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Update on Sun Prairie Police Department
Jun. 30, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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Sun Prairie Communications & Diversity
Jul. 07, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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Sun Prairie's Parks, Recreation and Forestry
Jul. 14, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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Let Your Inner Employee Work for You
Jul. 21, 2020 7:15 a.m.
Are you stumped with a problem? Have you run it around in your mind over and over and the solution keeps evading you? Maybe it’s time for something different. Join me in the magical world of creation and give this technique a try. (I promise it will be worth it.) What would this entail? It’s relatively simple.
Think of the solution and not the problem. After all, what you focus on is what you get. What will the solution feel like? What will you feel like when you have the solution and it is implemented? This will allow you to get a clear idea of what you’d like. Yes, the idea will not be the solution. Instead it will be what you are hoping to attain by having the solution. Next, treat you inner mind as an employee. Give it clear directions. Kindly say something like, ““You are fabulous and you can do anything. Bring me a clear solution to this problem that will benefit everyone involved. I know that this will work out.” Steps one, two and three are done. The next step is vital. Don’t micromanage the employee. Let your inner employee do his/her work. After all, you know that he’s a great employee and you can trust that the job will be done. Think of it this way, the solution is in the “library” of the greater imagination. You are asking your employee to go to the library and find the books or information that will help you. If you are insisting on going to the library, why should the employee? If you can’t trust your employee, which is your inner self tapping into all the available knowledge and solutions that even you don’t know about, then gaining a stronger sense of trust may be the first thing to ask for. Steps five and six can be done together. Relax and be grateful. Know that the solution is coming, and you don’t have to stress over it. This is the time to meditate, sleep, take a shower, exercise, or in some other way unplug from the problem. While you are doing so, be pre-grateful. This means that you are grateful for what will happen as if it already did. Imagine thanking the employee for a job well done. Imagine everyone involved thanking you for the brilliant solution. Quickly, you will move from the thoughts to the feeling, and this is where you are supercharging your employee. He can already feel the gratitude and feels all warm and fuzzy from your praise. (To supercharge the process, be grateful before you even do step one.) At the beginning of step seven, the solution will “pop in” to your awareness. It may be as fast as when you are done meditating, or it may take a bit of time. It may be fully formed and actionable, or it may be only the next step that will lead you to the solution. Either way, this is the time when you take the inspired action. Do something. You know the direction you are going (after all, your employee is leading you), take inspired actions toward accomplishing the solution. Do what is presented to you as the next step you need to do. This is where you do something even if it doesn’t seem to make sense. It will have a feeling that matches the feelings you have been imagining around the solution. Your employee works with the library of greater imagination to help you. She/he is ready, willing, and able to do so. Are you willing to let it happen? |
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COVID-19 and the Economy
Jul. 28, 2020 7:15 a.m.
Steven Deller is Professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics at UW-Madison and anCommunity Economic Development Specialist with the UW-Extension. Professor Deller's long-term research interest includes modeling community and smallregional economies in order to better understand the changing dynamics of the economy, assessing the impact of those changes, and identifying local economic strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. His most recent book explores how social capital helps us understand why some communities prosper economically and others struggle. Speaker Profile and Photo: https://speakers.wisc.edu/speaker/steven-deller/ |
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Meet the 2020-2021 District Governor
Aug. 04, 2020 7:15 a.m.
The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware… joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware
Henry Miller
For Bill Pritchard, his awareness of Rotary did not truly begin until after he had already been a Rotarian for several years. A district governor-elect asked for a cup of coffee meeting. During the meeting Bill was asked how many District Conferences he had been to? Bill’s answer was none, which prompted this follow-up question: Why would you join an organization that you obviously care enough about to attend meetings with your busy schedule, but not care enough to give even one days-worth of investigation into the ways they serve and give back to their local communities?
Bill did not have a good answer. So, he attended his first District Conference in 2010. And he became AWARE… 😊
That awareness quickly grew to involvement. Since 2010, Bill has held numerous club and district posts and responsibilities – starting with becoming a Youth Exchange Counselor in his club in 2010 (still active) and the first Ethics Committee chair for District 6250 in 2011. He has served as the District 6250 Membership Chair, the District 6250 Youth Exchange Inbound Coordinator, and was President of the Rotary Club of La Crosse in 2014-2015. His worth at the district level expanded to the Zone and Multi-Zone levels – serving as Curriculum Director for the 19 districts of Central States Rotary Youth Exchange as well as the Assistant Rotary Zone Coordinator for Zone 28.
