Rotary German dual education exchange intern presentations

1:29:21All right, remove the time we got.

1:29:23Mr. Chairman, um all the recipients and participants for your eleven thirty are here if you want to.

1:29:30Oh they are here, so we'll bring them forward. We're good.

1:29:34Reinhardt, huh? Yeah. Reinhard Yes.

1:29:40R thirty six.

1:29:43And there she is. Okay. This is very special. I'm sorry Jack's not here. I'm he'll watch the video um later.

1:29:51Have a

1:29:52video?

1:29:53Or don't don't you have a presentation? Yeah, yeah. Well he'll watch the video of this.

1:30:01This is um live on YouTube. I think it's YouTube. Okay. Cool. Yeah.

1:30:09Um good morning. Yes, still morning will lighten it up a little bit, but uh we do have Important message also. So my name is Reinhardt Seip, and I'm here to talk about an international project from the Rotary Club of Newport Ritchie and Rotary International. Um Why are we here? We have a project that was built on the relationship established between Pasco County. And Germersheim in Germany. And

1:30:41My goal here is to create awareness about the German dual education system. Well practical training in the workplace and theoretical education Uh at a vocational school are combined and how we might be able to use that here. Uh how we got there is that Pasco County and Germersheim district have a relationship already, which included visits by county officials uh from Pasco to Germany. and student

1:31:11exchanges between River Ridge and uh Germ Germersheim schools. And commissioners have a special interest in this particular region of Germany because it's a high tech region where Mercedes and Siemens and Karl Sais and companies like that are settled. Uh so we had uh two years ago, I think it was, uh we had the German ambassador Andreas Siegel here and Uh we signed the document of friendship

1:31:42between uh Pasco and uh uh the Germansheim Landcris. Uh where do I fit

1:31:51is their government.

1:31:52Wh where do I fit into this? Uh a couple of things. One I do manage uh a local business here in Trinity which is uh defense and industrial I am a product of the dual education system. I'm a member of for the Pasco EDC Global Competitive Committee where we're trying to bring companies into this county, mainly international companies. And I'm also a member of the New Port Richey Rotary and serve

1:32:22on that international committee. So uh Germersheim is a uh uh uh uh town city in the south southwestern part of Germany. On the uh near the French border. Um when I heard about all this going on, I decided I needed to go there and see if we couldn't also have a friendship between our rotaries. So I went there and

1:32:52I was welcomed and we created a friendship between the Rotary Club of Germersheim and the one of Newport Ritchie. As you can see on some of these pictures, I was lucky it's also a beautiful, beautiful area, wine region of uh of Germany and I think

1:33:11yeah France is right over those borders.

1:33:13It's right on the on the on the French border so you can pretty much walk or bike there. And so it's it's uh it's beautiful and and so so why are we doing this? One, we're doing this for these two guys. We wanted to make sure they see something they would have never seen, and I'm sure they'll talk about it. And it's uh it's a great experience that they will probably uh remember for the rest of their life. But I also had another motive from my Pasco

1:33:44EDC part of it. Pasco, as you guys well know, is somewhat of a bedroom community and only six percent or so of our tax base comes from industry. And when all your taxes come from residential where you have basically a balance, you're never going to be rich. So for industry to settle here, whenever I talk to companies, uh uh the first question they ask me is If

1:34:14we move here, will we have access to skilled workforce? The answer used to be no. The answer now is Well, we do, but also We are training skill now. We have AMP skill, we have Marchmen, we have schools like that where we're training a skilled workforce. So now my answer to them is yes. And um The reason we we picked Germany

1:34:44again is because they are just the the vocational leader Germany and Switzerland in uh uh in d in this type of training. So the goal here was for New Port Richey Pasco sponsor young professionals to intern in Germany, learn about their apprenticeship programs. When they come back, they can tell us a lot of things about how wonderful it was over there, but also how professional Those trained people are. Um first thing what we started uh

1:35:15last year we took two Young people from Germersam brought them here, had them work in Pasco companies. And um this worked out great and then we send them back and then this year We went and sent those two guys over to Germany in May. And uh we're here to um learn about uh their experience. And let me sum this up though. Um yeah, Pasco could benefit

