The T-O Report The Official Newsletter of the Texas-Oklahoma District Secretary
May 2016 May 2016 Volume Volume 1, Issue 1, Issue 1 1 Volume 1, Issue 1
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In This Issue Key Notes from the Governor...3 Key Notes from the Secretary...4
DCON 2016 Recap…..5-6 Reminders……7 Secretary Resources…..8 The DO NOTS of Reporting….9 The Pros of Reporting…...10
Top 5 Projects …….11 Key Contacts……..12 Be Sure to Stay Connected Website: (District) tokeyclub.com (International) keyclub.org
Remind 101: Text @1617tos to 81010 Facebook: T-O District Key Club Secretaries Twitter: TO Key Club District Instagram: todistrictkeyclub
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Key Notes from the Governor District Governor Dianna Cardenas Hey Y’all! My name is Dianna Cardenas and I am honored to serve as the new Governor for the amazing Texas-Oklahoma District whose motto is “Whatever it takes!” I am aware of the hard work and dedication this position entails and I am more than willing to go above and beyond. I want to be able to prove to you that I am worthy of your trust and be an amazing servant leader with you all! My three main goals for this year, are to grow our membership by reactivating suspended clubs, do my best to visit every region, and build unity between the k-family by encouraging inter-clubs. All of this is possible if each one of us (320 clubs, and about 19,300 members) puts our piece of the puzzle. My Governors Project this year, will focus on helping the American Cancer society. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the US, and affects many of us either directly or indirectly. With knowing many people who have been affected by cancer in many ways including myself, I have chosen this as my Governor’s Project. Words will never be able to explain how much I owe to the Kiwanis Organization and Key Club. Being a part of these two amazing organizations has helped me become the person I am today. From being on board as the Lieutenant Governor for Division 5 my freshmen-sophomore year, I knew being a part of Key Club was set in my path. I cannot wait to see all the experiences this year has in store for us! I am currently a junior at the Judson Early College Academy and originally from Los Angeles, California. When I’m not volunteering, I spend my time playing soccer, dancing, or at my parish. I would like to thank everyone for supporting me and once again would like to say how honored I am to be serving you as your 2016-2017 TexasOklahoma District Governor! Yours in Service,
Dianna Cardenas
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Key Notes from the Secretary District Secretary Kennie Merbach Hello Texas-Oklahoma! My name is Mackenzie Merbach, but I go by Kennie so don’t be confused if you see or hear someone call me by that. I am excited to serve alongside all of you as the 2016-2017 District Secretary for Texas-Oklahoma! It is an honor and privilege to be able to serve amongst the best Key Club has to offer.
Key Club, to me, is a second family. I would not have been able to grow this much as a person without Key Club and the amazing people who are in it. Key Club may just sound like another one of those clubs that you will eventually lose interest, but that’s where you are wrong. After joining Key Club my freshman year, I created stronger bonds with my friends and met new people who eventually became my friends and family who shared the same devotion to serving the community and making an impact. After almost 3 years in Key Club and serving my own community, I am a Junior soon to be Senior at West Brook High School. Whenever I’m not serving my school or community, I practice my Saxophone, hang out with friends sharing our latest pun jokes, and finding “the memes.” As District Secretary, I have set some goals for the year. My main goals are to increase reporting within our district, communicate effectively to club secretaries across the district, and to give back helpful and useful feedback on reports to help better clubs. I am glad to be able to continue my service to the world, district, and my community as your 2016-2017 District Secretary. Yours in Service,
Kennie Merbach
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DCON 2016 RECAP
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DCON 2016 RECAP
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Reminders The Task of the Month for May is: What plans does your club have to keep members active throughout the summer? List any socials, projects, meetings or etc. your club has planned to interact with its members. Be sure to include this in your monthly report!
Be sure to mail your monthly reports to this address on the 5th of the following month: Kennie Merbach 7980 Blue Bonnet St. Beaumont, TX 77713 If the 5th is a Sunday or a Holiday, it will be expected to be postmarked by the 6th. ďƒž
Remember to email Articles/Newsletters to either me or the District Governor
Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have! I am here to help you! Email: secretary@tokeyclub.com Phone#: (409) 291– 9327
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Secretary Resources
Secretary Reporting Quick Tips Be organized! Sending to District Secretary (In order to put in envelope) *** This my preferred organization.
Main Page Activity Sheet(s) Minutes (Required for both Board and General meetings) Sign-in Sheets (For all General meetings held during that month. All 100% attendance at Board meetings) Projects with 100+ hours Fundraising or donated money $500+
Proof of Publication/Recognition Task of the Month
Lieutenant Governors, Kiwanis Advisors, and Regional Advisors all get just the Main Page and Activity Sheet (s)
Email report to your Division LTG Mail to Regional Advisor ( unless they
prefer email) Mail/Hand in to Kiwanis Advisor Mail to District Secretary ***KEEP UP WITH EVERYTHING*** YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN IT MAY COME IN HANDY!
