Events

Michigan native Carrie Rengers was an Arkansas transplant before moving to Wichita in late 2002 when she joined her husband, former Wichita Eagle food editor Joe Stumpe, at the publication. She started the Have You Heard? business column with stories of what's opening and closing around the city. Since then, she's broken a lot of business news and has written on numerous other topics, including everything from serious subjects, such as COVID-19, to fun stories, such as what it's like to raise backyard chickens. With the changing media landscape -- a subject she's happy to discuss -- Carrie's job has changed significantly as well. 

"The Mission of the Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine is to train the Osteopathic physician of the future to provide effective, empathic, and innovative care to optimize the health of patients and their communities."

Our entire meeting time will be devoted to committee meetings, giving members the opportunity to discuss and make plans for the second half of the Rotary year. Please plan to sit with your assigned committee, as listed below, when you arrive.

Rotary Club of West Wichita  

2025-26 COMMITTEES

Lourdes (“Lou-Lou”) Rodriguez  has 21 years of teaching experience, including 15 years at the high school level and 5 years in elementary education in the provinces of Bocas del Toro and David, Chiriquí, Panamá. She is a member of the English Coordinators Network of Chiriquí Province and serves as the English Department Coordinator at her school. This will be her first trip to the United States. She has previously traveled to Costa Rica, Colombia, Spain, El Salvador, and the Netherlands, and spent three months in India pursuing advanced English studies. Lou-Lou leads a Design for Change project through Terpel, supporting students with visual impairments and promoting bullying prevention. She has also worked in children’s English camps organized by Quality Leadership University. Lou-Lou is participating in the RITE program to gain new teaching ideas and engage in cultural exchange, with the goal of enriching her classes and expanding her students’ understanding of the world.

Marianne (“Mari”) Lopez has been a Secondary English Teacher since 2022 and also works as a translator. She embraces Project-Based Learning and has experience teaching multigrade classes and students at diverse proficiency levels. Mari has traveled to the United Kingdom to study English and spent one month in China in 2019 attending a Vocational Education seminar. Mari is participating in the RITE program to enhance her teaching skills, explore innovative educational practices, and deepen her understanding of English instruction. She hopes to bring new strategies, technology, and engaging learning experiences to her students, while collaborating with fellow educators and sharing best practices with colleagues.

Leticia (Lety) Torielli, General Pinto, Buenos Aires, Argentina, has 25 years of experience teaching English and Spanish. She works in public schools with teenage students of various ages and levels and owns a private institute for international students aged 6 to 18. Lety also teaches Spanish to Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) students and is a freelance translator specializing in literary, technical, and scientific texts. A former Interact member, she has traveled to Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Brazil. Lety is participating in the RITE program because she believes education is a powerful tool for transformation and that language connects cultures and people. She values cultural exchange through everyday life experiences and believes RITE will help break cultural barriers, enrich her understanding of other educational systems, and allow her to share these experiences with her students in meaningful and lasting ways.

Mauro Coletti, San Isidro, Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been a Secondary Education Teacher since 2022. He has taught History and Social Sciences, including Civics and Government, and courses focused on university preparation and politics. Mauro is especially interested in Project-Based Learning to encourage active student engagement. He also tutors international students in Spanish and English for Cambridge examinations and works remotely in various educational roles. Mauro has traveled to Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Japan, and the United States. Mauro is participating in the RITE program because he believes educational exchanges provide valuable knowledge and strategies that strengthen teaching practice. He hopes to return with practical tools to apply in his classroom, adapt project-based methodologies to new contexts, strengthen digital safety practices, and build meaningful, lasting connections while exploring future studies in educational systems.

The last three years could go down as one of the most successful periods in K-State Athletics history as Gene Taylor’s program has taken the college athletics world by storm. Team championships, postseason runs, record crowds, continued academic success and new facility enhancements have all been the cornerstone of recent Wildcat success.

Named Director of Athletics at K-State in April 2017, Taylor has guided the football program to six bowl appearances and a Big 12 Championship, men’s basketball to a Big 12 Championship and Elite Eight, baseball to a Super Regional, and women’s track and field to back-to-back Big 12 Outdoor championships.

Additionally, Taylor and his staff have fundraised and implemented a department-wide facility master plan that benefits all Wildcat teams including the newly completed Indoor Track and Field Complex, the Morgan Family Arena for volleyball, Morris Family Olympic Training Center and the Shamrock Practice Facility for football.