1:35:45from a more diverse tax base where industry is a larger portion, and for industry to come to Pasco. They require access to skilled workforce. We can create skill by educating talent. And the schools that we have in place for that. are there, they need to be properly funded, they need to be grown. And and my job is to One to raise awareness with the community, with the students,

1:36:15but also with the board. А верим да ви дос. Ви ха. This year, last year. We have a great opportunity. It's uh unintended consequences. Everybody was talking about forgiving student loans. Which it's put a focus on student loans. And when I talked to the leaders of uh Marchman or or or Amskills were in the past they had a

1:36:45real problem even getting kids in because the kids didn't know, the parents didn't want it. Now they are they have capacity, they're full. because people realize you can go and go through a training program, get a well paying job and no student loan. So I'll let these guys talk a little bit.

1:37:06Um I think before Mitch comes up, Tyler. Um Tyler's here representing Amskills. Um can you talk about the program that Mitch went through before Mitch comes up and speaks, maybe a little bit? Yeah.

1:37:18My name's Tyler. Um project manager with Amskills. Tyler

1:37:21Modano, that's right.

1:37:22Tyler Modano. Um Mitch went through our program Two thousand seventeen. Um and it is a program designed to help individuals to learn new skills to get exposure into the industry of manufacturing. And uh we run a program, it was it's not the same program s he went through. We've uh changed it a little bit. But um it's a one-week boot camp program where we we introduce individuals to again different hands-on skills and in

1:37:52electrical and mechanical and um it's geared towards Pasco County utilities. And so last week we actually held another program with 12 students. And Mitch came came through and was able to give them some insight into how he went through a similar program and is now employed with the county and has a very you know great career ahead of him because of that. And so this program again is designed to help people to get Into

1:38:22uh Pasco County utilities, to manufacturing jobs, to launch a career. And um it's and these students that went through a program last week. now have an opportunity to be they're interning with the county. And that could lead to a career for them. And so we're here to hear Mitch's story on, you know, with how his trip was with Germany, but also to this is an example of how he went through a similar program and was able to then come back and teach some of these younger

1:38:52uh adults, you know, what this could lead to. So Congratulations to you and and we're happy for your successes.

1:39:00All right. Which one of you is going first? And and did you send us photos? You guys have photos? I did. Okay,

1:39:05awesome. Okay. I'm Mitchell Wilkins with uh Pasco County Utilities. I work as a lead pump station mechanic. Um I started Amskills around 2017. It was a Tuesday, Thursday kind of thing where after school I uh learned how to use hand tools, CNC machinery. Um Pretty much just to work with my hands for about three to four hours each day. I did that for about two hours and I had a three-month internship with Pasco County Utilities. I worked with wastewater on the east side of the county. I worked there for three months and the boss liked me so much

1:39:35he told me that he wanted to hire me, but I didn't have a high school diploma because I was only about 17. So I had to finish high school and the day I got my diploma I called the boss and I told him, you know, I would like to work here and I started that next week. So I've been working with Pasco County Utilities for about four years now. Um I love it, I'm enjoying it, you know. I you can't really beat the benefits or the or anything like that, you know. But um I worked with uh Energy Sud West over in uh Landau uh Germany and

1:40:06that's me driving uh a Mercedes Uni Mog. Uh it's an eight speed manual, it was really cool. I haven't driven anything like that before. Um so they were working uh they do water, uh natural gas and electricity and they have um special fittings that we don't really use. Um we have compression fittings that are threaded. The These uh push right on, they're like quick connect fittings. And um I thought they were really cool just because it just seemed very simple and easy. They're very organized over there which I really like, you know. Um they have uh

1:40:36wrap arounds to repair pipes, which I liked was a little bit different than ours 'cause we have flip around studs, which are a little bit of pain to work with when you're hanging down in a hole with a harness and trying to wrangle it with one hand, you know, that allows you to Just hold it down with one hand and hit it with the impact and it's a very quick repair, very inspect uh Inexpensive Um And I just thought that was a great idea. Um that's an example of when are the lift stations that they don't have very many lift stations in the area. Uh in Pasco County we have around 822 lift stations that we manage. On

1:41:06the west side I manage around 100 by myself. and we have about four mechanic crews on each side. Um they only had ten, it was a very small area, you know, but it's cool to see the differences of what they do versus what we do. Um This is one of their water services. It's very similar to what we use. Um they have two back flows, similar to what we use as well. Um I just uh helped them with that job. They were putting in a door on the house and the water service was in the way, so they had to relocate the water service. So we had to dig a trench outside and run

1:41:36that inside and a lot different from what we do because we don't really do the customer side in the county. So going into a customer's house is a little bit different, you know. And especially since they have basements and we don't around here. I've never been in a basement before. A little scary, if I'm gonna be honest, you know.

