Category Archives: Training

Pre-PETS held this week for incoming Rotary Club Leaders

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DGE Mukund Nori ran 2 Pre-PETS sessions this week for the incoming club presidents (Presidents Elect) and incoming assistant governors (AG’s) at Fairfield University in Fairfield and at Connecticut College in New London.

Pre-PETS is designed to get incoming club and district leaders prepared for their new leadership roles that begin on July 1st by introducing them to the resources and tools available to them and preparing them for their NE PETS training in March.

Norwalk Rotary Vocational Training Team departed for Sierra Leone today

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Joan Parris; Ronnie Katz; Florence Falkowski; Eugenia Chinsman, Dr. Cynthia Barnett; AG John Hendrickson

Joan Parris; Ronnie Katz; Florence Falkowski; Eugenia Chinsman, Dr. Cynthia Barnett; AG John Hendrickson

Norwalk Rotary Club President Brian Falkowski, his fiancee, husbands of team members, AG John Hendrickson, and DRFC Rick Benson gathered at the Norwalk Inn today to say farewell to our VTT Team.  With the rain, fog, and traffic accidents, one team member was 30 minutes late arriving at the Norwalk Inn for their limo to JFK to start their 2 week VTT adventure in Freetown, Sierra Leone, but all were underway by 1:50 PM.  Our team will return from Sierra Leone January 17 and a team from there will visit Norwalk and our District in late April.  All of our team members are experienced Early  Childhood educators who will share their skills with counterparts in Africa.

Eugenia Chinsman, (Norwalk RC- VTT Committee member); Ronnie Katz, Joan Parris; Anne Farrell, Cynthia Barnett (Norwalk RC, Team Leader), Florence Falkowski

Eugenia Chinsman, (Norwalk RC- VTT Committee member); Ronnie Katz, Joan Parris; Anne Farrell, Cynthia Barnett (Norwalk RC, Team Leader), Florence Falkowski

The Norwalk Rotary Vocational Training Team finally departed from JFK this afternoon to Sierra Leone after clearing more administrative and bureaucratic hurdles than any group of dedicated volunteers should have to endure. The team was originally scheduled to leave on Jan 4th but paperwork problems from previous grants between Freetown and Rotary International had to be resolved first. District VTT Chair Nancy Riella was steadfast in her resolve to make this global training grant happen as she tenaciously worked the halls of Rotary International to get the final approvals needed (an egg or two might have been broken in the process). DRFC Rick Benson called in a favor or two with a few of his contacts while PDG Colin Gershon  provided important behind the scenes support in arranging for the Team’s financing.

Norwalk VTT Members

Norwalk VTT Members

This VTT project will take place at the Milton Margai College of Education and Technology and the Baana Prepatory School in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

The emphasis is basic education and literacy. Due to continual civil wars, Sierra Leone’s educational structure was destroyed. There is a need for updated teacher training curriculums to prepare infants – 5 year old children for school. Additionally, there is a need for improved curriculums, teachers and educators to train the Early Childhood Education (ECE) teachers.

VTT Chair Nancy Riella helping the Norwalk Rotary Club

VTT Chair Nancy Riella helping the Norwalk Rotary Club

The direct beneficiaries will be all the children of Sierra Leone through education; the ECE teachers because they will have updated training with hands on experience; the Milton Margai College of Education and Technology due to exposure to current best practices and curriculum improvements.

This VTT is a perfect example of a project that is possible through The Rotary Foundation.

Photos 1 & 2 by PDG Rick Benson

Norwalk Rotary prepares to launch Vocational Training Team to Sierra Leone

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The Norwalk Rotary Club is just about ready to launch their Vocational Training Team (VTT) project to Sierra Leone. If things go according to plan then the US Team will leave on 1/4/2014.

VTT Chair Nancy Riella and Eugenia Chinsman of the Norwalk Rotary Club have been working on this $30,000 Global Grant application for the better part of 2013 and like all things Rotary; “they are this close”.

The team is just awaiting word from Rotary International that Freetown Rotary Club in Sierra Leone has cleared up the remaining administrative hurdles.

The Outbound Team members from D7980 are as follows:

  • Cynthia Barnett
  • Joan Parris
  • Florence Falkowski
  • Ronnie Katz
  • Anne Farrell

This VTT project will take place at the Milton Margai College of Education and Technology and the Baana Prepatory School in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

The emphasis is basic education and literacy. Due to continual civil wars, Sierra Leone’s educational structure was destroyed. There is a need for updated teacher training curriculums to prepare infants – 5 year old children for school. Additionally, there is a need for improved curriculums, teachers and educators to train the Early Childhood Education (ECE) teachers.

The direct beneficiaries will be all the children of Sierra Leone through education; the ECE teachers because they will have updated training with hands on experience; the Milton Margai College of Education and Technology due to exposure to current best practices and curriculum improvements.

