Casa Grande’s Interact Club celebrates 25 year anniversary

Each year, students at Casa Grande High School are flooded with opportunities to give back to their community, but semester after semester, one long-established club stands out for its dedication to making a difference.

This month, Casa Grande’s Interact Club, a Rotary International service organization for teens that facilitates a medley of community service projects, will celebrate its 25th anniversary and take a step back to reflect on its successes during the last quarter century.

Among those achievements are programs such as the Pennies for Polio campaign, an effort that helps bolster one of Rotary’s top missions of eradicating polio, and like the club that runs it, it’s repeatedly proven the importance of community involvement.

Last year, Interact Clubs around the world rejoiced when the World Health Organization announced that the polio virus had been eradicated in Nigeria, leaving only two countries in the world – Afghanistan and Pakistan – with a polio endemic. Petaluma’s Interact Club President Andrea Rossi said the development was due in part to the $300 in funds raised by the local arm of the campaign last year, and for the Casa Grande senior, this event marked one of the greatest accomplishments of the community service group.

“When I started in Interact, polio was still in three countries. Now it’s in two. To see the change was truly amazing,” Rossi said.

Rossi initially joined the club in her freshmen year as a way to stay in touch with her friends and to form new relationships. Four years later, Rossi leads the weekly meetings and works with the club’s Rotarian advisers to organize and carry out community service projects throughout Petaluma. While the advisers provide suggestions and potential resources within the community, it’s the responsibility of the president and the rest of the club to put the plans into action.

“Interact has made me more community involved for sure, and it’s made me put other people before myself,” Rossi said. “When doing projects in the community, you meet a lot of people, and it really enhances your experience.”

Along with dedicating time to the Pennies for Polio drive, which has been an ongoing effort for the club for about a decade, the more than 30 members of the Interact Club have volunteered painting windows at a local senior center, reading books to schoolchildren, and cleaning up local parks. Rossi noted that the club has been successful because it serves as a way for friends to interact outside of school.

Fueled by a group of determined, community-based students, it’s no surprise the club would attract one of Petaluma’s most generous individuals as its adviser. Libby FitzGerald has been running services, offering camps and giving aid to the community for more than twenty years, garnering multiple prestigious recognitions for her commitment to Petaluma.

“Rotary sponsors high school Interact clubs because they think the responsibility, leadership and service skills learned by these young people will help make them positive contributors to peace and understanding in the world,” said FitzGerald, who got involved with Casa’s Interact Club shortly after becoming a member of the Petaluma Valley Rotary in 1996.

Rossi’s experience with the club has inspired her to continue her service while she goes on to study environmental science at Sonoma State University. Through Roteract, the club’s college division, she and many other members will continue to work with Rotarian members such as FitzGerald and to organize community service opportunities in Petaluma.

“The kids from Interact are now adults, and the main thing I have admired about them is their compassion and willingness to donate their time to make this community a better place,” FitzGerald said.

Former members of the group, including Joshua Barrow, a Casa Grande graduate who acted as the first president of the club in 1990-1991, will return to Petaluma to celebrate the club’s 25th anniversary on May 19.

Barrow, who’s worked with the Marin City Community Services District and Sausalito Marin City School Board, among other community service efforts, is now the president of Third Sky, Inc., a San Francisco-based IT service management consulting, education, and technology provider. He said experiences with the Interact Club teach members valuable lessons.

“Working to address issues within your community builds connections, deepens understanding, and ultimately helps make where we live a better place,” he said. “The life lessons from Interact complement classroom learning and forge values, friendships, and memories that are priceless.”

Also joining Barrow for the celebration at Rooster Run Golf Club is Alan Anspach, the club’s first Rotary adviser, and Ziba Ansari, the 1996 Interact president who’s now a member of the San Rafael Rotary.

(Contact Ella Ban at argus@arguscourier.com)