On April 12 to April 14th, a group of students from Northridge Academy High School that are part of Key Club, went to an event called CNH DCON or CalNevHa District Convention; a multiple day educational conference which was a gathering of many other Key Clubs across California, Nevada, and Hawaii. CNH DCON 2024 was held in Sacramento and our NAHS Key Club traveled by bus together. The students learned more about Key Club, met new people from other states, and celebrated together all the work they accomplished over this year!
This event technically isn’t a field trip because it wasn’t hosted by the school. It was more like an educational convention for all the students who attended. With Ms. Castro’s approval for this educational conference, these students received the opportunity to travel to Sacramento and experience their entire weekend together with friends.
If you haven’t heard of them, Key Club is one of the most influential, impacting, empowering clubs in High School. Offering a variety of activities and community enriching experiences; but how did Key Club get to where they are today? Founded in 1925, Key Club started as an non-for-profit organization that focuses on volunteer work by Albert Olney and Frank Vincent. They seek to better their community by empowering youth through helping maintain their community. Since then, Key Club has expanded internationally to many different parts in the world for high schoolers to improve their community. Yet Key Club is only a part of another international organization called Kiwanis. Kiwanis manages other international organizations such as Circle K, Builders Club, K-kids, and many more.
CNH DCON was an extremely large event. To put it into perspective, our school’s Club had eight members who went. They are part of a bigger group called Division 16 East which has multiple clubs from different schools. Our division is part of a Region that has multiple divisions across LA County. There were 18 different Regions all across California, Nevada, and Hawaii that flew to Sacramento for this event. Around one thousand or more Key Club members attended DCON 2024.
At DCON, all attendees were given their own hotel rooms that they shared with three others and spent the whole weekend together. On the first day of the event, everyone had to travel long distances and get settled into their hotel rooms. NAHS Key Club took an eight hour long bus ride to Sacramento with a few stops along the way. At the convention center where it was held, there were mostly info sessions and workshops to teach Key Club members more about different positions they could earn, the structure of Key Club, and how to be effective members of Key Club. These workshops ranged from topics such as “How to become Effective Communicators in Phone Calls” to future positions you can hold in Key Club. At the end of the day, a general info session where everyone at DCON gathered started. The board of District Governors all went on stage to formally greet and explain what to expect from the event. At the end of the session, a famous Filipino singer named Rocco was invited to sing on stage. They sang a collection of their songs as the audience cheered and offered to take pictures after the performance.
The second day of the event was the most important and biggest part. All of the members were treated to breakfast, lunch, and dinner from the convention staff throughout the day. A few more workshops were held and then the first major event started. An award ceremony that was held for everyone who qualified, such as NAHS Key Club. This one event highlights NAHS Key Club’s accomplishments throughout this entire school year (see separate story). Near the end of the ceremony, many members such as District Governor of CNH Key Club, Justin Kuo, had to say goodbye as it was the end of their term. The sad moments were brightened up after as there was a party held called the Governor’s Ball. It was considered to be the best part of DCON 2024 this year.
On the last day of NAHS key club’s trip, one final general session was held to say farewell to everyone as they will soon be getting ready to go back home. NAHS Key Club took another 8 hour bus trip all the way back to Northridge late at night. The students who went on this trip had a once in a lifetime experience. Spending time with friends in a different city together for multiple days is not something that happens easily. DCON was an event that made this possible for Key Clubers to learn, meet new people, strengthen bonds, and have an unforgettable experience.
