It’s back. Key Club, a student-centered charitable club, was at Atholton until 2018-2019 when it shut down due to Covid, but now, it has returned with new leadership and a new sponsor. Key Club currently meets Mondays in Ms. Dean’s room, G210.
The club is centered around community and helping others. as beiKey Club is a part of a well-known non-profit organization, Kiwanis International.
“It really spoke to me ‘cause I want to get involved in any way possible in the community any way possible,” said Teju Suresh the Co-President of Key Club.
Key Club is an international youth organization that began in 1925 and is a part of the bigger Kiwanis organization that was created 10 years earlier in 1915. Key Club is in 40 countries with more than 5,000 clubs all together. Atholton’s chapter of Key Club has around 30-40 members.
The Key Club just finished helping with the project Backpacks for Breaks. This community event allows members of the club to pack backpacks with snacks and meals for kids at Cradlerock Elementary and Lake Elkhorn Middle who face food insecurity.
They also just conducted a pancake mix sale for charity and are working on distributing the mix to those who bought them.
Kellie Enow at Backpacks for Breaks starting the process of packing a bag. photo courtesy of Oliver Moser
“I really like that we’re associated with community organizations so we’re not stuck to just Atholton events, but we are going out and serving people of Columbia,” Ms. Dean said. She is very happy that this club gives her the opportunity to share her passion.
“Especially teachers, a lot of people were missing the club and it kind of died out when Covid hit,” Allison Medlock, the Co-President, explained. Unfortunately, there were some struggles for starting the club up again.
According to Suresh, “It is already an established organization, that’s what made it hard to get a club here in Atholton. There’s also a lot of steps and a lot of admin you have to go through.”
The struggles were not only with Atholton staff, but also reaching out to the Key Club’s national administrators. Now, the club is running smoothly, and members are excited to be there and welcome new members.
As soon as the bell rings signifying the end of the day, members rush to the American Sign Language classroom to learn how they can better their community and find service opportunities.
They find their friends to sit down with before directing their eyes to the screen with the slideshow for what their plans will be.
Ms. Dean explained how the club is perfect for anyone who wants to just help. “I think it is a wonderful thing so I want to support all of these awesome students who want to serve their community and do good.”
The club is filled with so many opportunities to help: volunteering and helping with fundraisers, helping the community, and raising money for local charities. Key Club helps the school unlock its true sense of community.