Rotarian Teresa Maley shared the excitement from the Interact Club at Emporia Middle School this week during our Zoom meeting. Our Rotary Club helped start this club in 2011, and during the last school year our club delivered to them seed money of $379 that was a combination of Happy Bucks ($229), plus $150 that we budgeted for this purpose. The group typically is made up of 10-15 students in grades 6-8. COVID-19 certainly didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the Interact members this past school year. EMS teacher Andrew Hawley continues to do a great job with this group. Teresa shared a video that they prepared. It tells their story in a great way. Check it out by clicking on the hyperlink whether or not you missed this meeting. It is contagious!
We hope to have the EMS Interact Club back at a "Big" club meeting again soon. They always enjoy the meat loaf!
Tim North arranged for Emporia State University Football Coach Garin Higgins to speak to our Rotary Club. Garin is in his 14th year as head coach of the Hornets. He is the second winningest coach in ESU history behind Fran Welch. The challenges and the cost of the NCAA-mandated COVID testing proved to be the stumbling block to a potentially promising season. The cost at the time of $90-$100 per test made the cost unworkable for the schools in the MIAA. The MIAA was one of the last two conferences that made the decision not to play. Will ESU play games in the spring? Probably not if testing continues to be mandated. The NCAA has allowed seniors one extra semester of eligibility to enable them to play their last season. ESU has two new coaches this year: Eric Moore from Southwest Missouri State, and Vincent Cashdollar from Manchester, Indiana.
