The Helping Hand AA Michigan District of Circle K International Publication

By: Kathleen Hurley: District Bulletin Editor

Volume 58 Issue 1

April/May 2014

In This Issue

Board Introductions……...2

DCON Wrap Up…………..6

ICON Preview……………..7

Fall Rally ……………………8

Club Updates……………..9

Goals……………………….11

Contact Us………………...12

Hello everyone! My name is Emily Bagwell and I am proud to be serving as

your 2014-2015 Michigan District Governor. I attend Northwood Univer-

sity in Midland and am studying Entertainment & Sports Management. I

love singing and going to concerts, and I am also a huge fan of reality TV

shows like Big Brother and The Bachelor. I am involved in a few other

organizations on campus such as Student-Alumni Network and DECA,

but Circle K is most definitely my favorite and I am so grateful to have

found this organization. I never knew a few years ago when I sat in on my

first meeting at Northwood that I would ever run for president of the club,

let alone district governor. However, the impact that this club has had on

my life is tremendous and I want to be a bigger part in being able to share

that with other students throughout the state. I cannot wait for the rest of

this year to make memories, better the community, and spend time with

each and every one of you!

Governor: Emily Bagwell

Secretary: Chiara Kalogjera-Sackellares

Hi. My name is Chiara. I am the new Circle K District Secretary and

Kiwanis Family Relations Chair for University of Michigan Circle K.

I am a junior at University of Michigan, studying History and Pro-

gram in the Environment. I was once in Builder's Club and Key

Club, and now I am in my second year of Circle K. I love the Kiwanis

Family, all the amazing people I've met and awesome service projects I

get to do. One of my favorite projects is Greening of Detroit. Over

the next year I hope to develop a new directory accompanied with a

google map that will be accessible to everyone in Michigan Kiwanis,

Circle K, Key Club so that it will be easier for us to get to know and

do service with one another. If you ever need to reach me, my email is

chiaraks@umich.edu.

Meet the District E-Board!

April/May Page 2

Treasurer: Alysia Rollins

My name is Alysia Rollins, I'm a sophomore at Northwood

University and am the 2014-2015 District Treasurer. I've

been in Circle K for the 2 years since I've been at North-

wood and this past term I served as Vice President of my

club. Circle K has been a life changing experience for me

and has brought me closer together with so many people at

my school and has provided me with some of my best

friends. One of my favorite events we've put on is our Mud-

pit Volleyball event where all of the proceeds we make go to

UNICEF. I love volunteering and this club has made me

make volunteering a huge part of my life. I don't know

what I would have been doing my college career without it!

Hi everyone! My name is Kathleen Hurley and I am

the 2014-2015 District Bulletin Editor. I am going to

be a sophomore this fall at The University of Michi-

gan. I am originally from Grosse Ile, Michigan. I love

watching movies, doing crafts, and hanging out with

friends, but one of my favorite things to do is serve

with Circle K! I have really enjoyed my past year in

Circle K and my past experiences in the Kiwanis Fami-

ly, so I am very excited to be serving as this year’s bul-

letin editor! Please feel free to give me feedback on the

bulletins or anything else I can do to serve you! My

email is kchurley@umich.edu. I really look forward to

this year and everything that we can accomplish to-

gether!

Bulletin Editor: Kathleen Hurley

April/May Page 3

Meet the District Chairs!

Hello, Circle K-omrades! My name is Chris, and I'm excited to be

serving as your district tech chair next year! I'm a sophomore at the

University of Michigan who is currently planning to major in Comput-

er Science and minor in Digital Studies and/or Science, Technology,

and Society. (I'm a bit of a geek, as you'll come to find out about

me) Aside from Circle K, I enjoy doing creative writing (I write for the

Gargoyle, the U of M humor magazine), watching and reviewing

movies and video games, taking strolls around Ann Arbor, and lis-

tening to music. In general, I’m the kind of person who rolls with the

punches and enjoys trying new things, even if they seem a little

challenging. I try not to worry about all of the little things and just

enjoy the craziness of life as it comes to me. There’s no denying that

what all of us do is pretty amazing, and I can’t wait to help lead

another year of service and fellowship. I have no doubt that what

we do is going to be awesome.

Hello, my name is Zachery Gizicki, a first year graduate

student studying Conservation Ecology at the University

of Michigan - Ann Arbor, and I will be your Service Chair

for the 2014-2015 school year! This will be my fifth year in

Circle K. I was the Environment Service Chair at U of M

for the past two years. I am hoping to bring my passion

for the environment and sustainability to the district lev-

el. I plan on working with the Service Chairs at each

school to provide resources to continue bringing you all

meaningful service. Service is the main reason we all

joined this organization and it is important to remind our-

selves why we choose to do service. My favorite project

is working with the Humane Society to help keep the

animals happy as they wait for their forever homes. I

look forward to working with you all this year and if you

have any ideas for where you would like to see Service

go on a district level, let me know!