It is well known that Rotarians do not get involved for accolades (or the pay 😊), but Bill has been honored as Rotarian of the Year by both his Rotary Club (2012-2013) and District 6250 (2011-2012). He has been recognized for his efforts in the area of Membership (2016) and in assisting with the local area Interact Clubs (2016), and most recently was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Rotary Works Foundation (2015-2016).
When not involved in a Rotary project, Bill is the Branch and Portfolio Manager for Stifel Financial. When he can, he enjoys finding moments to chase small white golf balls around a golf club near his home in Holmen, Wisconsin when not on his boat on the Mississippi River. Bill is blessed with two wonderful daughters, hundreds of Youth Exchange Sons and Daughters around the world, and a wife who he adores. |
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UW-Madison Campus Bombing, 50 years ago
Aug. 11, 2020 7:15 a.m.
Dan Woll, a former School Administrator and author of Death on Cache Lake. ..a literary thriller that includes the famous bombing on the UW-Madison campus in 1970. He is relaunching his book this summer to tie in with the 50th anniversary of this historic time. ABOUT THE BOOK August 2020 marks the tragic 50th anniversary of the Sterling Hall bombing on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The book Death on Cache Lake re-imagines that fateful night. Today, the campus bomber Leo Burt is still a fugitive and wanted by the FBI. The book gives readers a fictionalized idea of what happened to him. Anyone who has ever paddled a canoe on a wild river, climbed a mountain, cycled lonely country roads or sat by a roaring campfire while a loon cries on a moonlit lake will find much to love in this book. Set in the tumultuous days of 1970 as the University of Wisconsin campus imploded after a deadly campus bombing, the book takes the reader on a dark odyssey through the lake wilds of Ontario, and the woods and small towns of Wisconsin. A fishing trip in Quetico Provincial Park turns tragic when two friends cross paths with a former acquaintance who is running for his life. This spellbinding tale of political intrigue and conspiracy will also captivate history buffs who share the authors’ fascination with American crimes that seem solvable but remain mysteries. Caleb and John’s adrenaline-filled flight through Ontario to unravel the conspiracy and save their lives takes them on trains, hitch-hiked rides on trucks, cross-country skis, and canoes, all at a breakneck pace. |
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Incredible Journey -- From Boxing Ring to Boardroom
Aug. 18, 2020
Growing up with poverty and racism on Milwaukee’s Southside, faith and perseverance led him to becoming an internationally acclaimed boxer, and President-CEO of Lutheran Social Services (LSS) of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, one of the largest non-profits in the Midwest. There’s an old adage that says a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Sometimes the starting line begins in childhood, during very challenging times. The Hector Colón story, detailed in the author’s memoir, From Boxing Ring to Boardroom-5 Essential Virtues for Life & Leadership (August, 2020), began in a broken home, punctuated with gang violence -the Latin Kings and Spanish Cobras were never far away. As a young Latino in Milwaukee he experienced the ever-present challenges of bullying and prejudice. All of these experiences played a part in igniting his interest in helping others in his work today as a servant leader. “If you want inspiration then you owe it to yourself to read Héctor Colón’s life story. From humble beginnings to a champion boxer to the boardroom. Héctor weaves a wonderful story about life’s challenges and rewards.”—Howard Behar, Retired President of the Starbucks Coffee Company Earlier this year Colón’s leadership was recognized when Gov. Tony Evers appointed him to the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents “The Héctor Colón story is one that would capture anyone’s heart. Whether a teacher or preacher, boxer or CEO, Héctor’s story is an inspiration. Despite what would seem insurmountable odds, this is a captivating story of someone who had the grit, determination, and altruism to make a difference despite growing up in poverty, a broken family, and living through the challenges arising from prejudice. —Dr. Mary Meehan, University president emerita and honorary alumna, former healthcare executive, and life fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives Colón’s personal and professional path had an unlikely beginning ---in the boxing ring. Héctor’s first book, “From Boxing Ring to Boardroom” is set to release in August 2020. |
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Compelling Story -- She's Changing Up the English Language
Aug. 25, 2020 7:15 a.m.
Vivian Probst, who has a longtime business in the Milwaukee area as a National Consultant to the Affordable Housing industry, is also a linguist and author. Her new book, Tha Womun Who Forgot Who She Was –the first book in a five-book series is written in WEnglish, a groundbreaking, gender-neutral language. Vivian spent over a decade creating the concept, text and Glossary for the book. This distinctive book, inspired by dramatic dreams that mirrored Vivian’s own life, is being launched in August, in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote in the U.S. She will discuss the concept of WEnglish, and what her novel represents 100 years after the 19th Amendment was signed.
