Recent Tyrone High School graduate Laura Friday is one area teenager who isn’t complaining about having nothing to do. Between working at various jobs as she prepares to go to college, Laura, the daughter of Kent and Susan Friday of Tyrone, was extremely active in school — especially with Key Club. Friday served as Lt. Governor of Division 11W, PA District of Key Club International during her senior year and was recently honored by the service organization for her hard work and dedication. Friday attended the club’s International Convention in Aneheim, California last month where she received the Robert F. Lucas Award. The award was for her work as Lt. Governor, making her the first Tyrone student to receive the Lucas and possibly the first from the district.
Friday was instrumental in the division’s anti-smoking campaign, designed for elementary students and titled, “Wake Up, Live Big, Be Smoke Free” — efforts that helped the division earn $10,000. She also was active on various state committees, including Public Relations, Club Membership and Development, Convention Contests and Rules and Regulations.
On top of her Key Club roles, she also found the time to take classes at Penn State-Altoona, where she helped charter the campus’s Circle K club, the collegiate Key Club equivalent. Now, as she prepares to metriculate at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Friday reflected on her experiences with Key Club, the Kiwanis and her recent trip to California.
“It was awesome,” she said of the convention. “It was a great week to spend with your friends to celebrate all that you’ve accomplished. My Key Club experience was unbelievable. I remember walking into the board room for the first time (as a new Lt. Governor) and not knowing anyone.”
Friday said that she met many people who have become friends through her experiences and referred to the Kiwanis whom helped support and guide her through the years she was active.
“Mary Ann Volders (Tyrone Key Club Advisor) and the Tyrone Kiwanis were great,” she said. “They were supportive during my year as Lt. Governor and I am grateful to them for everything they did.”
She said that she learned to be a part of something that was larger than herself and learned to work with people from other backgrounds and situations. “As Lt. Governor, you were made to represent others’ views, not just your own,” Friday explained. “Learning the ins and outs of parliamentary procedure was also different than what I was used to.”
While in California at the International Convention, Friday was a part of the 52 student delegation from Pennsylvania. Over 3,000 Key Clubbers from around the United States and the world attended the convention, which included workshops, assemblies, forums and sight-seeing.
“It’s been a busy, busy, busy year,” she said. No doubt Laura Friday will continue to serve as she heads to IUP, where she said she plans to join that school’s Circle K.
