Every year, there is a regional conference for all the Kay Clubs in Northwestern Kansas. This year, Blue Valley Southwest has the honor of hosting it.
“The regional conference brings together KAY officers from all over northwestern Kansas,” senior co-president Ali Schroeder said. “There may be up to 330 students attending this year.”
Every year, KAY club decides on a theme that everyone will work towards. This year, it is “the power of one.” It comes from the idea that it only takes one person to start a chain reaction and make a difference. During the conference, students will be learning about ways that they can make a difference in their communities.
Although KAY club does a lot in the way of community service, it is also a club that helps students develop leadership skills. The regional conference is a way of gaining new insight and ideas to improve clubs across Kansas.
“The idea of regional KAY conferences is to bring us all together to build leadership skills and gather ideas to improve our individual clubs,” Schroeder said.
Though most people don’t realize it, there is a lot of planning and prep work going in to making this conference happen, and more still needs to be done. Kay Club sponsor Carolyn Zeligman has been planning it since before the school year started alongside co-presidents Schroeder and Haley Hansel.
“To plan the conference, we have to designate locations for each of the sessions, invite speakers, and obtain food for lunch and refreshments,” Schroeder said. “We also have to invite and keep track of every other club in the area.”
Although they are the three main planners involved, there is an army of other people helping to make this conference happen. The executive board of Kay Club, for example has been working around the clock all year, along with other members of the club. They will only get busier as the date of the conference draws closer. Since this conference is so huge, the club will require a lot of volunteers to help make it a reality.
Conference attendees will also be kept busy, as the students will attend various sessions throughout the day. The sessions will be led by both students and adults and a variety of subjects and opinions will be covered. Though community service may not be a high schooler’s idea of fun, all are looking forward to the conference.
