Cire welcomes closer partnership with Rotary

Cire Services and Rotary are strengthening their partnership and reach to help respond to the needs of local communities, particularly younger people.

The initiatives encompass Cire Community School, a recently launched Rotary District 9810 Books for Kids fundraising campaign, and support for Cire Training’s Learn Local (see post on this blog page).

Cire is one of the first two organisational members of Wandin Rotary which has helped foster a greater understanding between the organisations and how closely our values align.

Recently, Wandin Rotary approved scholarships of $1000 each to two students at Cire Community School; enabled a student to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA), a6-day residential program focusing on leadership, personal and professional development and service to the community; and is helping drive mock interview sessions to prepare students for applying for employment.

The scholarship recipients were overawed by the generosity of Rotary and the student about to attend the keenly anticipated leadership camp said it was an opportunity she would never have thought possible.
The mock interviews will commence in earnest in Term 3. The sessions will also enable students to discuss their strengths and relate them to experiences with past work or opportunities provided within the school.
Initial feedback provided by some of the students who participated in mock interviews included:

  • It wasn’t dry and boring
  • It was really good and life-like
  • It made me think about what I need to do to prepare for an interview
  • The print out of questions is good, I can use it to prepare for interviews.

At a broader level, Rotary District 9810, which extends from Port Philip Bay to the hills of the Yarra Ranges, has launched Books for Kids.

The new District Governor, Shia Smart, is driving the Rotary DG Family Project Books for Kids Campaign which aims to identify and fund primary schools that will benefit from being on the Books in Homes program.

Rotary District 9810 together with Books in Homes will provide books-of-choice to children in District 9810 experiencing disadvantaged and low socio-economic circumstances, to ensure crucial early literacy engagement and the development of reading skills needed for lifelong achievement.

Identified children will receive two personally labelled books-of-choice to own and keep in their own personally labelled book bag.  Selected schools will receive a Preview Pack of 48 books to keep.

The campaign to fund the purchase of books was launched on 1 July 2019.

The more money raised, the more children who can receive books.

The books are top quality and brand new, curated for the program by the Books in Homes Book Selection Committee, made up of authors, illustrators, educators, and parents!

If you’d like to read more or make a donation to this fantastic project please go to Rotary District 9810’s GiveNow campaign page.