D2032 dnews 1516 01

Table of Contents Harlin’s page……………..2 Best of the Month……...3-4 DCM/Christmas Cheer….5 Club Reports………….6-12 CTC…………………….....13 January DCM/Conclave.14-15 Division Service Project...16-17

DCON Registration…18-19 Division Judging Team....20-21 Key Leader Registration..22-23

Club Elections………..24-25 New Member Induction..26-27 Redwood Empire Food Bank.28 National Pancake Day……...29 Raising the AAR Score….30-32

Contacts…………….…….33

Region 15 | Monthly Newsletter | January 2016 | Issue 9

Happy New Year Tsunamis and Purple Dinos!

You’ve just celebrated the ringing in of the new year, but in four month’s time, you’ll also be celebrating the beginning of a whole new Key Club year. District Convention is happening on April 8-10, and everything leading up to it—club elections, our local Conclave, and the transitioning of newly-elected appointed officers—will be something to get used to. Four months allows time for so many opportunities; you can choose to grow so much within that time. Do not think because there is only four months left of the Key Club year, that you cannot improve.

You can always improve. Seniors, please keep in mind that just because this marks the end of your Key Club journey, I hope it does not end your Kiwanis Family journey. Consider joining Circle-K if it is offered at the college that you will attend!

Regarding club elections, clubs should hold their club elections as soon as possible. The earlier the election, the more time each officer has to transition! Training officers gives them the opportunity to ease into their duties and responsibilities rather than rushing into it. Remember that in the end, we are all Key Club leaders, and it is important to remind others that a leadership title does not automatically mean higher importance, just additional responsibilities that they want to take on. Individual members make the difference: each Key Clubber is a leader.

Thank you for all that you have done in 2015 and for continuing to serve in 2016!

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” ― Lao Tzu

Harlin Advincula, 2015-16 LTG

Our Inspiration!

Member of the Month: The member of the month goes to… Vanessa Sanchez!

Vanessa Sanchez attends Windsor High School and has been chosen as Member of the Month by her fellow Key Clubbers.

She has demonstrated a true passion for service that others see. She has expressed a real love for the projects her club holds and the other members are thankful for her. Her family has also been encouraging and helpful with the local Key Club. This is the spark that helps to ignite her Key Club journey.

Congratulations Vanessa; keep on serving!

Officer of the Month: The officer of the month goes to…Fatima Aguilar!

Fatima goes to Piner and she has continuously put so much work into everything she does, whether it is for the division or her home club. She never fails to give support for others around her. She has worked hard to plan many events for her home club and the division. She always does her work and makes sure it is done right. I am so glad to have an excellent leader like her on our Division Leadership Team. I know her club is also grateful for all she does. Congratulations Fatima and keep on serving!

Club of the Month: The club of the month goes to…Casa Grande!

Casa Grande has been doing some really great service projects. They have completed 47 hours of service this month! They helped out senior citizens at the Sunrise Senior Living Center and collected food donations for a Thanksgiving food drive. They also are working very closely with their Kiwanis sponsor and creating a strong bond. I want to thank them for also hosting our December Division Council Meeting, as well as the special Christmas Cheer service project.

Congratulations Casa Grande!

DCM and Christmas Cheer Service Project

By Carmen Garcia Cloverdale Key Club On December 19th a DCM, (Division Council Meeting), was held in Petaluma and afterwards, we all helped with a service project called "Christmas Cheer." During the DCM we talked about many topics, such as Key Leader, District Convention, officer elections, and more. We encouraged the members who attended the meeting to think about experiencing the two major upcoming events, DCON and Key Leader. In addition, we encouraged them to run for office next year, and be on their club Boards. I can hardly believe it, but club elections should happen in January! After the DCM, we walked a couple of blocks to the location where they were doing the service project, "Christmas Cheer." "Christmas Cheer" is a non-profit event sponsored by several Petaluma community organizations. They collect donations and distribute toys and food to needy families in the community. During the "Christmas Cheer" we helped load food and toy gifts into vehicles. Many Key Club members from Cloverdale, Casa Grande, Montgomery, and Piner helped to make this happen.

