District 5495 Youth Services News

RC of Sun Lakes recognizes Teachers of the Month

The Rotary Club of Sun Lakes (RCSL) congratulates Carolyn Cofoid, Advancement Via Individual Deterination (AVID) Teacher at CUSD Andersen Junior High School for being named RCSL November 2025 Teacher of the Month. She helps prepare and tutor 7th and 8th grade students for college readiness and success in a global society. Macy Foster, who nominated Carolyn stated that Carolyn is dedicated, organized and an accessible role model to her students, as well as she provides an innovative, adaptable and inclusive safe environment. 

 RCSL congratulates Jeffrey Conger 5th grade teacher at CUSD Frye Elementary school for being named RCSL October 2025 Teacher of the Month.  Jeffrey has been a teacher for 4 years.  When nominating Jeffrey, Principal Alexis stated Jeffrey is an enthusiastic, dedicated, patient and inspiring teacher who allows students to feel valued and supported.  

 RCSL Teacher of the Month Chairperson, Becky Kerr thanks RCSL corporate members Earnhardt Automotive and TrustBank who jointly sponsor the $700 check given to each RCSL teacher of the month.  For more info see http://www.sunlakesrotary.com

 

Photo: L-R: Becky Kerr; Ruston Reynolds - Earnhardt Automotive; Carolyn Cofoid and Jeffrey Conger

Interact District Governor Message | December 2025

Over the past month, our Interact Ambassador Program has stepped into a new chapter focused on keeping things consistent while still growing our impact. Past Kenya and Mexico ambassadors teamed up to create a Crutches 4 Africa Success & Succession Plan, and they’ve already started taking on bigger roles to help keep the program strong from year to year. This includes visiting Rotary clubs, meeting monthly to check in on progress, and helping new ambassadors feel prepared and supported.


Past ambassadors have already begun finding clubs to visit, putting together their presentation materials, and giving helpful feedback to the incoming team as they make their plans. This focus on planning, communication, and staying organized is helping our Crutches 4 Africa outreach grow smoothly and steadily each year.


On December 6th, our District Council will be helping with a big mobility-device collection day for Crutches 4 Africa. We’ll be heading out to both the East Valley and West Valley storage spots to load all the stored devices into a U-HAUL for transport to Colorado and eventually to Kenya. This day brings together the hard work of Interactors and Rotarians across the state, and we’re so grateful for everyone who has helped us reach this point.


Because of this December 6th event, the December episode of my District Governor Monthly Recap Video will come out in mid-December. This gives me time to include footage from the loading day so everyone can see the teamwork, energy, and heart behind Arizona’s contribution to Crutches 4 Africa.


There’s a lot of good work happening across District 5495, and we’re excited to wrap up the year with momentum, connection, and service!


Derrick Boateng
2025-2026 District Governor
Interact District 5495

Peoria North salutes Students of the Month

Peoria North Rotary Club honored six Students of the Month at Deer Valley and Mountain Ridge high schools at its Nov. 19 club meeting. 

Students each received a $150 stipend as well as a photo of a person in Mexico who received a wheelchair in their name.

The club recognizes students of the month at 10 high schools throughout the Peoria Unified School District and Deer Valley School District.

Students recognized from Deer Valley High School were Ashlyn Riley, August; Ezra Zufelt, September; and Shelby Rosenlof for October.

Students recognized from Mountain Ridge High School were Abbie Smith, August; Shahin Madantschi for September, and Isabella Shin for October.

For information on joining the club and information on its local service projects, visit www.peorianorthrotary.net.

Rotary Youth Exchange shines on Sedona football field

Samuel Knigge is a Rotary Youth Exchange student from Norway.  He is currently a student at Sedona Red Rock High School.  Samuel played handball in Norway, an indoor team sport.  

But, when he came on youth exchange, he wanted to play American sports.  So, to the chagrin of the soccer coach, our 6 foot 5 inch super nice and well mannered Norwegian joined the football team. Sedona Red Rock High School hasn’t had a football team in 8 years and Samuel is the star player!  He has scored 3 out of the 4 touchdowns scored this season.  And, he was crowned Homecoming King.  He is quite a star…in every way!

