Maderas Steak & Ribs Restaurant was packed Friday morning as 60 members and guests of the Los Alamitos Area Chamber of Commerce gathered for their monthly member networking breakfast at the “yawn” early hour of 7:30 a.m. The meeting is an opportunity to visit and enjoy time with other Chamber members, getting to know of their individual company specialties, to see how they can work together, thereby strengthening the Chamber and Community.
Chairman of the Board Nesi Stewart, of Printmasters, acknowledged winners of the 2020 Los Alamitos Chamber Gala Awards and introduced new members that include Sylvie Stanley, Club Pilates; Matthew Thomas, AFLAC; Dublas Paniagua, So-Cal Attorneys; Pastor Jun Jarmin, Gather Los Al; and Mark Mapanao, Twelve Forty-Five Consulting.
In addition, Casa Youth Shelter was presented a check for $442, as recipient of the Community Partner Award. The check was one-half of the proceeds from the Silent Auction at the recent Chamber Gala and Stewart thanked those who generously donated items for the Silent Auction.
The highlight of the breakfast meeting was guest speaker, Los Alamitos High School Head Football Coach Ray Fenton, who was introduced by LAUSD Superintendent Dr. Andrew Pulver.
If all companies in the nation worked as Coach Fenton suggested and described in his talk, the world would surely be a kinder place in which to live, work, attend school and enjoy recreation.
The Coach drew a comparison of an early caveman brain, of just going head-strong into a moment without thought, to a professor’s brain of thinking methodically through something before reacting. He strives to teach students how to get what they want, yet do it diplomatically.
The Bionic Club (Believe It Or Not I Care), is a student-run peer leadership organization whose mission is to identify and train student leaders. Coach Fenton is introducing a way for students to act through kindness. When students do kind deeds for others, they get to accumulate “dollars” toward things they want to do, adding “money” to their account.
“Get a compliment from a teacher, and a student can write a ‘deposit slip’,” he said. The student who found a Visa card and turned it into the school Principal also earned recognition for the good deed.
“Team members get points added or subtracted, according to whether they show up,” which ultimately affects the team as a whole, making students more accountable to their team.
Fenton said teachers have to make it fun for students to keep them engaged – “Whether it’s important to the students – that’s the game.” When a student makes a mistake and is given a chance to redeem themselves, they’ll come back to get a positive note.” In life, Fenton said the customer is always right, noting that we should ask, “What else can I do for you.” Winners of the game, are also winners in life.
Those attending the breakfast repeated the motto: “We are Los Al; together united and strong; striving to be number one; our team and family, champions will be. At the end of the day, we are a family and we’ll get through it.”
For future Chamber dates and events, visit https://LosAlChamber.org or call 562-598-6659.