President Deidre Daly called the meeting to order and thanked Fred Coleman and Bill Prather.   Michael Scar for the invocation. Bill Weirick for the Flag Salute. Don Reid held down the desk duty.  Ron Polito and Matt Clements were our greeters. As always, a big thank you to Ginger Case for feeding us, and Carl Gross as photographer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leslie Bouche announced that a grant for $87,400 was approved by the Rotary International to support the construction of the Prashanti International School in India.  A special thank you to Kay Bliss for all her hard work with this grant and so many more!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was no fining so we could meet new member Ray Powers.  Michael Malone did his usual professional job of introduction, Ray is sponsored by Tara Saylor, Sandy Buechley will be is mentor.  Ray is a multifaceted individual a photographer and composer, and will bring a lot to the club, as always it will be interesting to see his strengths over the years.

 

 

 

Ron Polito, our newest Red Badge and transplant from Ventura Rotary East gave his Craft Talk.   Ron is a real estate developer and mental health expert, having studied Situational Ethics with the Jesuits.  Ron grew up in North Hollywood, is married to Judy for 30 years with three grown children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are educating our children today in the same manner as our forefathers did 250 years ago.  However, in the past much of a child’s life was governed by work on the farm and many of those everyday experiences honed the skills necessary to live a productive life in those times.  Many experts today feel that the old paradigms no longer serve as the best model for preparing our children for today’s challenges.   To further complicate the picture, there are children who due to temperament or intelligence levels need an entirely different structure all together.  Our guest speaker this week provided a glimpse into exactly what this alternative learning environment is. 

 

Rock Tree Sky offers a transformational education experience by providing structures, programs, and environments that support key values.  Learners have choice of what they explore and when they rest or play.  They tinker and innovate, building competencies in a context that is relevant to their lives. Children in grades K-12 have the opportunity to direct their own education with the support of caring adults in a dynamic, open-walled environment.  Following the model of extended family all ages collaborate in work and play.  Youth of different developmental levels inspire one another to stretch, and competition is diffused by innocence of the younger children. Curiosity, playfulness, sociability, and willfulness are the hallmarks of this school, “when we standardize, we limit a child’s growth”.  Teachers are called Mentors and are encouraged to model their enthusiasm and interpretation when working with the learners. 

 

The school started just three years ago with 17 students, this year there are over 100+.  Most of the children who attend are home schooled, some come one or two days a week, some 4 or even 5 days, the program is completely flexible and open to the child’s needs.  It was an inspiring program, thought provoking in a way that will ask us to reevaluate not only our children’s education, but how we ourselves view our everyday lives and the way we choose to interact with our everyday environment right here in Ojai. For more information, click HERE.