Interact Lacombe Composite High School and

Lacombe Rotary

What is Interact?Interact is Rotary International’s service club

for young people aged 12-18.Interact clubs are sponsored by individual

rotary clubs.Interactors develop leadership skills,

demonstrate helpfulness and respect for others, understand the value of individual responsibility and hard work, advance international understanding and good will.

ProjectsEach year, Interact clubs complete at least

two community service projects, one of which furthers international understanding and goodwill.

The Inspiration for The Big Project...

LCHS Fire

•The fire at LCHS caused millions of dollars worth of damage. •The school was completely closed for two weeks. •Repairs are still ongoing and some areas of the school are still not open – storage areas.•Although no one was injured, it was a traumatic experience for many students, as the fire occurred during school hours.

Fortunately we had support

•Lacombe Fire Department and other fire crews who went above and beyond to save the school and prevent smoke and water damage. •Fire crews saved irreplaceable pictures, sandbagged to prevent damage to floors. •Teachers and school board members have been there to get things up and running.•Insurance companies. Reconstruction began almost immediately.

Haiti School

Before this past fall, students at LCHS couldn’t really relate to the situation in Haiti. We felt bad for people in Haiti, but we didn’t really understand what they were going through. Now we have an idea what it feels like not to have a school due to a natural disaster.

Haiti School

There are many students in Haiti who still don’t have schools due to the earthquake. They don’t have the support system we have here and in many cases there is no idea when they will get their school back. We decided that even though we couldn’t do much to help reconstruct our school, we could do something to help them.

The PlanThe new LCHS Rotary Interact Club will

coordinate with A Better World and Haiti Arise to fundraise for a school in Grand Goave (previous pics) for 200 students grades k-4. Grand Goave is situated 15 miles from the epicentre of the devastating earthquake.

The school will be built on land owned by Haiti Arise (no land ownership issues).

ABW has agreed to raise $25,000 minimum towards the total. (Likely to exceed $65,000 in total costs.)

Interact Club commitment = $5000 minimum (but we hope to do more)

Things to Know…The total cost of the entire project won’t be

known until later this fall. A group of engineers is travelling to Haiti in June to help draw up the designs for the seven-acre parcel.

The site has an elementary school, a medical clinic, a church, and a technical school. Haiti Arise is currently working on the medical clinic and the technical school. Four temporary classrooms have been built to house the students displaced from the school that was destroyed by the earthquake. They plan to build at least 4 permanent classrooms and expand the building later.

Travelling to HaitiSpring Break 2012 trip to Haiti to assist with

the initial construction, start a music program in the school, hand out rice, assist in an orphanage. Visit another Rotary club?

Students to raise their own funds to attend. (Approx cost $1700 per person total for ten days.)

Grand Goave is about 40 miles (3 hours by car) from Port-au-Prince. Onsite dormitory with clean water where students and adult chaperones can stay.

Would any Rotarians be interested in travelling to Haiti with the Interact Club? (We’d need to know by the September 2011.)

How We’ll raise money• In-school fundraisers – bake sales, hot lunch

sales, other stuff• Bottle Drives• Other schools – Lacombe Junior High School–

this also helps younger students become aware of Interact and Rotary.

• Would Lacombe Rotary consider matching the funds raised by Interactors?

• Other ideas?

Club Progress• Arrangements made with A Better World/Haiti

Arise• Trip tentatively scheduled for March 2012• First club meeting to establish student interest

was held in March. 20 LCHS students signed up.• Club executive elected on April 27. (President –

Dylan Olsen, VP – Jacob Baily/Matthew Stanford, Treasurer – Sean Johnstone, Secretary – Samantha Dubree

• Found a teacher rep and a parent rep for the club.• Need to officially register the club. (official Rotary

Club sponsorship) • Need to find a second project for the club at some

point.

Recent Pictures of Grand Goave

Temporary Classrooms

Recent Pictures of Grand Goave

Construction supplies for medical clinic andTechnical school.

Playground

Haiti Arise is doing good work to help the people in Grand Goave, Haiti. The LCHS Interact Club working with A Better World and Lacombe Rotary would like to help the children of Grand Goave get their school back. Will Lacombe Rotary officially sponsor our club?