TESTS OF OUR LEADERSHIP ON LITERACY

A. Our first topic for this week is to remind ourselves of your primary responsibilities during the next two months. As you well know, those responsibilities are to use your own knowledge of your districts to do your best to encourage your districts to:

1. Make literacy a significant component of PETS and district assemblies

2. Motivate the clubs in each district to engage in a significant number of activities to promote literacy month.

3. Encourage and help the clubs to qualify for the District Literacy Award.

I apologize for being repetitious about this. But I also know that many of you are overloaded with other Rotary assignments. So I hope that you will appreciate a periodic reminder about your literacy responsibilities.

I and your area coordinators will try to provide you with materials to assist you in this work. But in the final analysis it is up to you to determine how best to get the attention of and elicit the actions by your districts.

With respect to that challenge, let me illustrate a simple way in which Zone 32 coordinator Mac Leask did just that. In his January 11th e-mail to his districts he provided a list of possible club projects under each of our three literacy project categories: character literacy, functional literacy and basic literacy. He also included several paragraphs of motivational comments including the following:

« Literacy Month is one of the tests of our leadership. What will the clubs in your district be doing to celebrate Literacy Month? The more clubs that participate in Literacy Month the more literacy awards the clubs in your district will secure this year, the more significant impact their projects will have – all these things are measures of your leadership as District Literacy Coordinator».

«The most important thing you can do as District Literacy Coordinator is to speak with each club president and club literacy coordinator about the three types of literacy projects and share examples. I hope you have already done so to help educate key club leaders in your district as to what the world of literacy projects includes; to encourage clubs to participate in multiple literacy projects this year and next; to complete your district literacy survey and to apply for and secure appropriate club literacy awards. Regular emails, though an important tool, are not an effective substitute for direct contact with your district’s club leaders. If you take this step, knowing the variety of things that qualify as literacy projects and discussing them with club leaders … you and they will be amazed at the literacy projects each club is already involved in».

B. Our second topic is that of how to encourage the DGEs to include literacy in their PETS

1.Be sure to furnish the DGEs in your district with materials making it easy to include literacy in PETS.

2.One simple option would be to ask the DGEs to share with their incoming club presidents the ROTARY AWARENESS MONTH message which I mailed to you last week. I will send that to you again on Sunday just in case you did not save a copy.

3. Also be sure that all club presidents-elect receive a copy of this year’s Literacy awards brochure at their PETS.

4. In addition, to repeat, I and your area coordinators will send additional suggestions to you during the next five weeks.

5. But you don’t have to use materials we send to you. Feel free to prepare your own materials and send them to the DGEs.

C. Envisioning the ultimate goal every club president insofar as literacy service projects are concerned --- The story of Evergreen, Colorado’s Mereth Meade

As we review the reports from the districts, one thing is abundantly clear --- The most active clubs are those which have a highly motivated club literacy chairperson (or equivalent). So the ultimate goal of every club president should be to recruit such a person.

I have attached the story of one such person, Rotarian Mereth Meade of the Rotary Club of Evergreen, Colorado. Zone 27 coordinator Patricia Fiske prepared this story several years ago when she was the District 5450 literacy chairperson. I believe that Patricia was the Rotarian who introduced literacy workshops to her district.

When you read this story, notice the important role played by the District 5450 literacy workshop. That’s where Mereth became motivated to try to do something back in her home community. Also note how her first project ended up involving every member of her club, plus the local high school Interact Club. Then note how Mereth heard about and implemented an Imagination Library project. Lastly note how Mereth kept looking for other ways in which her club could support literacy and, at the time this article was written, found a possible opportunity to support an adult literacy project working with the local library.

D. Our opportunity to find, celebrate and publicize role models like Mereth.

Zone coordinator Patricia Fiske identified a number of Rotary literacy service project role models like Mereth. Patricia wrote stories about each of them and posted them in her district’s monthly newsletter. All of our districts have similar opportunities to identify such local role models and tell their stories the rest of their districts. So let’s encourage our district literacy chairs to do just that. But make sure that when they do so, they let their zone coordinator know about it. And remember that individuals so identified are eligible to receive the area literacy award.

The Future of Rotary IS in Your Hands …

Richard Hattwick

Jannuary 2010

PHOTOS: the president of RI John Kenny and the previous president Dong Kurn Lee in the International Assembly 2010 Opening Ceremony, San Diego, USA; Charles E. Clemmons in the United Nations day Ceremony, speaking about Literacy efforts; Corean ladies in the International Assembly 2005;  Pablo Gancayco, DGE from Phillipines, starting animation in the Hyat Regency Hotel in San Diego, 2010; Dr. Monty Audenart, past RI vice-president, from Canada, enphasizing Montreal Convention 2010; Luis Vicente Giay and John Kenny, emphasis on the Future Vision for the TSR; Allan Jagger, DKLee, Mia Farrow and John Majiyagbi, in Birmingham RI Convention in Birmingham, 2009; the RI president elect Ray Klingnsmith in San Diego Opening Ceremony 2010, USA; Gloria Ritta and Frank Devlyn, San Diego 2010.