Fishburne Military School Key Club Visits DCON

Fishburne Military School Cadets demonstrate leadership and philanthropy

Baltimore, MD — The Fishburne Military School Key Club made their annual trek to the Capital District Convention (DCON) last weekend in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The theme for the 67th Annual Convention was “Our Service is No Myth” and celebrated the work of the Capital District’s 256 clubs while treating the over 1000 Convention participants to a weekend of civics made fun.

The Capital District is made up of 15,600 Key Clubbers from Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Washington, DC, and the annual convention serves as an opportunity for the representatives to caucus and vote for the District Governor, Treasurer and Editor. Throughout the 3-day event, Key Clubbers participate in a number of workshops focused on public speaking, leadership skills, planning fundraisers and Key Club basics for first-year attendees.

Thomas Fosdick ’17 (Staunton, VA) and Tyler Long ’17 (Beavercreek, OH), FMS Key Club’s President and Vice-President, served as the voting members of Fishburne Military School’s fifteen-man delegation.

FMS Key Club Advisor, Mrs. Debbie Todd, took particular notice of the way in which the FMS delegation conducted themselves during the caucuses. “I was incredibly proud of our young men,” she noted, “They did an exceptional job of asking intelligent and probing questions of the candidates.”

Each District within Key Club International is made up of several Divisions headed by Lieutenant Governors. During the District Convention, each Division announces and installs their elected leaders for the upcoming year. Fishburne Military School’s Division (9B), which represents nine schools (public and private), announced the retirement of their 2015 Lieutenant Governor, Luciano Dolfi ’17 (Stuart’s Draft, VA), and the installation of their 2016 Lieutenant Governor, Joshua Kovach ’17 (Crownsville, MD).

Kovach’s election to Lieutenant Governor continues an 11-year streak of FMS Cadets who have been voted to represent the nine schools of Division 9B. This decade of Caisson leadership began in 2005 when Christian Vargas was elected to hold the position.

The capstone events of the weekend, The Awards Banquet Dinner and The Parade of Checks, brought additional honors to the Fishburne Delegation. Tyler Long, who earned a spot in the top four finishers of the weekend’s talent competition, impressed the crowd with his rifle-spinning skills while the Cadets, as a whole, earned praise for their dedication and skill in fundraising.

“Although we are one of the smallest schools in the Capital District, we presented one of the largest checks for the Eliminate Project during The Parade of Checks at DCON. Our club was determined to raise over $1,000 for this worthwhile project and that they did,” explained Mrs. Todd.

Fishburne Military School is the oldest and smallest of all military schools for boys in Virginia. Its college-prep curriculum is built upon the structure of an Army JROTC program. FMS is designated as a JROTC Honor Unit with Distinction and may nominate qualified candidates to the United States Service Academics. Fishburne hosts one of only four Summer JROTC programs in the nation, accredited by US Army Cadet Command.