Melinda Danielson

Melinda Danielson teaches in the IB World School program at Lincoln Jr High and was our nominee for Teacher of the Year. Besides her normal teaching duties, Melinda tutors students after school, is a member of the Swedish Historical Society of Northern Colorado, belongs to a teacher-led book club and volunteers with Excel, an after-school program open to all students. Melinda represents the Fort Collins Rotary Club.

Julie Rickett teaches language arts at Webber Jr. High and volunteers in a number of non-class activities, including the Ice Skating club of Fort Collins, the Fort Collins Children’s Theater, a reading group at Lopez Elementary and the Centennial Chorus. She is also active in the Moonlighting Teachers, a local comedy group, and is known to break into song during regular class lessons.

Nicole Orswell teaches English at Wellington Jr. High, and is coordinator of the Literacy Partnership with CSU. She is also the School Improvement Team co-chair, the Advancement Via Individual Determination coordinator/teacher, Positive Behavior Support trainer, tutors special needs students, plus volunteers with Eagles After Hours, and has served as mentor for new PSD educators. (Whew, I’m tired just reading all this!)

We are fortunate to have such wonderful teachers preparing our future generations? Please join us in celebrating their gifts and talents…Tuesday Noon, not Wednesday – the Marriott, not Lincoln Center!

Larry Kendall, one of the founding partners of The Group, Inc., will be the keynote speaker at the luncheon.

On the questionnaire that teachers fill out for Rotary, one of the questions us about the proudest moments of the teacher. Kathi said that there were many small moments and she gave the club several examples. Her examples ranged from past students remembering her to challenging students that she helped overcome weaknesses.

"learn as though you would never be able to master it; hold it as though you would be in fear of losing it" -- Confucius

"A school is a place through which you have to pass before entering life, but where the teaching proper does not prepare you for life." -- Ernest Dimmet

Mike will receive a degree in History in May next year and plans to go to work for a company in San Diego called Global Leadership Adventures.

I was raised on a farm in Illinois. I am married, since 1972, to Leonor Constantin, the child of immigrants from Puerto Rico and Cuba. She grew up in the South Bronx and is currently a bilingual special educator at Irish Elementary. We have an adoptive family of five and three grandchildren.

I have spent the last 33 years working for nonprofit organizations. I have served on many boards, including chairing the founding board of Ten Thousand Villages Fort Collins and current service as board chair of Village Earth. In January, I opened the Western Regional Office for MMA affiliated with the Mennonite Church. We help people – anyone – connect their faith and values with their financial decisions.

The connecting thread of my career has been a passion to build and improve organizations dedicated to service. Needless to say, I am pleased to sit at table with hundreds of people who demonstrate that same passion by their participation in the Rotary Club of Fort Collins. Thank you for the privilege of your company.

The entire classification talk can be found on the club web site in the members section. This is an area of the web site that is password protected. If you do not know your web site name and password, contact Claude Piche.

Shelly gave a quote by Tom in his introduction that expresses Tom’s view about coaching. Tom said, "college coaches have an awesome responsibility in guiding young people through such an important segment of life. It is a time of emotional, intellectual and physical growth. We must take this responsibility seriously. When an athlete leaves a program under my direction, I want her to look back on her college athletic experience as one of the most rewarding times of her life."

Tom started his talk by thanking Rotary and the Athletic Director for their support. He talked about the history of CSU Volleyball, what CSU Volleyball can offer the recruit, showed a video clip called “Moby Madness”, talked about the state of volleyball in Colorado and ended with his personal thoughts about his job.

Tom indicated that the Volleyball program was already strong when he came to CSU. He talked about the success that Rich Feller had here and the records his teams set, which made the job very appealing to him when Rich left.

When recruiting players, he indicted that the most important thing CSU offers in the “culture of support” for the program that exists in the school and community. That support was apparent when Tom showed the video clip.

Members were probably amazed at the information Tom gave about the popularity of volleyball in Colorado. He gave statistics about the participation level, numbers of players from the state at Division I schools and the high rankings in a number of categories.

Tom ended by saying he, “loved it here,” because of the great volleyball culture and that the community has made his job fun.

Warren and Genny Garst Wildlife Collection at CSU Click here or on the "tiger."

Rotary District 5440 Home Page - We recommend browsing this page particularly the links to other Clubs in District 5440 as your time permits.

Return to top of this Rotogear page

Return/Go to Rotary Club of Fort Collins page

Copyright © by Lannie Boyd and Alan Ashbaugh for the Rotary Club of Fort Collins, Colorado, September 30, 2008