Summer Edition 2018
Welcome back to school Circle K! The mission of the University of Michigan Circle K is to develop leaders with a lifelong commitment to service.
Table of Contents Editor’s Note Service MAC Therapeutic Riding Summer Service Competition Leadership Meet the Board ICON-Chicago Fellowship Where in the World Contact Us
Editor’s Note Hi Circle K! Summer 2018 has certainly flown by, and I hope you have all enjoyed it! Whether you went abroad or stayed home, I hope you made some fantastic memories, and maybe did a little service along the way! I just want to let you all know that the Bulletin is an important feature of our organization; it can be an avenue to showcase certain events and service projects! Always feel free to send me an idea or article you may want included in a Bulletin, and I can let your voice be heard. I can't wait to see all our organization accomplishes this school year after seeing such a successful summer! CK Love, Kellee
THANKS To everyone who submitted an article, pictures, or helped me proofread. Your contributions help make the Circular the best it can be!
SERVICE Service is the heart of Circle K. There are a variety of service projects each week varying in date, time, length, and focus. We do projects ranging from the elderly and children to the environment and the homeless.
MAC Therapeutic Riding by 2018-2019 External Vice President Alyssa Schmidt
One of the projects we run every week is MAC Therapeutic Riding. MAC is an equine assisted therapy facility in Ann Arbor that serves clients from all over Southeast Michigan. Volunteers walk alongside and help them with their therapy, but also have the opportunity to talk to them and build relationships with them and the horses. I began going in January and have gone pretty much every week since then. It gives me a good reason to get out of bed on Saturdays (because it’s early) and has improved how I interact with others. It has made me more patient and understanding of people and has intensified my love for helping people and animals.
This is Birkey, a MAC icon. She’s the reason you’ll be covered in hair, but she’s the sweetest being you’ll ever meet.
One of my favorite experiences has been getting to know the clients and forming relationships with them. It’s amazing to see how much they have improved in just the six months I have been going. I have been able to learn so much from just watching them on the horses and the joy they get from being around the horses is infectious; it puts me in a good mood and gives me something to look forward to every week. I think that everyone should go to this project at least once. The clients are all very different, and you can learn a lot from being with them. Being around the horses is also a cool experience because you don’t get to do it everyday. If you’re looking for a consistent project to go to, have any interest in pretty much any type of therapy, or just want something to get you out of bed on Saturdays, this is the project for you.
Our Summer Service Competition Winner is‌ She completed an exemplary amount of service this summer. Great job Vanessa!
LEADERSHIP We want to develop the leadership skills of each of our members. We provide many opportunities for you to discover your talents and have a chance to put them to use. Circle K members can serve on or become chairs of one of our 14 different committees
Skylar Gleason is your current President of Circle K, and so much more! She's a current senior studying International Studies & Political Science and loves to talk about international affairs and justice systems. In the past, she has been the Bulletin Editor, K-Fam chair and an IAE committee member. She loves foxes, dark chocolate, and being out in nature. Her dream job would be a UN Secretary General. She has high hopes to bolster the meaning of service in our club this year.
Alyssa Schmidt is the current External Vice President. She studies Economics as a current senior, and in past years has served as a Technology committee member and Public Relations committee chair. She loves funny shows like Parks and Rec and the Office, so she gets all the references. She loves to talk about Harry Potter and archeology, and most Saturday mornings you can find her volunteering at MAC's Therapeutic Riding.
Melissa Zhou is this year's Internal Vice President and has also been the Fundraising committee chair and member in the past. She is studying Economics as a current senior, but could talk to you all day about different foods! Melissa is a proud cat mother (her favorite service project is Leuk's Landing) and lover of Tropical Smoothie. Her dream job would to be a food critic! You can always count on Melissa for a fun-filled time of genuine and compassionate service.
Jaylene Gutierrez is the Secretary of Circle K this year, but has also been the K-Fam committee chair and member. She will be a junior with Program in the Environment and Sociology are her majors. She really enjoys Costco and candle-making videos. Her dream job would be to be an urban planner, She loves interacting with the different branches of Kiwanis and the people in the Michigan district.
Justin Cadarette is a current sophomore and Treasurer of Circle K. He is studying Secondary Education. He will also be the Michigan District's Club Building Chair, and hopes to increase membership create some new Circle Ks! In the past year he served as K-Fam committee member. He loves to teach, so one of his favorite service projects is tutoring at the Ann Arbor District Library. His favorite topics to talk about are history and fruit.
Kellee Byard is the Bulletin Editor for Circle K this year. In the last year she served as a committee member for the Environment committee. Her major is Program in the Environment. She loves the outdoors, and can catch her volunteering at the Campus Farm almost every Friday. Her dream job would to be Leslie Knope. Kellee hopes to deliver a fun and informative bulletin monthly.
CKIx- Chicago
by Immediate Past President Jill Davidson CKIx this year was held in Chicago. I had a ton of fun hanging out with Circle K members from all over the world! I got there two days early so I had some time to explore the city, and then once convention started we were pretty busy. We were split up into teams for convention, so the first night we bonded with our teams by doing some fun activities. The second day was dedicated entirely to electing the new International Board, and while it was exhausting, it was super exciting to see what people want to accomplish for the organization over the next year. Our day of service was the third day, and my team went to World Vision Chicago, which is a humanitarian organization that focuses on helping children. We split into groups and did a lot of different activities around their warehouse, and my group was packing meal kits, which is one of my favorite service projects! The final day of convention was all about education and celebration, so a wide variety of workshops were offered in the beginning of the day to help us learn things to help our clubs and ourselves. A really cool workshop I went to was about graphic design and how you can use use it to elevate your brand. We also had CKI Speaks, an event put on by the International Service Committee (which I was a part of this year as STUFH Ambassador) where we educated everyone about Circle K International’s preferred charities and service partners, talked about the Tomorrow Fund, and members had a chance to talk to each other about service projects in their own clubs. Finally, to celebrate all that we had accomplished, we had an awards ceremony as our final event of convention. Our club won three awards: 1st place Club Achievement in the Platinum Division, Outstanding Single Service, and 2nd place Preferred Charities & Service Partners. Overall, I met a lot of great new people at CKIx, got to see some old friends from last year’s CKIx, did some cool service, and celebrated our accomplishments. I’m so happy that I went!
Fellowship
We know that when you come to the University of Michigan, it can be overwhelming. Circle K works to actively build lasting friendships and to create a sense of community. Through our weekly socials, meetings, service projects and committee events, we strive to make fellowship an integral part of this club.
Where have our members been this summer?
Jamie Hunter went to the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes!
Ariana Yea went to Taipei, Tawain!
Justin Cadarette went to Jordan and Israel!
Tiffany Chen went to Venice, Italy!
Sonia Lee went to New York City!
Kalen Church went to Barcelona, Spain!
Jhuree Hong went to the Czech Republic!
Nick Pung went to Washington D.C.!
Autumn McGuffin went to Niagara Falls!
Website mcirclek.org
Email circlek@umich.edu
Office Hours Maizie's Kitchen in the League Monday-Wednesday 3:00-7:00 pm
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