A Snapshot of Rotary – Vocational Service

Bob Holert

Spreading the word to Club members about the inner-workings of the BBRC, this is another in a series of “Mini Club Assemblies” featuring one of the Four Avenues of Service. Bob Holert, Director of Vocational Service, introduced his committee chairpersons for a brief overview of one of the cornerstones of Rotary.

“When Paul Harris called that first meeting in 1905, he made sure that each of the five participants represented a different vocation. That has been the linchpin of Rotary ever since and gave birth to its classification system. It is our duty as Rotarians to honor the work of the people who belong,” Holert observed.

Norm Johnson

Heading up the Vocation at Work committee, Norm Johnson revealed the committee’s goals: 1) generating employment opportunities within the community; 2) working with retired people; 3) addressing drug, alcohol and literacy problems in the workplace; 4) creating vocational opportunities for the disabled; 5) retraining adults for new vocations; 6) establishing Vocational circles to learn each other’s business.

For the past year the focus of the Vocation at Work Committee has been the Pre-Employment Program at Bellevue Hopelink. Johnson said, “We assist the Family Development Specialists in presenting bi-weekly training sessions for the clients involved with the Community Jobs program. These session focus on the ‘soft skills’ needed to locate employment opportunities, resume’ building, interviewing skills, home and self management, conflict resolution, problem solving and goal setting. The client spends six to nine months in the program as a part of their participation in the state-sponsored Community Jobs program. The clients are primarily single women with dependents.”

Norm continued, “The one area that we could bring additional strength to our efforts in this area is to sponsor an intern program. Interns work a maximum of 20 hours a week for a period of not less than 6 months and not more than 9 months. All wages are paid by the Community Jobs program. The benefit to the sponsoring company is that they get a ‘free’ worker, while providing actual work experience for the intern. Positions are normally entry level and can including mail handling, sorting and filing. If interested please see me, or Shelley Noble.”

Members of the committee include: Mary Bell, Bob Holert, Steve Peters, and Jan Nestler.

John Sheeran

John Sheeran, Chairperson of the Career Development Committee, reported on high activity at Career Day programs at area high schools. Three teams have participated in panels to large student groups interested in learning more about specific careers. Two teams have worked the Career Café at Sammamish High, and a team supported a similar program recently at Bellevue Christian High School. In addition, the group supports activities at Eastside Catholic High School. Two other projects include selection of students to attend this summer’s Business Week and Job Shadowing. John announced a possible new approach to shadowing with the BBRC sponsoring members of the schools’ faculty.

Doug Cameron

Doug Cameron, Chairperson of the Vocational Awareness Committee, announced a program devoted to business ethics next month. John Dienhart, Seattle University’s Albers School of Business, will present an extended program on Friday, April 11. This special event will begin at 7:45 that Friday morning. Dienhart will offer some ethical dilemmas and guide the audience to deal with the problems.

Mark Esteb

Choices Program, with Mark Esteb as Chairperson, was formally brought into the Vocational Service realm this year. This 3-year-old program “has made a difference in the Bellevue Schools,” reported Mark. Choices is a non-profit organization founded in Bellevue, which has formulated a curriculum to take to the schools. Choices is offered to schools throughout the U.S. The BBRC has sponsored the program in Bellevue middle schools. This is the final year of the 3-year cycle.