Mora Holmgren-Ly and Jaxen Brazell from Montgomery Key Club show off the “Birthday Bags for Children� prepared by the club and donated at this event. Inside are cake mixes, birthday cards, candles, frosting and story books. The club wrote a grant to get the money to pay for the supplies.

Archive Report Due every 13th of the month Â

Needs to include one event that your club has done in the past month and some pictures of your club doing service.

NO POSED SHOTS. The paragraph needs to be at least three sentences. Anyone can write this article of course, as long as the person was there. When sending the paragraph, please use a Word document and also include the name and club of the person who wrote the article.

Please send to Jessie at jessiejmarshall4824@ gmail.com! Make sure to cc Harlin at harlinmae@ gmail.com and Sue Cummins at cummins@sonic.net

EVERY CLUB SHOULD DO THIS!

Â

A summary of what your club has done for the past month 4 pictures (can be posed) Member of the Month Advisor of the Month Officer of the Month

Please send to Jessie! Make sure to cc Harlin and Sue Cummins.

Presidents or Vice Presidents should be writing these articles

Due every 15th of the month

Cloverdale Club Report –

by Atziry Rodriguez Cloverdale Key Club was extremely busy this month, despite everyone getting ready for final exams. In late November some members helped at the Senior Center Craft Faire serving lunch, while others that same day were helping at St. Peters Church with their Knights of Columbus Dinner. In December, we started off the month with shopping for three children for the X-mas Make-A-Wish community-wide project. We spent $200 of club funds to buy clothes and toys for these children so they would have presents under their Christmas tree. Not long after, that some of our Key Clubbers helped do child care at a Parent Night at a local elementary school. They enjoyed taking care of children! During Finals Week we decided to sell “Finals Survival Kits” in front of the school office. We made $148 off these kits! We used this money as part of the $1000 we sent off to Kiwanis International for the Eliminate cause. We have been doing a variety of fundraisers over several months in order to pull that money together. On Saturday, December 5th, 17 members plus some siblings and friends helped set-up, clean-up and serve at the Kiwanis Crab Feed at the Cloverdale Citrus Fair. About 370 people attended. We made a total of $1,296 in tips. The following day, three of our members helped sell donation drawing tickets at the Lions Club Toy Run. The week before finals, we held a Key Club Christmas Party during lunch, and we did a White Elephant gift exchange. Some gifts were really silly.

That same week, 21 members attended a Kiwanis Meeting at 7 a.m. and exchanged gifts with 28 Kiwanis members in a Secret Santa Pal gift project, so some Key Clubbers gave and got double gifts. There was also a bake auction in which we raised $737 from our very generous Kiwanis club! On the second weekend of December we went caroling with our Cloverdale Kiwanis, singing for the patients at the Cloverdale Healthcare Center. One of our members even brought and played her ukulele! On the last Monday of the 2015, we did a Christmas project with the Special Day Class at school. We decorated cute wooden green Christmas trees! There’s nothing like getting in the Christmas spirit! After school on Friday, December 18th, a few of our members helped distribute bags of food at the local Food Pantry. We also helped at the Food Pantry on December 23rd and on the 30th, during our Winter Break! On December 29th, we took some members to a Ukiah Kiwanis meeting, where Executive Assistant Atziry Rodriguez gave a small presentation on the project “Coats for Kids”.

Casa Grande Club Report

by Tia Bentivegna This past month, the Casa Grande Key Club has done a variety of service projects, both in and outside of school. First, at the beginning of the month, Casa Grande Key Club created a Homecoming float for the Homecoming football game. The theme was, “Apps”, and Key Club’s float theme was “Temple Run”. Then we had several members volunteer at the Sunrise Senior Living Center where they played trivia with the residents.

At the end of the month, we participated in a Turkey Drive, prior to Thanksgiving, and we did the Division 32 “Toys for Tots” drive for Christmas. In the upcoming year, we plan to make our volunteer hours at Sunrise a twice-a-month event and create leis for our graduating seniors of 2016. Because we loved the Sunrise project so much, I want to spotlight it with a little more information. Each member played trivia with the residents and they were able to truly interact with them on a more personal basis. The residents often do not receive a great number of visitors; therefore, it ultimately lights up their day when high school students take time out of their busy schedules to be with them. We have realized how important this connection is and, as a result, we want to continue to shine light on their days by making this event something that is more regularly scheduled into our Key Club service calendar.

