Politics & Government
‘Freedom Day’ Speakers Offer Students Practical Advice
Healdsburg High School seniors participate in Rotary event to learn life and employment skills in a one-day program.
Around 175 members of Healdsburg High School's senior class gathered at the Villa Chanticleer Wednesday morning for the fourth annual "Freedom Day," a program presented by the Healdsburg Rotary in partnership with Healdsburg High School.
Three morning breakout sessions included such topics as employment, credit and wealth, moving out on your own, and male- and female-only sessions. The afternoon ended with a talk by Third District Supervisor and Chair of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Shirlee Zane.
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“The presentation taught me to stay out of debt,” said Shaylyn Pinney. When asked what presentation was her favorite, she replied that Healdsburg police officer Nadia Mohamed “gave us good advice and kept us laughing.”
Supervisor Zane offered the students tips for living and getting along in life saying that “experience is equally valuable [to education] in life.’
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“Pain motivates us in a way nothing else can,” said Zane. “And how we choose to work with that pain.”
Zane spoke of the suicide of her husband, as well as the challenges of raising three children and surviving cancer twice.
“Hit the ground running,” she said. “That means never stop learning.
“Don’t think that life is going to be easy,” she continued. “Have a dream…you’ve gotta have a dream.”
She also told students to have fun and party, but no underage drinking, to learn technical skills, and to “join an organization.”
“Do something you feel passionate about,” stated Zane. “Don’t buy anything you can live without.”
“It was terrific,” said HHS social studies teacher. “It was a great opportunity for the students to learn practical skills for post graduation.
“We’re lucky to have the Rotary Club care enough to bring this program to our high school students,” she concluded.
All students attending the program received water bottles in the morning and flash drives from Rotary members as they exited in the afternoon.
“For us, this is the perfect thing to do,” said Healdsburg Rotary member Henk Peeters. “It’s easy to write a check but this gives us a lot of interaction with the school.
“We’ve improved each year,” he continued. “We’re happy to partner with Healdsburg High School.”
