Youth Recognition Awards - Outstanding Juniors

Today, the Youth Services and Education Awards Committee recognized 2 outstanding juniors from each of the five Appleton high schools.  The recipients of these awards were chosen by these schools to recognize students for their superior academic achievement, demonstrated leadership qualities, a striving for excellence, high ethical standards and service to others through involvement in school, church and community activities.  These students bring new meaning to the word “balance”.  They are athletes, musicians, writers, actors, leaders, community servants and of course students.   Congratulations to the following recipients:

Appleton East High School – Corey Otis

Nicole Kitten

Lauren Wanie

Appleton North High School – Terry Werner

Catherine Edmondson

Evan Polce

Appleton West High School – Mary Straumfjord

Joshua Shelley

Anna Young

Fox Valley Lutheran High School – Part Hartwig

Hannah Ihlenfeldt

Collin Wenzel

Xavier High School – Lori Schuh

Riley Chelsky

Katherine LeMere

Thanks to the Youth Services and Education Awards Committee for arranging the Youth Recognition Award programs: Ralph DeMarco (Co-Chair), Karen Dorn (Co-Chair), Bill Breider, Bret Buxton, Steve Gineris, Paul Hillmer, Kathleen Lhost, Mark McGinnis, Martin Rudd and Jeff Werner.  A special thank you to Fox Valley Technical College, and staff members Shana Farrell and Roxanne Fasel, for their donation of printing services and materials.  Special thanks to “friend of Rotary” Autumn Grimm for layout and design.

THE PHOSPHORUS PARADOX: GLOBAL CHANGE AND FRESHWATERS

Steve Carpenter, U.W. Madison Limnology, discussed how global change is drive by agriculture since it is the largest use of land, source of climate changing gases, consumer use of freshwater and polluter of freshwater.  Almost 40% of the land surface area has been converted for agriculture.  Agriculture is the key for solving problems posed by global environmental change.  Phosphorus links agriculture to water quality around the world.  The main concern about phosphorus pollution is algae blooms.  Around the world, there are several ways phosphorus gets into the lakes such as human sewage and animal manure.  In Wisconsin and other wealthier parts of the world it is caused by runoff driven by rain, fertilizer containing phosphorus and manure.  Freshwater is very sensitive to phosphorus.  Phosphorus is over applied in many regions especially the corn belt of the United States and China.  A planetary boundary is human developed boundary for how much of a pollutant an area is willing to tolerate.  There are global standards for how much phosphorus people are willing to accept in water.  We are out of the range of planetary boundaries in phosphorus.  Phosphorus is an essential nutrient and agriculture is the way we get phosphorus into people but we are using too much.  Phosphorus is highly localized in its availability on earth.  About 80-90% of the world’s phosphorus is in Morocco and Western Sahara.  Phosphorus demand is projected to rise. Human population is expected to increase to 9 billion so we will need to double our food production.  A global phosphorus shortage in 2007-2008 affected food supplies and started an era of steeply rising prices.  Since that time, prices have somewhat flattened out.  In the United States, watersheds have excessive phosphorus levels.  Phosphorus inputs are mineral phosphorus taken from mines, crop, livestock and industrial products.  The outputs are export accumulations in soil, bio-fuel, farm losses, processing losses and consumption in diets.  The exports exceed the imports mostly in exported food, 8% is consumed by people and more than half is added to the environment and is wasted.  For the past 80 years, Wisconsin has been the leader in managing the phosphorus cycle.  In the 1930’s, Charles Van Hise realized that phosphorus was essential for crops and that we were losing a lot.  He was an advocate on phosphorus conservation.   Phosphorus severity is an opportunity for phosphorus conservation that improves water quality.  Phosphorus conservation can occur by adjusting application of fertilizer to crop needs, recycle human waste more efficiently, recycle manure more efficiently, decrease food waste, and reallocate crops to human food instead of bio-fuel, livestock feed and other non-food applications.  In summary, phosphorus is essential for life; too much phosphorus causes toxic blooms, fish kills, loss of recreation value and high costs of water treatment; we know how to manage phosphorus better; we need to align phosphorus economics with needs for food production, human health and the environment; and growing demand for phosphorus is an opportunity. 

RYE Student - Flora Prada

While Flora Prada, our Rotary Youth Exchange student is in the United States, she would like to: go to the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame, watch a football or baseball game, go to the zoo, visit museum (Harley Davidson, art, science), go to Chicago / Minneapolis, go to a reserve or woods or lakes, visit colleges and kayak or different sports.  Any Rotarian willing to invite Flora to do something with them should contact Robb Waugus. Advance notice is required for trips outside of District 6220 (i.e. Chicago, Milwaukee, etc.) in order for the RYEO to submit a 'permission to travel' request with the District.

