It was wonderful to be back at The Pirates House after three weeks off! President Mark Sprosty reminded everyone of the March service project on March 8 at Coastal Pet Rescue, the Savannah Area Rotary Meeting at Hunter Army Airfield on April 14, and that there was a Board Meeting today following our meeting. Bill Von Alt announced that our GRSP student had been picked for next year - Julio Alvarez from Mexico! Once all Rotary business items were discussed, Cheri Dean introduced our speaker, Darrell Naylor-Johnson who is the SCAD Savannah Vice-President.
Darrell began his presentation saying that SCAD's mission is a focus on careers and everything revolves around this. They have a 99% alumni employment rate! They focus on careers by having great career preparation (there are 4 campuses with students from over 120 countries), engaging teaching and learning, and a positive environment.
SCAD's impact on our community is significant. In a report that was published in 2023, SCAD had an economic impact of $1 billion dollars in our area. They are one of the larger employers in Savannah with 2300 employees. Through their use of vendors, suppliers, etc, SCAD impacts over 12,000 jobs. They help keep our city safe with security services such as uniformed officers and security cameras. Their museum was designed to be acceptable to all which is evident from the large windows that allow people to see exhibits from the street. Finally, SCAD partners with many local charities through SCAD Serves. Darrell highlighted their work with Habitat for Humanity, America's 2nd Harvest, and Shelter From the Rain.
Finally, Darrell talked about SCADpro and what alumni from SCAD are doing around the world. Many of the projects that SCAD alum work on are not known due to NDA's. However, he was able to share that the Chick-fil-A drive through line is so efficient due to a student who attended SCAD! The presentation ended with Darrell having a question and answer session where members of RCSE received prizes if they answered the questions correctly. If you want to learn about upcoming SCAD events, please visit https://www.scadboxoffice.com/