On March 20, 2021, at a state convention in Harrisburg, PA, the state’s Key Club board appointed juniors Preston Martz, Libby Gianvito, and Savannah Welder from Punxsy Key Club as statewide officers.

After submitting a statement of candidacy, giving a speech, and answering questions virtually, Martz became State Governor, Gianvito became the Bulletin Editor, and Welder became the Division 5 Lieutenant Governor.

As the state governor, Martz will lead the 169 different Key Clubs and 10,000 people in Pennsylvania. Martz said that he had to get a lot of experience to get to such a position.

“At the end of my 9th grade year, I held the position that Savannah currently has,” Martz said, “and then in my 10th grade year, I held the position that Libby currently has.” He has also gotten to know a lot of people along the way.

Gianvito, now the bulletin editor of Key Club, will control the club’s social media and online presence. She also held Welder’s position of Division 5 Lieutenant Governor last year and started learning “the inner workings of the board.” Martz, a former editor of Key Club, served as Gianvito’s mentor for working in Key Club.

Welder, the Division 5 Lieutenant Governor, is in charge of all the schools in Division 5 of the state and communicates between those schools and the district board. Martz and Gianvito, Key Club officers who had formerly held that position, inspired her to run for the spot.

“Preston and Libby came to me and asked me to be Division 5 Lietuenant Governor,” Welder said, “and I was really excited about that.”

Despite being from our small school, these three members were appointed to the Key Club state board because there weren’t any other candidates competing with them for the same spots.

“We just got really lucky,” Martz said, “but for almost every other position, there was competition – just not for us three.”
While Martz and Gianvito attended the convention and gave their speeches, Welder didn’t come to the district convention. However, she and the Punxsy Key Club were still able to see Martz and Gianvito in a different way.

“This year,” Welder said, “we did a watch party at the Salvation Army, and a handful of members were able to attend that… It was really nice being together as a club and watching Martz and Gianvito present… at the district convention.” Welder also said that she is ready to make more friends and get closer to people in the club.

All three newly elected officers have said that they are excited about their new positions and that they are ready to give back to Key Club.

Gianvito said, “It really gives me a lot of fulfillment being able to serve on a level like this for a club that’s done so much for me and has meant so much to me throughout my entire high school experience.”