For the month of October Lauren Grimm has been chosen as the October Rotary Student of the Month for Lakeville North High School. Lauren’s parents are Michael & Kelly Grimm and her Dean is Dan McNulty.  Lauren has been very involved at Lakeville North High School as Junior Class Officer and currently in Mock Trial as Captain.  Lauren is a member of DECA, having won several awards; a member of National Honor Society; an Officer for Best Buddies.  Lauren is also on the Speech team, is involved in Youth Teaching Youth, and a member of the Tennis Team.  Lauren maintains a high GPA and class rank at Lakeville North High School.

 

Outside Lakeville North High School, Lauren volunteers at Hosanna church, has been on a Mission Trip to Dominican Republic, volunteers as a camp counselor.  She is also currently working at Target.

 

 

Lakeville South High School will recognize Espen and Oliver Grasdal as the Lakeville South High School Rotary Students of the Month for October.  Espen and Oliver’s parents are Inge & Tracy Grasdal and there Dean is Dana Kelly.

 

Oliver and Espen are extraordinary students that have excelled in many areas during their 3+ years and are ranked #3 and #4 respectively in their class of 432 seniors. They are captains of cross country, alpine skiing, and track. Their average ACT is 35.5 and their average GPA is 4.39. Collectively, they have scored 12 fives and 2 fours on their AP exams and both have been awarded AP Scholar of Distinction.

 

I discovered that Oliver loves speed, whether it be running or four wheeling, it doesn't matter. Espen likes to work with his hands and fix things so he is typically fixing the things that Oliver breaks when going really fast.

 

As far as post-secondary plans, Oliver and Espen are pursuing appointments to one of the military academies, in particular, the Air Force Academy.

Amanda Ottman, Rotary World Peace Scholar, currently the Rotary liaison with American Refugee Committee (ARC). She shared that ARC began with an emergency response on the Thai-Cambodian border in 1979, and since then they have responded to dozens of natural and man-made disasters and are working with refugee settlements in Africa.

 

ARC implements a broad range of environmental services, including water, sanitation, and hygiene promotion (WASH) and environmental health.

 

Amanda and Jacque shared information on the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda and the Changemaker 365 project.  Lakeville contributed funds to this project which allows Nakivale Rotaractors to take part in 365 days of “doing the doable” the funds given will be empowering refugees to effect real change through small $500 projects that are proposed by the refugees themselves. These accomplishments add up to huge improvements in livability within refugee camps. This program also fills an important gap, as these types of small projects are not covered by traditional grants and large institutional donations. Through this international collaboration, these projects will reach beyond borders to leave a positive, lasting, and direct change on the world we share.