Key Club International is the oldest and largest service program for high school students. It is a student-led organization whose goal is to teach leadership through serving others. Key Club International is a part of the Kiwanis International group. Each local Key Club is, in turn, sponsored by a local Kiwanis club.
The organization was started by California State Commissioner of Schools Albert C. Olney, and vocational education teacher Frank C. Vincent, who together worked to establish the first Key Club at Sacramento High School in California, on May 7, 1925. Female students were first admitted in 1976, eleven years before women were admitted to the sponsoring organization, Kiwanis International.
Activities
Key Club tries to offer a range of services to its members: leadership development, study-abroad opportunities, vocational guidance, college scholarships, a subscription to the KEY CLUB magazine, service-learning, personal enrichment, value-added member benefit programs, and liability insurance coverage.
In 2002, Key Club officially adopted caring, character building, inclusiveness, and leadership as the core values of the organization.
Theme and Major Emphasis Program (MEP)
At Key Club International's first convention in 1946, the organization was given the responsibility of instituting a program that would bring together all Key Club's direct members' efforts and energies into an area that would truly make an International impact. This tradition is still followed today through the development of the Theme and Major Emphasis Program (MEP).
Key Club's focus is "Children: Their Future, Our Focus." The Major Emphasis Program is a way to direct the effort of Key Clubbers world wide towards this goal. There are three beneficiaries: Service Partners (UNICEF, March Of Dimes, and Children's Miracle Network), the Service Initiative (Live 2 Learn), and Serving Children.
Service Initiative
The Service Initiative is a program encouraging hands on service to children aimed towards a common goal. It is changed every two years by the International Board of Trustees.
The 2004-2006 Service Initiative was Child Safety: Water, Bike and Car Safety where Key Clubbers participated in different educational events to try to spread safe habits to prevent accidental deaths.
The 2006-2008 Service Initiative was "High Five for Health." It is aimed at reducing
childhood obesityChildhood obesity is a condition where excess body fat negatively affects a child's health or wellbeing. As methods to determine body fat directly are difficult, the diagnosis of obesity is often based on BMI. Due to the rising prevalence of obesity in children and its many adverse health effects...
and fighting a rising trend that appears to increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
The 2008-2010 Service Initiative is "Live 2 Learn." It is focused on 5-9 year old youth, with the main goals of promoting education and building literary skills.
Service Partners
Key Club encourages volunteering and fund raising for March of Dimes, UNICEF, and the Children's Miracle Network year-round. These 3 organizations are known as Service Partners(formerly Seasons of Service).
Key Club Week
The first full week in November, members promote their clubs with a "Key Club Week." Each day is themed for a different type of service - to children, to the school, to the community, to Key Club (spirit), and a final "Key Club Week Project." The 2008 Key Club Week Project seeks to raise money for Grassroot Soccer, an organization that uses the power of soccer to educate the youth of Africa about the HIV/Aids Epidemic.
Structure
The Key Club District organization is patterned after the original Florida District and its parent Kiwanis districts. These organizations hold their own annual conventions for fellowship, to coordinate the efforts of individual clubs, to exchange ideas on Key Clubbing, and to recognize outstanding service of clubs or individuals with appropriate awards.
Today, Key Club exists on almost 5,000 high school campuses, primarily in the United States and Canada. It has grown internationally to the Caribbean nations, Central and South America, and most recently to Asia and Australia.
Key Club International is an organization of individual Key Clubs and is funded by nominal dues paid by every member. Its officers are high school leaders elected by the members at district and international conventions.
Official colors
Blue, Gold and White
Each color symbolized an aspect of the Key Club International objectives:
- Blue - Unwavering character
- Gold - Service
- White - Purity
Mission statement
"Key Club is an international student-led organization which provides its members with opportunities to provide service, build character, and develop leadership."
Vision
"To develop competent, capable, and caring leaders through the vehicle of service."
Core values
The core values of Key Club International are "Leadership, Character Building, Caring, and Inclusiveness."
Motto
The motto of Key Club is "Caring—Our Way of Life," changed from the original "We Build" in 1978 to better convey members' reasons for helping others.
Objectives
The Objectives of Key Club are listed below. The sixfold sixth objective of Key Club incorporates the Six Permanent Objects of Kiwanis International as adopted in 1924:
- To develop initiative and leadership.
- To provide experience in living and working together.
- To serve the school and community.
- To cooperate with the school principal.
- To prepare for useful citizenship.
- To accept and promote the following ideals:
- To give primacy to the human and spiritual rather than to the material values of life.
- To encourage the daily living of the Golden Rule in all human relationships.
- To promote the adoption and application of higher standards in scholarship, sportsmanship and social contacts.
- To develop, by precept and example, a more intelligent, aggressive, and serviceable citizenship.
- To provide a practical means to form enduring friendships, to render unselfish service, and to build better communities.
- To cooperate in creating and maintaining that sound public opinion and high idealism which make possible the increase of righteousness, justice, patriotism, and good will.
The organization maintains strong partnerships with UNICEF, AYUSA Global Youth Exchange, the March of Dimes, and Children's Miracle Network Telethon. Through the partnership with UNICEF, a major initiative was launched in the summer of 2005 to address HIV/AIDS education and prevention in Kenya.
