Meeting Recap

George Tomko gave the invocation and led the pledge.

Rotarian of the Month

President Barry Kuzmickas presented the Rotarian of the Month to Joyce Reed.  Joyce is the recording secretary for the club, adding her special touch to the minutes every month.  In addition she has been working on a quarterly newsletter to go out to past members and sponsors, in addition to helping with many of our projects throughout the year.

School Supply Drive

Ravi and Jeet talked about the firefighter turnout gear that is being donated, and will be shipped to Guyana.  The equipment will take one and a half pallets.  To fill the second pallet there is room for 50 back to school kits for students aged 12-15 in a very remote secondary school.  The items that would be helpful include: Notebooks & loose-leaf paper, Folders & binders (including zip-up binders / trapper keepers), Pens, pencils, highlighters, colored pencils, Pencil pouches, Rulers, Backpacks, Calculators, Lunch boxes, Graph paper.  Ravi and Jeet will be driving the supplies to New York to be shipped the first week in December, so please bring supplies tomorrow, or December 5th at the latest.

Students

Last Friday we welcomed a group of students from the Strongsville High School Key Club, introduced by co-advisor Tara Broski. The students shared their roles on the executive board along with their interests and future plans:

• Lynn – Social media manager.

• Christina – Co-president, senior, planning to study engineering.

• Dira – Co-president, junior, interested in engineering.

• Sanayana Reddy – Sophomore class officer, with plans to pursue law.

• Michaela Nero – Junior executive board member, involved in gymnastics and soccer.

The students spoke about Key Club’s strong emphasis on meaningful service and how they’ve helped grow the club to more than 260 members through social media outreach, school announcements, and engaging service activities such as a recent pie-throwing fundraiser for Harvest for Hunger.

Tara noted that this group has shown an especially strong commitment to service and leadership, making them one of the most effective executive boards she has advised.

Middle School Presentation – Student-Produced Videos and Community Service

We were pleased to welcome a second group of students on Friday—this time from Strongsville Middle School. Their visit highlighted a unique collaboration between the Career Connections program, the new 7th-grade Media & Broadcasting class, and the Strongsville Historical Society.

About a month ago, the 8th-grade Career Connections students helped the Historical Society get ready for its fall events by sanding, scraping, and repainting the front fence. This year, the project expanded: the 7th-grade Media & Broadcasting class came along to film the work and produce their own video stories about the experience.

During the meeting, the students shared two videos they created—one with district support and one entirely student-produced. Both featured the 8th graders’ service work, along with interviews about the hard and soft skills they practiced: teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and basic hands-on project skills.

Career Connections teachers Mr. Rodak and Ms. Leach spoke about how projects like this reinforce the program’s emphasis on interests, abilities, and aptitudes, and how community partnerships help students apply classroom concepts in real-world settings. They also emphasized the role of volunteer experiences in building confidence, public speaking skills, and career awareness.

Several students then shared short reflections on their interests and career exploration, as well as what they learned from the Historical Society project. Representing the Career Connections classes were Dominic Cook, Elise Fusco, and Adriana Woods. Representing the Media & Broadcasting class were Charlie Demcko and MJ Swansinger, who also produced one of the videos shown.

Broadcasting teacher Mr. Zahar explained that this is the first year for the media program, and the Historical Society project gave students hands-on experience with interviewing, filming, and editing—sorting through two hours of footage to create a short, polished story.

Overall, the visit showcased Strongsville Middle School’s growing focus on career exploration, communication skills, and community service—demonstrating how different classes can collaborate to create meaningful experiences for students while giving back to the community.