1:41:53Uh yeah. The big issue that we have right now within um our department is that uh we've been trying to secure pumps that would fit our uses, but the issue I believe is we're locked in with a contract with uh Barnes and Hydromatic and those pumps are inexpensive and they work. But they don't fit our uh application a lot of the time. The issue is a lot of people they flush down flushable wipes and grease and rags and stuff like that, which clog up our pumps and they cause a ragging which causes us to come two, three

1:42:24times a week to pull these pumps and clean them. Um Wheelow is a very good brand that we started using, but we're having issues securing funds to be

1:42:32Are you a plant?

1:42:38Um but we really like these Wheelow pumps because they have recessed impellers which prevent the ragging from happening. And uh we would really like to start using Wheelow pumps in the area. Water pump they use for metering purposes, but they use KSV pumps and Wheelow pumps over there, which they're very happy with and I would love to make the switch to Wheelow just because they they work very well. I love that. This is an example of how their um their repump systems work. Uh I just thought it was cool because their control panels

1:43:08look just about the same as ours. Just a little bit different in a sense. But uh The issue is I couldn't read most of the stuff 'cause it was in German, you know. That was a big thing I wish I I did before I went on the trip is learn a little bit more German. I had to learn as I went, but um we had a lot of free time while we were over there as well. Yeah, where

1:43:24are those pictures?

1:43:25Uh I put mainly work pictures. That's

1:43:28funny. I I was expecting Germany pictures

1:43:30like I'm happy to go around and show everybody. I probably have over twelve hundred pictures of the trip just because um My mom, she's she's big on pictures and I'm not. So she she told me she would be very mad at me if I didn't take pictures. So I made sure I took plenty of pictures. I didn't I think that's the last one I put on there.

1:43:49M Mitch, it was your first time flying, right?

1:43:51Yes, ma'am. I've I've never been out of the the country. I've only been out of the state twice my whole life and I've never been away from the house more than four days, so it was a big big change from being away from home after three weeks and It was a beautiful country but I gotta say um After the second week I was already missing home. You know, once once you live in a country your whole life, especially this country, you learn to love it and you know, no matter how good another country seems, y you never can really leave home, you know. But um we had a lot of free time luckily between their federal

1:44:21holidays and uh time after work, you know. And their work week is shorter, right? Yeah, they work 38 hours, but a lot of their shifts are a lot longer. And so they end up with a surplus of hours near the end of the week. So their government requires them to actually take a half day on Friday. So we got out on Fridays, which is very nice. Um we got to wine festivals, we visited castles, we got to see the local cities, which is very nice. Uh Stevie and I out of our own pocket we decided to go to Paris, France. Yeah. We went for a weekend there, we got to see the Eiffel

1:44:51Tower, Arc de Triomphe, you know, uh It was it was an amazing experience and we really, really were happy with the opportunity to do that, you know. Especially with something I've never really done before. It was a different process for sure, you know. know. It's awesome that you went. That's great. Yes, ma'am, I appreciate it.

1:45:07Yep. Now I hear from Stevie. All right. Unless you guys have questions for me. Or you want to wait till Stevie's time.

1:45:14I wrote my speech down, otherwise I would have forgot things. Um I do have pictures. Um we can either show it while I'm talking or I can go over them after. But good morning. My name is Stevie Merrip, and I currently work as a vet tech for animal services. I was sent to work in Tier Clinic in Germany. At the end of last year, we actually had Wilhelm, he was on one of the slides in the past, stay with us here, and he talked about all of the things that he got to see and do over there. So when I heard I had this opportunity, I was intimidated

1:45:44and very excited. Wilhel actually greeted me there the day I landed and gave me a tour of the facility and made the transition into work, despite the jet lag, very smooth and easy. Easy. This institution stands as a beacon of hope and healing, embodying the best of veterinary care, technology, and compassion. When you enter this German animal hospital, you immediately notice the attention to detail and efficiency that is the hallmarks of German engineering and medical practices. The scope of services offered at the hospital is truly

1:46:14remarkable. From wellness exams to complex surgeries and emergency care, the facility is equipped with cutting-edge technology. Um, the advastment underscores their dedication to providing the highest standard of care. Germany and Europe as a whole tend to be the first place new machines and medicines start out in our medical field. For example, May of 2023, the US introduced a new drug called Labrella. It's an osteoarthritis medication that is in an injection form given to your dog and repeated monthly.