Pledge
I pledge, on my honor,
to uphold the Objects of Key Club International;
to build my home, school and community;
to serve my nation and God;
and combat all forces which tend to undermine these institutions.
International
Key Club International encompasses all clubs within the organization's 33 organized districts and in foreign countries that are not included in any specific district. Key Club International is led by the International Board, which is typically composed of the International President, International Vice-President, and 11 International Trustees (Trustees being assigned to three districts and also assigned to serve on various committees within the board). Furthermore, the International Council is composed of the International Board as well as the District Governor from each of the 33 organized Districts.
District
A district is normally defined by state or nation and tends to match a similar Kiwanis district. Each district is chaired by a governor, elected by delegates to an annual convention. The district is divided into divisions which tend to, but do not neccesarily match Kiwanis divisions.
The governor appoints a convention committee of elected lieutenant governors or qualified individuals to be responsible for the planning of an annual District Convention. This includes arranging a convention center, meals, hotel accommodations, programs, and special guests.
The district convention ("DCON") is held each year. Key Club members, advisers, Kiwanis members, and guests attend. A convention center has been required to host all members for general sessions. Activities have included: forums (or workshops), which are facilitated by lieutenant governors, district executive officers, and sponsoring adults; an awards ceremony, the Governor's Ball, and a keynote speaker. Caucuses have been held to elect the new District Executive Officers for the upcoming service year.
The New York District has changed the name from District Convention (DCON) to the District Leadership Training Conference (DLTC.)
Lieutenant Governor
A lieutenant governor is elected to represent each of the divisions in a district. The Lieutenant Governor serves as a liaison between the clubs in their division and the district Key Club board. They must also visit each of their clubs, publish a monthly divisional newsletter, hold a monthly Division Council Meeting, and keep in contact with their clubs, district executive board, and Kiwanians.
Origin
In California during the twenties, adults were concerned with the pernicious side of high school fraternities and sought some means of replacing them with more wholesome activity for youth.
Two men in the Sacramento Kiwanis club, who were high school administrators, approached their club with the idea of a junior service club in the high school, to be patterned after Kiwanis to hold luncheon meetings. Through this group in the high school, the Kiwanis club hoped to provide vocational guidance, first to boys who had decided upon their future occupation, and then to the entire school. The plan was presented to the Board of Education, and following its approval, the first Key Club meeting was held early in May 1925.
The club held weekly luncheons in the school, where Kiwanians came to speak to the group on various vocations. Key Club members attended Kiwanis meetings as guests of the club to enhance further the value of Key Club membership by bringing high school students into constant contact with the business and professional men of the community. As the experience of the Key Club grew, a noticeable trend toward expanding the original purpose and activity was found possible, and the club was soon a complete service organization for the whole school. It also offered a social program to balance its service activities.
Early development
Through contact with the Sacramento Key Club and Kiwanis Club, other Kiwanis groups soon became interested in the activity and sponsored similar organizations in their own communities. Such information was sent out and principals in various parts of the country were responsible for organizing similar groups in their own schools with the help of their local Kiwanis clubs. Practically all Key Club expansion which took place during the next fifteen years was accomplished in this way. By that time fifty clubs were functioning in California, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
In 1939 the first plan for combining individual local Key Clubs into federated groups was developed in Florida. With Kiwanis counsel, a convention of existing clubs was held, a state association formed, and officers elected. The purpose of the State Association was to promote an exchange of ideas concerning the Key Club activity and to expand the number of Key Clubs. Conventions were held each succeeding year, and when the International Constitution and Bylaws were adopted in 1946, the Florida Association became the first Key Club district.
Florida was instrumental also in promoting the formation of an International Association of Key Clubs to perform for the entire country what the Florida Association had done for Key Clubs in that state. In 1943, at the invitation of the Florida boys, Key Clubbers from clubs in Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee were in attendance at the annual convention of the State Association held in
Sanford, FloridaSanford is a city in and the county seat of Seminole County, Florida, United States. The population was 38,291 at the 2000 census. As of 2006, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 49,124. An older agricultural and resort area, Sanford is home to the Delta Connection Academy,...
. The representatives voted to form an International Association of Key Clubs and elected Malcolm Lewis of
West Palm Beach, FloridaWest Palm Beach, also known as West Palm, is the most populous city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida. West Palm's economy is currently ranked #4 in the Milken Institute Best Performing 296 U.S. Cities index...
, as first President.
Three formative years followed, during which the outlines of the present Key Club International organization were drawn. Lewis served one year and was followed in office by Eddie Richardson of Ft. Lauderdale, and Roger Keller of New Orleans. Keller presided over the third annual convention in New Orleans on April 27, 1946, at which time delegates from all parts of the country approved the Constitution and Bylaws, officially launching Key Club International.