At the Christmas Cheer event held with the December DCM

Humboldt Club Report By: Cody Garcia  Every year the Humboldt County Homeschool Key Club looks forward to helping out at the Cancer Society Discovery Shop Open House. This is their big fundraiser of the year  for them. A lot of the people in the community come out and shop at their holiday open house. They close down the streets; have a lighted trolley car ride, Christmas carolers, dressed up characters and bubble snow. This year we had a lot of fun helping to make the customers who came to the open house feel welcome by greeting them and offering them cookies. Many of us were also able to assist in the weeks before the open house by helping the cancer society bring out all of their holiday boxes to prepare for the event. I am glad that we were able to be part of a great cause and enjoy our time while doing it.

So who wins the Ugly Christmas sweater competition?

Piner Club Report By: Sinoun Phoung On the 12th of December 2015, many Piner Key Club members and officers teamed up with Kiwanis Club to fundraiser for the Salvation Army by attending the bell ringing in front of a local Lucky's Supermarket. Although it was cold and humid outside, our spirits kept us warm and brightened up the place. We enjoyed caroling and ringing the bells to spread Christmas spirit and cheer to the workers and the customers. Some customers stopped by to sing with us, while others stopped by to request a song. When the place was quiet and no customers were passing by, we took the opportunity to bond with the Redwood Empire Kiwanis Club. We got the see the fun and goofy side of the adults. We were surprised to see that the Kiwanis could be very funny and goofy. After that, we began telling stories and jokes. This was a great way to get to know not only the home club members, but also the Kiwanis members who have been supporting and sponsoring Key Club. Overall, we fundraised a lot of money while having a great time spreading Christmas spirit and getting to know each other better.

Montgomery Club Report By: Mora Holmgren-Ly & Jaxen Brazell In recent weeks, our club decorated the Oakmont service station at the entrance to the Oakmont community. We volunteered at the Veteran’s Parade and at the Redwood

Empire Food Bank. We also sold food to give “fire relief” at what is called the “Green Teen Dinner” event. Here are a few details about the decorating project. To get the Oakmont community into the holiday spirit, Montgomery’s Key Club worked hard to nicely decorate a service station that was located at the entrance to the main community drive. We did this towards the end of November, so residents enjoyed the fruits of our labors for pretty much all of the holiday season. We had five members and our advisor, Tricia Shindledecker, hang up the word, “Joy”, and wrap Christmas lights around the supporting pillars, and also around the bushes. We had a little help from the station’s employees, with the heavy lifting!

The Oakmont members were very grateful for our help to spread the holiday cheer.

Candidate Training Conference (CTC)

By Fatima Aguilar Walking into Lt. Governor Candidate Training Conference (CTC) at Kiwanis Family House in Sacramento was terrifying for me, because I knew that our current LTG—Harlin works hard, using up an incredible amount of time and energy; but I also thought it would be an amazing experience for me to begin to understand the guidelines for the position.

We had various workshops that were presented by different current Lieutenant Governors from thirteen divisions. All of these workshops gave the attendees an idea of the typical duties of the LTG position. One fun thing throughout the day was that the Lieutenant Governors prepared intercessions where there were ice breakers that would help us to get to know each other, and begin to feel more comfortable. At one point, we broke out into groups so the current LTGs could inform us about their personal experiences with their terms. While we were eating lunch, the candidates held personal conversations us all us all. We continued on with workshops after lunch, and then we separated once again from the large groups to be grouped in with our former LTGs so they could inform us about the duties that they had completed during their terms. We finished up the event by having a mock caucus and a discussion of the Conclave process, and then everyone gathered outside for a group photo. It was actually a pretty fun day, and worth the time spent.

SAVE THE DATE OF JANUARY 16TH Division Conclave – election of 2016-17 Lt. Governor Each club is mandated to send at least one member to vote in the election

Division Council Meeting – take care of division business We will plan for division service projects We will plan for attending District Convention We will discuss attending Key Leader We will organize Division Judging and Division Contest entries And MORE!