The USA VTT team will be composed of ECE experts that will observe current teaching practices, curriculums, and ECE programs. The emphasis will be to use the observations gained in Sierra Leone to create and maintain a ECE program that can be replicated through out the country. this program will serve as a flagship program to support the national teacher education program. The Sierra Leone VTT team will observe ECE programs in a variety of pre-schools, work with Norwalk Community College to enhance the teaching curriculum at the Milton Margai College whose objective is to establish a program to teach ECE.

Updates will be provided to this project as they become available.

The Rotary Leadership Institute today in Middletown

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The Rotary Leadership Institute is being held today at Middlesex Community College in Middletown Connecticut.

The training event is being attended by 41 Rotarians from all over New England including our very own Mukund Nori (DGE), Laima Nori and Gerry Tom (DGN).

D7980 RLI Attendees

The Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) is a multi-district, grassroots leadership development program of member districts organized into regional divisions in various parts of the world. RLI is not an official program of Rotary International and is not under its control. RLI seeks to have Rotary Clubs in its member districts identify those Rotarians who appear to have the potential for future club leadership (not necessarily as club presidents) and provide those so identified with a quality education in Rotary knowledge and leadership skills so important in voluntary organizations.

The Institute offers a leadership course in three full day parts (Parts I, II, III), plus a Graduate course for those who have completed all three of the previous parts. The courses are designed to provide Rotary knowledge and to develop leadership skills for voluntary organizations. Some examples of course sessions include, “A Look Outside the Club”, “Membership Orientation & Activation”, “Introduction to Leadership”, “Creating Service Projects”, Problem Solving Workshops”, “Vocational Service”, “Effective Committees”, “Membership Development”, “The Rotary Foundation”, “Analyzing a Rotary Club”, “The Object of Rotary”, “The District”, “International Service”, “Problems of Leadership”, “Creative Service”, “Written Communications:, “Motivating Rotarians & Effecting Change”.

Council of Presidents held in Stratford Connecticut on 10/3/2013

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We held the Annual Council of Presidents (CoP) at the Oronoque Country Club in Stratford CT this past Thursday in front of  a crowd of about 65 people. The Council of Presidents program is designed for Rotary Club Presidents to interact with District Leaders and other Club Presidents on issues which may affect their clubs and to get exposed to creative ideas that are being deployed in other Rotary Clubs.

The CoP event, which has historically been run as an all day Saturday event, was held for 3 hours on a weeknight last week. Our continuing shift away Saturday events was well received by sitting President’s and Assistant Governors.

We covered the following topics:

  • Revamping the Club Awards
  • Upcoming Club Foundation Program (‘All Boots on the Ground‘)
  • Leadership Succession Readiness & Preparing for PETS by DGE Mukund Nori
  • Membership Retention by Brad Howard
  • Public Image – Is the Public Facing image that your club is putting out matching the desire to attract younger members?
  • Fundraising – creative and successful events being held by Clubs around our District

We were incredibly fortunate to have Brad Howard come in from California to address our crowd on the importance of Membership Retention through Engagement. It was also a special treat to have Rev. Mark Kiyimba, Unitarian Universalist minister from Kampala, Uganda join us as a visiting Rotarian.

With 3 months under our Leadership belts we will still have a lot to do in our Clubs and the District over the next 9 months so that we can hand them off to our successors in better condition than when we arrived.

Photos: Thank you to Laima Nori for contributing many of the photos above.

Incoming Rotary Club Presidents; NE PETS is March 6-8, 2014 in Framingham, MA

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D7980 Crew at NEPETS 2013 with RI President Ron Burton

D7980 Crew at NEPETS 2013 with RI President Ron Burton

The Northeast PETS (NE PETS) committee met in Framingham MA most of the day today to begin planning  for the Presidents-elect Training Seminar (PETS)  this coming March.

The Presidents-elect Training Seminar (PETS) helps Presidents-elect prepare for their year as club president and Assistant Governors for their term. PETS is also an opportunity for incoming club presidents to build strong working relationships with their district governor-elect and incoming assistant governors.

Northeast PETS (NE PETS) is a multi-district PETS of eight Rotary International districts and includes the states of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, southern Maine and southern Quebec.

SavethedateIncoming Presidents (Presidents-elect) and Assistant Governors should save March 6-8, 2014 in their calendars as attending a PETS event is required for all Presidents-elect. The event usually begins with an optional program at 2pm on Thursday 3/6 and concludes with a luncheon Saturday on 3/8.

Alternative PETS events are available for Presidents-elect with scheduling conflicts on March 6-8 with prior approval from DGE Mukund Nori.

Previous attendees of NE PETS come away inspired, charged up and confident that they are ready to run their Rotary clubs.

The event is new and fresh every year as it reflects the current RI theme and the priorities.

Invitations will be sent out for NE PETS in December 2013.

Here is a link to all of the posts from the past NE PETS event.