The Key Club was early recognized as a local Kiwanis project, and no attempt was made to control its overall organization. In 1942 the Kiwanis International Board of Trustees recommended Key Club to all Kiwanis clubs. In 1944 a special Kiwanis International Committee on Sponsored Youth Organizations was formed to look after Key Club work. Finally, in 1946, a separate Key Club Department was created in the International Office of Kiwanis International to serve as a clearing house for Key Club information, to keep the records and handle correspondence of the organization, to provide effective liaison between Key Clubs and Kiwanis, and to conduct the annual International conventions. Now the Key Club Department also handles a monthly publication—KEYNOTER—which was first issued in May 1946. The Kiwanis International Committee on Key Clubs was formed on January 1, 1949.
Present status
In May 1925, Key Club became an "International" organization. In 2008, there were clubs located throughout North America and the Caribbean area. Thousands of students belonged.
The Florida District is the oldest district in Key Club International.
In 2005, KCI added the Caribbean Atlantic District.
Abigail McKamey is currently the International President.
The Key Club at James Martin High School in Arlington, TX, with 677 members as of April 30, 2006, is the largest local chapter in the world.
The
California-Nevada-Hawaii District Key Club InternationalThe California-Nevada-Hawaii District Key Club International, Cali-Nev-Ha, or simply CNH is a governing body of Key Club International, a youth sponsored community service organization of Kiwanis International, local Kiwanis clubs and school districts across the state.The CNH District is the...
is the largest district as of May 2008.
Notable former Key Club members
- Richard Burr
Richard Mauze Burr is the senior United States Senator from North Carolina. A Republican, Burr represented North Carolina's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for five terms, and was elected to represent North Carolina as a U.S. Senator in the 2004 election...
, Richard J. Reynolds High SchoolRichard J. Reynolds High School is a high school in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Named for R. J. Reynolds, the founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the school opened in 1923...
in Winston-Salem, NC, US Senator from North Carolina (2004-present)
- Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office...
President of the United StatesThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
1993-2001
- Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known by his screen name of Tom Cruise, is an American actor and film producer. Forbes magazine ranked him as the world's most powerful celebrity in 2006. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and won three Golden Globe Awards...
- Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country artist who has sold over 50 million records. He was influenced by traditional country, and he was one of the most popular country singers of the 1990s, blending both honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits...
Country Singer
- Ricki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake is an American actress and television personality, best known for her talk show and starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray.-Early life:...
- Trent Lott
Chester Trent Lott Sr. is a former United States Senator from Mississippi. He has served in numerous leadership positions in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, including House Minority Whip, Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, and Senate Minority Whip...
, US Senator
- Joe Namath
Joseph William "Joe" Namath , also known as Broadway Joe or Joe Willie, is a former American football quarterback...
professional football player
- Bill Nelson
Clarence William "Bill" Nelson is the senior U.S. Senator from Florida. Nelson is a member of the Democratic Party. Nelson became the second sitting member of the United States Congress to fly in space when he flew aboard the as a Payload Specialist during NASA mission STS-61-C...
, Key Club International President 1961, US Senator and astronaut.
- Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. He has been cited as one of the world's most attractive men, a label that entices the media to report on his off-screen life...
actor
- Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is also sometimes referred to as The King of Rock 'n' Roll or The King....
singer
- Stuart Scott
Stuart Scott is a sportscaster and anchor on ESPN's SportsCenter.-Early life and career:Scott attended Richard J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and went to college at the University of North Carolina. He was also part of the on-air talent at the student-run radio station...
, Richard J. Reynolds High SchoolRichard J. Reynolds High School is a high school in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Named for R. J. Reynolds, the founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the school opened in 1923...
in Winston-Salem, NC. Scott is a current ESPN Sportscenter anchor.
- Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio and media personality most notable for his radio show which since January 9, 2006, has been broadcasting on Sirius XM, an uncensored satellite radio service...
Radio DJ/'
Past International Presidents
- Malcolm Lewis 1943-4, West Palm Beach, Florida
- Bill Nelson 1961-2, Melbourne, Florida
- Daniel Martich 1976-1977 Weirton, West Virginia
- Doug Madenburg 1987-1988 Huntington, New York
- Thomas Earnest, 2001-2002 Alabama
- Kyle LeCroy, 2002-2003 Alabama
- Charles Bentley, 2004-2005 Florida
- Joseph Lepper, 2005-2006 New England
- Shivani Radhakrishnan 2006-2007 Otisville, New York
- Grant Lin 2007-2008, Indianapolis, Indiana
- Kia Albertson-Rogers, 2008-2009 New York
- Abigail McKamey, 2009-2010 Kentucky-Tennessee
Current International Board
International President
- Abigail McKamey, Kentucky-Tennessee District
International Vice President
- Adam Joslyn, Wisconsin-Upper Michigan District
International Trustees
- Jared Doles, Southwest District
- Shelby Goodfriend, Florida District
- Susan Kim, Pacific-Northwest District
- Eileen Lee, New Jersey District
- Larmon Luo, California-Nevada-Hawaii District
- Anna Nguyen, Louisiana-Mississippi-West Tennessee District
- Will Robertson, Carolinas District
- XinLei Wang, Wisconsin-Upper Michigan District
- Lance Wilson, Missouri-Arkansas District
- Jenelle Yee, California-Nevada-Hawaii District
- Nancy Zhang, New York District
External links
District Websites