Grant Perry was our chairperson for today's club meeting at Cilantro. Geoff Gartly performed invocation and toast to Rotary. Visitors included Dee Mason, Lily, and Simon. Charles Rener and Karin Soster joined the meeting via zoom. Apologies were received from Jo Impey, Paul Ferguson, Linda O'Brien, and Faye Weeks.
PRESIDENT'S REPORT - President Ron Brownlees
ANZAC Day - Our club will present wreaths at the ANZAC dawn services at RSL Bentleigh, and Cheltenham.
District Assembly - This year's district assembly will be conducted over Zoom with separate zoom meetings scheduled. Club officers and incoming committee chairs are encouraged to attend, including newer club members to get a better understanding of Rotary.
TRIBUTE TO ANZACS - John Mason
To commemorate our ANZACS John performed the Ode of Remembrance by reciting stanzas from the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon. "Lest we Forget".
GUEST SPEAKER - Brent Govan - Member behind the badge
Brent was inducted as our club's first corporate member on 24 January this year representing Holmesglen Tafe Moorabbin. Brent focused on his professional life and touched briefly on his personal life. He is the Principal of the Vocational College that provides educational services for students mainly in the 15 - 18-year age group at the Moorabbin and Waverley campuses. Whilst state education departments are aligned to providing education in formal structured curriculums, it is acknowledged these models are not for everyone. Tafe offers alternate methods for obtaining an education where students who are not suited to a formal structure can attend courses and receive recognised certificates of education to gain employment in their adult lives. Often students attending programs within Brent's department are or were disengaged students with some suffering from mental health issues - a focus is to provide students with a sense of belonging and engagement and encourage continued studies in a safe environment. Brent's department runs 4 main programs - Brent provided a brief outline of each program, explaining the focus and aims for each program. Programs include VCE studies, running small businesses, forums for working with homeless students at risk, and the most challenging being to reengage students who do not attend school for varying social reasons.
Brent is married to Kylie and has two children - Ella and Flynn. He graduated from Victoria University, has travelled extensively, and held a variety of roles before returning to Australia and taking a position at Holmesglen. Thank you, Brent, for your informative presentation on your career to date - it was inspirational and exemplified the changing nature of careers in today's working environment and how we can draw on earlier experiences, adapt and successfully alter the course of our career.
This bulletin reporter left the meeting earlier than usual - my apologies if anything has been missed in the reporting of the rest of the meeting.
