Key Club: First one in Sri Lanka

As of today, February 24, 2011 the Overseas School of Colombo has officially joined the Service program called the Key Club.  The Key Club "is the oldest and largest service program for high school students. It is a student-led organization whose goal is to teach leadership through serving others. Key Club International is a part of the Kiwanis International group. Each local Key Club is, in turn, sponsored by a local Kiwanis club." We were joined by Trevor Rajaratnam, Daya Ratnayake, Mrs Williams, Mr Coles and Ms Shameela in order to carry out the ceremony.
 

 It is Ms Shameela who has encouraged all of us (CAS leaders) to join the club. Some of us have also been nominated as either President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Editor or Directors. Below are the people who got voted for the positions:

President: Damien Martin
Vice President: Harini Liyanage
Secretary: Annie Gillstedt (me)
Treasurer: Terunaga Tamura
Directors: Hee Soo, Maheshi, Sandushi, Avin, Keisha and Alex.

 I thought that the installation ceremony went really well. We were all told our individual duties and responsibilities in the Key Club which will help us personally become better leaders and youths. The installation was done by Daya Ratnayake which was the nation representative. The President, Vice President, Treasurer and the Secretary were all given small badges with their position written on them.


My responsibilities as a secretary are as follow: 

• Prepare and distribute at least three newsletters to club secretaries and at least 10 monthly newsletters to the district board. Cover important topics in a timely manner, including:
  o Role of club secretary
  o Club roster collection
  o Upcoming district events
  o Other responsibilities/duties
• Develop materials for and conduct a club secretary’s workshop at the district convention at the end of his/her term of office.
• Distribute copies of all district board minutes to district board officers and the Kiwanis International Office, preferably within 15 days of the board meeting.
• Attend the following gatherings:
  o District convention at the beginning and end of term
  o Secretary’s forum at the international convention
  o All district board meetings
• Present a secretary’s report at all official board meetings.
• Submit a district convention report (including contest winners and election results) to the Kiwanis International Office, preferably within 30 days of the convention.
• Produce and distribute a club officer directory to clubs and district officers within specified time limits, and produce addendums to the club officer directory as needed.
• Demonstrate a strong relationship with the board liaison by sending all copies of the district secretary’s board newsletter to the liaison and communicating at least once per month with him/her.
• Strive to make all communications timely, well written, free of mistakes and follow the Key Club graphics standards. 

I think this will be a great opportunity for me to become a better leader, which is one of my goals for joining the Key Club.  I am also willing to put a lot of effort into this and keep everything organized and up to date as a secretary.