Joint session with the Kiwanis at their DCM – We want to do some ice breakers and spend some time bonding with our own Kiwanis clubs.

We will have a slide show or a video with pictures of all we’ve done this year, and a thank you for their help in achieving the goals we set.

We want to talk about budgeting concerns as well as transportation and chaperone support for activities beyond the local level.

We hope to explore ways that we can help them.

A service project for the Salvation Army – help sort food for families in need

DIVISION CONCLAVE Each club has a maximum of TWO votes allowed, but must have at least two members present, one for each vote.

One member means one vote.

If a club has more than two members, those chosen to vote are supposed caucus with ALL club members to gather voting preferences of EVERYONE in their group.

If a club has two votes, both votes DO NOT have to be for the same candidate.

A quorum of clubs MUST be present!

Winning candidate will be chosen and announced that day.

Candidate will be trained at District Convention and take over after that.

Division Service Project Did you know that there are hundreds of students in Lake and Mendocino counties who are homeless?

Our own Division 32 Ukiah Kiwanis Club is asking for our help. We are holding a drive to get coats, sweaters and hoodies for these children who may be living in cars or on the streets. You probably even have what they need in your own closets, going un-used by you.

• •

Sponsor a drive at school Ask for help from your Kiwanis club

BRING EVERYTHING YOU COLLECT TO THE JANUARY DIVISION COUNCIL MEETING –

Saturday, January 16th at 93 Stony Circle in Santa Rosa; 9 a.m.

By:

Atziry Rodriguez Cloverdale High School Key Club

It was my rare privilege to be able to attend a recent Kiwanis Division Council Meeting. While there, I heard a Kiwanis member from a neighboring town talk about a project they were doing. It was called “Coats for Kids”. Basically, it turns out that there are a lot of homeless school-age children, and I had no idea of this. He said that their Kiwanis club gets the figures from the schools by asking for the numbers of students who don’t list an address on their school records. I was so moved by what he said that I immediately went to talk to him, after the meeting. I have since convinced my Key Club to work with this neighboring Kiwanis club to supplement what they are doing. The project purpose is to collect any size, or style of jacket, coat, sweater, hoodie, etc., that is clean with a functioning zipper. The plan is to give them to the homeless students, by using the school system. The students range from 4 to 18 years old. No used-looking clothing or shoes can be donated. Donated underwear, socks, and shoes need to be new. The idea is to collect donations at this time of year, so that items can be shared with the children during the super cold and rainy season. I just recently got a list of needs from the nearby Kiwanis club, identifying 80 homeless children, in only three communities. I can’t help but think that this is a project that is desperately important. I am so grateful to have gone to that Kiwanis DCM and learned about this need.

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Registration for District Convention opened on December 11th On-Time Registration: $209 received by February 10th Late Registration: $249 received by March 1st

GO TO THE CYBER KEY FOR MORE DETAILS!

C o d e o f C o n d u c t The Code of Conduct form is to be submitted at DCON by the attending advisor(s) when picking up your club's registration materials and souvenirs. Each attendee must complete a Code of Conduct.

M e d i c a l R e l e a s e F o r m The medical form is to be kept by the attending advisor(s). Do NOT send this form in with your club's registration. Each attendee must complete a Medical Release Form.

DCON Excel Registration Template Using this form, enter all of the necessary information in the DCON Excel Template BEFORE beginning the registration process.

One club representative should be assigned to complete this spreadsheet. An advisor should be in charge of registration, but can work with a student to do the task.

CYBERKEY IS AT: www.cnhkeyclub.org

“Bee” a Key Club Judge!

Six of the Cali-Nev-Ha District contests are judged FIRST by

a team of DIVISION JUDGES. These contests are: • • • • •

Kiwanis Advisor of the Year Faculty Advisor of the Year Club of the Year Member of the Year Most Improved Club

We need volunteers from at least SEVEN clubs to be judges on the team.

