Bulletin #08 2025

Presidential Ponderings

Co-President Gerry McGann (P1) welcomed everyone and invited Geoff Longshaw to recite the Four Way Test (which he did from memory….)

This day in history:

• 1770    Captain Cook planted the British flag in Australia
• 1851    The America’s Cup (Sailing, of interest to Gerry) started in Isle of Wight
• 1911    The Mona Lisa was stolen.

Guest Speakers - Professor Lyn Beazley AO and Ben Quick

After graduating from Oxford and Edinburgh Universities, Lyn built an internationally renowned research team that focused on recovery from brain damage, much of her investigations undertaken at The University of Western Australia.

 

As Chief Scientist of Western Australia from 2006 to 2013, Lyn advised the Western Australian Government on science, innovation and technology.

 

Since then Lyn is proud to have established YourToolkit.com, an online service to support women at risk of domestic and financial abuse and to be currently part of a team that has opened the Lyn Beazley Academy, especially for the education of autistic young people.

 

Lyn was awarded Officer of the Order of Australia in 2009, was delighted and honoured to be named the WA Australian of the Year for 2015, as well as to have become a Paul Harris Fellow and to have had three species named after her.

 

In her opening remarks, Lyn talked briefly about one of “her species”. It is a deep-sea sponge found in the trench off Rottnest. The Harry Perkins Institute was investigating things found in sponges that might help to cure cancer. Lyn’s species came out on top as most effective for treating breast cancer and could lead to a whole Pharmacology industry in WA.

 

Naming the Lyn Beazley Academy after her took some arm twisting, but Lyn was told she had “become a bit of a brand”….

 

Lyn is proud to be a Paul Harris Fellow. This came about after her lobbying Corporations, as Chief Scientist in 2009, about young people being turned off Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Children in years 5, 6 & 7 were losing interest and teachers didn’t have the resources. With Rotary’s Support, this led to providing 25,000 microscopes to almost half the primary schools in WA. They have also been sent to India, Thailand, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Afghanistan.

Autism is a developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people.

It also affects how they make sense of the world around them. It is a spectrum condition. This means that, while all people with autism share certain difficulties, their condition will always affect them in different ways.

The 2020 census indicates one in 30 young people are autistic, with one in two not completing high school, leading to social withdrawal and failure to thrive. The Lyn Beazley Academy specifically targets levels one and two on the autism spectrum, those who could thrive in an academic environment with the right opportunity. It aims to bring these young people back from feelings of low self-worth and isolation.

 

The Academy does this by providing tailored education, including computing, robotics, and mentoring activities (Coda Dojos). The Academy, housed in an art-deco building in West Perth, intentionally avoids a school-like appearance, featuring "pods" (People of Diversity) instead of classrooms. Each group has a facilitator (teacher), a facilitator's aid (teacher's aid), and two social and emotional transition coaches, aiming to rebuild self-worth and social skills.

 

We had Personal testimony from Ben Quick, an autistic individual and UWA honors student. He emphasized the struggles of "masking" in mainstream education, where he attended thirteen different schools and found Year 12 to be the worst year of his life. He highlighted how traditional schools often punish struggle rather than understand it, leading to missed opportunities for autistic youth to develop socially and personally during their teenage years. Ben explained autism involves social, executive function, and sensory challenges, and stressed that tailored support and a nurturing environment, like that provided by the Academy, are crucial for autistic individuals to thrive and build self-worth.
 
Directors' Reports and Member Announcements

Ian K : Membership committee meeting after breakfast meeting.

Gerry M : Community committee meeting after breakfast meeting.

Owen F : “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (GWCTD) planned for 20^th September.

Kelly G :  Tree planing last Thursday at Sorrento Beach, including students from Perth Modern School. Next planting Saturday 30 August at Wungong Creek (Champion Lakes) about three hours in the morning.

Gerry M : Estimated we have planted perhaps 10,000 trees this season?

 
Another Fine(s) mess...Owen F

• Kim P - set the record for four guests
• Astrid M - no badge
• Geoff L - double sided coat
• Vic S - missed ten meetings
• Scott D - brought along his own aged-care package team disguised as guests
• Lyn B - for having three species named after her
• ALL - Dockers & Eagles supporters
• 1975? - bit of a dissertation
• Baby Boomers - surcharge

Winner of Heads and Tails

Guest Lucy Gasiorek won the wine after a rousing round of Heads and Tails. Many thanks to Lyn and Margaret Metcalf for supplying the wine each week.  

Attendance

43 attendees in all, including guest speakers Dr Lyn Beazley and , visiting Rotarians  Phillipa Henderson (Toastmasters and past Crawley Rotary Club) and Ben Quick, visitors Robynne Dwyer, Amy Case, Dr Rachel Dwyer, Shaun and Carole O’Brien and Nargie and Lucy Gasiorek.