Master’s.
Cassie said up until July 1, SOCHE worked with 23 colleges/universities. But now that number is 33 after merging with a similar agency in Cincinnati.
They are a nonprofit organization, celebrating their 59th anniversary this year. They connect with college students and K-12 graders, with the goal of economic development through education and employment.
The schools tell them what tools they need and SOCHE tries to provide for their needs. The program is based on workplace learning through internships that provide students with real world experience.
Ohio has about 100 students across the state studying in defense related areas. Students propose topics and apply to attend their colleges. Over 70% stay in OH.
Economic impact of the program is $7.5 billion/year. Over 1,000 students, earning $3 million in salary are in our region through these internships.
She believes we need to focus on getting students successfully through the pipeline and keeping them in Ohio after graduation.
Ohio has 220,000 Juniors and Seniors in High School, and 400,000 students in colleges/universities. The goal to keep them here - have to engage them and convince them why they want to stay.
They are working to decrease the brain drain in Ohio. Currently 85% High School grads attend college in OH; 69% college grads stay in OH after graduation.
What do they want? A good job. She encourages graduates to compare more than just salary - cost of living in that area, etc.
Best students are getting the internships. Retention for interns is better for the company, as they basically test drive student, and save money in training a new employee.
SOCHE is able to pull resumes that might meet the company’s needs and then the company fill that position. 80% interns are getting job offers at that company.
For HS students they (SOCHE) are able to pay 50% of their salary.
The program helps students figure out what they want to do and what they don’t want to do. They work with the students for professional development, including cell phone protocol.
Applications come from 38 states - students want to come to Ohio for these internships. High Schooler come mostly from southwest OH & Columbus, but also the Cleveland area
You can apply for internship from the website, or email Cassie if the employer is looking for interns. They provide resumes, than the business interviews and selects the person.
How do they get the word out and connect with students?
- Business Advisory Council
- Through guidance counselors
- Career fairs
9 times out of 10 they have more kids wanting to do internships than the number of available internships.
Lots of employers who will forgive student debt.
SOCHE gets grants from the Air Force, Dept of Defense grant OH Tech Net, and Dept of Labor grant. These grants help with incentivizing smaller employers who don’t have funds to hire an intern.
President Manning thanked everyone, lead reciting of the 4-Way Test and wished all a great week.
