Submitted by Dave Azwell
In November, more than 600,000 Kiwanis-family adult and youth volunteers will celebrate their partnership in community service. The Kiwanis family promotes ideals of voluntary services as a means to improve lives and give something back to the community. The Kiwanis family of clubs consists of adult Kiwanis clubs, Circle K clubs for university students, Aktion Clubs for persons with disabilities, Key Clubs for high school students, Builders Clubs for middle schools and K-Kids for elementary schools. Also included is the BUG program (Bring Up Grades) for elementary students. Osage City Kiwanis is actively involved with the Kiwanis family of clubs in USD 420. The Kiwanis club sponsors the high school Key Club, the middle school Builders Club and the elementary school K-Kids. Also known as Service Leadership Programs (SLP’s), the students are encouraged to learn and understand the value of service and leadership in their school and community. OC Kiwanis also sponsors a BUG (Bring Up Grades) program in the elementary school which encourages improving and maintaining grades and good citizenship in school.
KIWANIS KEY CLUB WEEK: Nov. 6-10, 2017
Kiwanis International has declared Nov. 6-10, 2017 as Key Club Week in honor of Key Clubs around the world. Formed at the Sacramento, California high school in 1925 as a junior service club, the first Key Club was patterned after Kiwanis Clubs which offered service to the community as well as leadership skills to its members. After 92 years, the Sacramento Key Club is still active. By 1940, over 50 clubs had been formed in seven states. Key Club is now the largest international high school service organization in the world with 6,000 clubs in 38 countries and more than 270,000 members. Osage City Kiwanis has sponsored a Key Club at Osage City High School since it was chartered in 2001. It’s a Kiwanis Service Leadership Program (SLP) made up of OCHS students who are interested in learning the value of service to their school and community, enjoying growth in leadership skills and knowing how to fundraise to support their activities. They are enthusiastic and undertake a variety of projects that benefit their school and community. The club is led by a faculty advisor who is also a member of the OC Kiwanis. Key Club is one of three SLP’s available to students of USD 420 which also includes the middle school and the elementary school.