“The 1905 members of the Rotary Club of Chicago, so valued the friendship of their fellow-members that they put a ban upon religious and political discussions, fearing that they might become disturbing factors, and they were richly rewarded for their foresight. There was plenty of dynamite in questions which might have been raised; but they were not raised. The formula was very simple; it read, ‘Go about your common tasks together, avoid discussions of dissentious subjects, and your reward will be friendship.’ The formula was worthy of adoption in much wider circles.” Paul P. Harris, Page 59 from “This Rotarian Age” 1935. Now 102 years later Rotarians still follow this tradition. There are many traditions, born of inspiration that brought about one of the world’s greatest organizations.
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Moving
on to the main event, Steve Macy took to the podium to
introduce a very special speaker, Dr. Charlie Walker. As past
president of Linfield College, the Chamber of Commerce and our
very own Rotary Club, Dr. Walker was given a warm welcome, and
proceeded to give a fascinating program on the state of Oregon’s
K-12 education system, and more specifically on a program near
and dear to his heart, The Chalkboard Project. 
Started
a little over three years ago by five co-sponsoring foundations,
the Chalkboard Project seeks to make Oregon’s K-12 educational
system one of the top ten school systems nationwide for student
achievement. In order to do this the foundations each initially
invested $250,000 to conduct statewide interviews with
Oregonians to gather their opinions on our educational system,
as well as to fund research on our schools at a level that has
never been previously undertaken. 