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Official Newsletter of Division 8 of the New Jersey District of Key Club International
International Convention 2013
Every year, Key Clubbers from around the world gather together for the annual Key Club International Convention. Key Clubbers gather to celebrate the great year every single Key Club has done, and to elect the International Board for the year to come. The convention itself is the same length as our very own District Convention, but since it is always in a new location, the districts go on “district tours” so that Key Clubbers get to see the surrounding area before the actual convention
itself starts! For New Jersey that meant packing into a bus on July 1st, and heading down to our nation’s capitol where we saw the Capitol building, many monuments, Ford Theater, some fireworks, and much, much more! The New Jersey District headed home on the 8th of July, bringing home new memories, friendships, and lots more! This issue of my newsletter will deal mostly with what happened at ICON 2013, but there is important information at the end, so please read it!
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LTGs Kyra, Sam and myself posing in front of a sign for the Museum of Art in DC. (Photo courtesy of Eric Zhu)
Day One: Bus, Newseum, and Nationals Game
Early in the morning on July 1st, Key Clubbers from around the New Jersey District gathered at a bus stop in either the North or South of the District. With about 50 Key Clubbers on board, the New Jersey District set off for Washington, D.C. Once we arrived in D.C. we were off to the Newseum, a museum of news that has tons of hands on features and brand-new technology. It features an exhibit on the Kennedys as well as 9/11 and even has a whole wall dedicated to the front pages of newspapers from around the world. After the Newseum we headed over to the Washington Nationals Stadium where Key Clubbers brought their “Nattitude” to cheer the Washington Nationals on against the Milwaukee Brewers. The game ended in a 10-5 win for the Nationals, a great end to a great first day at KCDC ’13.
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Day Two: Arlington and Monument Tour
On Day two of the District Tour New Jersey went and visited the Arlington National Cemetery just outside D.C. The Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 400,000 active duty service members, veterans, and their families. Other historical figures were also buried here, such as JFK. We also went on a moonlight tour of some of the monuments, including the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam, Korea, and WWII memorials, the FDR and MLK Jr. memorials, and the Jefferson memorial. In the middle of the day we went over to the convention center and volunteered alongside a bunch of other districts and an organization called Kids Against Hunger to package meals to send to nations with high poverty levels, and little access to food, as well as natural disaster relief organizations.
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Day Three: Ford’s Theater, Capitol, Spy Museum
On the third day of the District Tour, New Jersey went to Ford’s Theater, where Lincoln was shot, the U.S. Capitol Building, and the International Spy Museum. After a day filled with tours and dinner, the first official event was held for ICON 2013; the Meet and Greet. This was a two-hour social event where all Key Clubbers in attendance got to mingle in the same room and talk to each other, begin friendships. With tons of things to do from pin trading (New Jersey’s pin was really valuable), bouncing in a bounce house, putting stickers on a big zero for ELIMINATE, to just talking, no one was bored!
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Day Four: July 4th, Opening Session, and Caucusing
On our fourth day in Washington, finally ICON began! It began with a thrilling opening session where we met the 2012-2013 International Council, and the 2013-2014 District Governors. There was a parade of nations, which featured the flags from all 31 countries that have Key Clubs. After the opening session, we broke for lunch, which we had in the hotel together, and then it was off to caucusing. Caucusing at ICON is similar to caucusing at DCON, however it is much more serious. There are no frivolous questions like, “If you were an animal what animal would you be and relate it to Key Club.” Questions that are asked are directed instead at the candidates’ platform and abilities. People asked some hard-hitting questions that quickly thinned out the pack. Caucusing at ICON is also four hours long, because there are so many candidates for the International positions. After caucusing, we were allowed to go out for dinner, but we gathered again to get on the metro, and headed over to the National Mall to watch some spectacular Fourth of July Fireworks.
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Day Five: Workshops and the Recognition Session
On the fifth day of our week in DC, we were woken with the Meet the Candidate Session, where the candidates who had made it through caucusing were introduced and they each gave a speech and the candidates for International President and Vice President had to debate with their respective opponents. After Meet the candidates was the first few sets of workshops. These workshops are very similar to the ones at DCON, only bigger and more in depth. After the workshops, attendees went to the ELIMINATE Lunch where we learned more about the ELIMINATE Project and found out the district totals for funds raised in the 2012-2013 year. New Jersey was the second highest total with the largest amount raised per person in all of Key Club International! After the delicious meal was the service fair, where districts presented work that they had been doing all over the world, and candidates for International Office got a chance to answer some more questions, and campaign some. The night concluded with the Recognition session, where some of our 2012-2013 Lieutenant Governors were awarded their plaques for the Outstanding Lieutenant Governor Award, also our 2012-2013 governor, Nicole was awarded the Distinguished Governor Award, an award coveted by many.
