Torch: U.S. LXVI Fall 2016 | Page 3

VOICES · Torch:U.S. · Fall 2016

3

VO(I)CES

Successful Conclusion

Salvete!

This year has been an incre-

dibly productive one for the

officer board. I believe each of

us achieved our goals for the

year and learned so much in

the process. All of our hard

work as a team came together

beautifully last week during

National Convention. It was a

week full of camaraderie and

competition. Without any of

you JCLers, it wouldn’t have

been the huge success it was.

Last week was such a perfect end to this amazing term as president, and I cannot thank you enough for giving me this opportunity to work with such a fun and creative board.

Gratias tibia ago,

Brier Clough

2015-2016 NJCL President

A Mix of New and Old

Call me a pessimist, but I've always been counting down conventions -- after my first nationals, three left, after my second, two, etc.. Despite this, it seems like the end is always too far away to truly come -- but now it has.

This past year has been one of both major changes and familiar traditions for the JCL. We said goodbye to three National Committee members and, after more than sixty years of print publication, the TORCH:US moved to an entirely digital platform. On the other hand, NJCL returned for the fifth time to Indiana (the most frequent convention site). My tenure has been similar -- I continued Maya's excellent job of revolutionizing National Classics Week and modernizing NJCL pamphlets while still focusing on membership and publicity outreach. In addition, I worked tirelessly to secure media coverage for convention and make it run as best I could. I would particularly like to thank Ms. Catherine Sturgill, the new elected National Committee chair, for her mentorship and tutelage over this past year.

I can't thank thank you all

enough for this opportunity

and your support during my

time in office. My only

regret is that I didn't have

enough time to get to know

all of you -- but I know that

you are all destined for

great things. Keep on

making this organization

great!

Ad aeternum,

Michael Kearney

2015-2016 NJCL First Vice President

Love, Learn, Grow

Dearest JCLers,

Wow- what a year! Seldom in life do you experience feelings of true love, devotion, and dedication that convince you to stay with something forever, but this past convention was that experience for me. By no means did convention not present challenges for me, but your love and strength reaffirmed why I am in JCL every time I doubted anything. Thank you for an amazing convention and an even more remarkable year.

Between the creation of

handbooks, establishing a

new service contest, and

innovating the service and

spirit contests we already had,

this year I kept extremely

busy. Overall, I added two

more service projects to Club

of the Month per month,

created handbooks for

service, spirit, and activities in

addition to compiling, diting,

and writing the Contest

Handbook (containing non-

Photo Credit: Becki Bush

Photo Credit: Dennis Webb

Photo Credit: Hannah Barrett

Photo Credit: Ryan Vinson