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Sun Prairie's Economy
Sep. 01, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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The Wonder Years are Back
Sep. 08, 2020 7:15 a.m.
David Benjamin’s Highly Praised Memoir, The Life and Times of the Last Kid Picked, about Growing up Mid-Century in Small-Town Wisconsin, is Getting a New Lease on Life. By Sharyn Alden In October, readers who loved The Life and Times of the Last Kid Picked, by Madison author, David Benjamin’s can devour an updated version of the beloved book originally published by Random House in 2002. Regarded as a masterwork of storytelling, the book shadows the life — often in laugh-out-loud detail — of a kid coming of age in mid-20th century Wisconsin. In one of many superlative reviews, Hartford Courant book editor Carole Goldberg, called Benjamin’s book “richly hilarious” and warned, “Don’t read this at bedtime — your laughter might wake up the kids.” Benjamin will be speaking to the Sun Prairie Rotary Club about how he regained the copyright from Random House (not an easy task) to publish the new book under his own Last Kid Books imprint. Benjamin is a prolific novelist and founder of the Madison-based publishing firm, Last Kid Books, named for his popular memoir. He is also a newspaper veteran, award-winning editor of the Mansfield (Mass.) News, Tokyo Journal in Japan, and other periodicals. Fans Relate to Being Chosen Last The “hero” of the Last Kid Picked languishes at the bottom of the pecking order among fellow students at St. Mary’s School in Tomah. He is literally the last kid picked for playground games, and his only friends are fellow outcasts named Koscal and Fat Vinny. He feels the stigma of his mother’s status as a divorcée, his dad’s absence from his life and his family’s nomadic poverty. Despite a steady series of failures and humiliations, “Benjamin” throws himself into every game, learns skills by trial and demoralizing error, discovers talents that no other kid acknowledges — and he grows. “Remarkably,” Benjamin says, “Readers identify emotionally with my protagonist because they tell me, ‘I was the last kid picked’ I hear this from as many women as men, in numbers that defy probability.” Humorously, he wonders, “I mean, what if everyone was the last kid picked?” The good news is the book, which accumulated fans when published by Random House, is updated now. It will be published in October as a Last Kid Book (www.lastkidbooks), an outfit named for the book that started it all. The new book provides a deeper look into Benjamin’s career as an underdog — more like “under years,” he said, “than wonder years” — in a story that mixes memoir with flights of fiction. Midwest Nostalgia The author explains life the way he knew it as a kid. “It was freelance childhood. What we had was just the outside,” he explains. “We dove into our local wilderness to commune with, capture and risk injury from tadpoles, snapping turtles, snakes, bullheads, bloodsuckers, vicious squirrels, wood ticks, green apples and a boogeyman named Ed Gein.” If you grew up in small town Wisconsin as Benjamin did in Tomah, in an era when there were no play dates or peewee leagues or parent-supervised tournaments, you understand the thrill of unstructured play. Benjamin says, “Kids learned the ways of adults by watching them, rarely asked them for help and didn't tell them any more than they absolutely had to. Everyone respected the authority of teachers — especially if it was a Catholic school.” |
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COVID-19 and Financial Planning
Sep. 15, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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What Kids Need –When Self-Esteem Suffers In & Out of Virtual Classrooms
Sep. 29, 2020 7:15 a.m.
