the icon experience div 3a
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Volume 1 Issue 1TRANSCRIPT
Nicole’s News
The International Convention Experience
Clear View Gloucester County Institute of Technology Paulsboro
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The Official Newsletter of Division 3A Volume 1 Issue 1
July
Pitman West Deptford Woodbury
A Letter From Your LTG Greetings to Everyone, To start off such an exciting year I thought “why not start it off with a bang?” This is the first issue of the many more to come of my newsletters. I am very excited to start off the service year as your new Lieutenant Governor! This issue is filled with amazing experiences that occurred during this year’s International Convention held in Washington, D.C from July 3-7. The New Jersey Board and I traveled down two days before to tour. Once the convention started we were astonished with the amount of key clubbers from around the world all gathered in one city. Before I went to ICON I was proud to call myself a key clubber. I was dedicated to my home club and I knew in my heart that caring was my way of life. After the life changing experience I had that week, I knew I was going to be apart of the Key Club Family for a very long time. Meeting people from as far as England, New Zealand to Pennsylvania who have the same core values as you is life changing. It opens your eyes to new possibilities that await you around the world and in your own backyard. I hope to see you all at next year’s International Convention in Anaheim, California! Yours in caring and service,
Nicole Lema
Table of Contents Page 2… A Letter from Your LTG Page 2… Upcoming Events Page 3… The ICON Experience Page 4-‐5… Top 5 Reasons to Love ICON Page 6… Kids Against Hunger Page 7-‐8… The Gallery Page 9… New Jersey Board
Upcoming Events September-
15th Regional Training Conferences for the South held at Burlington Township High School
21st Regional Training Conferences for the South held at MAST 22d Regional Training Conferences for the South held at Livingston HS
October- 13th Fall Rally
The International Convention Experience As a first time Key Clubber going to Icon was filled with mixed emotions. I
was going to be the only one from my school going to Washington, D.C with people I did not know. However, I knew we all had one thing in common; we all had a passion for service and caring for others.
The first day early in the morning all 42 of us gathered on the bus with our tired eyes and excitement to be heading off the nation’s capital. Our first stop was the Newseum where we learned about the impact journalism has on the country and world. Our next stop was at a Nationals Baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers. It a majority of our first major league baseball game, so we were all cheering off our chairs whenever we got a home run. The next morning we traveled to the Arlington National Cemetery to pay respect to the ones who served for our country and witnessed the ceremony of the unnamed soldier. Right after we had the glorious opportunity to volunteer with the Kids Against Hunger cause. Our mission was to pack 1 million meals of food for children in Africa and in our own communities. We later we visited the Capital Building where we had the opportunity to learn about the history behind the House and the Senate and reminisce the history of America and the voyage it took to be the America it is today. Later that night we took a tour of all the monuments. We took pictures on the Jefferson Memorial and the Lincoln and we learn some history behind the Koran War memorial. It was a long day of walking for all of us and we all fell asleep soon after we got back to the hotel. The next day was the start of ICON! We then took the metro to the Spy Museum and we entered the world of espionage. It was such an amazing experience to all of the equipment that the spies used to hide their identities from the real world. Did you know in Washington, D.C there are more spies in any city in the world?
That night, the convention officially started with a meet and greet, around 9pm. They had a bouncy house and live music. The most sensational feeling was how everyone was so excited to meet each other from around the world and they were all trading pins. I personally made two friends once I got off the elevator. Happy faces were all around, excited to start off the convention. The next couple of days were wondrous with finding out our own District won second place for raising the most money for the Eliminate Project and being there to witness Zach Warldof win International Trustee. Caucusing was long and stressful however Key Club International ended up with two amazing leaders to serve as our President and Vice President. We all became a close family by the end of the week and my love for Key Club grew stronger then I could have ever imagine.
