Rotary Community Heroes of Hope

Empowering Young Leaders: Early Act's Transformative Impact at Crestline Rotary Club

• Judy Zulfiqar

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Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome to the Community. Heroes of Hope, a podcast where we shine a light on the remarkable individuals and projects in Rotary District 5330 that bring hope and change to our local and global communities. I am Judy Zelfikar, your co-host and the current District Governor of Rotary District 5330.

Speaker 2:

And I'm Niren McLean, the Rotary District Governor-Elect, and I'm Niren McLean, the Rotary District Governor-Elect. Together, we're diving deep into the heart of the community service, showcasing the impact of dedication and collaboration in addressing some of the most pressing challenges our communities face.

Speaker 1:

Each episode, we'll tell stories of incredible people making a difference, innovating solutions and inspiring others to take action.

Speaker 2:

We'll also be giving you a behind-the-scenes look at the projects that are transforming their lives, and we'll discuss how you, too, can get involved, contribute and be part of the positive change. Whether you're a seasoned Rotarian or just looking to give back, this podcast is for you.

Speaker 1:

So join us as we explore the journeys, challenges and successes of people like you who have stepped up to make a difference. Let's celebrate the spirit of community and the power of hope together.

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Don't forget to subscribe to the Community Heroes of Hope on your favorite podcast platform. Stay with us on this journey of inspiration and let's spread the message of hope further than ever.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for tuning in. Let's get started. I'm very excited this morning to talk with MJ from our Crestline Rotary Club about how we are reaching out to the youth in our communities. We have many programs in Rotary, whether it's Interact, ryla, rotaract, and many of our podcasts have talked about the interaction that Rotarians have and the support that we give to our youth, and MJ is going to talk a little bit today about our very youngest Rotarians in our grade schools and middle schools through our Early Act program. So with that, mj, I'm going to have you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about the Early Act program in Crestline.

Speaker 3:

Sure thing. Thanks, Judy. And my name my full name is Mary Justine Lanyon, but most people, like Judy, do call me MJ, short and sweet. I've been a Rotarian now for just four years. Two of those years I served as president of the Crestline Lake Gregory Rotary Club.

Speaker 1:

You jumped right in, didn't you?

Speaker 3:

I did Well. A month later I was tapped as president-elect. One of the main reasons I joined this particular club is because of the Early Act program. I'm editor of our local newspaper. I had been to their meetings and to a couple of their service projects to cover and write about them, and I was just so intrigued and impressed I wanted to be part of that.

Speaker 1:

So what is the Early Act program?

Speaker 3:

Well, first I'll tell you it started in 2012. In 2011, when Bill Mellinger was president, he became aware of Early Act and started the process rolling to have it at our Valley of Enchantment Elementary School meeting and there was just one class it was Mark Warhol and his fifth grade class. They had early act and their first project was they worked with Rotarians and parents to restore the school's nature, walk and plant some flowers and build planters. After that, they put on a spaghetti dinner for the local senior citizens and this is fifth graders.

Speaker 1:

What a wonderful age to start teaching them service above self, right so after that, one fifth grade club.

Speaker 3:

For the past several years now we've had clubs at the third, fourth and fifth grade level. At the end of the year we had an ice cream sundae party and we're told the astonishing news that the first and second graders wanted to be part of Early Act.

Speaker 1:

You got them all coming in. That's lovely.

Speaker 3:

This year we have Early Act at first, second, third, fourth and fifth grade. So each club has a Rotarian as a liaison the challenging part of this and the wonderful part of this we have to have a teacher as the advisor. That's a requirement and they are giving up their lunch hour to sit there and be an advisor to this club. The first and second graders are only meeting once a month. Third, fourth and fifth meet twice a month.

Speaker 1:

You know, that's amazing and it really is a testament to the dedication of our teachers in our schools. I mean, these teachers aren't getting paid to do this extra curricular activity extracurricular activity and it's, but yet it's so important and so impactful for these young students to be able to serve their communities in this special way.

Speaker 3:

That's right, and the the the best thing about these clubs, of course, is that they are student-led. So the teacher is there, I'm, the liaison to the second grade and the fifth grade I'm there, but the only way we impact the club's decisions is. Two years ago, the fifth grader said our playground is in terrible condition. We need to replace all the equipment, and so my suggestion was they get on their Chrome books, which they have in the classroom, and price out playground equipment, and they quickly discovered they could not afford to do that.

Speaker 1:

So they had a very, very early lesson in economics and how expensive that stuff is.

Speaker 3:

That's it. But at our school the third graders focus on a community service project on their school campus. So one year they noticed the backboards at the basketball hoops were really in very poor condition, were really in very poor condition. So they bought new backboards and they painted them. Oh wow. The fourth grade focuses on international projects, so they primarily donate money which they've given to Project Peanut Butter, to Shelter Box, to a sea turtle rescue program and what else have they done? A Clft palate project as well, and then, the fifth.

Speaker 3:

The fifth graders focus on the wider crestline community. I thought one of the best projects they did. One of the boys had been fishing at a lake down the hill and saw they had these boxes where the fishermen could put their used line so that the ducks and other animals didn't get caught up in them. So with the help of the then principal, they built four boxes online. They got stickers to put on them to let the fisher people know what the boxes were for. One of the fathers works for the company that manages the lake, so he took us out in a boat to the four spots and they mounted these boxes and along came a couple of anglers who were like, what are you doing? And when they heard what they were for, they were just so pleased.