“Learning to believe in yourself can be a struggle for kids when they are learning remotely, especially if they have been bullied,” says Bev Davis, hospital chaplain at Meriter Hospital and author of several children’s books about bullying. By Sharyn Alden Teachers, parents and students are facing the virtual school year with many challenges. One of those challenges, maybe not so obvious is a student’s feeling of not fitting in or being picked on. “Low self-esteem can make a student more vulnerable to bullying,” says Bev Davis, an anti-bullying expert, hospital chaplain and author. When she talks to groups about the importance of believing in yourself, she’s speaking from the heart since she was bullied throughout childhood. Once bullying starts it has a deep impact on families and communities “The acts of marginalizing people doesn’t just effect the person being hurt; it effects everyone in your life, as it did mine,” she says. Her experiences have given her deep empathy for others. That ability to be helpful is an important element in her position as a hospital chaplain at Meriter Hospital. “People may think that when you’re hurt with words it can’t be as bad as physically being injured, but the effects of words can actually hurt longer than sticks and stones.” says Davis. “I can still hear the taunting and see the spots on the playground where I was bullied.” Davis holds a Masters of Divinity degree from McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago and a Certified Dementia Practitioner (NCCDP). She will be speaking to the Sun Prairie Rotary Club on September 29 via a Zoom meeting about the life-long effects of bullying. All are welcome to join the meeting. Her personal experiences inspired to write her first book, Great Gray…a Book about Exceeding No Expectations when she was in Clinical Pastoral Education Residency at Aspirus Wausau Hospital. (bevdavisauthor.com) With many schools playgrounds closed due to Covid-19, Davis says there are still opportunities outside the classroom for kids to learn kindness and not be mean to each other “If I had been bullied in the classroom before this pandemic closed my school, right now I’d be very anxious about what I would face when we return to the classroom,” she says. “I hope that any student who has been bullied will be able to share their feelings with their parents and that adults will listen, intently.” Have a Plan –What a Bullied Person Needs Davis says as a chaplain, and someone who works and supports people in all walks of life, she recognizes the importance of having a plan to help kids feel good about themselves. Here are four points Davis suggests for parents:
“These points of advocacy are based on my hearing from people who could have been helped, if they were heard and felt safe to share their feelings and circumstances with someone who they could trust,” she says. |
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"Mom's Gone Missing" -- losing parents to Alzheimer's and Dementia.
Oct. 06, 2020 7:15 a.m.
I'd like to introduce you to Susan Marshall, an excellent speaker of the new book just released, Mom's Gone Missing ....a poignant story written by Susan about her recent journey with both parents dying of Alzheimer's and Dementia ..what happens to the family that's left, how she, as the spokesperson for her family, was on a daily roller coaster with associated organizations in finance, legal and health, and other matters she had to negotiate..What she'd like others to know if they too find a loved one 'missing' due to a disease with no cure. Susan is also the founder of Milwaukee's Backbone Institute. https://backboneinstitute.com/ "Never Grow a Wishbone Where a Backbone Ought to Be." |
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Sun Prairie Rotary Foundation
Oct. 13, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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Oct. 20, 2020 7:15 a.m.
EMS Chief Brian Goff joined the Sun Prairie EMS team in January 2018. Chief Goff has more than 20 years of emergency services experience and has worked in private and public systems in both EMS and Fire Departments. He is nationally credentialed in multiple emergency service disciplines and has earned peer distinctions as Chief EMS Officer from the Center for Public Safety Excellence as well as Fellow of the American College of Paramedic Executives. Chief Goff earned his Associate's Degree in Emergency Medical Services from Seminole State College (FL) and his Bachelor's Degree in Fire and Emergency Services from the University of Florida. |
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The Three Ps in My Life: Polio, Post Polio Syndrome and Polio Plus
Oct. 27, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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Supporting the environment & ESRAG’s Role
Nov. 03, 2020 7:15 a.m.
ESRAG (Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Groups) Karen Kendrick-Hands, a member of the Rotary Club of Madison, WI, USA, D6250 since 2012, helped to form the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG), to synergize her passions for Rotary Service and mitigating climate change and providing a way for like-minded Rotarians to collaborate. She has served as ESRAG’s Chair, Director of Communications, and is currently the Director of Projects. She was the first ever Observer Delegate sent by Rotary International to the UNFCCC climate talks, attending COP24 in Katowice, Poland, December 2018. In February 2020, Karen presented to the Rotary Foundation’s Environmental Issues Task Force, on behalf of ESRAG. Rotary International’s Directors and the Trustees of the Rotary Foundation accepted the Taskforce report unanimously and have created a seventh Area of Focus: Supporting the Environment. Karen is active with the Wisconsin Chapter of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby and is the Co-leader of its Rotary Action Team. When active as an attorney, Karen worked as a volunteer public interest advocate for cleaner air and mobility and transportation choices, including serving on various local, state and regional advisory bodies, for over 30 years. Karen is blessed to have been a Rotary Youth Exchange student in 1967-68 to Australia. Karen and her husband Larry Hands, also a Rotarian and ESRAG Board member, have been married for 46 years, and have two married sons and three grandchildren. Together they are building a carbon-neutral home and working to restore prairie and savanna habitat on 80 acres in southwest Wisconsin, USA. |
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The Changing Landscape of Nutrition, Health, and Wellness
Nov. 10, 2020 7:15 a.m.
