President, Eric Bubb enthusiastically called the meeting to order. Jan Armstrong provided us with the meeting’s invocation, with a very moving poem. Our Greeters were the Club 13 August birthday members.
Club Anniversaries:John Herron (2 yrs, August 11th) Philip Cole (3 yrs August 12th)
Sick Bay - Great news -- nobody !!
Vocational Minute with Eric Bubb interviewing Nick Pryor with the Kansas City Southern Railroad. Eric is involved in all KCSR matters involving the environment. KCSR will be merging with the Canadian Pacific RR. KCSR & CPRR were the two smallest of the Class I Railroads. This shrinks the Class I group down to six and there will probably be no more railroad consolidations allowed hereafter. KCSR and railroads in general are “de-carbonizing” as part of railroads’ transformation. Advice to the Next Generation: Always ask questions; Have a Positive Attitude and Get the necessary Education.
Announcements:
Rotary After Hours: Wednesday 8/17 – Rock Island Bridge tour from 5 pm to 7 pm (parking lot opens at 4:45pm), followed by drinks & dinner at the Golden Ox [but must respond to Mandy by noon Monday for a dinner headcount], all in the west bottoms.
Mark your calendars for a Guest Day on September 8th – our guest speaker will be Jerry Seib, former columnist with the Wall Street Journal – his topic will be “The Genius of American Democracy”.
Upcoming Events -- Save the Date
9/24 -- Monarch Boxcar/60,000 Tree Challenge event at Union Station – 1:00 to 4:00
9/27 – Rotary After Hours at the KC Zoo 4:00 to 7:00, dinner at 6 pm at the Tropic Tent
10/23 – Pickleball Fundraiser for Shoes for Orphan Souls.
PROGRAM:
President, Eric Bubb, introduced our speaker, Ron Johnson, co-founder [with Dr Linda Heitzman-Powell of the KU] & director of the KC Autism Training Center as its original & IRC 5012 (C)(3) name and operating as the Astra Day School (to avoid a stigma for graduates). It is estimated that 1 in 44 children are somewhere on the autism spectrum and 4 times as many boys have it versus girls. It is referred to as the “spectrum” because the level of challenges range greatly from difficulty with speaking and maintaining eye to eye contact to severe headbanging antisocial behavior. As a “spectrum” disorder there is no single exact set of manifestations. Autism is considered a neurological ailment with no absolute “cure”. It is not a strictly physical – medical malady that could be fixed with a pill. But with psychological therapy it can be helped.
Program History: Ron’s and the KCATC’s history began when Ron’s son was 30 months old and was beginning to show signs of autism (primarily that he was not speaking). Ron met with individuals at the KU Psychology Department. Ron, Dr. Linda Heitzman-Powell and the KU Psychology Department developed or enhanced the Applied Behavior Analysis program to assist those persons on the autism spectrum. KCATC provides evidence based treatment with its Applied Behavior Analysis program(s). For the lesser intensive autism spectrum, the program has helped young boys (mainly) be able to communicate and socially interact to a greater extent, even being able to attend regular public schools and play on school sports teams without anyone noting any difference.
Facilities’ History: KCATC’s path of growth started with one building at 75th & Mission, a former church, in March of 2006, with one child and one teacher. By yearend they had 9 children enrolled. A Kaufman Center person had a grandson with autism and was helpful throughout the successful grant process. Having grown, they more space and again found a former church at 46th & Roe. By 2015, KCATC again needed more space. And again (you guessed it) they found a church, the Red Bridge Methodist Church which with its congregation shrinking from 300 to 30 families, listed their building (22,000 sq ft & 7 acres) for sale. KCATC was very interested in acquiring the property but could not imagine how they could financially do it. When Ron asked what the congregation planning on doing with the proceeds, the Church answered that they intended to donate the proceeds to charity. WELL, KCATC suggested instead that the Church could donate the building and grounds to KCATC, an IRC 501c3 entity with a compelling story. And after some soul searching, the church did just that. KCATC paid the realtor’s their “commission” and another $1.6 million were spent on renovations.
KCATC now provides services to 25 kids and could handle twice as many, but they don’t have the trained staff. KCATC must now compete with for-profit entities for those staff members. KCATC has a fundraising Gala coming up on Saturday August 20th at “The 28 Event Space (1300 W. 28th Street, KCMO 64108)” with showtime at 6 pm with Cocktails, Dinner, Dancing, and Silent Auction. Tickets can be bought at KCATC.ORG/ANNUAL_GALA.
The Quote of the Day: "Education is the movement from darkness to light." Allan Bloom
President Eric Bubb wrapped up the meeting with the Four Way Test.
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