Speaker 1:

You know, that's amazing to me. These kids are coming up with very unique, very relevant projects. That's right. That's mind blowing actually.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, well, it is, it is, and they run their meetings just like a rotary meeting. So they start with the Pledge of Allegiance, they say the four-way test and then they have a quote of the day. The secretary reads the minutes of the last meeting, the treasurer gives the report and then, for the fifth grade, the first meeting of the month is their regular meeting, like a Rotary meeting. The second meeting they call their creative meeting. So if they're working on a project, a couple of years ago they made blankets to give to the local veterinary hospitals and a therapy dog nonprofit that's up here. So in the creative meeting they worked on making those blankets.

Speaker 1:

So how are they getting their donations? Is that through the club? Are they fundraising themselves?

Speaker 3:

They do fundraise themselves, hand in hand with the PTA at the school. So when the PTA has a movie night, the early actors can sell something, whether it's popcorn or, you know, soda. They have a glow dance at the school, so they sell. They were, in fact, at the meeting this past week. They were brainstorming what are we going to sell at this year's glow dance? Oh fun, they might buy, you know, online they might get you know a hundred glow bracelets or something and sell those. They do candy cane grams at Christmas. They're going to do Valentine grams for Valentine's Day and when our club has its big fundraisers, like Lobsters at the Lake that you came up for and Steaks at the Lake, they'll be there with duck food that they don't sell but it's available for donations.

Speaker 1:

I bought some of that duck food, thank you. And I talked to those lovely kids and they were so bright eyed and I know the young, young man, probably maybe in fourth grade, and he was so excited that he was the treasure and he was going to count up all the money, which I thought was amazing. What great life lessons these young, early actors are learning through this process.

Speaker 3:

Yes, that's right, and they do, and they, speaking of treasurer and other officers, they hold an election and they actually campaign.

Speaker 1:

Excuse me, oh, that's fun.

Speaker 3:

So that you know they'll have signs and they give little speeches why I should be your president, and and then they vote. And yeah, it's part of the democratic amazing to see.

Speaker 1:

So I know that we don't have I don't know if you're the only early act program in our district. I think it might be so if other Rotarians are listening and would like to start an early act in their region or their local schools. We have 60 clubs and there's lots and lots of elementary schools in our district of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. How could they get that started?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, Well, first I think you would. You'd have to have the support of your club, because we do have a budget line item for like. We just helped buy t-shirts for the students.

Speaker 1:

And what is that budget line item? If you don't mind me asking for your club just to get an idea.

Speaker 3:

I think well, I'm going to speak out of turn here. I'm not really quite sure. Let's say $1,000. Okay, so minimal. It's not a big ticket item. Right, you need the support of your club, and then I would go to the principal of the school to pitch the idea and I would be happy to share photos from service projects and just kind of an outline of how this works. The important message for the potential teacher advisor is that it is student run. I mean, you're only there sitting advising, so it's not like you have to come up with all their ideas. When they decide on their service project, they spend at least one meeting, maybe more, brainstorming, writing all these ideas on the whiteboard and then they vote. And this last time, for fifth grade, there was an idea I was so excited about, but that's not what won. So they're not doing that project, they're doing what they wanted you got to let them do what they're going to do, right.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah. So you'd go to the principal and get the principal's support and then, through the principal, reach out. You might want to start it in fifth grade with the oldest student, assuming your elementary school goes through five. Start with the oldest students and see if you can get a teacher to agree to do it. Now, it doesn't have to be at lunchtime, it could be after school. You know, it depends on how the school wants to set it up.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 3:

And then you would just sort of educate the teacher on and if they are not a Rotarian, it'd be great if they were but on how a Rotary meeting runs, the different components of it, and what is Rotary. They may not even know, so who we are, what we are, what we do, and then take it from there.

Speaker 1:

And I know we do have an Early Act chairperson also at the district level. I believe his name is Scott and Jackie Chapman is also someone you can reach out to if you're a Rotarian listening to this podcast. She is a wealth of information and, between her and the MJ's resource, I'd love to see lots of early act clubs grow up throughout our district.

Speaker 3:

That would be really wonderful. And then maybe they can at some point have some kind of early act conference.

Speaker 1:

Well they're absolutely welcome and that's sitting in the back of my mind too and I want to mention it to you. They're absolutely welcome to come to the Interact conference on May 17th. So, mj, we should talk about how we can get those students included in the process, because that's exactly what we want to do, is have them also see the bigger side of Rotary. They may not get that exposure and see their next progression, because if we're starting early act students in first, second, third, fourth, fifth grade, then they have that opportunity to transition into interact within middle school and high school and really give that opportunity for them to do service above self throughout their career as a student self throughout their career as a student.

Speaker 3:

So you may be interested, judy. When I was at Early Act this past Monday, I told the students we were doing this podcast. Oh wonderful. And I said so, tell me, what do you like about being in Early Act? Oh, I love that. Here's a few of their answers. I want to help people and animals, show kindness. I want to help people and animals, show kindness, show service above self. Early actors don't quit. I love that. Help our community, use our time to help someone and grow goodwill and friendship in America.

Speaker 1:

Oh, those are great, wonderful things and I'm glad that that's the message and the feeling that they're getting out of their experience as being an early actor, exactly. Well, thank you so much for coming on and talking about this. Um, we will, we'll, uh, follow this up with. Again, reach out to district5330.org, to our youth services director, who can put you in touch with someone that can help you start an early act club in your city, your town, your schools. And thank you, mj, for being a resource and for bringing this wonderful program to our podcast. And all the great words directly from those early actors themselves. You're so very welcome.

Speaker 3:

It's my pleasure.

Speaker 1:

So that wraps up this episode of Heroes of Hope. We are so happy that we have an audience out there listening. We want you to subscribe, share and tell your friends about the Rotary community Heroes of Hope, because that's how we get the word out about the impact we're having in this world.