The room goes silent. An announcer raises the microphone to his lips and looks out into the eyes of many hopeful souls. He begins to announce the winners of the competition. Off in the distance, some team members exchange nervous glances. Then, the announcer calls their name and they begin to jump up and down with glee. With tears in their eyes, they head toward the front of the stage.
From April 24 to 27, 87 Key Club members participated in the competition at the district convention for Key Club. The competition was held at the Sheraton Hotel in Dallas and was for Key Club members in Texas and Oklahoma. North Garland’s Key Club placed 23rd out of 200 schools and also won first place for best distinguished website for the first time. Because of their achievement, Key Club will attend the international convention later on this year.
Sophomore Nancy Tran said that the club’s preparation for the competition was a yearlong process and everyone involved had to be consistent in order to win awards.
“For scrapbooking, we had been preparing it for a while, because we started on the scrapbook ahead of time,” Tran said. “We had scrapbook parties where we were just working on scrapbook continuously. It was pretty hard.”
The competition consisted of various events that Key Club competed in. The events that Key Club entered were talent, non-traditional scrapbook, traditional scrapbook, oratory, impromptu essay and quiz bowl.
“Non-traditional scrapbook is a 3D scrapbook, so it’s kind of like a science fair project,” Huynh said. “Traditional scrapbook is a normal scrapbook, so it’s kind of like a photo album that we have to decorate. [For] oratory, we had to write a speech about what Key Club needs to be strong. [For] impromptu essay, we had to write about a character that fulfills leadership skills.”
The theme for the convention was “Get Hooked on Service.” In each event, students had to display their skills and knowledge about a specific category.
“Within those competitions, like talent, me and Rashael Nguyen played the ukulele and sang, ‘Just Hold on We’re Going Home,’” Huynh said.
Besides performance in each event, the scoring included the club’s reporting of all of the activities and meetings the club had done.
“It’s kind of like a recording of everything we do, all the meetings we have, everyone that attends,” Huynh said. “All the officers that are there, all of our board meetings, and it also depends on the editor’s job.”
Tran said that the convention was a great experience for the club, because it taught the members about becoming a better person and how they could help the community more.
“It was really eye opening,” Tran said. “[It] made me have a little bit more motivation to participate in the club.”
Huynh said that she feels ecstatic about the club’s win and that she is happy to go to the international convention in Anaheim, California, which will take place on July 2 to 6.
“I feel really great because as president and editor of the club, I’m really proud of the club for everything they’ve done,” Huynh said. “It makes me feel kind of like a mom. Like, all my children did everything. I think it was a great accomplishment because this was the first time we’ve ever been in the top 25, and that’s the hardest competition.”