Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club

Rotary focuses on vocational training
Tue, 03/19/2019 - 8:30am

The March 14 meeting started off with President Alice thanking the members who helped in repairing the damage done by a person driving a vehicle throwing up stones against the clubhouse. The Boothbay Harbor Police are investigating. We had a few guests including Larkin Hall and Rich Green.

Marty is back from one of her may trips benefiting Rotary and Tom Marston attended as a new member. We have over 70 members now which is really great considering the size of our community.

Announcements: Laurie gave a big thank you to the barn reorganizing crew, Anne will be raffling off Wrap-a-Smile tickets for a quilt for $5 and announced a quilt-a-thon at the clubhouse on Saturday, March 30.

Our Interact Club will be hosting a spaghetti supper fundraiser to support KIVA next Tuesday, March 19, 4:30 p.m., at the clubhouse. Eat in or take out.

Our 21st annual Soup Bowl Supper will be held at the American Legion Hall on April 11 at 6 p.m. This event benefits The Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts and our local Rebuilding Together nonprofit. Rotarians, don’t forget our fellowship night 5 p.m. next Wednesday at the Boathouse Bistro.

We had an excellent guest speaker tonight in Julie Kenny from the Bath Regional Career Technical Center. Julie is a graduate of Morse High School, lives in Bath, and is a Rotarian at Bath Sunrise Club. BRCTC serves the 11th and 12th graders of Morse, Boothbay Region High School, Lincoln Academy, and Wiscasset Middle High School. BRCTC is part of the state wide system of Career and Technical Education Schools. There are 27 such schools in the state that serve on the average 8,000 students every year in a career in the technical and trades programs. This is all in an effort to fill the gap projected shortfall of workers in our state. Maine will need 158,000 more workers by 2025 who are skilled in technical fields such as electricians, plumbers, auto mechanics, welders, culinary arts, draftsmen, child care, and the health services to name a few that BRCTC trains to fill these positions.

Currently there are 33 juniors and 50 seniors attending Boothbay Region High School and 18 of them are enrolled in the CTE program at BRCTC. Some great things to know about CTE students are: they have a higher graduation rate in Maine; are well prepared for college or tech school work; are qualified to directly enter the workforce; and there is a need for to enroll more student in CTE schools. You can come out of this program and start working in your chosen field, earn a living, and not take on the debts from going to college.