We would like to recognize North Dakota State University for being a Key Chapter for the 2012-2013 academic year.
One of the North Dakota State University chapter‘s more notable events was their Read for the Record initiative, which highlights the importance of early childhood education and Jumpstart’s mission: to work toward the day when every child in the United States enters kindergarten prepared to succeed. This special occasion is listed as one of their university’s official Homecoming Week events. By partnering with the West Acres Shopping Center and receiving media coverage in the local paper, television stations and the campus newsletter, the Golden Key chapter was able to recruit celebrity readers and was named an official 2012 Reading Partner by Jumpstart, which is the organization who started the Read for the Record campaign. Although ice and snow affected the amount of people at the mall, the featured book, Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad by David Soman and Jacky Davis, was read nineteen times between noon and 7 pm with over forty children attending.  The story was also featured North Dakota State University childcare center and was read to twenty-eight children, bringing the total to sixty-nine children who were a part of this service initiative. Read for the Record set a worldwide record that year by reaching out to 2,385,305 children, an increase of 201,150 kids from the year before!
The North Dakota State University chapter also, at the request of an honorary member, gathered its members, alumni and honorary members to attend and show their support for the 7^th annual North Dakota State University’s Women’s Basketball Game. Members were encouraged to wear the Golden Key chapter t-shirts. The honorary member had the announcer mention the Golden Key chapter and coordinated a group photo with the university mascot, Thundar. Several members attended the Women’s Week social prior to the game, as well. The event was a great opportunity to spend time with the chapter’s members in a non-academic setting and helped to build relationships amongst them, which is imperative for strong, chapter leadership.
Congratulations to the North Dakota State University for their hard work and being recognized as a 2012-2013 Key Chapter!

We would like to highlight the University of Southern California chapter for being named a Key Chapter for the 2012-2013 academic year. The chapter held many events that encompassed the three pillars of Golden Key: academics, leadership and service.
One of the events that the University of Southern California chapter held was a seminar on how members can maximize their internships. Guest speakers spoke about how they found their internships through extensive mailings, attending networking events and networking online. They also talked about the importance of resume customization- in order to stand out in the application process, one must know and understand the company and position that is being applied for in order to personalize one’s resume to the skills and strengths applicable to the job. Larger companies become inundated in countless applicants that some are known to use programs that automatically filter resumes for specific keywords, so it is important to tailor your resume for the position. Speakers also touched on the importance of dressing appropriately, as well as networking with people while you are working as an intern. The event was informative and eye-opening- an overall positive experience.
For a service initiative, the Southern California chapter would participate in “Enriching the Human Mind”, which are tutoring sessions for local children in the Los Angeles community that are held every Saturday. These hour and a half tutoring sessions allowed the members to interact with the students in order to help them with their homework or the lesson of the day. These sessions proved to be beneficial for the pupils and the members; the experience allowed the students to gain a better understanding of their academic work, the members to practice patience and communication and the two groups were able to build strong relationships. The chapter also hosted a session to help students prepare for college. Members answered questions about the application process, college essays and the Scholastic Assessment Test in order to educate the students and give them a head start in the college application procedure. The attendees were incredibly enthusiastic and asked many questions pertaining to the college application process.
Congratulations to the University of Southern California Golden Key chapter for your continued success!