Rotary Club of Jackson, MS

June 4, 2002

NEXT MEETING, JUNE 10… Beverly Hogan, newly elected President of Tougaloo College, will be our speaker.

LAST MEETING, JUNE 3… Joe Young, Chairman of our Rotary Mentor Scholarship Committee, introduced three of the four outstanding high school seniors who will be recipients of our scholarships for the next four years. Each of the three told us briefly about themselves, where they plan to study, and what they plan to do with their lives. They are:

Xavius Levy, from Lanier High School. Xavius plans to attend Mississippi College. His Rotary mentor will be Mark Sorgenfrei.

Heather Turner, from Jackson Prep. Heather plans to attend Ole Miss. Her Rotary mentor will be Nancy King.

Jordan Jackson, from Lanier High School. Jordan plans to attend Ole Miss. His Rotary mentor will be Steve Davis.

Our fourth winner is Brian Clark, who could not be at the June 3 meeting. Brian, from Florence High, plans to attend Ole Miss, and his mentor will be Mac Temple.
In addition, we heard from three current Rotary Scholars: Quent Withers, a rising Junior at Millsaps, John Clark Packer, a rising Junior at Mississippi State, and Tamera McCullen, who just graduated from Ole Miss (cum laude, incidentally). Each of them stressed the importance of their Rotary scholarship, and each also spoke highly of the requirement that they in turn be mentors to younger people in their college town. John Clark has, in fact, changed his major to education because of the work he has done with young people. And when Tamera gave us her testimony, not a person in the room could doubt the importance of this work we have chosen to do, and how it can literally change lives. Thanks to Joe and to all of the Rotary Mentor Scholarship Committee for their outstanding work. (And, Tamara, we want you to speak again next year when we start selling tickets!)

WHEN YOU GO THROUGH THE BUFFET LINE… for our regular meeting, be sure to get just ONE big plate. The way we reimburse the hotel for our meals is to count the big plates before our luncheon and after our luncheon, and pay for the difference. So put your salad on a LITTLE plate next time. (We have to repeat this every now and then when there's space in the Rotagram, since we have new members who don't know.)

THE ROTARY FOUNDATION… awards grants annually for university faculty to teach in a developing nation for three to ten months. Since 1985, 278 university teachers have shared their expertise with a college or university in a developing country. In 2000-01, 33 university teachers from seven countries taught in 25 countries. Program awards for just that year were $360,000. Just one more example of the good work done with the funds we raise for the Rotary Foundation.