Rotary Club of Jackson, MS

February 26, 2002

NEXT WEEK, MARCH 4… Dr. Jerome Goddard, with the State Health Department, will speak to us.

LAST MEETING, FEBRUARY 25… Dr. Jayne Sargent, Superintendent of Schools in Jackson, gave us a "State of the Union" talk about the Jackson Public School District. Dr. Sargent, who will be retiring at the end of this school year, told us about the achievements and the challenges facing the state's largest school district. (In fact, to give us an idea of the size of JPS, she told us they have more students than the population of 97% of the towns in the state, and more than 55 counties. There are enough students to qualify for their own congressional district!) JPS is facing a number of challenges, mostly involving finances, but Dr. Sargent emphasized that she's proud of the achievements during her administration, and confident that JPS will continue to operate with the best interests of all its students.

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBER… number 27 of this Rotary year. Introduced at our February 25 meeting was Carol Burger, President and CEO of United Way of the Capital Area, and a former member of our club. Carol was introduced by her proposer, Howard Catchings.

AND MORE TO COME… Your Board of Directors has approved the following new member proposals. If no objection is received within 10 days, they will be introduced as new members:

Guy Hovis, State Director for Senator Trent Lott. Guy was proposed by Heber Simmons.

Dan Jones, Associate Vice Chancellor and Associate Dean, University of Mississippi Medical Center. Dan was proposed by Wally Conerly.

Chris Snopek, Co-Owner, Performance Sports Academy. Chris was proposed by Roger Venable.

WE'LL MISS… Bill Hunsberger, who resigned from the club due to business commitments that make attendance difficult.

ROTARY DISTRICT 6820… will have its District Conference on the weekend of April 25-27, in Natchez. If you are interesting in attending and representing our club, please contact the Rotary Office, at 352-8500.

RECENT CLASSIFICATION CHANGES… by Rotary International have made it considerably simpler to become a Rotarian. In the past, a classification in our club might be filled for a long period of time. New regulations, though, permit a larger number of members in each classification. If you have a friend or business associate (sometimes they're even the same!) who would make a good Rotarian, do them a favor by asking them about it. New member applications are available at the back desk at every meeting.