1:46:45However, this same drug has been used in the UK and Europe since 2020-20 with amazing results. While working there, I was able to scrub in on some surgeries and shadow and others. The hospital had multiple surgery wards, a dental suite, and 10 plus doctors of different specialties. Surgeries included anything from the routine spay and neuters to advanced orthopedics and everything in between. One thing that set them inside from any other hospital I have ever had a pleasure of working at is that many things were done the same day, no matter how advanced

1:47:15the surgery was. Mm. Working at animal services, rabies is a huge part of what we monitor for public safety. Our protocols are strict and we work closely with the state lab on possible exposure protocols and testing. This was a major difference when over in Germany. Their rabies is not a threat. It is not mandated to have your animals vaccinated for rabies unless they're being transported in from other areas that are not open border policies. This is because Germany considers themselves to be rabies-free due to

1:47:45no outbreaks. Beyond the advanced technology and medical expertise, what truly makes the hospital special is the compassion and empathy shown by its staff. Each team member understands the deep bond between pets and their owners. They offer not just medical care but emotional support, guided families through both joyous and difficult times with kindness and understanding. I learned that a German animal hospital is much more than a place of medical treatment. It is a sanctuary of compassion, innovation, and unwavering dedication to the well-being of animals.

1:48:15It exemplifies the best of what veterinary medicine can offer, and it stands as a testament to the profound connection that we share with our animal companions. On the days that were holidays or on the weekends, like Mitchell had said, Rotary Club members would reach out to us and be our guides around Germany. We hiked mountains, explored many different castles, visited cathedrals, and embraced the history that is Germany. Where we stayed was considered wine country, and even after a long hike, you still hydrated with wine, not water. Germany was filled with great

1:48:46food, great wine, and great beer. I learned very quickly you don't just say no to anything when offered. Try it all. Even if you don't think you will like it, still try it. I also got to explore France on my days off due to being so close to the border. We spent a day in Strasbourg in my one of the Notre Dame cathedrals. Beautiful. A night in Risenberg at a block party, eating flamkouven, and even drove five and a half hours for a weekend in Paris and Disneyland. Couldn't pass that up. This trip allowed me an opportunity to connect with my late grandmother's

1:49:16childhood best friend from when my great-grandfather. a lieutenant general for the US Army was stationed in Germany during World War II. I heard stories about them rollerblading in the general's house, sneaking into movie theaters on base, and traveling trains across country alone at 10 years old. Just to be able to see each other. For this connection, I will always be grateful for this opportunity the program created for me.

1:49:40So um so what so what is this that you're taking a picture of Tier Link?

1:49:45That is the outside of my clinic. Um the clinic was extremely large. Um that's the name of the clinic, um Tier Clinic. Uh so that was just kind of the visual. I tried to take one from the other angle, but all you saw was giant glass doors. You couldn't see the building because it was so large. Um and then I know right there is actually a plasma machine called Plasma Machine. It regenerates stem cells. They use it daily on animals with injuries, um, a lot of the time like skin lesions. Um

1:50:16that's just what it looks like inside. That was one of the surgery wards. That was actually the orthopedic one. There's a giant TV in the back and you can actually either put up the surgery that's going to happen or they can make the enlargement bigger so while they're working on the animal they can also see it on the screen. That is an endoscopy broom, so just like in humans, we're able to do that in animals, and we'll go down their nose or throat and be able to see the insides and take samples.

1:50:47Um that is what they call the Cat Detention Center. Um it is last door, silly cast cannot escape. Um it is very open so they can also see if you need help. Um that is one of the eight surgery wards. They run two tables in that wing. That is also the visual if anyone wanted to watch it being done.

1:51:10Very cool.

