Let the Service Roll - Key Club DCLC Trip 2023!

Throughout the year, Key Club members have the opportunity to serve their community through volunteering.

Mahayla Martin 24'

From March 10-12 of 2023, six Muscatine High School Key Club members attended the District Convention and Leadership Conference (DCLC). This convention was held in Springfield, IL, and it provided Key Club members with an opportunity to expand their knowledge of Key Club.

In this picture, we are holding the three trophies we won at the convention! Key Club members from left to right: Nina Chatman, Brooklyn McGinnis, Jaela Staker, Mahayla Martin, Amaya Wagner and Olivia Haller.

In order to attend DCLC, you have to be an active member of Key Club. These specific Key Club members are very passionate about volunteering and giving back to their community. The members are Brooklyn McGinnis, Jaela Staker, Olivia Haller, Amaya Wagner, Nina Chatman and lastly, myself, Mahayla Martin.

“I joined Key Club because it helped me get my silver cord hours, but now I love going to meetings and helping my community,” said Brooklyn McGinnis, a Junior who has been in Key Club for one year.

Attendees had the opportunity to learn more about how other clubs give back to their community through workshops.

“Workshops helped us be more informed Key Club members and helped us learn what we can do at our school to improve our club,” said Nina Chatman, a Junior who has been in Key Club for one year

After listening to other clubs, these students intend to implement new projects within the Muscatine club.

“We got a lot of new ideas this year but my favorite one that I would love to implement is a book drive which involves bringing in used books and delivering them to nursing homes and maybe even MCSA,” said Jaela Staker, a Junior who has been in Key Club for two years.

These students had the opportunity to lead a workshop at the convention about their award-winning talent show.

“This particular DCLC experience helped push me out of my comfort zone a lot. I think presenting in front of a pretty large group of people was nerve wracking, but I really enjoyed it, which I am proud of myself for,” said Amaya Wagner, a Junior who has been in Key Club for three years.

This trip helped inspire growth within members and created new bonds.

“I chose to attend DCLC because I thought it would be a good learning opportunity for me and with the stuff I learned I would be able to help the community more,” said Olivia Haller, a Junior who has been in Key Club for three years.

“This experience helped build my character because it put me out of my shell. I talked to more people because of the workshops and that helped me with my speaking,” said Nina Chatman.

All Key Clubs have charities that they can donate to, like Erika’s Lighthouse, the Kiwanis Neuroscience Research Fund (KNRF), Unicef and the Thirst project. These specific charities are emphasized throughout the length of DCLC.

“It made me realize how important volunteering is because the money we raise from volunteering goes to great causes like KNRF,” said Jaela Staker.

Overall the trip to DCLC was very successful!

“At DCLC, we learned a lot of new service project ideas that we can implement into our meetings next year. We've made it a goal to do more service projects during our meetings to increase members, and just have fun overall. So coming back from DCLC with a huge list of projects is definitely going to make our club better,” said Amaya Wagner.

If Key Club sparks your interest, email alex.rauenbuehler@mcsdonline.org or jen.keltner@mcsdonline.org to join, everyone is welcome!

My favorite part of the trip was meeting the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.