The 2018-2019 school year here at Minarets officially started on August 17, and since then clubs have been turning up with renewal forms as a new school year means new memberships for any club on campus. One club in particular that has been around as one of the few original clubs since the school first came to be is Key Club.
“Key Club is an international student-lead organization that provides its members opportunities to provide service, build character, and develop leadership. That’s the mission statement”, advisor and teacher Righter opened up with in our interview today, “The first Key Club was formed in 1925 in Sacramento with 11 Charter members...Key Club was the idea of two Sacramento Kiwanis members who wanted to get a junior service club started at the high school...It would resemble Kiwanis, but it would have it’s own classifications”. But where does the name Key Club come from, you might ask, and there was a reason for that as well. “The club was comprised of the key boys in the school. Who were willing to serve and were wanting to create better school spirit. They were the key leaders in the school," Righter added.
When asked about the purpose of the club as well as how it has affected our community, this much was said: “The purpose is to build character, build leadership skills, and do community service...our Key Club has not only done community service for our school. We’ve conducted tours, served pancake breakfast to the entire school on Community Day, but we’ve served community service for the Mountain community”.
So a club that’s international, well known, and has a reputation must be very prestigious and hard to enter right? However, applying for the club is something anyone here at Minarets can accomplish fairly easily. “We have a membership application. There is a number of forms you have to complete...We ask that you do 50 service hours in the year. It’s easy to get 50. It sounds like a lot, but it’s very easy to get 50...there are membership dues every year. Right now it’s $19”, said advisor Therese Righter.
With all this being said and done, the last thing you might be thinking about is, “When can I sign up?”, and the answer is, “Students can apply at anytime. Start right now. Go get your application”, she adds with some laughter. And there you have it. Get your application in for Key Club at Minarets today!