Service is a crucial part of the betterment of our schools, communities, states, nations, and the entire world. By partaking in service, we better the situations around us, change lives, and, most importantly, build stronger communities that continue to grow with each passing year. All over the world, Key Clubs, just like our very own, work to build leaders that will lead the world to a better tomorrow, one school, service project, and heart at a time. And, it is at the annual Key Club District Convention (DCON) where Key Clubs all over come together to honor our talents, achievements, and the overall mission that every member of Key Club International works toward.

Mainly, the cabinet and elected cabinet members of the Key Club chapter are able to go to this special conference and get to learn a lot about how to be a leader in Key Club.

“That helps develop their skills as they go on to be leaders in different activities as well as Key Club,” junior Emma Thomas said.

Senior Fiona Do, the current president of Liberty’s Key Club chapter, talked about the significance and purpose of DCON.

“DCON is a way for us as a cabinet team to learn from other Key Clubs throughout not just Missouri, but throughout the Missouri and Arkansas district, and it’s really nice to see how everyone runs Key Club,” Do explained.

The 2023 DCON took place in Springfield, Mo. From the departure at 9 a.m. on Thursday, March 16 to the return on Saturday, March 18, this three day trip was jam-packed with fun competitions, forums, dances and various other activities. Here, Key Clubbers were taught important lessons to take back to their own Key Clubs while also competing in competitions, such as the oratory, promotional video, poster and scrapbook competitions, among others.

“My favorite part was when I would watch students come back from a breakout session and be so excited about what they’d just learned or an idea that they just had. I think that was a great hands-on way for students to get that experience,” said Mrs. Feddersen, a of the sponsors of the Key Club chapter.  

This year, our Key Club chapter certainly excelled in many of the competitions that recognize the amazing achievements of Key Clubbers all over the Mo-Ark district, such as:

• Junior Lydia Hamby placed third in the digital poster competition
• Senior Fiona Do, junior Lydia Hamby, junior Isabella Cassas, and senior Sathvika Shanker placed third in the overall scrapbook competition
• Senior Fiona Do, junior Lydia Hamby, junior Isabella Cassas, and senior Sathvika Shanker placed second in the traditional scrapbook competition
• Junior Anumitha Vaka and freshman Loukya Vaka placed second in the promotional video competition
• Senior Amanda Speciale placed second in the t-shirt/ShowYourK competition
• Junior Lydia Hamby placed second in the oratory competition
• Freshman Lorelei Wise won the oratory competition
• Chapter won third place for the Major Emphasis Award
• Chapter won second place for the Single Service Award

However, this year’s accomplishments doesn’t end there. This year, junior Santosh Manikandan, junior Trent Stuerman, junior Lydia Hamby and sophomore Pranad Balla won district officer positions. Manikandan won the District Governor position, Stuerman won the District Secretary position, Hamby won the District Editor position, and Balla won a Lieutenant Governor position.  

As the elected governor of the Mo-Ark Key Club district, Manikandan hopes to, “Improve communication and make a smoother working board than it was in past years.”    

“I decided to run for secretary because I think I can really improve the Key Club board,” Stuerman said. “I think as secretary I can implement policies which would help push out newsletters and other Key Club news to all of the clubs.”  

For Hamby and Balla, their desire to run for district positions sprouted during the weekend away at the conference itself, and this sudden desire to outreach their leadership abilities and dedicate themselves to the district level of Key Club paid off.

“I was at DCON, and it really inspired me when I was surrounded by such a great community that wants to do great things. I thought that I can take my talents and put it into an editor role,” Hamby said. 

“I feel very good about being elected. I was not expecting this, and this made DCON a better experience overall,” Balla said.  

There were many special moments that made up this year’s DCON, but above all else DCON is a fundamental part of what brings Key Club members closer together. From dancing with Key Clubbers around the district and discussing new ideas, to cheering during the awards session, all the students who went to DCON made memories that will last for years to come.

Mr. Barker is one sponsor of Key Club who has seen many Liberty Key Clubbers make special memories at this extra special convention, and he was equally proud and excited about this year’s trip. 

“It’s exciting watching young people grow into young adults, take leadership responsibilities, and want to better themselves and their world,” Barker said. “The entire weekend, everybody was laughing the whole time while staying focused on what they needed to do, which made it a lot of fun.”