Joe Osypczuk, the Chairman of the East Lansing Rotary Foundation, had the privilege of addressing students, teachers, and parents at the 2016 High School Honors Event.
Greetings East Lansing Graduates and Scholars,
As a member of the Rotary Club of East Lansing, I am blessed to be able to stand before you to say how proud all of our club members are to have you in our community. You are being recognized for your outstanding scholarly skills as well as your outstanding community service.
As Rotarians, we are often asked, “What is a Rotary Club”? Rotary can best be defined in this way:
“Rotary is an organization of business and professional persons that are united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.”
Needless to say, our work begins in our local community of East Lansing by providing funding for items such as the Weekend Survival Kit backpack program that provides food for youngsters that are in need, the purchase of books for our local school libraries, the recent renovation of the Patriarche Park Playground and of course, the Joe Gross Memorial Scholarships and the student excellence awards that are being presented today.
In 1943, Rotary adopted a code of ethics that is now called The Four-Way Test. This code of ethics is followed by all Rotarians and is something that can be used and applied by everyone on a daily basis.
The message is simply:
Of the things we think, say or do:
1) IS IT THE TRUTH?
2) IS IT FAIR TO ALL CONCERNED?
3) WILL IT BUILD GOODWILL AND BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4) WILL IT BE BENEFICIAL TO ALL CONCERNED?
Congratulations on everything you have accomplished to date in your young lives. It is only the beginning – there is so much more for you to experience in the years ahead. Hopefully, the experiences will all be wonderful and fulfilling.
Thank you for letting the East Lansing Rotary Club be a part of your awards ceremonies.
We are pleased to provide the following awards to these outstanding students:
Student Excellence Awards ($ 250.00 Each)
Kokou Dagbovie
Jordan Harris-Gonzales
Scholarships ($ 2.000.00 Each)
Katelyn Meyer
Paul Przybylski
Madelyn Zink