ORCA Internet Key Club: First in PNW
Written by ORCA Key Club on May 24th, 2009
Kiwanis Advisor Loni Barrett
It has been my privilege to help create the very first Internet based Key Club in the Pacific Northwest. The Oregon Connections Academy (ORCA) Key Club is also one of the first few Internet Key Clubs anywhere in the world. As we see our first seniors graduate, I’m so impressed with what the club has accomplished in such a short period of time.
ORCA Key Club began as an idea of Oregon Connections Academy Principal Jerry Wilks. Mr. Wilks approached Kiwanis with his idea. I was contacted and immediately loved the idea. It was a great match because I’m a member of two Kiwanis Clubs. First, I’m a member of the Salem Kiwanis Club which is in close proximity to Scio, Oregon where Oregon Connections Academy is chartered. Second, I’m also a member of Cascadia Kiwanis Club, the first Internet based Kiwanis Club. It was an easy sell when I approached both Kiwanis Clubs requesting that they co-sponsor this new Key Club.
Mr. Wilks identified two staff members at Oregon Connections Academy who were both former Key Club members from their high school years. Jessica Tuerk and Barbara Markee enthusiastically agreed to be staff advisors for the newly forming Key Club. The administrative process of developing the ORCA Key Club was a bit challenging. Our Kiwanis leaders of are spread all over the Oregon, Washington and BC, Canada. Even our advisors live in different Oregon cities. The charter paperwork was designed with a traditional club in mind, so there was a lot of creating PDF documents, using e-mail and the U.S. Postal Service to shuttle all the documents back and forth for review and signatures. We often had teleconferences for our planning sessions.
During all this planning and paperwork shuffling we set up an information booth at the Oregon Connections Academy Open House where we actively recruited Key Club prospects for membership. Mrs. Tuerk and Mrs. Markee began having online informational meetings which were attended by interested students. Members completed their applications and a board of directors was formed. Student leaders were elected to fill key roles for the new club. The students and advisors were enthusiastic from the start and the chemistry was perfect!
First ORCA Key Club Project
Not to be deterred by the lack of an official Key Club charter, the ORCA Key Club began having their meetings and identified service to children as the focus for their community service projects. We have found innovative ways to work around the fact that Oregon Connections Academy students reside all over the State of Oregon. The first ORCA Key Club service project was to make handmade Valentine’s cards for children at Ronald McDonald House. The members creativity and commitment was obvious. No store bought cards could have possibly conveyed the level of caring expressed by our club members. This first project was a tremendous success and it happened before we were even chartered.
The ORCA Key Club charter was formally approved on March 16, 2009 and we became official. Our 15 charter members are enthusiastic and their enthusiasm is contagious. This is the most fun I’ve ever had as a Kiwanis member. It’s rewarding to know that ORCA Key Club is helping to shape future leaders, and then to see these young leaders in action. I could not have imagined just how rewarding the experience would be for me personally. It is indeed my privilege to be associated with this fine group of people.