1:51:11And then that is actually the dental board. There was about seven tables. They do x-rays, surgical procedure, jaw removals, everything in that little room. Dentals are not considered clean, so they want to keep it separated from everywhere else. Um that was a catheter and pulling blood from it. Um Germany is very good with their waste usage. So we actually didn't use syringes or needles when we pull blood. It's actually a catheter placed in the vein

1:51:41and then you let it drip into your blood tubes.

1:51:43Yeah.

1:51:45And then that's me again.

1:51:47Well I am uh I am so excited that you had this opportunity and and we plan to keep this going. Um for sure. So um And and Reinhardt thank you so much for for your um putting this together really in uh And I I know we'll welcome two German young professionals sometime next year and we'll reciprocate. I h I hope so we have to talk about that. And um and I actually hope to expand this maybe to some other countries. We need to um get back with

1:52:17Bill and work on our friendship agreements. Um I'd love to have one in Switzerland as well. Uh but d do any of you wanna say anything?

1:52:26I just think that sounds amazing. What a cool experience and um Just ex the culture, right? The huge changes. Yeah. That's awesome. I'm so glad you guys got to do that. And I hope too we can expand it to another country because it sounds amazing.

1:52:43I I will say that the um the German fellow that came and worked at our animal uh clinic or he mentioned that we could use some facil some upgrades on our facility. So I have to put a plug-in for him. Yeah. So um I think we're in the works on that. We we we are in in design or we have some money for designing something. Uh but I I don't think our facilities now that was a private facility, not a public facility. Right. No

1:53:13doubt we can always do better. So

1:53:16Well I'm I'm glad y'all enjoyed it. Uh I enjoyed seeing your pictures and all from it. So I know y'all had a great time and A learning experience you You'll never forget it. So it it'll stay with you a long time. So hopefully we'll have that same experience in the reverse for others. So and then us be able to send more in the future. So

1:53:37we used to do this exchange with River Ridge High School's German um language program, but uh before COVID just before COVID or during COVID they they killed it. So um Gammersheim was sending us high school students. and the frankly they sent more over here than we were sending over there and I wanted to help fundraise to send more of our students there but Um That program ended and so um I think it's very smart to switch to these young professionals. Um

1:54:07and I I'm certainly gonna do all I can to keep this program going. We you all are gonna be contacted By a gentleman from the NACO offices in Washington, DC, because they're gonna be doing a story on this in the in their publication. Um that will I think coincide with our annual meeting. Cause when I brought this up at our board meeting out in California, um They ran over to me and said, Oh, this is so unique. I don't think anyone in the country is doing this. Can we do a story on it? So um his name's Charlie

1:54:37and uh I think it's a four one four number, but you'll be you you should probably be Getting contacted from him today. And and Reinhardt, you too.

1:54:48Thank you. Close close it out here. You know, Stevie Mitch thank Thank y'all for going above and beyond, not that this opportunity you would have said no to But going the extra mile and getting an outside true outside perspective of how we can make doing business here, doing business and then working here in Pasco County the best that it can be for our folks. And Reinhardt, thank you for taking Our folks under your wing and showing 'em a great time and for the bosses out there for allowing you know, your understudies essentially to

1:55:18go out into the world and see what they can bring back to home and how we can implement best management practices to make our work lives uh even better. So I'm glad you guys enjoyed your trip and um it was exciting to hear what you all had to say and hopefully we see what what comes of it in the future.

1:55:37Okay. Thank you very much. Oh actually.

1:55:42No, I just well one, thank you guys for doing that. Amazing amazing stuff. Appreciate the shameless budget plugs. Those were those are those were Uh I know it's not customary to uh necessarily take photos after after uh regular items, but uh I wouldn't mind doing it. Yes, I'm just they would add a proclamation. It would be good to have something like that on files.

1:56:07Exactly.

1:56:17It definitely sounded good like you two are like you two were really bugging it over there. That was a hard life over there. It's so funny

1:56:26because I expected pictures of Jerry. I have one

1:56:28too. Well send me some. Send me some people. I've I've been uh to Gamersham for a couple of years.

1:56:34Okay. Well I I didn't stand out.

1:56:50Perfect, thank you all right.

1:56:57All right, great job. Great job.

1:57:01Well, thanks for my resolution. All right.

1:57:05Thank you.