Technology Chair: Chis Seeman

Service Chair: Zachery Gizicki

April/May Page 4

Stacey is a 5th year senior at Oakland University majoring in Elementary

Education. This is her 11th year in the Kiwanis family, starting with joining

Builder's Club in middle school, continuing on through Key Club in high

school, and now Circle K in college. This will be her final year involved in

Circle K; however, she plans to continue on by joining her local Kiwanis

club after she graduates. Her favorite service projects include working at

a local soup kitchen and volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Her fa-

vorite memory of Circle K was this past District Convention, which her

home club hosted.

Kiwanis Family Relations Chair: Stacey Tyburski

Hey guys, my name is Jesse DeGrendel and I am the Fall Rally chair. I

am very excited about all the fun stuff I will get to accomplish this sum-

mer to make this a great return for Fall Rally. I am finishing up my degree

in economics. I am going to be taking my final class in the fall and I’m

very pleased to be going out with a bang in terms of CKI!

Email: jrdegren@oakland.edu

Phone: 248 842 9825

Fall Rally Chair: Jesse DeGrendel

Still interested in joining a district committee?

Contact Emily Bagwell or the chairperson!

New Club Building Chair: Amanda Beauchamp

Home Club: Ferris State University

Class: Junior

Major: Pre-Pharmacy Studies

Favorite Service Project: The Big Event

Favorite CKI Memory: Attending my first DCON this past March.

I made so many wonderful friends and it only further fueled my

passion for Circle K International and service.

Contact: beaucha4@ferris.edu

April/May Page 5

DCON 2014 Review!

Hosting the 59th annual Michigan District of Circle K International Convention was one of the biggest accomplish-

ments of my Kiwanis Family career. When I applied to host on behalf of Circle K at Oakland University, I never imag-

ined how much time, effort, and dedication hosting the biggest district event of the year would entail. I also did not

realize how rewarding and gratifying the end result would be.

Over 80 Circle K’ers from our Mighty Michigan District traveled to Troy, Michigan the last weekend of March. During

Opening Session on Friday night, members were divided into eight districts, similar to the Hunger Games. Each dis-

trict was assigned a mentor based around characters from the movies, which were really members from Oakland.

The districts then competed in various competitions, which continued throughout the weekend. The rivalries and

games were fierce, and District 3 ended up winning with District 12 not far behind. Throughout the rest of the week-

end, members attended workshops, completed various service projects, ate delicious meals, danced the night

away at the President’s Ball, and were given awards for all their hard work throughout the year. They also elected a

new district board to serve the members of the district during this upcoming year. It was tough saying goodbye at

the end of the amazing weekend, but everyone left knowing they had formed new friendships, made a difference

in the community, and created memories they will never forget.

The members of Circle K at Oakland University would like to thank everyone who attended District Convention this

year. It meant a lot to us and we hope you all enjoyed yourselves. We also wanted to thank all the past club presi-

dents who pushed their members to attend. Specifically, we wanted to thank the members of last year’s district

board, district administrators Lori and Caitlyn, and our sponsoring Kiwanis club of Utica-Shelby for all of your support,

guidance, and help throughout this past year as we hosted our first ever district event. We could not have done it

without all of you and will never be able to thank you enough for everything you have done for us. Our club cannot

wait to see what Circle K at the University of Michigan- Ann Arbor has in store for us at next year’s District Conven-

tion!

By: Stacey Tyburski

We hope to see you at DCON 2015 in Ann Arbor! April/May Page 6

For those of you that don’t know, Circle K is an International Organization! This gives us

many opportunities, one of which is the international convention, or ICON. ICON is much

like DCON except on a larger scale where you can meet other Circle K’ers from all over the

country and the world. While at ICON, you have the opportunity to attend workshops, a

service fair, elect the new international board, vote on amendments, watch your club or

district receive international awards, and there is even a dance. In addition to the conven-

tion itself, there is also a large scale service project, or LSSP, because we all know that we

love service. This gives you the opportunity to do service while meeting people from all over

the world. ICON and LSSP are amazing experiences and I urge you all to attend this year or

sometime in the future. I hope to see you there!

This year’s ICON is being held in Nashville, Tennessee at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel from

June 17 to June 22nd. For more information about registration and hotel arrangements

you can visit circlek.org/Leadership/Conventions/InternationalConvention/

Nashville2014.aspx or contact Emily Bagwell, or Onto ICON Chair Michael Manning

(manningmichael2@gmail.com or (586) 713-2344).

Just a reminder to clubs that you do not have to attend ICON to apply for or receive inter-

national awards! The deadline has passed for this year’s applicants, but keep in mind the

international qualifications as you plan for the upcoming year!

