Some may be asking, does the Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) award still exist in Pathways? If so, what are the requirements? You may find that they are similar to the old education path.

Per Toastmasters International, here are the full details:

1. Yes, you can still earn the DTM award in Pathways, and it still represents the highest level of educational achievement in Toastmasters.The new requirements for the DTM award are:
   1. Complete two unique learning paths.
   2. Serve as a club officer for 12 months. (If your club has six-month terms for officers, you can fulfill this requirement by serving as a club officer twice, but you don’t have to do it in consecutive terms.)
   3. Serve as a club mentor or coach.
   4. Serve as a club sponsor or conduct a Speechcraft or Youth Leadership program.
   5. Serve as a district officer for one year.
   6. Complete the DTM project. (Members are required to create and implement a project of their own design, in which they demonstrate the skills and expertise they have gained.) This project can be made available upon request after a member completes Level 3 of their second path. A member can request this from the Education Services Team by phone at +1 720-439-5050 or by email at EducationProgram@toastmasters.org.

If you are wondering if your latest work can be transferred or applied to the Pathways DTM list above, see the explanation listed under #19 on the Toastmasters International FAQ site: https://www.toastmasters.org/education/pathways/frequently-asked-questions

Join the Duluth Club at their upcoming open house, being held February 28, 2019 from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.!

The open house will be at the Duluth Public Library in the Green Room. 520 West Superior St. Duluth, MN 55802.

If you’re a current Toastmaster member, RSVP to Aaron: vppr-1523@toastmastersclubs.org.

When was the last time your club held a Moments of Truth session? Moments of Truth is an exercise that your club as a whole goes through together to “outline how to create a positive first impression of your club, and recognize and deal with situations critical to club success.”

Officers can review the documents listed on this page https://www.toastmasters.org/resources/moments-of-truth, prepare a speech explaining the exercise, then finish the speech by asking members to complete the worksheet.

Once the worksheets come back in, sit down as a group and review the numbers. Whichever standards scored as the lowest, focus on the 2-3 of the lowest and come up with a plan to enhance and improve those parts of your club.

Idea: Hold your Moments of Truth sessions and receive feedback before June 1. Then pass this feedback to the incoming officer team to provide them with main goal ideas for their incoming year.

Officers, it’s that time of year again to begin planning your club speech contest! This year’s contests will be Evaluation and International Speech.

Our District team has created a very detailed site officer teams can utilize in planning their club contests. https://d106tm.org/speech-contests/

After reviewing the details on the D106 site, please do the following:

1. Send your club’s speech contest date to j.c.simpson242@gmail.com.
2. Ask all club members to save the date for the Area 3 & 4 Contest – set for March 23, 2019 in Duluth, MN. Contest starts at 10:00 a.m. at Harrison Community Club.
   1. Note to members, if they don’t want to compete in the Area 3 & 4 Contest, they are more than welcome to help as a judge, timer, counter, etc. or simply be an attendee.
   2. RSVP here – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/area-3-4-speech-contest-tickets-57424197320?aff=ebdssbdestsearch 
3. Save the date for the Division A Contest, set for April 6, 2019.
   1. St. Scholastica – Contest begins at 1 p.m.
   2. This will be a contest with clubs located in the Twin Ports, Hibbing, and Thunder Bay, Ontario.
   3. RSVP here – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/division-a-speech-contest-tickets-57353885014?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
4. Save the date for the District 106 Spring Conference, set for April 27, 2019. –https://d106tm.org/district-106-2019-spring-conference/