Our energetic President gaveled the meeting to order and welcomed everyone at 12:10 – and brought the meeting to a close an hour and twenty minutes later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matt Clements lead us in a flag salute and Al West gave the Invocation. President Deirdre then recessed the meeting for lunch and asked that we escort our guests to the buffet table.

 

 

When she resumed the meeting, at approximately 12:30, President Deirdre invited us to continue with lunch while she thanked Bill Prather and Fred Coleman for setup, Nancy O‘Sullivan and Mike Weaver for serving as our Greeters, Matt for the flag salute and Al for the invocation, Bryant Huber for chaperoning the roving mike, Carl Gross for being such a wonderful photographer and editor, Don Reed for manning the front desk, your obedient servant as the Reminder Editor, and – most of all – Ginger for the table decorations and lunch.

 

 

President Deirdre then welcomed our guests - including David Scarlett’s mother, Sandra (who came all the way from England) and Tony Thatcher’s wife, Anne, and brother, Nicholas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill Prather briefly described the coming programs; he and President Deirdre reminded us that next week’s meeting will be held at Taft Gardens and the following meeting will be at Boccali’s Restaurant – where we will award this year’s scholarships.

 

President Deirde thanked Al West, Colin Jones and Marty Babayco for again orchestrating a wonderful Arbor Day program.

 

Randy Roth congratulated Pradeep Kapadia for the outstanding work he and his extraordinary Kapadia Education Foundation are continuing to do – providing direct financial assistance and guidance to hundreds of needy college students in developing countries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a fill-in for Dave Brubaker, I reminded everyone of our need for volunteers to interview 8^th graders at Matilija Junior Highschool on May 30^th & 31^st Portfolio Days.

 

 

 

 

 

Terry Beckett reminded everyone of the importance of the Rotary International Foundation – and urged everyone to contribute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shauna Mistretta informed us of the work of the Institute for Emerging Visionaries she co-founded with Vanessa Stone – in which young visionary leaders around the world are cultivated in a three-year educational immersion program based on the “Village Model” created through the Global Youth Peace Summit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike Malone reminded us that President Deirdre’s Demotion Party will be held at Mike’s home on June 21^st – with live music and plenty of food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With a standing ovation, the Club welcomed four new Blue Badge members:

 

 

Yours truly served as the Club’s Fine master – by asking a series of questions about HELP of Ojai – while Dave Watson again passed the net.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a warm introduction by Tony Thatcher, his brother Nick spoke to us about the emotional and social development of children in schools.

 

We learned from Tony’s introduction that Nick was born on May 8, 1945 (V-E Day, the day of Germany’s unconditional surrender), and was the beneficiary of a classical education – Monica Ros School, Thatcher School, Yale and Oxford. We learned from Nick – a lifelong educator, now retired in Santa Barbara – that children really can be “nasty, brutish and short”.

 

Nick emphasized four “truths” concerning children:

Nick went on to say that, although close communication between school and home is important, it should not be overdone. He advised that the “small stuff” be overlooked, and admonished against intervention “too quickly”.

 

Nick also outlined four key criteria for evaluating effective schools:

 

Last, Nick outlined three essentials he found necessary for brain development – sleep, nutrition and water… and concluded by stating:

 

            “Together, we’re educating for life, hoping we have helped to create resilient,             autonomous learners who will grow up to be healthy, happy 30-year-olds…”

 

In answer to questions, Nick recommended two recent books:          

 

            The Formula: Unlocking the Secrets to Raising Highly Successful Children,

by

            Ronald Ferguson (a M.I.T. trained economist now at Harvard’s JFK Institute).

 

            iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy – and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood – And     What That Means For The Rest of Us,

by

            Jean Twenge (a Professor of Psychology at San Diego State, specializing in generational differences).  

 

 

President Deirdre thanked Nick, presented him with our traditional Speaker’s gift of Ojai’s Pixie Tangerines (from his brother Tony’s ranch), and gaveled the meeting to a close at 1:30.