Last month Key Club International held its annual International Convention July 2-6, with more than 650 members in attendance from all over the world. At the Awards & Recognition night, Pecatonica High School Key Club received the First Place Single Service Award in the Gold Division for the club’s 2024 Mr. Pecatonica High School Pageant.
In February of this year the Illinois-Eastern Iowa District recognized PHS Key Club with the District’s First Place Single Service Award in the Gold Division for the club’s 2024 Mr. PHS Pageant, which was held on March 1, 2024, chaired by Rebecca Brown ‘24 and Payton Kasper ‘24, and raised $11,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. First place Single Service Award entries from more than 30 Districts in 45 countries around the world moved on to compete at the International level. The award was then scored based on submitted evidence of a recognized need, project planning, project implementation, final results, public awareness, and member participation. Pecatonica Key Club won the top spot for clubs within the Gold Division (having 61-85 members). Additionally, Pec Key Club was recognized as one of just ten Distinguished clubs within the Illinois-Eastern Iowa District.
Other Single Service First Place Recipients included the following:
-Platinum Division (86 members or more): Kewanee High School, Illinois-Eastern Iowa District
-Silver Division (36-60 members): Hilo High School, California-Nevada-Hawaii District
-Bronze Division (35 members or fewer): Unicoi County High School, Kentucky-Tennessee District
Pecatonica High School Key Club, meeting each Tuesday during the school year from 2:45-3:15, is advised by faculty member Michelle Johnson and is sponsored by the Lincoln Douglas Kiwanis Club of Freeport and Kiwanis Advisor Mary Arenson. The club is excited for the upcoming school year and all the service projects and fundraising they have planned already!
Former Mr. Pecatonica High School Co-chairs Rebecca Brown ‘24 and Payton Kasper ‘24 are pleased to receive notification of the 2024 event’s global award recognition.
Two Pecatonica Key Clubbers, Elena Salgado and Luisa Salgado - Division 12 West Lieutenant Governor, were in attendance at International Convention and were able to accept the club’s first-ever International trophy from 2024-2025 Key Club International President David Robaina.