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Scholarship candidates must be a 2013 graduate of one of the five Appleton high schools, (including traditional and nontraditional attendance – home schooling must be accredited), plan to pursue a bachelor’s degree at an accredited college or university, be in the upper 50% of his/her high school class, have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 through December 31, 2012 and financial need.  For the grant to continue to the grantee must remain a full-time student as defined by their college or university and maintain a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale each semester.  Sixty seven applications were received.  Elizabeth Mui and Ian Schuh were chosen to receive $5,000 scholarships - $1,666/year for the first three years of college.  Elizabeth is a student of Appleton East High School and will be attending U. W. Oshkosh to pursue a double major in elementary and special education.  Ian is a student of Appleton West High School and will be attending Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington.  The Scholarship Committee also awarded U. W. Fox Valley Foundation and Fox Valley Technical College Foundation $2,171.42 each for nontraditional scholarships.  Thanks to the Scholarship Committee for their work:  Nancy Johnshoy (Chair), Tonya Dedering, Dan Densow, Jeff Esker, Kevin Loomans, Mike Muoio, Nancy Leipzig, John Parker, Lynn Peters, Nora Schulz, Jay Schumerth, Sudeep Sodhi and Gary Vaughan. 

CHARLES AND ADELE HEETER OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP AWARDS

The Charles and Adele Heeter Outstanding Community Leadership Award is bestowed on Rotarians or individuals of the Appleton/Fox Cities community who exemplify the Rotary Motto of “Service Above Self” by providing significant Rotary and/or community leadership and/or service through the use of his/her time, talent or treasury.  Such leadership and/or service should reflect the standards described in the Rotary Four Way Test.  These individuals should also demonstrate a strong commitment to volunteerism in one of the four Rotary Avenues of Service outside the scope of his/her normal job responsibilities.  The Club donated 1,000 points to each recipient making them a Paul Harris Fellow. 

Dan Nisler has been a Rotarian since 1999.  He has been the chair of the Children with Disabilities and Youth Services and Education Awards Committee as well as a member of numerous committees.  He has been on the Club Board for 7 years and also served as last year’s president.  Besides being active in the Club, he has also shown leadership and volunteerism in several community organizations such as the Tri-Community Dental Clinic, Appleton Downtown, Inc., Project Bridges, United Way, Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce and First Congregational United Church of Christ. 

Using Roger Van Vreede’s business skills, no nonsense approach and personal commitment, UW Fox Foundation grew and prospered.  With his assistance the organization went from totally unknown to a much more visible and prominent part of the community, largely with its signature fund-raising event, E.A.T.S.  He and Lynn, along with Steve and Kathi Seifert became the lead donors in the capital campaign that led to the creation of the UW Fox Communication Arts Center.  Roger is now very much involved with the Gardens of the Fox Cities.  He joined the board and eventually became the board president, again utilizing his business expertise in an effort to bail out yet another struggling community resource.   Rotarians might have noticed that Roger is willing to lead by financial example. Our Rotary Shines event a few years ago was seeking to raise money for Polio Plus. The bidding was not overwhelming, but Roger started it, as I recall at the top.

Under Steve Seifert’s leadership, UW Fox Foundation undertook its first ever capital campaign that resulted in $2 million plus in community gifts that leveraged $11.5 million in Outagamie and Winnebago Counties contribution. Steve and his former spouse were half of the lead contributors that propelled the campaign to success. Much the same can be said for the Boys and Girls Club. Needing a major facilities upgrade to serve the many underprivileged youth of the Fox Cities, Steve was at the forefront of the capital campaign.  Steve is also member of the board at Bubolz Nature Preserve as they seek to undertake a major facilities upgrade to further informal environmental education, and respect and love for the natural environment.

St. Joe's Food Drive

The Rotary Ambassador Committee will host a food drive for St. Joe’s food pantry on June 11^th. We will have bags to distribute to the club that include a list of suggested items. A van will be onsite to collect the bags at the Radisson.

Group Study Exchange Team From Australia

The Group Study Exchange (GSE) program is a cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for young business and professional men and women.  This program is designed to develop professional and leadership skills among young adults so that they can address the needs of their communities and an increasingly global workplace.  Teams consist of a Rotarian team leader and 4-6 non-Rotarian team members that stay in the homes of Rotarians while making vocational visits, experiencing culture and fellowship opportunities.

