Key Club at 67th annual Eastern Canada District Convention

On 11-13 April, twelve members of the Marc Garneau CI Key Club attended the Eastern Canada District Key Club’s 67th annual District Convention (DCON) held in Charlottetown, PEI. This year’s DCON, the “Charlottetown Conference,” brought Key Clubbers from all over Eastern Canada together for three days of socialization and to elect the District Executive Board for next year.

Three of the Marc Garneau Key Clubbers —Jacqueline Sue, Simon Huang, and Kerui Yao— were elected to the District Executive Board last year, thus they were flown to Charlottetown. Another Key Clubber chose to fly to PEI as well. The other members took a bus with other students from Toronto and Kitchener to PEI. They left on 10 April. Unfortunately, the bus broke down on the road in Quebec, so students had to wait for another bus to arrive and pick them up. This prolonged the entire bus ride on the way there from 20 hours to 30 hours. The members on the bus arrived late Friday night to the Delta Prince Edward Hotel. As the Delta Hotel was very full, some of the students from other schools had to stay at the Rodd Charlottetown Hotel, a few minutes’ walk away.

Despite the rough ride there, the Key Clubbers enjoyed DCON immensely. “District convention this year was amazing! You could really see how much work went into organizing it. So many crazy things happened this weekend, but by far the best was just getting the chance to stay up late and chat with Key Clubbers from other schools. I made friends from all over the place,” said Hafsa Akhlaq, a Grade 11 MGCI student. After caucuses and workshops, they were given free time on Saturday to explore the town and visit historic sites such as the Confederation Centre or to taste the local cuisine.

For the annual DCON contests, Marc Garneau received 3rd place for the digital poster contest, 2nd place for the essay contest, 3rd place for most funds raised for Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, and the Distinguished Secretary award was given to Grade 12 student Abigail Chau.

Additionally, Jacqueline Sue won a sizeable scholarship for her achievements in Key Club. “Working on the District Executive Board this year has honestly been one of the highlights of my senior year. I have to admit, it required me spending many hours a week, staying up late to catch up on assignments, but in the end, it was well worth it. I had the opportunity to meet so many amazing Key Clubbers from all around Eastern Canada, and also had the opportunity to start two new clubs this year,” the Grade 12 student explained.

The upcoming year’s District Executive Board was elected on Saturday morning by the delegates, with each school sending two students as representatives. The results were announced on Sunday morning. From MGCI,  Grade 10 Mona Adibmoradi-Langroudi was elected as the Eastern Canada District Governor for the upcoming year. She commented: “Honestly, there are no words to explain how I feel. Being able to serve the organization and family that I love so much is absolutely amazing. I’m excited to serve with my fellow board members to charter new clubs and to fundraise for the Eliminate Project! Overall, I’m really pumped for this new year!”

For the Eliminate Project, a collaboration project with UNICEF to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus, a grand total of $1 668.24 was raised by the end of the convention, through events like a dance and a Miracle Minute. After a pleasant weekend in Charlottetown, the Key Clubbers returned home, whether by car, bus, plane, or foot. Four members of the Garneau Key Club flew back, while the other members took the bus, arriving in the early morning of Monday 14 April.

Hafsa Akhlaq added, “I can’t wait for DCON in T.O next year so I can show them around my city!”