From Key Club International to Circle K International... (from high school to college) Greeting's Mighty New York District!
(left to right): Kathryn Graves, Kelly Chan (myself), Suzy Rinaldi at our International Convention in Virginia Beach!
My name is Kelly Chan and I, along with the Marketing & K-Family Relations committee would like to welcome you to the 2011-2012, CIRCLE K service year. That's right, you've made it out of high school and Key Club and into college and Circle K. Congratulations! So as you're preparing and beginning your college lives, you may be experiencing some sort of anxiety, excitement, nervousness and a whole big mess of various emotions- do not fret, this is completely normal. I hope that this guide will help you as you are making this transition from high school to college and from Key Club International to Circle K International. Of course, as good or bad, helpful or unhelpful this guide is, always remember that I, as well as all the other Circle K-er's in the New York District (NYCKI) will be more than happy to talk to you about any questions you may have about Circle K or about college in general so once again, welcome and get ready for an AMAZING year! Yours in NYCKI love,
Kely Chan
Queens College CKI President NYCKI Marketing & K-Family Relations Chair
Let's start by taking a few steps back, breathing and looking at some facts: Key Club International Who?: high school students # of members?: 250,000+ In how many nations?: 30
vs.
Circle K International Who?: college students # of members?: 12,600+ In how many nations?: 17
For the 2011-2012 Service Year... NY District Key Club (NYDKC) # of divisions: 28 # of clubs: 250+ District Governor: Domenick Pesce District Treasurer: Emily Gicewicz District Secretary: Daniel Ivan Lin District Editor: Amber Lee
NYDKC Governor Domenick Pesce
vs.
NY District Circle K (NYCKI) # of divisions: 8 # of clubs: 29 District Governor: Josephine Lukito District Treasurer: Corey Oses District Secretary: Samantha Pontillo District Editor: Yvonne Cotterell
NYCKI Governor Jo Lukito
While you may have already forgotten the exact numbers, you may have noticed one thing:
*the Circle K community is “smaller� (in quantity but definitely not quality!)
Yes, Circle K International is only a fraction of Key Club International when it comes to its number of nations, divisions, clubs and members but that does not mean that we do not hold the same visions and dedication to service. In fact, a smaller organization and district should be seen as a positive thing because it then allows us to grow that much closer to the ones that are involved with our organization and our district. I am speaking by experience and I'm sure that other Circle K-er's would tell you the same. Think about it- when you were in Key Club, could you name all 28 Lieutenant Governor's in NYDKC?, the chances of you answering yes is far less likely than asking a Circle K member to name all of NYCKI's LTG's.
NYDKC Leadership
vs.
District Executive Officers:
NYCKI Leadership District Executive Officers:
Governor, Secretary, Treasurer,
Governor, Secretary, Treasurer,
Editor, Webmaster, Executive Assistant
Editor
Lieutenant Governors: 28 numbered divisions
Lieutenant Governors: 8 named divisions
* LTG's generally have division positions
* LTG's generally do not have
like EA,Secretary, Treasurer, etc.)
divisional positions
District Committee Chairs: Open to LTG's only
Club level:
District Committee Chairs: Open to all NON-District officers
Club level:
President, Vice President, Secretary,
President, Vice President, Secretary,
Treasurer, Editor + committees
Treasurer, Editor + committees
(committees vary by club)
(committees vary by club)
Summary of Leadership Opportunities in CKI: You may have noticed that overall, the leadership positions available in CKI are very similar to those in KCI. In fact, there are only 3 slight differences: 1. NYCKI considers the district webmaster as a committee chair rather than part of the district's executive board. In addition to differences in the executive board, NYCKI does not have an executive assistant. 2. The general lack of divisional positions in Circle K. Because there are a lot less clubs and the numbers in CKI are significantly smaller than in KCI, having divisional positions are generally not necessary. However, since NYCKI is continuously growing, we may need divisional positions in the future- it's all up to the LTG's and each individual division. 3. The committee chair positions in CKI are open to ALL members of the district, not just the LTG's, like in Key Club. This gives the members more of an opportunity to be leaders and part of the district board- we consider them to be “non-voting” members while the executive board and LTG's are considered to be “voting board” members.
Some of NYCKI's “Dumbleboard” at their summer board meeting!
Let's discuss SERVICE! No wait, before that, let's discuss the main aspects of both branches of the K-Family: In Key Club, there were four
core values: leadership, character building, caring and inclusiveness. In Circle K, there are three
tenets: service, leadership and fellowship.
While both branches of the K-Family does an immense and an outstanding amount of service, the structure of service partners do vary slightly. The image on the upper-right is a representation of 6 out of 10 of NYDKC's district projects. In Circle K, we only have one district project which varies each year. This year, our district project, Play it Safe, focuses on promoting safety.
Ready to hear some familiar words you have have heard from Key Club? •
The EliMiNaTe Project – this is a big one in Circle K as it is for Key Club and Kiwanis. We, are a family are all working together to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus by 2015!
•
Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Center, Kamp Kiwanis and Kiwanis Pediatric Lyme Disease – all three may sound familiar because they are all Kiwanis sponsored charities which means that the entire K-Family works together to work with them!
vs. •
First off, the name difference of Leadership Training Conference (LTC) versus CKI's District Convention (DCON) is barely a change since LTC used to be called DCON two years ago!
•
Something many of you Key Clubber's may enjoy is that the word
purpling does NOT exist in Circle K
because we are no longer in high school. We are now adults. •
“It's almost 12AM, get to your room” - Sargent At Arms, will not happen. There is no curfew at Circle K convention because once again, we are adults. This also means that we are allowed to leave and go on a Denny's run at 2AM. It also includes being able to order Domino's at 2AM.
•
“Go back up and change” - Sargent At Arms, will not be said because while there are dress codes including business casual and business professional, we are all adults and it is no longer SAA's job to tell us how to dress. If you come down in your pajamas, you will be left alone to look like a fool.
Wait! Here's the greatest thing about Circle K conventions... We have TWO a year! The first takes place at the end of October/beginning of November. This is called New York Speaking. The second is the one you should be more familiar with, District Convention. NY Speaking is similar to DCON in the sense that the whole district gets together, holds dinners, attends workshops and spend the weekend together. It is pretty much DCON without the House of Delegates, caucus and the inductions/installations.
Remember the big thing...
YOU ARE IN COLLEGE! You no longer have an advisor to rely on or a Kiwanis Committee Representative (KCR) to drive you around when/if you become Lieutenant Governor. You are now expected to be on your own.
On the plus side, you have a whole campus to work with. You can now utilize your quad space on the grass to host events. You can network with the other clubs on campus to collaborate and host big events to raise lots of money for charities like The EliMiNaTe Project! You most likely will have a “Student Union� building where you can host a dance, talent show or musical event and have people on campus come to it, even if you do choose to go to a commuter's school- every college has something like that. A college campus is it's own community, get involved with your campus as a whole and know who and where to go for various things.
When planning events, also consider that everyone has a different schedule. Not everyone has that 8AM/9AM to 2PM/3PM schedule like we all generally had in high school. Some people take night classes, others do day, some do mornings and there are some that mix it up. Plan your events with a good mix of times so that everyone can have the opportunity to be included.
Welcome to NYCKI and the 2011-2012 service year!