D5495 Interact District Governor Message | November 2026

From October 18th to 20th, my Executive Assistant Governor Sid and I travelled to San Jose, California to meet with D5170’s District Governor and Lieutenant Governor. I stayed at District Governor Ben Danilov’s home in which we discussed plans for a shared future between Interact Districts 5495 and 5170. With over 700 Interactors in attendance, EAG Sid Gupta and I gave a speech at District 5170’s Fall Rally where we discussed unique aspects about our Interact District and had the honor to launch the International Pen Pals project in D5170. Additionally, we had the opportunity to engage with D5170’s District Council and District Advisors. 

Our Interact District Council concluded the Interact Fall Leadership conference which took place on October 25th! Congratulations to the Events Planning Committee, and all of the Assistant Governors on your immense efforts! We had guest appearances from DG Ben Danilov and LG Priya Pudasaini to launch the Interact International Pen Pals project in our district just as I had the honor to launch the project in theirs. During FLC, We gave updates on all our service projects and allowed Anthem Jr. Interact as well as the Interact Club of Phoenix to share about their persistence when creating their Interact Clubs. 

The Service and Publicity committees met on October 27th to discuss reforms to our Instagram account to boost engagement with Interact Clubs and Interactors across District 5495. This initiative aims to boost engagement between the District Council and individual clubs. As my District Governor theme states, “Progress Through Partnership, Service Through Sacrifice,” I am implementing this initiative to ensure District 5495’s intra and extra district collaboration is a model to the international community of Interact Districts. 

Finally, linked below is the November installment of my District Governor Monthly Recap Video Series. All Rotarian and faculty advisors please broadcast this video to your Interact Clubs at some point during the month of November. This fun video has crucial information and updates about our initiatives on the district level. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxJOEZIPquY 

Many great things are in the works in District 5495 and we are so excited for the future!

 

– Derrick Boateng 

Interact District Governor 

2025-2026

Peoria North Rotary Club recognizes students of the month

The Rotary Club of Peoria North recently recognized six Students of the Month at Cactus High School in the Peoria Unified School District. From left, Dave Evans, the club's youth chair, presents awards to Lily Eskew, Elijah McBrayer, Gracen Thomas, Lilley Martinez, Logan Affeldt and Kathryn Nuanez. Each student received a $150 stipend and notification of a wheelchair donated in their name to a disabled individual living in Mexico.

Enabling the disabled: Interact Ambassadors deliver mobility devices to those in need

2025 Interact Ambassadors to Kenya team with some of the recipients and their families.

It is nearly impossible to capture in words the impact on a disabled individual and his/her family in Kenya, who has either had to crawl on the ground or be carried by family members all of their life, when an American teen comes, bringing the gift of mobility — a piece of equipment they could never access or afford, which can get the person off the ground, give that individual mobility and independence, and can restore that person's human dignity.  

"Enabling the Disabled" is the motto of our Interact District 5495, and their Interact Crutches 4 Africa Project has been their signature international service project for the past 10 years.  Each year the Interact Clubs in our district work at collecting donated, still-usable, crutches, canes, walkers and wheelchairs, which they have been shipping in 40-ft. containers to our Rotary partners in Kenya and Uganda, working in partnership with our Rotary Crutches 4 Africa nonprofit organization, which is based in Colorado.

If you are aware of any type of mobility equipment which is no longer being used, our Interact clubs are asking for your help in obtaining those mobility devices, which they can use to completely transform the lives of disabled poor individuals and their families in Kenya.  Ceiba Sherman, this year's Club President of our Prescott HS Interact Club, can be seen kneeling on the left side of the front row in the photo above.  Derrick Boateng, this year's Interact District Governor, can be seen in his gold Ambassadors's shirt on the right side of the second row.  Both of them served on this year's Ambassadors to Kenya team.  Ambassador Isabelle Brown, who spoke to our club, is at the right end of the back row in this photo.  To contact Ceiba about any mobility devices of which you may be aware, which owner would be willing to donate to this Interact C4A Project, email her at ceibaaas@gmail.com.  You can reach Isabelle at isabellembrown21@gmail.com.