SARASOTA, Dec. 6, 2017 – Students at Booker Middle School have formed a
club called Rotary Interact, which is dedicated to serving the community by
promoting literacy awareness by tutoring elementary students and developing
other service projects. To celebrate the formation of the club and its mission,
Interact is inviting anyone who would like to come to a free Holiday Community Dinner
at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 20, in the school cafeteria.
Rotary of
Sarasota sponsors the Interact chapter. Its members chose to partner with Booker
Middle because the school has a program known as WEB Leaders, which stands for
Where Everyone Belongs. Eighty-six students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades
are WEB Leaders and Interact members. Two students have been guests at the
monthly meeting of Rotary of Sarasota at Marina Jack’s restaurant, but Rotary
members said they were so impressed with the students that they will invite six
students each month instead of just two. In addition to the regular monthly
Rotary Club meetings, the Interact student board members meet with the club’s
executive board once a month.
The motto of Rotary Interact is the
same as the motto of Rotary International: “Service above self.” The mission of
Booker Middle School’s interact program is “to develop the academic,
intellectual, creative, emotional, social, moral and physical aspects of its
diverse student population…Through varied opportunities and experiences, students
will maximize their potential to be responsible, lifelong learners in a dynamic
global society.”
Debra
Alvis-Greenwald, administrative assistant to Principal LaShawn Frost, is the
Rotary Interact advisor. She describes the club’s activities: “Our students tutor
at Bay Haven, Emma E. Booker and Tuttle elementary schools. Rotary just helped
us purchase books for students and is going to help us purchase additional books
for school media centers; we are hoping to purchase more in the future.
“We’d like to
invite everyone to attend our free Holiday Community Dinner December 20th.
We want to make our community aware that family comes first and we want to let them
know we are here to help. The Rotary Club will be donating money to help
purchase toys for the holiday toy drive for our families at Booker Middle.”
People
interested in attending the free Holiday Community Dinner should call Debra Alvis-Greenwald
at 941-320-6908 no later than Thursday, Dec. 14. Booker Middle School is at
2250 Myrtle St., Sarasota.