DECON

Key Club Travels to DECON

Rad Mayfield

April 21, 2024

Ms. Jenkins-Suggs took six CHS Key Club members to the 75th District Educational Conference in Springfield, Ma on April 5th-7th.  It was, as always, a great experience for all involved. This year's  Keynote speaker, Huan Do, really connected with the group and helped them to think about ways to have more confidence in themselves and their leadership abilities. The service project of packing meals for "End Hunger New England" was incredibly impactful for everyone involved, and in one day, over 75,000 meals were packed for food pantries in the region. Lastly, our Club received second place for "Largest Donation per Member" for the money they  have raised for Camp Sunshine this year ($1,175), and the club was also awarded First Place in the Digital Poster contest 

Next year's conference will be held in Portland, Maine and the Club is very excited to "host" all the New England Key Clubbers in our home state.

From Key Club President, Madison Brawn:

For every year our club attends DECON, we gain new experiences and learn about just how important being a part of Key Club can be. This year, we had the pleasure of spending a weekend surrounded by other Key Clubbers from all around New England. While at DECON, we had the opportunity to attend a variety of different workshops that focused on the different aspects of being a member of Key Club. We got to learn about Key Club after high school, different service projects that other clubs were involved in, and see what the New England district as a whole was doing to support our district projects. 

One of the most fun aspects of DECON are the different contests that clubs are able to enter. This year, our club entered both a contest for best recruitment poster and for best scrapbook. Excitingly, we got first place for the poster contest! Along with this award, we also placed second for clubs who raised the most money per member for Camp Sunshine, which we earned by presenting a check for over $1,000. Our club is very happy with the awards we earned this year, and we hope to continue to enter these competitions in future years. 

The most important aspect of DECON that we get to participate in annually is the district-wide service project. This year, some of our members helped package over 70,000 meals for those in need. During this experience, we got to get to know other members of our district better and make an effort to make a difference in the world. Every year there is a different service project to join in on at DECON, and this years might have been the best one yet! 

This year's DECON was a pleasure to experience in so many ways, and we cannot wait to see what’s in store for next year!