Directors: Henny Boeters, Kees Boeters, Ben Van Heeswijk, Bob Wilson and David Brian
Attendance:
Members: 12
Guests:Yajun Peng and Jin He
Birthdays: None
Anniversaries: None
Meeting Date: Feb. 3, 2025 at the Anglican Parish Hall. After the usual wonderful meal prepared by the ACW, David started this meeting by thanking the ladies in the kitchen.
Correspondence:
1. Diabetes Canada with their 3rd request for funds
Paul will send them a nice reply explaining that we will not be supporting them, because of the local organizations that we support
Program: Kees Boeters introduced David Brian “Jing-Hang, China’s Grand Canal, an example of Experiential Learning”
David started with this quote from Confucius; “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand”
It is the Foundation for the International Baccalaureate (IB) schools
This program uses experiential learning to develop inquiring knowledge and caring young people
David highlighted the nine experiential learning methods and mission of the IB schools
There are over 5900 BI schools worldwide
From 2016-2018, when David and his family came back to Canada from Hong Kong, he taught in an International Baccalaureate school in Windsor
In 2018, David and his family moved to China where he taught at The Overseas Chinese Academy of Chiway Suzhou, near the Jing-Hang or Grand Canal
The Grand Canal is a 1794 km waterway transport marvel, started in the 5th century BC and completed in 609 AD.
“Classroom on the Jing-Hang" explained how secondary students from OCAC with their teachers, "sailed" southwards to the city of Hangzhou, the terminus/beginning of the Jing-Hang
The purpose of the i-ERP is to provide students an opportunity to carry out their own focused research, collecting and analyzing data and producing a product which will be representative of their journey and interests
David convinced both his school administration and those running the canal to let them do this project
The journey took 4.5 days to cover the 130 kilometer distance travelling through the heart and soul of the China's southern agricultural lands and it's urban landscapes
There were 21 students on this trip, along with other teachers
Sailing down & stopping along the route at key points of interest, students engaged in interdisciplinary, experiential learning taking advantage of the environment they were immersed within
The Suzhou Canal Authority provided the group a boat to travel on during the days and they stayed in hotels each evening
On the boat, they had desks where they could set up their computers to work on whichever project they had chosen
There were sections of the canal where the boat went into canal locks to drop down to a lower level
The slow pace of the boats and barges on the canal allowed students an ideal platform for their learning & processing
There was different land use on each side of the canal which the students studied and documented
They were able to talk to crew members of the barges that they passed, with a few actually coming onto their boat to talk
As students visited each of the different heritage sites, the group evaluated the condition of preservation, maintenance and to what extent the “managers” of the site are enhancing the heritage value
David showed us many photos of the various sites they visited, both on the canal, and on land
Each participant on the Jing-Hang trip undertook their own independent research project on a topic of their choice
David pointed out that 2 of the students on that trip in 2019 are now attending University of Western Ontario
It was an extremely interesting presentation and we look forward to his next one, possibly on Rural Industries in China
Committees:
1. Bob: Car Show + 150 Anniversary - July 13, 2025:
The car show organizing is moving along well.
There will be a meeting of the committee soon
2. David: Pancake Breakfast - date to be determined (tentative April 5, 2025):
This date will not work for the Scouts
They will be having a meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 5th and a new date will be chosen
3. Brian: Easter Egg Hunt: April 19, 2025:
Brian has circulated by email a sign-up sheet for members to indicate what they can do to help with the egg hunt
4. Kees: Scrap metal
Kees needs some assistance tomorrow morning to help organize the latest container
Happy Bucks
Paul’s granddaughter’s hockey team won the recent tournament that they hosted in London.
David B and family are hosting a new exchange student (Paul) from France
50-50 Winner: David B won left his winnings in the pail for the next meeting
Leader David asked if there was “Anything for the good of Rotary?”
Leader David closed the meeting at 8:15 pm
The next meeting is onFeb 24, 2025 - Business Meetingwith a session on ClubRunner
The theme for the 2024-25 Rotary year is“The magic of Rotary”
l-r:Speaker and Rotarian Paul Brown and Leader David Brian
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