Organization Tips For each meeting (General and Board) keep 2-3 agendas: 1 for yourself, 1 for your binder (optional), and 1 as an extra Save digital copies of your report onto a flash drive that way you always have backup reports At the beginning of each month set up your Main Page for the whole month. For example, if your club has weekly meetings you can go ahead fill out the dates and number of members in your club under REPORT OF REGULAR/ BOARD MEETINGS Always update your Main Page after a meeting of how many members attended and if any guest speakers or KFamily was in attendance Make an extra copy of all meeting signin sheets and any 100% attendance board meetings Keep things in date order! Whether its projects or sign-in sheets from meetings, keeping things in date order makes it easier on you when you start inputting data into your Main Page and Activity Sheet(s). Do minutes for your club’s meetings within 7 days of that meeting. It will make it easier to write detailed minutes with the meeting still fresh on your mind! The extra agendas also help when writing minutes.
I hope this helps you keep reporting stress free ! Be sure to refer to the Jolly Book of Wisdom on tokeyclub.com! 8
The DO NOTS of Reporting Reminders
DO NOTS
Use the correct forms! Report forms from International are not cool. The Texas-Oklahoma District has spent years perfecting monthly reports, so please use them. If you do not submit your reports on these forms then your report will not be counted.
Periodically, the District Secretary has come across some interesting activities on the activity sheet. However, there is no way points can be given for these activities (Yes! People have actually attempted these!) Some examples of activities that will not receive any credit are:
You can only count the hours of DUES PAID MEMBERS. If your little brother accompanies you to a project, you cannot count him as a member.
Please do not try to alter the forms! You do not receive any points for changing the font or for coloring in the extra boxes. Make sure that if you are unable to attend a meeting, someone takes down all the information for you and takes minutes.
• Several of our members did the laundry for their family. • During convention, we ate at the farewell brunch with over 1,000 members of the KFamily. (So did every other club that went!) • At convention, a dance was held as an IDD fundraiser. Our club helped.
• 5 of our members go out for a night on the town once a month. • One of our members played in the spring music concert. (The projects must be done as a club)
Remember that you are unable to fill in any of the “total boxes” on the forms for a reason. They’re for the my use.
• Since all of our members belong to Student Council as well, we have an Interclub each week.
Reports that are not sent in with sufficient postage will be returned to the sender and not counted until it has been sent in with sufficient postage.
• Members did household chores at various times during the month.
They will also be counted as late if you do not include proof that you sent it on time the first time.
• We helped set up for prom and made decorations. (For projects like this to count, you must have signed proof from an adult sponsor that it was specifically a Key Club project and not just something that a lot of Key Clubbers happened to be involved in.) .
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Pros of Reporting
As a club secretary it is your job to report to the district the things your clubs does each month. Though the task may seem daunting at first, it gets easier each month as you gain more and more experience. If you are already reporting for your club, then keep up the great work! If your club or even yourself is new to reporting, then it is never too late to start reporting for your club! The benefits to reporting are endless. Reporting on a monthly basis provides the following benefits:
Shows how much your club improves each month as well as each year
Shows how active your club is
Allows for others to help make Key Club at your school and to see what could be worked on
Allows for your club to rack up points, which helps with how each club is ranked
Allows there to be room for improvement within your club
Keeps you connected with the District
Potential to receive Awards/Patches at DCON
Recognition for the service your club has done on the district website, in the Tex-O-Key, or other media outlets
Bragging rights to how great your reporting is!
To help your club improve from behind the scenes ( YOU ARE THE BACKBONE OF YOUR CLUB)
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GET TO REPORTING! 10
Top 5 Projects of April 1.
Paws N Relax- James Taylor Key Club collaborated with Fort Bend County Animal Shelter to bring dogs and cats to their school for students and teachers to relieve stress before STAAR and AP Testing. Key Clubbers sold wristbands for the event the week before for $2 each, donating all the profits towards the animal shelter. By Dena Do
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Motivational Chalk Messages – Allen Key Club members used chalk to create motivational messages along the pavement in front of the school to encourage and motivate Allen High School students through the end of the year. By: Katrina Pidlaoan
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Key the Teacher – Port Neches Groves Key Club members picked a teacher from their school to show their appreciation for them. The teacher they usually pick is someone who has recently helped their club or has done something to help out their school outside of their own teaching job. As a group,
members write their favorite things or a note of gratitude for the teacher on a Post-It note and stick it on their door to be surprised the next day. By: Justifer Davis
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Kiwanis One Day –Garland Key Club members worked alongside other K -Family members and Kids Against Hunger to prepare and package over 6,400 meals for hungry children. By: Iris Wong
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Food Bank –Cypress Creek Key Club members helped staff at their local Food Bank in downtown Houston sort through donated food and prepare “emergency boxes” for local families in need. Key Club loaded each box with enough food necessities for a week and packed over 400 of these boxes to be prepared for anything unexpected. These boxes later came in handy the next couple weeks due to the flood issues in Houston. By: Elaine Pham
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Key Contacts District Governor - Dianna Cardenas Email: governor@tokeyclub.com Phone: (210) 748-2014 District Secretary - Kennie Merbach Email: secretary@tokeyclub.com Phone: (409) 291-9327 District Treasurer - Leia George Email: treasurer@tokeyclub.com Phone: (832) 515-6948 District Editor– TBA Email: Phone: Convention Liaison - TBA Email: Phone: District Administrator - Walt Roetter Email: administrator@tokeyclub.com Phone: (830) 733-0008
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THANKS FOR READING!
SEE YOU NEXT ISSUE! 13