GETTING THE MOST OUT OF KEY CLUB

Ayaan Ekram| ’20-’21 Vice President

Key Club may seem like a fairly straightforward club where we complete service events and help people in our community. However, Key Club is more than a normal service club. There are a lot of opportunities for one in Key Club, including special service events and spirit events. Every month, Key Club has a Division Council Meetings that everyone is encouraged to attend. These meetings include every school in our division and allow our division leadership to update our clubs on past, future, and ongoing events as well as recognize clubs for the work we do. In addition to the meeting, the DCM as a whole also includes service events or games that allow members from different schools to bond and get each other. Since we are currently unable to attend these meetings, DCMs will be held virtually during the remainder of quarantine. Everyone should attend these meetings to learn more about the club and have fun. One of the best events of the year for Key Club is known as Fall Rally South. Key Clubbers from all over Southern California meet at Six Flags Magic Mountain to have a fun day of spirit battles and rides. At this event, each division competes in a series of spirit battles in order to win the Spirit Stick at Fall Rally. During the rest of the day, members can spend the day with their friends with rides and games. The purpose of the event is to fundraise for the Pediatric Trauma Program as this event celebrates clubs for fundraising for the Program as well as donates a portion of ticket sales to the Program itself. This event is in November and, should the quarantine end by then, I highly encourage everyone to attend as it is one of the best events of the year. In December, Key Clubbers can also attend a service event in which we help decorate the Floats for the Rose Parade. In this service event, Key Clubbers from the entire division bond as they help decorate the floats with roses. This event is extremely popular and one must sign up immediately to be guaranteed a spot, so I really encourage that everyone sign up for this event as soon as they can when the sign ups are released. The event is about 8 hours long, but it is really rewarding and an event that one may not be able to attend if they weren’t in Key Club. I urge you all to try to sign up in December. District Convention is another huge event in Key Club. DCON happens in April and marks the end of the Key Club Term. The last day of DCON begins the next term as new officers officially take their positions in the club. DCON includes all Key Clubbers from California, Nevada, and Hawaii in order to celebrate members, officers, clubs, and divisions for their achievements all year. This convention spans 3 days and is extremely fun. During this event, we get to learn more about Key Club and attend workshops that teach us about leadership and help us learn lessons that will aid in our futures. I regret not attending this event my first year in Key Club as it was the best Key Club event of my life. I encourage everyone to sign up for next year because it can be one of the best events of one’s high school experience. Although we are currently in quarantine, I believe now is a great time to plan our next school year. I hope you can use this article to learn more about Division and District events in Key Club and plan which you may want to attend. If you have any questions about any of these events, feel free to contact me or anyone on cabinet to learn more.