THE TOP FIVE REASONS TO LOVE ICON Saturday, July 06, 2013
By New Jersey District Editor Pak Chau and New Jersey District Lieutenant Governor of Division 16 Erik Lim REASON #1: THE ATMOSPHERE The 2013 Key Club International Convention was held in Washington D.C. - what better possible place to be than on the weekend of the Fourth of July? With ecstatic Key Clubbers staying a week in the nation's capital, the atmosphere couldn't have been anymore exhilarating. Even better, Key Clubbers got to share the same wonderful hotel as all the other Key Clubbers attending internationally. Waking up every morning and riding the elevator down to the meeting rooms with other service enthusiasts is a dream for Key Club fanatics. The atmosphere of International couldn't be anymore perfect!
REASON #2: VOTING AND DELEGATING Key Club is the largest and oldest service organization of high school clubs and it is student-led. As Key Club is an international club, it consists of people from various regions around the globe.
This is why voting and elections are such an important part of the International Convention. High School students will be leaders to their peers who live across the world. International Convention is a place where one will be able to elect the leaders among leaders, as only the best of the best are able to fully represent Key Club as a whole. This year, New Jersey not only got to help decide the International Board, but also got the opportunity to push forward a candidate of our own for International Trustee.
REASON #3: PIN TRADING Pin Trading is one of the things that the New Jersey District looked forward to the most at International Convention. Not only was New Jersey excited to trade because we had the possession of really creative and appealing pins, but we also found enjoyment with exchanging pins as we got to show our Jersey Pride towards other districts with our little ketchup themed pin. Apart from just the design of the pin, the trading process was also a noteworthy activity. Every new pin obtained represented a newly acquired memory about International Convention. Not only did every pin allow Key Clubbers to take something home as a souvenir but every pin
trade also sparked newly made friendships.
REASON #4: CHEERING ON YOUR DISTRICT "NJ ALL DAY" could be heard throughout International Convention the past few days as New Jersey Key Clubbers yelled til their throats were soar. Cheering for your district is always a great way to not only display your pride for your district but also to unify the district as a whole. The combination of such passionate Key Clubbers with creative chant lyrics create a fun-filled aura that will get the other entire districts rowdy and ready for their own chant. New Jersey likes nothing more than to show off just how mighty and enthusiastic we are.
REASON #5: MEETING NEW PEOPLE From the moment you step in the hotel, you are surrounded by a plethora of strangers. But these aren't any ordinary strangers. They are Key Clubbers. That's what New Jersey likes about the Key Club International Convention: the fact that anyone you choose to talk to and choose to meet all have the similar interest of serving the home, school, and community - the fact that they too are Key Clubbers just like us! Whether meeting new people meant establishing connections to help both districts or finding a new friend to hang out with, Key Clubbers got to go into a whole new pool of people that they are sure to get a long with. The friendly New Jersey District loves nothing more than to make some new friends and even possibly developing long lasting friendships with the new people we meet.
Organization Spotlight
On our second day in Washington, D.C, the New Jersey Board had the wonderful privilege to volunteer with the Kids Against Hunger Organization, and event organized by the Michigan District. The mission was to pack 1 million meals for hungry kids around the world.
Kids Against Hunger is a humanitarian food-aid organization whose goal is to reduce to number of starving children in the world. We all packaged bags of food that was filled with nutritious soy-rice casserole. Those packages of food were to be sent out to numerous families in over 60 countries. Last year, the grand total of packaged meals was 40 million. Each bag feeds 6 people and has easy directions for anyone to prepare. We all were having fun while we were making a difference in peoples’ lives. We ended up packing over 1,060,000 meals for the needy in D.C and in Haiti with the help of everyone who participated during the week.
The Gallery
The New Jersey Board
District Governor Ryan Clarkin Cell: (862)-397-9508 [email protected]
District Secretary Kelly Tran Cell: (609) 432-9204 [email protected]
District Editor Pak Chau Cell: (609) 513-7313 [email protected]
District Treasurer Penny Xu Cell; (973) 462-3595 [email protected]
LTG of Division 3A Nicole Lema Cell: (609)-864-6164 [email protected]