•

• • •

Judging will be done on-line at your convenience during a 3-day time frame You will be sent the applications You will be sent the scoring sheet with instructions You figure out the scores you think are appropriate and e-mail the results to LTG Harlin

Judging will take place in either late January or early February. Harlin will be contacting clubs to ask for volunteers to help with this project. Non-officers are encouraged to be judges!

CONTACT HARLIN FOR MORE INFORMATION!

PLEASE CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING!

Thank you to the following clubs and members who signed up at the December DCM to help: •

Cloverdale

=

Carmen Garcia & Atziry Rodriguez

•

Montgomery

=

Danayeat Abrahanon & Thea Zalvardo

•

Piner

=

Sinoun Phoung & Selena Tapia-Virelas (alternates: Alejandra and Andrea Robles)

Your club will most likely be contacted by Harlin in the first couple of weeks of January. We need 4 more clubs represented on the judging team!

Please make sure that Key Leader registration is done under the supervision of an advisor. Your Kiwanis Club should be able to assist you with the cost of attending.

Key Leader 2016 April 24-26 Occidental – at Alliance Redwood Registration opens in early February Cost is $225 for Key Clubbers Cost is $175 for Facilitators Find out EVERYTHING you need to know; access forms, etc………. on the Region 15 website at www.keyclubregion15.weebly.com

Hold your club officer elections in January

Vice Presidents are in charge of club elections Visit the Region 15 website at www.keyclubregion15.weebly.com

to find out EVERYTHING you could possibly want to know about the process

New Member Ceremony Instructions: It is recommended that the New Member Ceremony be performed after receiving the club pins, membership cards, certificates and member booklets received from Internationals, once the club has paid dues.

Options: Invite members of your sponsoring Kiwanis Club, the school principal, parents and family, and all the members of the Key Club.

Have new members stand on a stage/room front or stand in audience.

Have one officer read the ceremony, while another shakes hands and distributes member pins, etc.

Read a poem or story before or after the ceremony, or include a traditional activity your club participates in to welcome new members.

Provide a small gift for all new members.

Ceremony: “Welcome Key Club members, Kiwanians, distinguished gues, and families. Today we celebrate and induct our newest members of Key Club. WE are pleased to welcome them to our club and are looking forward to a wonderful year of service and fellowship with them.

I would like to invite our New Members to come forward at this time. <Pause until all members come forward> <Introduce new members and hand out pins/certificates/membership cards/booklets/gifts> Because of our shared interest in serving your homes, school and community, it is a great privilege to install you into our club. Joining Key Club provides the opportunity to serve. Active participation in projects will further develop your leadership skills and provide personal development, while providing great fellowship opportunities.

Our goal is to be a vital force in the organization, to make membership more meaningful to our members, and to provide more valuable service.

As each of you give your best, remember the vision of Key Club International: we are caring and competent servant leaders transforming communities worldwide.

At this time I would like each of you to make your membership pledge by repeating after me: I pledge, on my honor - <new members repeat in unison> to uphold the Objects of Key Club International - <new members repeat in unison> to build my home, school and community - <new members repeat in unison> to serve my nation and God - <new members repeat in unison> and to combat all forces which tend to undermine these institutions - <new members repeat in unison> Then it is with great pride that I induct you as members of the (insert club name or school) Key Club. Key Club expects great things from your continued membership in the Kiwanis family, just as we know that membership will bring many rewarding experiences into your life.

Congratulations. Please join me in welcoming our newest Key Club members.â&#x20AC;?

Redwood Empire Food Bank Service Project Saturday, January 23rd 3990 Brickway Blvd., Santa Rosa, CA 95403

9 a.m. – noon Could we get EVERY club in our division there?

Thanks to Kiwanis International's partnerships, 2016 is going to be an exciting year for Kiwanians. Consider this: Members throughout the U.S. and Canada can register now to be a volunteer on IHOP National Pancake Day, March 8, 2016. On that day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., restaurant guests can enjoy a free short stack of pancakes in exchange for a suggested donation to the local Children's Miracle Network Hospital (CMN), a preferred charity of Kiwanis International.

Over the past 10 years, National Pancake Day has raised almost $20 million for CMN. For the Kiwanis family, it's a chance to fulfill the Kiwanis mission of service to children-and to be a voice on behalf of your local Children's Miracle Network Hospital. Members sign up in shifts and will be provided a training video and talking points. This is an easy way to give back to your local hospital by volunteering just a few hours of your time.