Richard Booth, team leader from the Rotary Club of Wollondilly North in Australia, told how his club does not sing and has 21 members. Richard was president during the 2009-2010 Rotary year.  His club has been involved in bringing fresh water to schools and the ShelterBox project.  He has 4 sons and 2 daughters and lives in a small country town in northern New South Wales.  While in Australia, people should beware of sharks, spiders, snakes, crocs, sting rays, Aussie men and they should make sure to drive on the left side of the road.    About 80% of the country is dessert so people tend to cling to the coastal areas.  Australia has a population of about 22 million people and is called the “land down under”. 

Alexander Lynch is a health policy officer for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, a medical college dedicated to training specialist physicians and pediatricians.  He talked about the diverse pockets of ethnicities within Australia.  One-fifth of Australia’s population was born overseas.  Alexander lives with his dad and brother in Haberfield which has a strong Italian population and is called “Little Italy”.  Mining is important to the GDP in Australia.

Kate Gould is an attorney with Marsdens Law Group in Campbelltown.  Marstens has a staff of 100, 11 partners and 4 offices in the metro region.  Kate does estate planning law and does pro bono work for terminal cancer patients.  She grew up in Ingleburn and was raised by her mother and grandmother.  Kate enjoys theatre, singing and travel.  The first time she saw snow was visiting her Godparents in Alaska.  They have since moved to Phoenix.  Wollongong is 42 miles south of Sydney, the third largest city and a trading port in Australia.  In 1770, the British claimed Australia by a “land grab”.  There are two major parties:  the labor and liberal.  Australia does not have a Bill of Rights since they are already in its Constitution.  Canberra is the capital city of Australia. 

Anna Habeck is a rescue team leader for the Kiama unit of the New South Wales State Emergency Service.  Anna is also finishing her PhD in fluvial geomorphology at the University of Wollongong.  She enjoys going to the local cafes, riding her mountain bike, surfing and eating chocolate. 

Ben Cook is a teacher with an organization called Father Riley’s Youth Off the Streets.  He teaches at a small school called Key College which is setup for the education of homeless and disadvantaged teenagers in the Sydney region.  The school has a family atmosphere and everyone is on a first name basis.  Last year, Rotary sponsored a trip for members of the school and they are also involved in the ShelterBox Project.  Ben grew up in rural Australia and after completing university moved to London for 2 years to begin his teaching career before returning to Australia and living in Sydney.  There are 5 main sports in Australia:  rugby league, cricket soccer AFL and rugby union.  

Youth Recognition Awards - Outstanding Seniors

Today, the Youth Services and Education Awards Committee recognized 2 outstanding seniors from each of the five Appleton high schools and 1 from Valley New School.    The recipients of these awards were chosen by these schools to recognize students for their superior academic achievement, demonstrated leadership qualities, a striving for excellence, high ethical standards and service to others through involvement in school, church and community activities.  These students bring new meaning to the word “balance”.  They are athletes, musicians, writers, actors, leaders, community servants and of course students.   Congratulations to the following recipients:

Appleton East High School – Matt Mineau

Kevin Hash

Kristen Burton

Appleton North High School – Therese Helein

Rebecca Fitton

Raven McGee

Appleton West High School – Mary Straumfjord

Rachel Baldwin

Kyle Wagner

Fox Valley Lutheran High School – Part Hartwig

Rachel Frost

Zach Flunker

Xavier High School – Matt Reynebeau

Grace Flaherty

Cesar Martinez

Valley New School – Helen Holmes

Jacob Eiden

Thanks to the Youth Services and Education Awards Committee for arranging the Youth Recognition Award programs: Ralph DeMarco (Co-Chair), Karen Dorn (Co-Chair), Bill Breider, Bret Buxton, Steve Gineris, Paul Hillmer, Kathleen Lhost, Mark McGinnis, Martin Rudd and Jeff Werner.  A special thank you to Fox Valley Technical College, and staff members Shana Farrell and Roxanne Fasel, for their donation of printing services and materials.  Special thanks to “friend of Rotary” Autumn Grimm for layout and design.

Volunteer Opportunity

Coventry Glass is inviting Rotarians to participate in a creative community project and it involves you!  Coventry Glass is undertaking a volunteer project with various groups and donated materials to provide ‘art in the park’ to be installed this year in Arbutus Park.  The art work consists of two large mosaic panels (of glass and other fun materials) to be permanently mounted at Arbutus Park.  Rotary volunteers are needed to help finalize this exciting new community project!  Simply call Linda Muldoon at 739-5762 to schedule your session (2 hour minimum) for groups of 3 or more to participate in this fun project.  Pair up with Rotarians and/or family members to complete a beautiful community treasure!