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Day Six: House of Delegates, Closing Session
Key Clubbers had more workshops early Saturday morning, but after lunch things began to heat up. After lunch, two attendees from every club present at ICON went to the House of Delegates, where they heard one more speech from each candidate running for International Office. After their final speeches the votes were cast. Votes for International President and Vice President were done electronically, so those results were displayed immediately, the 2013-2014 International President and Vice President are Raeford Penny and Rachel Benoit, respectfully. International Trustee votes were taken by paper ballot and as such the results would remain unknown until later that night. At House of Delegates, delegates also voted on an amendment to the International bylaws, and debate quickly got heated. Chris Addonizio, of New Jersey, proposed an amendment to the amendment, which was eventually shot down in favor of the original amendment. House of Delegates concluded, and everyone was left to his or her own devices until the closing session later that evening. At the Closing Session we heard Rebecca Riley’s farewell address, and the old board was retired. Then, the new 2013-2014 board was announced and inducted. Our very own Zachary Waldorf among them. He was elected International Trustee, however he will not be serving as New Jersey’s Trustee. Then convention was adjourned, and the ELIMINATE Dance began. Key Clubbers danced away their final night together, with most of the district leaving early the next morning, or even later that night, buuuuut…
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Day Seven: Smithsonian and the Holocaust Museum
New Jersey wasn’t done yet! We checked out of the hotel (after a fire drill and some minor flooding on the 9th floor) the next morning, and loaded the bus up. We set off for the National Mall, which is surrounded by the Smithsonian Museums. We were set free to explore whatever museum we wanted for about 2 hours at which time we met up to ride over to the Holocaust Museum. The Holocaust Museum was exceptionally sad, and eye opening. After the Holocaust Museum, we said our final goodbyes to DC, and set off for good old New Jersey.
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Club Monthly Report Forms This is a reminder that all Club Monthly Report Forms are due the tenth of every month, even during the Summer. It is a mandatory duty of the Club Secretary to complete the CMRF and submit it every month. CMRFs are due to District Secretary Kelly Tran, our Zone Administrator Rob Acerra, and myself. CMRFs are vital to the success of your club, our division, and our district. So please submit them in a timely fashion. As always, if you ever have any questions about filling out the CMRF, please feel free to contact me!
Back to School Officers’ Barbeque I’m planning to have a Divisional Officers Dinner at the end of August that will most likely consist of BBQ, a DCM, and an OTC. It will be a great chance to meet the other officers in Division 8, we’ll go over some important back to school information, and I’ll continue training officers. Please let me know, through email, text, call, Facebook, or what have you if you’d be interested in attending an event like this.
Youth Opportunity Fund Written by LTG Michaela Patoilo, Div 20 The Youth Opportunities Fund, or YOF, is a fund set aside for Key Club International by Kiwanis International to provide grants for service projects. The idea behind the grants, which run from $100 to $2,000, is to help Key Clubs with a great service idea that requires a bit of funding. No project is too big or too small to apply for help from YOF. For instance, Jordan-Matthews High School Key Club from the Carolinas District used the aid received to buy copies of the book Love you Forever and taught first graders how to read the book. They then took the students to a local nursing home where the children, many of whom do not have grandparents, were able to “adopt a grandparent” for the day and read to them. Other ideas that may require support by the YOF may include, building kennels for a local animal shelter and using the money to buy start up supplies, helping to repaint and
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restore an outdated recreation center, and using the grant to pay for transportation to an orphanage to donate supplies and time. The projects supported by the Youth Opportunities Fund can be pertaining to any need a club chooses to address in its home, school, or community. Be creative! Look around to see if there is a service opportunity waiting, it can be anywhere. The New Jersey District does not usually have a large number of applications for the grants, so take advantage of the opportunity! The committee generally chooses to fund clubs/club members who are requesting a portion of the total cost of the project or are working with other organizations to fund and complete the project. The deadline for applications is October 15, 2013 and more information about applying can be found at http://www.keyclub.org/service/fund/yof/yofg rant.aspx.
2013-2014 International Board At International Convention earlier this month, delegates from every club present voted on who they wanted to represent them on the International Board for the 2013-2014 service year. The results of the elections were as follows: International President: Raeford Penny from the Capital District International Vice President: Rachel Benoit from the Louisiana-Mississippi-West Tennessee District International Trustees: Casey O’Neil from the Rocky Mountain District Madison Kemker from the Indiana District Zachary Waldorf from the New Jersey District Eric Yoon from the Capital District Roshni Chandwani from the Texas-Oklahoma District Alberto Berrizbeitia from the Carolinas District Avery Hitchcock from the Rocky Mountain District Renisha Daley from the Jamaica District Kelsie Hoppes from the Pacific Northwest District Maria Palazzolo from the Illinois-Eastern Iowa District Michelle Peterson from the Michigan District
Important Contacts Adam Rubin
Look out! Upcoming events! • • • •
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CMRF due August 10 Officer Barbeque at the end of August Fall RTCs September 15, 21, 22 Fall Rally October 13
Lieutenant Governor of Division 8 Email: ltg.adam.div8@gmail.com 160 Kings Mountain Road Freehold, NJ 07728 Cell: (732) 320-8036
Ryan Clarkin District Governor governor.clarkin@gmail.com
Kelly Tran District Secretary dsectrank@gmail.com
Penny Xu District Treasurer njtreasurerpennyxu@gmail.com
Pak Chau District Editor district.editor.pak@gmail.com
Yuya Ong District Webmaster njwebmasteryuya@gmail.com
Rob Acerra Zone Administrator acerra.kci@gmail.com
Please do not hesitate to contact me in any way you feel comfortable whether it’s through emails, text messages, phone calls, or even send me letters! My goal is to be as accessible to you as possible!
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