As one Miracle Child who beat leukemia says: "I think if everybody knew that the free pancakes they were enjoying could help kids in need, people would give generously."

So help spread the word...and raise funds! Let's join IHOP and CMN to put a purpose behind the pancakes.

Bring up National Pancake Day up at your next club meeting and recruit a team to volunteer on National Pancake Day.

JANUARY AAR RECOMMENDATIONS

January is the perfect month to increase your AAR score!

Getting in lots of service hours and meetings is a great way to make use of those New Year’s resolutions. Here are some suggestions to have an outstanding January: •

Attend the Division Conclave/DCM/Kiwanis DCM on January 16th

•

Elect your club officers before January 29th

•

Put together your list of members attending District Convention by the end of the month

•

Fundraise to help send students to District Convention

•

Have a member join the Division Judging Team

•

Enter at least one CNH awards recognition contest

•

Have a non-senior member attend the Division Leadership Team meeting

•

Volunteer at the Redwood Empire Food Bank on January 23rd

•

Hold a Board meeting

•

Create a club newsletter Remember to have fun and BEE an active member!

Analysis of what needs to be done between NOW & February 28th: For those clubs with less than 100: •

• •

Focus on doing more service projects AND, contact the Region Advisor at cummins@sonic.net to set up a work session to go over your Monthly Reports, checking for accuracy Join in with some of the Division 32 service projects Set a goal of encouraging an average of 5 hours of service per member for both January and February

For those clubs with approximately 100: •

•

You should request a meeting with the Region Advisor to go over your entire year’s Monthly Reports… as you MAY be able to find places where you’ve done activities that you didn’t properly record.

(This happens often!) It’s quite possible that you might be able to add 20-30 points to your score.

It’s even possible that your club could be eligible for a Distinguished Club Award!

For those clubs with a score of 155 or higher: •

Keep up the good work. Your club could be eligible for Diamond Distinguished Club status… which means that you are in the top 1% of the most active clubs in the world!

180 160 140 120

100 As of 11/30

80

Distinguished 60

Diamond

40 20 0

How do our clubs compare to international standards of service?

•

•

The AAR score factors in a number of recommended activities, but the MOST important score-raiser is the club’s service record.

Clubs that are meeting national standards for recommended service hours/per member should have a score of at least 100 by this time of year.

Want to connect with our AWESOME Division Leadership Team? Here is their contact information.

Our next team meeting is set for Tuesday, January 5th at 5 p.m. at 3554 Round Barn Rd., Suite 312 We’re looking for non-senior, non-team members to check out what it’s like to be on the Team!

harlinmae@yahoo.com

Montgomery

rvmsearthlife@gmail.com

Santa Rosa

Jessie Marshall

jessiejmarshall4824@gmail.com Cloverdale

Assistant

Fatima Aguilar

fatima.aguilar10@gmail.com

Piner

Assistant

Angela Chavez

angchav7@gmail.com

Windsor

Assistant

Sean Luong

seanvluong@gmail.com

Piner

Tech Editor

Tejoni Johnson

tejoni.johnson@gmail.com

Maria Carrillo

Coordinator

Lisset Miranda - Photographer lissetmiranda74@yahoo.com

Coordinator

Lauren Lau—Photographer

Coordinator

Daniela Alvarez - PTP/Fall Rally alvarez.daniela22@yahoo.com Montgomery

Coordinator

Maggie Duran - Summer Activities poonchka98@yahoo.com

Cloverdale

Coordinator

Selena Tapia Virelas - Awake-A-Thon stapia707@gmail.com

Piner

Coordinator

Laura Cherrington - RTC

domohksuzumiya@yahoo.com Casa Grande

Coordinator

Casey Petersen - DCON

csspetersen@gmail.com

Lt. Governor

Harlin Advincula

Secretary

Sophie Haugen

News Editor

lilau2017@gmail.com

Montgomery Piner

Santa Rosa

Join us……… e-mail one of these current team members to find out more about how to attend the January 5th DLT meeting.