Raising Stronger Kids to Build Stronger Communities: Karen Massoglia's talk explored how early literacy, family time, and character education help build stronger communities. She reviewed how investing in children aligns directly with Rotary’s commitment to service above self. She emphasized how community leaders can make a lasting impact by supporting and being aware of the current programs that are strengthening families and shape future citizens. Thanks to the discussions during breakfast and comments in the Q&A, Karen learned a lot about what our club is already doing in these areas. Her organization offers a program to distribute a book to all first graders in a school district that speaks to the importance of early literacy and character education. Click READ MORE to read about Karen.
New Westside Principal Rachel Mader introduced herself to our club at the last Tuesday morning meeting of 2025. The club has a long standing, successful and much-valued reading assistance program at Westside, with the Principal and Reading Specialist playing important roles. Because your newsletter editor was not at the meeting, the usual summary is not possible; however, Rachel provided her very informative slides, which are available by clicking the link at the bottom of this Tidings. Rachel covered her family, hobbies, her professional journey, educational background, details about her role and duties as principal, and she concluded with a slide about the principles guiding the RFSD as part of the River Falls community.
--MEETING CANCELLATION POLICY: the board decided to implement a policy to cancel meetings when the River Falls School District cancels school due to bad weather and poor road conditions. This resulted from the recent meeting where a speaker came from Roseville MN to speak to a small group of Rotarians because many stayed home. We can watch the news and RFSD website when weather conditions warrant, and we have made sure that we have ways to contact speakers and inform them and the Ezekiel food preparation team.
--RIVER FALLS ROTARY IS ON INSTAGRAM: Karla has established an account for our club on Instagram. The link is here; feel free to share it with (younger, we hope) friends and familiy who are on Instagram.
EVERYONE HAS A STORY -- Thekla Madsen opened with the idea that around Pearl Harbor Day we should think about the stories that WW2 veterans have to tell – and likely were reluctant to tell because of the pain they carry. Thekla started out with a journalism/English degree and had a job with the River Falls Journal as a “jill of all trades”. To pay the bills, had to take secretarial work in St Paul. On the job, she learned about financial issues, and she then moved to a bank serving agricultural co-ops. She left that position because at 37 she wanted to write. Thekla started her own business writing for insurance, banking, agricultural co-ops, and others. Over time, she moved to more technical writing, which was difficult but worth the transition. Click READ MORE for the full story.
