May Newsletter - Division 28

MAYDivision 28 Newsletter

Sirens

C O N T E N T S

DCON PICTURES

SUMMER

OFFICERS

YEARLY PLANNING

C.O.C.I.

SERVICE PROJECTS

CONTACTS

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Officers

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So you’ve been elected as an officer? Congratulations! Your time in Key Club can be one of the most memorable experiences of your high school career. Each officer position in the club plays a vital role to the existence and productivity of the club. If one officer does not do their part, the entire club will be set back and the efficiency of the club will be greatly diminished. “Minimums should only be checkpoints along the pathway of dedication, rather than finish lines.” This motto should be fully embraced in your position as an officer. You are not supposed to just do the minimum your job requires of you, but instead go beyond and do the best that you can truly do. Yes president, you are supposed to make sure people are offered service opportunities, but why not offer more projects to help your club succeed in the points system? Yes editor, your job is to make club publications, but why not make them beautiful as well? Remember, it’s not only that you just do your job, it’s also how you do your job. I want to see all of you succeed and make your clubs better than they were last year! I am so excited to work with all of you and I hope you are just as excited as I am to really hit this year hard! I will be in contact with all of you and I hope you have a wonderful time in this organization. Key Club is one of my favorite parts of my life.

There will be a presidential council meeting (PCM) on June 8 at noon. I hope all of you can make it. I already confirmed that almost all of you will be there, so I am super thrilled to meet all of you!

At this upcoming meeting, I will cover all the duties each of your positions is required to accomplish. It is also important that you know the other officers’ duties. It is helpful for everyone to keep everyone else in line.

All officers (especially secretaries) need to be aware that reports need to be postmarked by June 5. Even during the summer, secretaries must report. I will cover reporting at this upcoming meeting; however, you need to have your first report turned in before we meet. There is an online video from the previous district secretary that I would like you to watch. It will give you all the information you need to know so that you can successfully report. If you need me to help you, just look at my contact information at the end of this newsletter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi87zUXhclA

S U M M E R

Throughout the summer, there are a number of things that need to be accomplished. Although it may seem to you that the summer should be down time for your club, this is not true. These are the following goals that your club needs to complete this summer.

- Report each month - Have an officer meeting each

month- Have at least ONE service

project each month- Have at least ONE full member

meeting during the summer- Learn how to complete your

officer positions effectively

None of this is incredibly difficult. Secretaries, this gives you the perfect opportunity to really learn how to get more points on each of your monthly reports.

An officer meeting each month is not something that is too difficult. I know that everyone has vacations, so do not expect to have every officer at every meeting. Make sure the majority of officers attend.

A service project each month is fairly simple. Make it fun! Clean trash off the beach then have a day in the waves!

One member meeting is essential!

The summer is your greatest opportunity as a club. Honestly, I believe that depending on how your summer goes, that will determine the state of your club for the rest of year. Do you want an active and efficient club? If you do everything I have listed on the goals section, your club will be incredibly strong throughout the year.

The reason that the summer is so important is because it sets the stage of the rest of the year, in that it provides real hands on experience without the pressures of the school year. If your officers know how to complete their jobs during the summer, they will be able to handle their positions throughout the year when they are dealing with more students.

The summer is an excellent time to plan the rest of your club’s year and there is a full article on how to do this on the next page.

Have fun this summer. Get out! Incorporate any fun activities you’ve thought of and make it Key Club related. You’ve been wanting to hang out with some of your friends that happen to be in Key Club? Invite the whole club and make it a social!

Just be proactive and have fun this summer. You only get so many summers as a Key Club officer.

GOALS WISDOM

Y E A R L Y

The summer is when you plan all that you will be completing throughout the year. There are many things that you need to plan for the upcoming year and I am providing a list of the most essential items that need to be put on the calendar.

- Schedule at least four meetings per month, two officer meetings and two member meetings (pick alternating weeks and then put every date on the calendar that you can, as to avoid conflicts with holidays and big school activities)

- Find at least one big project each month for your club and get each project on the calendar

- Plan however many fundraisers your school allows and being to allocate this money to your DCON fund.

- Create t-shirts for your club and offer the designs for sale at the beginning of the school year

- Plan at least one social event for your club each semester and get this on the calendar

- Print out your finalized calendar and put it up so everyone can see (especially officers). Every member should be able to plan ahead. If dates are subject to change, make a note of it on the calendar.

Once the upcoming year is planned, it is extremely easy to run your club. You rarely have to worry about what you are supposed to do next. You just look on your calendar and you know what to do.

