Tuesday November 01, 2016

 
 
We had a birthday celebration today for Joan and Joe...
 
 
 
Englewood Rotary Club – November 1, 2016
Meeting Location: Crowne Plaza, Englewood
Presiding:  Jill Abbott
Recorder:  Steve Wiessner
Birthdays/Anniversaries:  We had birthdays celebrated with cake for Joan Johnson and Joe Klyde
Visiting Rotarians and Guests: Joan Johnson introduced Khuraira Musa and our guest speaker Dr. John Muciccia
Announcements:
President Jill Abbott made the following announcements:
  1. Joe and Judy Klyde will host a Holiday Kickoff Fete on Sunday, November 20th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at their home at 10 Van Wagoner Drive, Englewood Cliffs.  Tickets are $100 per person with a deadline of November 10; Proceeds from the tickets and silent auction will benefit our club’s programs supporting Englewood youth
  2. The Rotary Foundation fundraiser will occur on November 15 at the Seasons in Washington Township, tickets are $75 per person with checks made out to the Englewood Rotary Club
  3. UN Day will occur on November 12th
  4. A food drive to support the Rotary Veteran’s Food Pantry for the Thanksgiving holiday is occurring on Saturday, November 19th at Shop Rite from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm; Interact students will assist; Contact Jill to volunteer for two hours slots that day
  5. The annual Thanksgiving interclub lunch celebration will occur on Tuesday, November 22 at the Clinton Inn
 
 
 
 
Program:
Dr. John Muciaccia gave a presentation regarding his upcoming book “Ask the Janitor” which is an insider’s look at public school education in America. Dr. Muciaccia was most recently employed at the Palisades Park Public School system as an English teacher and was Vice Principal of Palisades Park High School before leaving in 2000.  Before that, he taught in the Hoboken Public Schools for a few years.
While at Palisades Park High School, he founded and directed the nationally known “Famous People Program,” which invited positive role models for students.   Over a 21-year period, the program hosted 180 guests from all walks of life:  professional athletes, news anchors, celebrities from show business and politicians. 
Three years ago, his first book was published, Thinking In English, which involves teaching adults English. John also recently finished his second book entitled Spirit Lives! – about the connection to Spirit and real people’s experiences with the afterlife.
The premise of his new book “Ask the Janitor” is that janitors know what’s going on in schools and are willing to share the realities more so than teachers and administrators.  They do not give politically correct answers, but have the pulse for what’s happening in the school environment.  Overall his assessment was that public education has gotten worse through the years referencing the need for metal detectors at some schools and teachers leaving as soon as they can because of problems encountered in the school ecosystem.  He referenced lifetime teacher tenure as a problem that needs to be addressed to improve the quality of schools moving forward.
 
He thought that meditation and quality nutritional options should be available for students.  He also noted repeatedly that teachers and administrators need to love their workplaces to be effective noting anecdotal evidence from people that he interviewed for his book.  “Ask the Janitor” should be available on Amazon and Kindle before the holidays.
 
50-50: With 52 cards in the deck and $9 in the pot, David Chazen picked the 10 of Diamonds
 
Attendance:  22 out of 73, 30%
 
Upcoming Programs:
November 8                 
November 15     
November 20      Holiday Kickoff Fete at the Klyde Residence
November 22      Multi-club Thanksgiving Luncheon at the Clinton Inn