A former member of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee and current member of the LEAD1 Board of Directors, Taylor was named the 2022-23 Cushman & Wakefield FBS AD of the Year. He is a 1980 business management graduate of Arizona State and earned his master’s degree in sports administration in 1985 from St. Thomas University in Florida. Taylor and his wife, Cathy, have two children, Casey and Jared.

DR. FRANK TRACZ is Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Kansas State University. He earned his B.M.E. from The Ohio State University, the M.M. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Ph.D. from the Ohio State University. He has public school teaching experience in Wisconsin and Ohio and has also served as Assistant Director of bands at Syracuse University and Director of bands at Morehead State University. Dr. Tracz has served as an adjudicator, clinician, speaker in various schools and conferences and has conducted All-State and Honor bands across the United States as well as in Canada, Singapore, South Africa, Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand.

At Kansas State he directs the Wind Ensemble and the Marching Band, teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting, advisor the Band Ambassadors, and administers and guides all aspects of a large BIG XII comprehensive band program. Ensembles under his direction have been invited to perform at numerous State conferences, MENC, two CBDNA regional conferences, The Larry Sutherland Wind band Festival at Fresno State, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center. The marching band was awarded the prestigious Sudler Trophy in 2015. The Wind Ensemble also performed at the International Convention of the American Bandmasters Association in 2019 in Loveland, CO.

Dr. Tracz is on the faculty of the Conn-Selmer Institute, adjunct faculty of the American Band College, past member of the Music Education Journal Editorial Board, contributor to the Teaching Music Through performance In Band series, and was recently appointed Chair of the Sudler Trophy Project of the John Philip Sousa Foundation. His honors include the Stamey Award for outstanding teaching, Kansas Bandmasters Outstanding Director award, Wildcat Pride Alumni Association award, the Tau Beta Sigma Paula Crider Outstanding Band Director award, named a Lowell Mason Fellow, and Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Fraternity. He has also received the Conn- Selmer Institute Hall of Fame award, the Kansas State Professorial Performance award, and was elected to the prestigious American Bandmasters Association.

He has also directly or indirectly raised over 5 million dollars for the construction of the West Stadium Band Hall.

Dr. Tracz is married to Geralyn, and has three daughters, Jessica Tracz Kelly, Kelley Tracz, and Carly Tracz Morris, and one grandson, Caden Tracz Kelly!

Celebrating Abilities and Empowering People: March is Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD) Awareness month, and an opportunity to highlight the importance of inclusion and acceptance of our friends and neighbors living with a developmental disability.  We have come a long way through the last 75 years in supporting youth and adults with disabilities as well as their families. We’ll share a little of the history of IDD services and AbilityPoint, some of the programs and services developed to meet the needs of the families we serve and the stories behind why they are so important.

Kevin Fish has been with AbilityPoint since 1996, serving as the Executive Director since 2004.  Under his leadership AbilityPoint serves over 2,100 youth and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, providing social and recreational opportunities, information & education, targeted case management and advocacy.

Kevin helped launch and hosts the Transition Council of South-Central Kansas, Chairs the Advocates in Communities Team. Serves on the board of directors for InterHab, a statewide developmental disability advocacy organization as well as Unstoppable God Ministries.

Kim Hett brings over three decades of educational experience to KLS Wichita. She co-founded and operated Andover eCademy, one of Kansas’s first K–12 blended online education programs, launched 15 years ago. With a strong background in both traditional and alternative learning environments, Kim’s collaborative leadership and commitment to student-centered, personalized learning align perfectly with our mission. She is poised to build on our school’s strong foundation and serve the KLS Wichita community with dedication and vision.

Our Story: Khan Lab School was established in 2014 in Mountain View, California, by Sal Khan, author of The One World Schoolhouse. Sal's book unveiled a forward-looking vision for the future of education, seamlessly integrating both in-person and online learning. His founding vision remains the driving force behind our mission. As Khan Lab School marks over a decade of mastery-based learning, we are excited to bring our program to Wichita, Kansas.

Our Mission: Khan Lab School is a community of learners empowering every student to navigate their own PATH. Our philosophy centers on the belief that education should empower students to become independent learners and critical thinkers while building strong academic foundations.  