April/May Page 7

Fall Rally Update! By: Jesse DeGrendel

Fall Rally is still just starting the planning phase! Fall Rally is held in or-

der to help get the new members from the district pumped to join CKI! As

for the price we are really hoping to keep it around $40, but have all sorts

of ideas for allowing students to be able to drop their price below this!

Fall Rally is going to be a fun weekend filled with service, fellowship, and

leadership. Because there is not a lot out in terms of details just yet I want

you all to keep posted on the Michigan District FB page! If you are really

feeling excited, contact Fall Rally chair Jesse DeGrendel and you can

apply to be on the committee!

October 3-5th

Water’s Edge Camp

Howell, Michigan

Pictures from

Fall Rally 2012

April/May Page 8

Club Updates!

Hello everyone, I’m Matthew Shaw, of Northwood University Circle K, and I’m planning a

service-social for this summer 2014! SummerFest is from July 18-20. We will be meeting at

my hometown in Mio, MI, and from there we will be heading on out to my hunting lodge,

which is just 30 minutes north of Mio. Friday night will be full of games to raise money for

Project Eliminate, dinner and an ice cream social. Saturday, we will have breakfast, the

large service project, dinner, then campfire and s’mores. What is the large service project,

you might ask? We will be going down the AuSable River, cleaning up the river as we go

and returning all the pop bottles we find and donating that money to Project Eliminate.

On the last day, Sunday, we will have a breakfast followed by a small service project. The

cost to attend this event is only $30, plus money for lunch on Saturday (Subway) and for

your canoe/kayak/tube rental (your own preference for going down the river for five

hours). If you would like to sign up or have any other questions, please contact me at

shawm@northwood.edu. All Circle K members are welcome to attend and a deadline to

sign up is Wednesday, July 9th!

Northwood: SummerFest! By: Matthew Shaw

April/May Page 9

University of Michigan Ann Arbor:

DCON 2015 Update! By: Steven McCarty

Circle K at The University of Michigan is honored to host the 60th annual Michi-

gan District Convention in 2015. This is the first district event hosted by The Uni-

versity of Michigan in four years and planning is already underway to make

this convention the biggest and best the Michigan District has ever seen! We

have formed our DCON committee and have had our first couple of meet-

ings! Planning is underway and more details will be coming your way soon!

Come and join other Circle K'ers from across the district to participate in an

amazing weekend filled with fellowship and service. Don't miss out on the ser-

vice projects, ice-breakers, workshops, and dances! Invite your clubs and

members to celebrate a fantastic year of service in the beautiful city of Ann

Arbor! Mark you calendars, because you don't want to miss out on DCON

2015!

April/May Page 10

District Goals! As set by the District Board

These are the goals at the District Board has set for our district this year, we

are very optimistic about these goals and we have faith that we can reach

them! Please keep them in mind as you plan for next year. We can accom-

plish great things this year!

Membership: 550 members (last year: 510)

Service Hours: 18500 hours (last year:18711.28)

Kiwanis Family Relation Events: 180 events (last year: 168)

Interclubs: 70 interclubs (last year: 49)

ELIMINATE Fundraising: $4000 (last year: $16035.43)

Club Building: Charter 1 new club. Rebuild Hillsdale, Adrian, MSU, and U of M Flint, and emphasize growing all clubs. (last year: none built…1 lost :()

District Events: At least 2 representatives from each club attend every district event.

Fall Rally: 80 attendees (last year: 0)

Lovepit & Snowpia: 80 attendees

Updates on goals reported thus far: 1500 service hours, 10 interclubs,

21 K- fam events

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

Don’t forget the numbers for these goals are

based on MRF reports, so make sure you

report everything your club does!

April/May Page 11

Contact Us! We are here to serve you!

Governor Emily Bagwell emilyabagwell@gmail.com (248) 982-3376

Secretary

Chiara Kalogjeras-

Sackellares chiaraks@umich.edu (352) 231-3197

Treasurer Alysia Rollins rollinsa@northwood.edu (586) 770-4479

Bulletin Editor Kathleen Hurley kchurley@umich.edu (734) 604-3466

Club Building Chair Amanda Beauchamp beaucha4@ferris.edu (586)932-75113

Kiwanis Family Chair Stacey Tyburski setyburs@oakland.edu (586) 506-0442

Service Chair Zachery Gizicki zgizicki@umich.edu (734) 546-3631

Technology Chair Chris Seeman seemanch@umich.edu (734) 904-8763

Fall Rally Chair Jesse DeGrendel jrdegren@oakland.edu (248) 842-9825

Administrator Lori Stillwell lori2547@yahoo.com 1-586-295-7957

Assistant Administra-

tor Caitlyn Kienitz ckienitz@gmail.com 1-989-323-0136

Thanks for Reading! Does your club have an upcoming event?

Do you have something you want to share with the district?

Send in an article for next time to kchurley@umich.edu

April/May Page 12

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait

a single moment before starting to improve

the world. —Anne Frank