LORI CROW was the meeting’s official greeter, but was unable to welcome any guests as only members were in attendance, JULIUS GLOVER led us in song, and STEVE SOELBERG did his usual excellent job as invocator.

Lt. Governor ROGER BELL gave his official report on the upcoming year. He announced that the District Governor will be focusing on children with Autism and has picked the theme “Kiwanis Next Is Now” for her year.
Roger explained the three recently passed Kiwanis International Resolutions that should help with membership.
The first one has to deal with Satellite Clubs, which function as a committee of the host club, and allow clubs to form with less than the required 25 charter members (in fact they can form with as few as five members). These Satellite Club members are members of the host club, but conduct meetings in their home town.
The second resolution allows for Corporate Sponsored members. These members are allowed to have another person from the sponsoring corporation attend meetings on their behalf and if the sponsored member is transfered or leaves the corporation another person can take their place in the club without going through any membership requirements.
The third resolution has to do with Company Clubs, but is being studied further before it is rolled out to the general membership.
Roger also stressed the importance of having a contingent at the upcoming Zone Conference to be held April 18th in Pendleton. The Trustee Issue is expected to be discussed and Roger indicated he will vote how the majority of the clubs in District 50 feel. A Risk Management seminar will also be presented during the conference.
Roger thanked us for coercing him into running for Lt. Governor.

President RON had placed a reminder on the tables about Kiwanis International Achievement Criteria and also announced that, thanks to a suggestion by BECKY SCHOLL, we will now have a slide show of recent activity running at all meetings by the Badge Board. It will be a good place to show prospective members what we are up to.

STEVE EMHOFF gave the Father/Daughter Dance Report. There were 62 daughters, aged 4 to 48 and 49 fathers in attendance. Combined with the many helpers, there were 128 seated for dinner (after Steve originally set for 100). Steve thanked the many people that helped make this event a success, singling out KARL CORPRON for his work on the graphics and his dedication to the event even while his mother passed away the day before. Steve thanked the club for letting him start this dance and announced the goal for next year's event is 200, of which 22 are already signed up.

GENE ROSTVOLD gave an update on the goings on at Kiwanis Park. Houses have "mysteriously" disappeared and the finances seem to be in order this time around. New signage is up. The next issue will be the pond and it will determine how the park can be developed in the future. City engineers are presently working on the pond issue.
Gene also asked the club for a letter of support for state capital money for renovation of Zephael Stadium. Gene thinks he can get a couple of million dollars to install artificial turf so the field can be used more often, a new track and better bathrooms. Steve Emhoff moved, and WENDY AGUILAR seconded, that President Ron sign a letter of support from our club. It passed unanimously.

Ron called a quick game of bingo, won by Wendy and allowed brag bucks, but no sergeant, before Becky Scholl introduced the day’s program.

Nancy Beyers, the Yakima School District Director of Special Education, was the day’s speaker. She started teaching in Yakima in 1978, when our very own Julius Glover was director of special ed services. Currently, 13% of the Yakima School District’s students are in the special ed program. That equates to 1,853 students aged birth to 21. Children from birth to age 3 are serviced under contract, while those aged three and up are helped in a myriad of in-building programs throughout the district. Nancy explained the eligibility process and how, once enrolled in the program, special ed services are delivered. There are different programs depending on the level of disability and whether a student is in elementary, middle, or high school. The goal is always to get the child back into regular classrooms, but that is not always possible. Every child in the district is, however, guaranteed and education until they reach the age of 21.
Nancy said that two programs have seen significant growth in the past few years:
1) Autistic students have gone from one classroom to six classrooms and 2) Vision impaired students have required ESD 105 to triple their vision specialists.
She also said Yakima is right at the state limit for percentage of disabled students (12.9%-13%) which are funded through a combination of federal, state, and local levy funds.

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