A native to Los Angeles, Jesse has been a Kansan by choice for the last 20 years. He holds degrees from UCLA and Embry-Riddle; is an accredited airport executive; and is currently serving as a board member for the Kansas Aviation Museum and United Way of the Plains. 

With over 25 years of management and leadership experience in various industries, Jesse also has 12 years of teaching experience at both Baker and K-State University. Prior to Wichita, Jesse served as the Director of the Manhattan Regional Airport in Manhattan, Kansas (not to be confused with that other “Manhattan”); and he served as the Director of Aviation for the Kansas Department of Transportation.  He was most recently honored as an executive of the year by the Wichita Business Journal.

In 2003, Jesse began his career as an airport management intern at the Hollywood Burbank Airport; however, his aviation experience began in 1993 when he first attained his pilot’s license. That passion for aviation never leaves.  You can still catch him watching airplanes from his office.

Sarah was born and raised in Wichita. She attended Bishop Carroll High School. Sarah received her bachelor’s degree from Newman University and her Juris Doctorate from the Washburn University School of Law. While studying at Washburn Law, Sarah had the opportunity to work for Kansas Legal Services in Wichita, the Department of Homeland Security in Kansas City, the Washburn Law Clinic in Topeka, and with the Honorable Judge Birzer at the United States District Court for the District of Kansas in Wichita. Sarah has been practicing law since September of 2018. She specializes in removal defense and humanitarian-based immigration. She is most known by clients and the community as understanding and willing to fight for her client’s best interests. In her free time, Sarah enjoys playing golf with her family.

DR. FRANK TRACZ is Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Kansas State University. He earned his B.M.E. from The Ohio State University, the M.M. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Ph.D. from the Ohio State University. He has public school teaching experience in Wisconsin and Ohio and has also served as Assistant Director of bands at Syracuse University and Director of bands at Morehead State University. Dr. Tracz has served as an adjudicator, clinician, speaker in various schools and conferences and has conducted All-State and Honor bands across the United States as well as in Canada, Singapore, South Africa, Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand.

At Kansas State he directs the Wind Ensemble and the Marching Band, teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting, advisor the Band Ambassadors, and administers and guides all aspects of a large BIG XII comprehensive band program. Ensembles under his direction have been invited to perform at numerous State conferences, MENC, two CBDNA regional conferences, The Larry Sutherland Wind band Festival at Fresno State, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center. The marching band was awarded the prestigious Sudler Trophy in 2015. The Wind Ensemble also performed at the International Convention of the American Bandmasters Association in 2019 in Loveland, CO.

Dr. Tracz is on the faculty of the Conn-Selmer Institute, adjunct faculty of the American Band College, past member of the Music Education Journal Editorial Board, contributor to the Teaching Music Through performance In Band series, and was recently appointed Chair of the Sudler Trophy Project of the John Philip Sousa Foundation. His honors include the Stamey Award for outstanding teaching, Kansas Bandmasters Outstanding Director award, Wildcat Pride Alumni Association award, the Tau Beta Sigma Paula Crider Outstanding Band Director award, named a Lowell Mason Fellow, and Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Fraternity. He has also received the Conn- Selmer Institute Hall of Fame award, the Kansas State Professorial Performance award, and was elected to the prestigious American Bandmasters Association.

He has also directly or indirectly raised over 5 million dollars for the construction of the West Stadium Band Hall.

Dr. Tracz is married to Geralyn, and has three daughters, Jessica Tracz Kelly, Kelley Tracz, and Carly Tracz Morris, and one grandson, Caden Tracz Kelly!

Steve is the President/CEO of the P.B. Hoidale company an eighty year old fourth generation family owned business specializing in fluid storage, movement, and management systems headquartered in Wichita, KS.

He graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a Juris Doctorate.

In addition to serving as board chair for Second Light Steve has extensive experience in the Wichita non-Profit community serving as past board chair for the United Way of the Plains and serving on the boards of The Mental Health and Substance Abuse Coalition of Sedgwick County, Firm Foundations Ministries, Wichita Independent Business Association, and Lead Wichita.

“Community is one of Hoidale’s core company values stemming from our founder Pete Hoidale and taught to generations of team members that business has an important role to play in the wellbeing of the communities we serve.  Not only to provide quality career opportunities but to help build and support vibrant thriving communities that attract talent and truly care for our neighbors.”