HARRISBURG – Illuminating the main session hall with life size cutouts of Marilyn Monroe and the famous Hollywood sign presented across center stage with the motto “Lights, camera, action!” displayed on the projection screen; I walked into the gathering area excited to experience my last Key Club District Convention.
This past weekend the North Penn High School’s Key Club traveled to Harrisburg for the 68th annual Pennsylvanian District Convention. While residing in the Hilton Hotel, hundreds of clubs and thousands of members from across the district gathered together for a weekend full of inspiration, leadership, and excitement. While meeting peers from a variety of schools, North Penn’s 20 representatives attended workshops and ceremonies in order to inspire new ideas and improve the organization for the incoming officers of 2014-2015.
Led by athletic director and advisor of Key Club for 18 years, Mrs. Linda Law explains what she anticipates while attending the annual district convention.
“[I enjoy seeing] my students have a great time, learning more about volunteering, and enjoying making new friendships with members from across PA States,” explained Law.
Friday night began with the opening ceremony which included the introduction of the district board, the new district administrator, governor and key note speaker. After the lengthy session, students broke out into workshops to learn about skills necessary for a successful Key Club. Students attended workshops that enforced the use of social media, time management, organization of meetings, and improving member turnout. All of these tools were presented by Lieutenant Governors who excel in these aspects within their home club. Finally the night ended with a Meet and Serve evening which included games, prizes, and dancing which concluded the night.
The highlight of the second night is the general session which includes the highly anticipated awards ceremony. Every club from across the state submits information, data, and creative projects for friendly competition within the district. The ceremony spans two hours which includes dozens of categories and opportunities for recognition. North Penn submitted a traditional scrapbook and digital poster which received high marks. The club dominated the category of “most service hours” by receiving 1st place with a remarkable 7,841.2 hours, almost 1,500 more hours than runner up. North Penn also won 1st place in total number of hours committed to the YSY project with 529 total hours. The club won 2nd place in total amount of money raised for the YSY project at $3,000. Every officer of the Key Club was recognized as a distinguished officer by submitting all appropriate information and excelling in their executive title. Finally, Niketa Kulkarni was elected as the notable Lieutenant Governor of division 19C.
However, as astonishing as these awards seem, the recognition of NPHS Key Club was not as excellent as the past years, specifically excelling in 8 categories last year as opposed to 3 this year. Advisor Mrs. Law expresses her disappointment by saying:
“Compared to last year the convention was a little disappointing as far as how awards where decided, the new administrator change many things this year and never informed the clubs,” continues Law.
Not only were the awards discomforting, but some aspects of the entire conference displeasing which Law elaborates upon.
“Not having the meals included, and our members being left out of some awards, due to the fact that changes were made by the new administration and not being informed about it,” remarks Law.
Although the experience had some shortfalls, overall, the representatives had a good time by enjoying the workshops, meeting new people and learning skills for the upcoming year.