February 9, 2018

By Teri Muse

On February 9, the usual noontime meeting of the Arcadia Rotary Club moved to an evening of “Special Awards and Contests” program held at Arcadia High School.  This event was an opportunity for our club to showcase all the wonderful programs we do for our schools including the Teacher Mini-Grants, Student Mini-Grants, Dan Stover Music Contest and the 4-Way Test Speech Contest.

Interact Club members from Arcadia High School served at greeters along with Brent Forsee and Ray Bushnell.  Francine Chiu and Dave Totten provided a table of information on our Rotary Club and membership information to attract new members.    A special slide show was running as the guests arrive to showcase our Club.

Arcadia Unified School District Superintendent and Rotarian David Vannasdall served as the emcee of the evening.  Dave Freeman, Rosie Mares and Dan Place served as judges for the Dan Stover Music Contest.  Brian Hall, Bob Harbicht and Dick Martinez served as judges for the 4-Way Tet Speech Contest.  Ashley Smith was the very important time keeper of the event.

In addition to the competition for the two contests that happened that evening, the winners of the Student Mini-grants were introduced.  Six grants for a total of $1745 was awarded for this year.  Kathy Ellison, Jim Rider, Aaron Rose and John Wilson served as judges for that contest.  The winners for the Teacher Mini-Grants that totaled $4,000 were also introduced.  Judges for the Teacher Mini-Grants were Yvonne Flint, Mike Hoey, Teri Muse and Mike Real.

This event has proven to be an excellent way for the students and teachers to have a larger audience of family, friends and Rotarians for their performances and allowed the community to see all the wonderful ways the Arcadia Rotary is supporting students and teachers in the Arcadia Unified School District.

Special kudos to Larry Callaham, Chair of the “New Generations” section of our club for his leadership and dedication to these programs.