When formulating your calendar, scheduling four meetings a month seems like a challenge, but honestly it’s not at all. There is only one meeting a week and only two of them require all members to present. It keeps a cohesion within your club and you have higher attendance at meetings and events. People like routine. One big project a month is something easy you can do during the summer. All you have to do is come up with at least nine projects. That’s super easy! Socials are also very easy to create. Maybe you could have a Key Club holiday party or have an annual Key Club banquet at a restaurant. You could even offer awards to those who were most dedicated throughout the year.

Fundraising is essential to your DCON attendance. Already put on your calendars that you’re coming to DCON. Not only fundraise, but contact your local Kiwanis club and ask how much they will offer your club. Often times, they will donate much money toward your DCON experience! Don’t forget the t-shirt. Everyone loves a good t-shirt.

PLANNING ADVICE

C.O.C.I.Club Officer Contact Information

Presidents, Faculty Advisors, and Secretaries take note: The C.O.C.I. is the registration of your club’s officers with the district board. This gives the district board the ability to observe and contact you as an officer. It’s essential that last year’s officers are removed from the roster and the new officers are placed in their respective positions on the district website. It is very easy to change your C.O.C.I. from the past year. All you need to do is login at www.tokeyclub.com with your school’s information, then just click on the tab for members only. You can make the changes to your C.O.C.I. here. It is pertinent that this is completed. Please include all of your officers. It will take a grand total of about five to ten minutes to change all of the officers information. Please complete this immediately.

All other officers: if the following officer positions mentioned in the previous paragraph are not completing the task of filling out the C.O.C.I., please contact them immediately and let them know that this issue needs to be handled promptly. Still, if no conclusion is being reached, please contact me personally and I will contact your club to have this matter settled.

All Officers: Division 28 is getting off to a great start and this needs to be handled before summer really kicks into full force. I hope the completion of the C.O.C.I. is not a challenge. If you have difficulty filling out the online information or finding the online information once logged in, I will gladly guide you through the process. Please just text me or give me a call, thanks!

PROJECTSCONGRATS BALL HIGH ON GETTING IN THE TOP 5 PROJECT IDEAS! The Top 5 Service Projects each month serve as an easy way to get awesome project ideas that will add variety and spice to your club’s repertoire of activities!

K2 Academy: Cypress Falls Key Club participated in K2 Academy Respite Night, which is a monthly event held at a local gymnasium that allows children with special needs to enjoy all the athletic activities of a children’s gym while their parents enjoy a well-deserved night out. Volunteers would arrive at the academy and play with and watch over the participating children for the night. This is truly an amazing event because it gives kids of all ages a chance to hang out with other kids their own age and make new friends, all while doing the activities they love. Children are our future. This event allows us to care for them, especially the ones that most need our help. By: Alea Hon

Carriage Inn: Bryan Key Club members helped with Carriage Inn which is an assisted living home. Many do not receive cards, visitors, or gifts on holidays. We decided that we were going to change that. The Idea was presented during the January meeting, and was overwhelmingly approved. Our plan included cards, homemade cookies, passing out carnations, and spending time with the residents. The residents absolutely loved the fact that someone who they didn’t know cared enough to not only spend time with them but also put forth the effort to make something for them. By: Bridget Vilas

Days of Hunger: Garland Key Club set up Days of Hunger. This project was a 21 hour lock in at the school. Eligible juniors and seniors donated canned foods and did not eat for nearly a day in preservation of hunger awareness. Volunteers were awards for their participation. By: Tiffany Yang

Artist Boat: Ball High Key Club helped with Artist Boat, which is an organization that preserves and raises awareness about the Gulf coast environment. It is a community effort. We planted sea grass on sand dunes to prevent erosion of the Texas shoreline. This will help restore the vegetation on the beach and natural wildlife in the community. We also helped clean the beach, and learned about the importance of preventing erosion so that we can spread awareness about the issue. By: Katie Cromer

Hope Chest: Mustang Key Club loaded up the truck at the warehouse with beds and bedding, and then caravanned to three homes. We set up the beds, and enjoyed the smiles when the kids saw what they got. The Hope Chest director sent us a letter to inform us that after we delivered the bunk beds to one of the houses, the kids cried because they were so amazed and happy that someone cared enough to bring them beds. By: Rosa Tran

CONTACTS

Governor Rachel Iselin [email protected]

Secretary Crystal Loh [email protected]

Treasurer Emily Zhao [email protected]

Editor Matthew Riley [email protected]

Convention Liaison Megan Reynosa [email protected]

Lieutenant Governor Mason Woods [email protected] or [email protected]

Instagram - @masonwoods Twitter - @masonwoods1997 Facebook - www.facebook.com/masonwoods97

CONTACTS

MAYDivision 28 Newsletter