PRESIDENT JEN HOFFMAN greeted us for the meeting and welcomed the online visitors. JIM WOOD led the Pledge and song “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” PRESIDENT JEN offered a compliment on JIM’s two daughters who sometimes are present for Rotary of Tucson Board Meetings on Zoom.
We had a somber moment when PRESIDENT JEN announced that former member GEORGE DARLING had passed away in February. We had a moment of silence in his honor.
Our inspiration was “Friendship – Fueled by Weekly High Five” that reminded us how important the human connection can be…especially during these challenging times.
PRESIDENT JEN welcomed guests Jennifer Lundgren and Doug MacKinlay. Both guests are checking out the club and we were asked to be on our best behavior. Steve Keoppen was a guest of BOB LOGAN and was helping with the Switcher Studio which is the online studio platform we are using to broadcast our meetings online.
VICKIE JACOBS introduced our speaker, JP Jones III the Dean of U of A’s Social and Behavioral Health College. JP discussed the challenges that the University of Arizona has faced with the COVID 19 Pandemic. Last March, in the course of 4 days, 1000 classes were transitioned to online. Not all professors did great early on. Professors tend to teach like they were taught. So, if a teacher teaches by experiential learning, as opposed to lecturing, their classes and teaching needed to change a lot. The U of A currently has 4 modalities for learning: In Person, Flex/Hybrid where there is some in class and some online, Synchronous on-line (live), Asynchronous on-line (recorded). Based on a survey conducted of the students last May, the University’s response to the pandemic and their communication was very good. The mental health of the students was poor however. They had stories of trauma and over 60% felt stress from the changes in learning. There are some good things that have come out of it but the University will do best once they can go back to more in-person classes like before the pandemic.JOE PENNINGTON and DREW VACTOR celebrated their birthdays. Happy Birthday you two!
WAYNE PEATE introduced his wife LYNN STRUTHERS PEATE as a new family member for Rotary. He had a lot of nice and fun things to say about their relationship.
PRESIDENT JEN ran 90 miles in the month of February and that makes my joints hurt. She reminded us to donate to her run and you may find the donation form on our website, tucsonrotary.org, or you may pick up a form on the registration table at our lunches.
Our next Social Mixer will be at Proof (River/Campbell) next Wednesday, March 10th. Register online and join the fun! No lunch meeting on 3/10/21.
We finished with a toast and we were on our way.
