President Nathan opened the meeting.
Guests: Speaker Dr. J.D. Rottweiler
Announcements: Although John Black was not present, he sent a reminder through President Nathan that the Tour de Tucson participants were getting ready—and club members should be getting their donations to the Ride to End Polio ready. In addition to the riders out on the road, Bob Fusco rides a stationary bike, and that is also an option that our Club supports through Paul Harris donations directed to polio eradication. The Tour de Tucson/Ride to End Polio will be held on Nov. 19 and will feature ride distances of 102-, 63-, or 32-mile distances.
Program: Dr. J.D. Rottweiler, President of Cochise Community College, entitled his presentation as “Putting the Pieces Back Together AGAIN,” referring to the College, post-COVID closure. Rottweiler reported College.enrollment rates were up 37% from last year—and up 17% from the last pre-COVID school term enrollment rates. A Japanese speaker, Rottweiler shared that the two Japanese characters that make up the word “crisis” are translated as “danger” and “opportunity.” Rottweiler credits the College for finding the opportunity in the danger. The College has identified 3 areas where COVID made a major impact—first, work itself has changed; second, technology has been embraced; and third, organizations have had to become more agile. Rottweiler explained that first, the College got an exception from closing all classes to allow first responders and nursing students to complete their coursework as essential workers. Then, to ensure inclusivity so that students in other fields could continue, the College made parking lots at all campuses have wi-fi coverage so students could work remotely from the parking lots if they did not have wi-fi accessibility at their homes. Mobile hot spots and laptop computers could also be checked out.
The College has also looked at the rate of student to community success and discovered new areas of outreach. They discovered that 14% of 16–24-year-olds in the County were not in school or in the workforce. 52% of high school graduates did not secure any further education or training, The College is now offering educational opportunities that can result in certification in areas needed in the community such as welders, electrical workers and plumbers. There is a law enforcement accreditation and that for fire fighters. The College offers training for truck drivers and school bus drivers. The demand for nurses cannot be met with the numbers of people entering nursing, so the College is providing multiple places for people to enter the nursing program from EMTs to those leaving the military. The goal is to bring more opportunities for the historically underserved individuals in the County to enter into socially responsible, meaningful careers. Rottweiler said that it is becoming clear that with changing technology, individuals may have a number of careers, returning to college to become “re-skilled” in other areas and the College needs to be flexible enough to serve people throughout their lives.
Welcome to the 2022 Michael J. Harris Rotary District 5500 Ride to End Polio Presented by the
Rotary International Fellowship Cycling to Serve.
District 5500 is pleased to once again welcome the Rotary International Fellowship Cycling to Serve as our Presenting Sponsor. For many years, the Fellowship has supported the ride financially and they have adopted the Ride to End Polio as their signature event. We appreciate and recognize their efforts to support the ride with their designation for 2022 as our Presenting Sponsor. We look forward to many more years of working together to end polio worldwide, and to support other Rotary efforts into the future.
In 2009, after years of discussion with Perimeter Bicycling, Mike was able to enroll Polio Plus as one of many non-profit beneficiaries to participate in El Tour de Tucson. Fast forward to 2021 and the Ride to End Polio, assisted by the Gates Foundation two-to-one match has raised almost $60 million to aid in Rotary’s fight to end polio.
This year’s Ride to End Polio will be held on Saturday, November 19 and once again features new routes aimed to make the ride safer and more enjoyable. . Cyclists can choose from distances of 102, 63, or 32. mile distances.
