“Teaching youth to succeed through literacy, education & life skills development” is the Las Vegas Rotary Club's Mission Statement
Each year our club sponsors up to 30 students from area schools to attend RYLA (grade 11) and TLC (grade 8). Each is a 3-day camp in the San Bernardino Mountains. Along with leadership skills, the students learn to be adaptable to new friends and surroundings just in time to transition from grade school to high school and high school to college or other learning opportunities. You want to know something special? We are grateful because our Rotary District 5300 steps up to provide this opportunity for clubs to sponsor students in Grade 8. Not all districts will expend the funds or manpower to run this program twice in one year. The cost to the club for each student is $350 including transportation. There is no charge to the student or family for this opportunity. #createhope #Rotary #4 -Way Test #leadershipmatters
Rotarian Gwen Hall gets nabbed by the camera at Walter Bracken Elementary
Normally you will find Dr. Kathy Mahon at Walter Bracken Elementary. Dr. Kathy is a Education Committee Co-chair and a strong advocate for improving student learning. She shares wonderful stories of the progress students are making through club sponsored reading and science programs. Walter Bracken's test scores compete with the best schools in the nation in-part because of volunteer commitment and annual community grants by the the Las Vegas Rotary Club. Rotarians act as liaisons at the six elementary schools supported by the club and coordinate volunteers for special programs at the schools from reading week to farmer's markets. Rotarians support each other, and that's how Education Committee co-chair Gwen Hall was caught on camera! #serviceaboveself
Thanks to partnerships with Green Our Planet and The Smith Center through community grants from the Las Vegas Rotary Club, local children are seeing their test scores rise though more engagement in the classroom. What is STEAM? STEAM is an approach to education that focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics. In other words, it's STEM but with arts programs added in! In this photo the students are selling the plants they grew at a Farmer's Market, combining science with business skills. #STEAM #hydroponics #farmersmarket
The education committee works hard to organize hands-on volunteer activities. Here you can see Rotarians Sidra, Debi, and Tonya helping children select their very own books to build a home library. Many children in our valley do not have books at home. For some, this is the first book they can call their own. You can find our members engaging with students at the six schools our club sponsors. • Beckley Elementary School https://www.beckleyes.org
• Bracken Elementary School (STEAM Academy) https://www.brackensteamacademy.com
• Long Elementary School https://www.long-ccsd.net
• Hollingsworth Elementary School https://www.hollingsworthheroes.org
• Quannah McCall Elementary School https://www.quannahmccallelementary.com
• Dearing Elementary School https://dearingelementary.org
Santa Clothes brings Christmas the first week in December for the 28th year!
I think these smiles say it all. In 2023 friends, partners, and Rotarians shopped with 366 children. It takes hundreds of hours of community service and about $75K to pull this event off every year. This past year alone, our Rotary club has donated:
• $236,500 in cash donations
• 7,400 volunteer hours
• Over $80,800 in goods and services. Be sure to watch the video on YouTube. Find the link on this page. Many thanks to our partners JCPenney, UNLV, Las Vegas Metro, Henderson Police, and the BSA for providing access to the facilities and fields.
We are proud to announce something new this year. Through the club's 20-year partnership with The Wheelchair Foundation, Rotarians can now deliver pediatric wheelchairs. Big smiles for the kids and their parents! In this photo Rotarian John Williams receives the gift of giving!