On the evening of Tuesday March 19, we welcomed 37 Rotarians and guests to our winter dinner at WRVC. On the final night of winter, Chef Limoggio and his students served a wonderful meal that started with fruit & cheese platters, crackers and punch while a Westbrook High School jazz combo played.  After dinner, we invited three groups of students to share a bit about their programs and activities.
 
 
 
Our first speakers were five students from Gorham High School Interact Club.  President Sarah Walker told us about projects they have worked on so far this school year. These projects include Yoga Day – a fun activity for the whole club; participating in United Way Day of Caring; traveling to Rotary UN Day in NYC; caroling at a local nursing home; decorating a tree at the Westbrook Warren Church Festival of Trees; and collecting donations for Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital. Most recently, they helped set up chairs for Offer Wayne “Pooch” Drown’s funeral.  Coming up, they will be building at Habitat for Humanity in Scarborough, collecting dog toys for Helping Paws and running a American Red Cross Relay for Life event.  The club currently has about 130 members made up of a fairly even mix of boys and girls.  The club tracks participation of all members by logging their service hours.
 
Sarah Walker, Sam Pocok, Carson Battaglia,
Jillian Nichols and Cooper Lyons
 
Our second group of speakers represented the Electrical and Building Trades programs at WRVC. The students mentioned having family members in the trades as a reason they became interested in the program. Kobie Spruce and Nick Gray mentioned a desire to own their own businesses one day. Devon Sargant is one of a few girls in the program. Peter Wilson, Electrical Instructor, told us that he has 18 tech 1s this year, and almost as many on the waiting list - a large rebound from just a couple of years ago. Students in their second year can earn 3 to 6 college credits. They can also leave the program with many certifications that they can put to use in a highly competitive job market.  These three students recently participated in the SkillsUSA Maine conference in Bangor, along with 23 of their classmates from multiple programs. This is an annual event that was attended by 850 students in 81 programs from schools across the state who competed in a wide range of skills championships as well as leadership activities. The WRVC team received several medals and championships across disciplines including Crime Scene Investigation, Early Childhood Education, Medical Terminology, Heavy Equipment Operation, and Automotive Service Technology, among many others.
 
 
Devon Sargent, Kobie Spruce, Nick Gray and Peter Wilson
 
Our final group of speakers represented the Business and Marketing programs and attend the dinner with their teacher Bob Radley. Elizabeth Ryder is Co-President of the FBLA chapter and recently had returned from a state conference. Kaleb Gower and Christian Dubuc participate in DECA, a program that develops marketing and leadership skills.  They also had recently returned from placing well in State competition and will be traveling to Nationals in Orlando FL in April. The competition consists of role-playing workshops, as well as oral and written testing. Areas of competition include marketing, spreadsheet analysis, entrepreneurship and quick service.  It costs about $1300 per student to travel to Nationals and they will be conducting a variety of fundraising efforts with bottle drives and candy sales.  Proceeds from the school store are also earmarked for this trip.
 
 
Liz Ryder, Christine Dubuc & Kaleb Gower
 
Thank you to all of the students who attended our dinner and spoke to us about their projects and activities.  An impressive group of young people!  For more photos of the evening by Scott Linscott go to: https://www.facebook.com/pg/WestbrookGorhamRotary/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2504735586222449