Laura Isaacson is a Registered Dietitian and Clinical Dietetics Lead at Vida Health. She was previously the Director Clinical Nutrition and Director of Community Outreach at Upland Hills Health in Dodgeville, Wisconsin and has also worked in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at The Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and with the Neurosciences Department at The University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. While at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Laura was selected to participate in the UWHC Division of Nursing and Patient Care Services and University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing 2011 Clinical Leadership Institute as well as in the 2011 American Dietetic Association Leadership Institute. Laura received a Bachelor’s Degree in Dietetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master’s Degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition from the University of Maine-Orono. She completed a supervised practice in dietetics at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. Laura has enjoyed volunteering with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Wisconsin Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in a variety of roles. She is the Past-President of the Wisconsin Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has previously served as the Wisconsin Delegate to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Chair of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Medical Nutrition Practice Group, and President of the Madison District Dietetic Association. She has previously served on the Board of Directors for Fifth Season Cooperative, The Healthy Classrooms Foundation and The Montessori Children’s Community School. Laura received the 2019 Upland Hills Health Leadership Award and the 2019 Rural Health Ambassador Award, was recognized as a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in 2014 and was awarded the Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year Award in Wisconsin in 2010. Laura lives in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin with her husband Chet, sons Henry and Will, three dogs and two horses. In her spare time, Laura enjoys cooking, reading, gardening, traveling and hiking. Provided by Colleen Burke |
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Tips on Running a Succesful Small Business
Nov. 17, 2020 7:15 a.m.
Main Street Moxie From Surviving to Thriving in the New American Marketplace When the going gets tough –Noelle Stary has your back. This young entrepreneur has built two thriving New Jersey businesses from scratch through a voracious devotion to learning, improvising and improving —and knowing when and how to fall forward. Today, as the pandemic has changed the business landscape many Main Street businesses are operating out of bedrooms, basements, garages and home offices. Stary shares her hard-won tips for success despite the impact of a global pandemic. Main Street Moxie is filled with real-world ideas that may change your world.
“Thriving as a small business owner requires finding your grit. It’s not always easy, I know. But when you have grit and moxie, you can will yourself through anything.” ---Noelle Stary There’s an old adage that says when you have the opportunity, be the change you’d like to see in the world. That describes Noelle Stary who has intuitively sought that goal for a long time, going back to childhood. As is sometimes the case with people who grow up to be good in their chosen fields, Stary had a pretty clear idea of what she wanted when she was a little girl. “I wanted to be an entrepreneur when I grew up,” she says. “While other girls were playing house with their Barbies, my dolls were being dressed for success and heading out to work.” Today, she is a role model for change. For starters, before she was 30, she founded the first co-working space in New Jersey www.coworkinginjersey.com including the Woodridge site. She is also at the helm of her marketing firm, 20 Lemons, and its focus on the hospitality industry. As the title of Stary’s book emphasizes, she says moxie is key to thriving in today’s business environment. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines moxie as “energy and pep, courage, determination, and know-how.” Stary explains the importance of that word in business. “When I was 26, and I founded my first business, I had enough energy, courage, and determination to take care of the fact I had no more know-how than most people my age. In other words, I had moxie. And if you want to succeed in business, you’ll need a healthy dose of this trait, too.” Main Street Moxie, recently released and available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, is the story of how the author used a lot of grit combined with her singularly unique brand of moxie to make it through the largest paradigm shift of her generation.
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Rotary Friendship Exchange - What it's all about!
Nov. 24, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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Boys & Girls Club of Sun Prairie (Virtual Tour)
Dec. 01, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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Dealing with Mental Health During the Pandemic
Dec. 15, 2020 7:15 a.m.
Lynn Brady is the President and CEO of Journey Mental Health Center. Lynn has over 40 years of experience in the behavioral health field as both a clinician and an administrator. Her background includes clinical practice and teaching in a university setting, policy and systems development as a state director of behavioral health services, and organizational management. Journey Mental Health Center: Journey Mental Health Center is a community based behavioral health care system providing services to over 12,000 individuals annually in Dane and Columbia counties. Journey employs approximately 350 staff in administrative and clinical positions. Journey provides mental health and substance use disorder treatment to individuals throughout the life span using multi-disciplinary teams of psychiatrists, social workers, and nurses. |
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Rotary Orientation for all members
Dec. 22, 2020 7:15 a.m.
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Experiences, Memories, and Life as an Exchange Student in Sun Prairie
Dec. 29, 2020 7:15 a.m.
Gonzalo will take us through is final report of his exchange year. He was our Inbound Rotary Youth Exchange Student who arrived in August of 2019 and left the US in August of 2020 to return to his home country of Venezuela. He attended Sun Prairie High School while he lived in Sun Prairie and he had 3 host families. |