Rexanah Wyse is the Assistant State’s Attorney; Program Manager for Truancy Prevention in fifteen Montgomery County middle schools.  Her responsibility is to recruit, train, and coordinate program staff, mentors, schools, volunteer tutors and partners to ensure program effectiveness and compliance.  The purpose of the truancy prevention program is to reduce crime, pregnancy, and the dropping out of school.  She conducted a 10 week program with mentors, students, teachers and parents to determine what was going on in the lives of 8k truant students and families.  They implemented volunteer after school tutoring of math and English.  Some students made the honor roll.

David Stewart is the awardwinning author of several acclaimed histories, including The Summer of 1787: The men Who invented the Constitution. Why was President Johnson impeached by  the US House and escaped being thrown out of office by one vote in the Senate trail?  At the outset of the civil war, Johnson was a slave owner and a US Senator from Tennessee who favored staying in the Union.  He was Lincoln’s VP in his second term.  When Lincoln died in April of 1865, Johnson became President, without a VP.  Johnson wanted to readmit the Southern States with their former political leaders; but the US Congress with the Republican Stalwarts  in charge, wanted freed  slaves to have equal voting rights and  hold office in the US  Congress instead of the Southern  generals.  President Johnson’s acquittal was bought by one vote.

Three weeks ago Steve Boden – overseer of three non-profit foundations that support students in the automotive, construction, and IT programs – noted that most 4 year college students graduate with high debt and are under employed in their first job; while motivated H S automotive students (half time in their junior and senior years) that get certified and take 2 years of automotive classes at Montgomery College can be making more than $100k in a few years.  There is a work/study programs where they work in an auto dealership 4 days a week attend M C on the fifth day.  Steve’s challenge is that students must make a trade career decision in the 8th,9th, or 10th grade.  Dave will explore encouraging high school students to evaluate these and additional careers with a Rotary/PTA partnership.