Notes:

1. The Madison Ridgeland Club is now meeting at Mint Restaurant, Thursday's at noon. Mint's address is 1000 Highland Colony Parkway, Ridgeland.

Posted on February 18, 2015

Rotary torch keeps the flame burning for polio eradication in Afghanistan

Posted on March 11, 2015

Members of the Rotary Club of Kabul hold the Rotary torch during its stop at their club.

By Luke Beer, president of the Rotary Club of Kabul, Afghanistan

As some of you know, a Rotary “flame” was launched in December in Chennai, India, to commemorate India becoming polio-free and to promote the need to go the last mile in the battle to eradicate this horrible crippling disease. The torch has made its way through several countries already, and will pass through all three polio endemic countries – Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria – before arriving at the 2015 Rotary Convention in São Paulo 6-9 June.

I want to share with you just how inspiring it was to be part of the flame’s journey. As an Afghan club, we are so grateful for the energy it has given us as a club to refocus our efforts on polio awareness.

We are not ignorant of the fact that Afghan organizations, clubs, and society have done a limited amount to raise funds for and truly engage the polio eradication effort. At first, we were confused by the utility of the torch. But I must say, it certainly has had a unifying effect. We’ve had two private organizations come forward with considerable donations as a result of the torch’s visit. It has also helped us as a young club explain to our members about Rotary’s international reach and fellowship.

Being involved with the torch has really helped me engage as a president. I look forward to reconnecting with the torch and its bearers in São Paulo!

Learn how you can help us end polio
See the torch in São Paulo. Register for the convention today

Ms. Vickie Powell Speaks to Rotary Club of North Jackson

Ms. Vickie Powell, Sr. Vice President of the Mississippi Economic Council (MEC) spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at its March 10, 2015 meeting. Ms. Powell discussed the MEC's Mississippi Scholars Tech Master program. This program is aimed at having qualified high school graduates ready for meaningful workforce participation. In 2014, 285 students from seven pilot counties earned the distinction of being Mississippi Scholars Tech Master graduates. They represented school districts from all parts of the state. The Mississippi Scholars Tech Master program encourages and recognizes students that pursue and meet speific standards in a tech-prep course of study. Their achievements are recognized at graduation, just as the Mississippi Scholars program distinguishes those who pursue a college-bound studsy, with a particular empahsis on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Ms. Powell is shown at the right during her presentation. We thank her for speaking to our club and for the work that she and MEC are doing to improve the quality of our high school graduates.

Officer Maurice Young recognized as Pct. 4 Police Officer of the Quarter

Officer Maurice Young was recognized as the Pct. 4 Police Officer of the Quarter by the Rotary Club of North Jackson at its March 3, 2015 meeting. Officer Young is shown at the right with Club Past President Edley Jones in whose term the quarterly recognition program with Precinct 4 was initiated. Officer Young was recognized for pursuing and apprehending two carjackers in November 2014. In addition to the recognition, Offficer young receive a certificate and $200 gift card from McDade's Markets.

Our Club congratulates Officer Young on being recognized and expresses its appreciation for a job well done!

Dictionary Project Director Speaks to Rotary Club of North Jackson

Mary French, Director of The Dictionary Project spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at its March 3, 2015 meeting. Ms. French, from Charleston, SC, described how the project has been successful in improving the literacy of dictionary recipients.

She said that Rotary Clubs have distributed 11 million dictionaries in the United States and Canada and that 200,000 dictionaries have been distributed in Mississippi.She gave an example of how the literacy ranking of South Carolina has improved from 49th or 50th of the states to 42nd since the project was implemented there.

Ms. French was introduced by club Past President Don Roberts. She gave credit to Tom Johnson of the Rotary Club of Jackson for getting the project started in Mississippi. Tom was at the meeting for her presentation.
The Dictionary project was started in 1992 when Annie Plummer, an illiterate, began distributing Dictionaries to third grade students near her home. Mary French became the Founding Director of The Dictionary Project in1995 when she reponded to a letter to the editor in her local newspaper. Since its founding, The Dictionary Project has distributed 24.5 million Dictionaries with nearly 10,000 organizations, including the Rotary Club of North Jackson, sponsoring their own projects. This school year, 2.2.million dictionaries have been distributed.

Ms. French is shown on the right during her presentation. We thank her for speaking to our club and for the work that she does with The Dictionary Project.