A Message from Kevin, January 8, 2010

As outgoing president, I want to say how much I appreciate Yonkyu. I was president, officially and unofficially, for well over a year. We started in October 2008 and I handed Yonkyu the gavel in January 2010. Towards the end of my tenure, I began slowing down. I still loved Toastmasters and Schoolmasters, but I was beginning to realise that I had taken it as far as I could, and I personally was running out of steam. I understand now why there is a term limit.

My appreciation for Yonkyu is not because she took over the presidency (though I do appreciate her for that) but because of how she is already transforming the club. The enormous energy she brought to the most recent meeting was incredible. It was a renewal. The room was filled with energy and the eight new guests were all wrapped up in it.

I thought the role of the president during the meeting is simply to speak for a few minutes and again at the end. Watching Yonkyu do this for the first time, I learned an important lesson: the president doesn't just open the meaning; she establishes the energy level. Yonkyu, you are the spark that is passed on to the Toastmaster, to every role taker and to every speaker. Already I have learned from you.

The admiration I have for you exceeds my command of the language to express it. You were with me at the beginning, before Schoolmasters had a name and when it could have died as a dream that never reached fruition. But you helped shape it then and now you helm it, bringing to it everything that is Yonkyu.

I couldn't be happier.

Kevin, CC
Immediate Past President
VP-PR
Schoolmasters webmaster
national Korea Toastmasters webmaster

At Schoolmasters, professional development and personal growth are the same thing.

Toastmasters is an international organisation started in 1924. Members of a Toastmasters club will improve both their public speaking and their leadership skills. Schoolmasters is a club specifically for teachers, because a teacher is a special kind of speaker and leader and therefore has special needs.

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