A photo from the last two key club events they held in support of Farm Friends Rescue
Key Club International, founded in 1925, is the oldest and largest service program for high school students. It is a student-led organization that teaches leadership through service to others. As members of the Kiwanis International family, Key Club members work on building their character in the same way that they work to build their schools and communities. The main focus of the club are leadership, character building, caring for others, and inclusiveness.
The Northwood chapter of Key Club participates in service projects such as donating canned food to Hurricane Florence victims, trick or treating for UNICEF, working the Kiwanis ham biscuit booth at the North Carolina State Fair, cooking dinner at the SECU house, and donating toys to the angel tree at Christmas time.
This year the club has a new group of student leaders who are making changes such as increasing advertisements targeting the student body to help the club expand.
“Ultimately, our goal this year was to get more people involved. Last year we started with about fifty people and as the year went on, we lost more than half our members,” Key Club secretary Sarah Sessoms said.
Taking on more service projects has also been a focus of the club this year.
“While we do some of the same service projects every year, we really want to participate in more new projects to give our members more of an opportunity to get the required service points,” Co – President Marielle Rath said.
One of the main challenges the club encountered in previous years was the lack of motivation and enthusiasm from the members.
“I feel like a lot of people signed up for Key Club just to put it on their college applications. Many would come to the first few meetings and then just stop coming all together or sign up for a service project and then not show up,” Key club member Maya Moll said.
The officers feel that these new changes provide a positive outlook for the club’s future and have kept them busy working on more ways to improve.
“I am really happy with the progress we’ve made so far,” Treasurer Tatum Pryor said. “Being a part of this club is something I really enjoy and I am glad that we have a chance to improve it and uphold our reputation,”
Any student who is curious about or interested in joining Key Club should visit the organization’s website here.
-By Caroline Conte
