It’s no surprise that WV Key Club District Governor, Mallory Rinker, had no voice upon her return from Charleston on November 17.  The BHS Senior led over 100 Key Clubbers in workshops, games and teamwork exercises for 48 hours at the 14^th Annual WV Key Club Fall Rally.

 

“The event is kind of like a pep rally for Key Clubs across the state,” said Rinker, who is the first female District Governor in the state. “For two days, we do team-building activities, leadership workshops and generally celebrate how powerful community service can be.”

 

Unlike other states, West Virginia patterns their Fall Rally after the Kiwanis Family Conference in North Carolina.  The focus is on raising awareness of community service rather than just entertaining the club members. The West Virginia Key Club District Board is comprised of 21 high school students from across the state.  They are put into groups of three and assigned “family groups” to facilitate.  “There were four student representatives on the board this year and we led groups through real-life situations in which they could use skills gained through the club,” said Rinker. 

 

While at the rally, Key Clubbers also got pumped up the Eliminate Project, which is  a joint effort among the club, Kiwanis, and UNICEF to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus around the world.  The BHS students recently raised awareness of the project during a school assembly and raised money for the cause. 

 

For the 2014 Governor’s Project, Rinker created Project Shine, a self-confidence initiative aimed at middle schoolers.  “Middle School can be such a hard time for many students and having high school Key Club members help mentor them is important.  In the project, we try to increase their self-esteem and give them tools to help them deal with some of the rough spots of being in middle school,” said Rinker. 

 

“All in all, it was a wonderful weekend! We are excited about taking the ideas back to school and putting them into action,” said Rinker. “In March, we will meet back together for the annual WV Key Club District Convention and I can’t wait to see all the new friends again.”