Key Clubs Unlock Teens’ Motivation
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wice a month, Sun City Kiwanis members and Key Club faculty advisers Wayne Canino and Pat McGrory travel to Georgetown, East View, Richarte, and Jarrell High Schools. After greeting Key Club students and handing out an always-appreciated snack, they settle into the background and observe as the student officers lead the groups in discussing ideas and implementing plans to help make their school a better place.
KIWANIS YOUTH Key Club is an international student-led service organization sponsored by Kiwanis. The dedicated 14 to 18-year-olds commit to four to five projects a semester that help them develop leadership skills and a sense of camaraderie, whether it’s by supporting nursing homes, veterans, animal shelters, or children’s hospitals, picking up trash in area parks, or assisting in Kiwanis events such as the Sun City garage sales or yearly house tour. Key Clubbers have even been known to return after graduation to participate. Richarte High School, an academic alternative
school, offers its students an innovative, flexible model that offers self-paced academics. Principal Rob Dyer sees firsthand the impact of Key Club on his students. With a Local Key Clubbers at the Dallas Convention, 2019 student population Seated: Tina Bradford, EVHS faculty adviser, Pat McGrory of no more than 100, everyone is invited to Attending the annual Texas-Oklahothe prom that is entirely orchestratma convention, he and 1,000 other ed by their Key Club. “Their princistudents from 200 schools followed ples of leadership, character, and parliamentary procedure to run service embody Richarte’s spirit and meetings, adhered to a strict dress prepare students for life,” he says. code, and exhibited good manners. A perfect example is Matt Salley Now the media director for Hill (below), who transformed from a Country Baptist Church, he says, shy teen to president of the Richarte “Those first-time life experiences Key Club, then on to Lt. governor of created lasting friendships and gave the Key Club’s Kiwanis Division 24. me the confidence and motivation I attribute to who I am today.” The Sun City Kiwanis chapter prides itself on the fact that 100 percent of its funds go to the children of Williamson County. Their motto, “It’s all about the kids,” seems to be shared by the local community, who can’t help but realize the benefits of supporting these young people as they transform into the leaders of tomorrow.
Standing L-R: Pat McGrory, Matt Salley, Principal Rob Dyer • Seated: Stacey Robinson, PR Director, Sun City Kiwanis, Wayne Canino
T H E S U N C I T Y K I WA N I S C H A P T E R I S N OT A C H A R T E R C LU B S O M E M B E R S H I P I S O P E N TO A L L W I L L I A M S O N CO U N T Y R E S I D E N T S . F O R M E M B E R S H I P I N F O R M AT I O N O R TO D O N AT E TO K E Y C LU B, CO N TA C T WAY N E C A N I N O AT B O B @ C A N I N O S O N S U LTA N T S . CO M . 52
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photo courtesy Sun City Kiwanis Club
by Linda A. Thornton
