Rotary GSE Team Going DOWN UNDER

Blowing Rock Rotarian Gisele Weisman Will Serve As Team Leader For Trip To Australia

Western North carolina, Feb 12, 2007:  The 2007 Rotary GSE (Group Study Exchange) Team representing Western North Carolina’s Rotary District 7670 will embark in February on a 19-hour flight to Australia’s Rotary District 9690 in New South Wales.  Simultaneously, District 9690 will send a GSE Team to Western North Carolina.
The GSE program of the Rotary Foundation is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for non-Rotarian business and professional men and women ages 25 and 40. The Rotary Foundation provides travel grants for teams to exchange visits between paired areas in different countries for four to six weeks.  Team members experience the host country's institutions and ways of life, observe their own vocations as practiced abroad, develop personal and professional friendships, and exchange ideas.  Ultimately, the mission of the GSE program is to help build goodwill and peace worldwide.
With six months of preparation, the Team will meet with various Rotary clubs in District 9690 and present a slide program that features Rotary District 7670, Western North Carolina, and each Team member’s vocational background and life-style. 
Rotarian Gisele Weisman, artist, land developer, and member of the Blowing Rock Rotary Club, will serve as the GSE Team Leader.  The GSE Team members include Jessica Griffith, World History Teacher, Caldwell Early College, sponsored by the Lenoir Rotary Club; Heather Hollifield-Hoyle, Director of Developmental Studies, Western Piedmont Community College, sponsored by the Valdese Rotary Club; Stacie Walker, Senior Loan Officer, State Employees' Credit Union, sponsored by the Boone Rotary Club, and Jason Harpe, Executive Director, Lincoln County Historical Association, sponsored by the Lincolnton Rotary Club. 
Those interested in applying for the 2008 GSE trip to Nigeria, please contact Ted Carothers rpcarothers@charter.net or Margaret Gormley-Chapman, Rotary District Office Manager ashevillerotary@bellsouth.net