HHS Key Club shares its year of service

The Havre High Key Club would like to take a moment and share with the Havre community a summary of the past year of service. Our 27 members owe many thanks to a supportive Havre Public School administration and staff that encourage and support our service projects throughout the year. The Key Club also would like to thank our local Kiwanis Club who support our members by sharing in the participation of service projects, fund raisers, and their financial support. It is because of the backing of our administration, local Kiwanis members and Havre community that the Key Club was awarded the Outstanding Club of the Year award from a list of nearly 40 other schools in the state of Montana.

On March 26-28, six members of the HHS Key Club travelled to Billings in order to attend the State Convention of Key Clubs. At the convention, awards were given to individual Key Club members for being a distinguished Key Club president, Sheradia Linton; two distinguished members, Alexandra Barkus and Shaylan Brough; and the state of Montana’s most outstanding secretary, Jessica Otto. As a club, we received 11 banner patches including the highly coveted Major Emphasis Award, Single Service Award, Project Life Award, Ladder Award, and Outstanding Club of the Year Award. But, my personal favorite is one that our local Key Club wins nearly every year ,which is the Ronald McDonald House Project Award. This is the award that our local elementary students participate in with the high school. Pop tabs are collected, weighted, and sold to our local Pacific Steel & Recycling. Pacific gives the students over-market value per pound and then the money is contributed to a Ronald McDonald Home that Havre youth and their families have stayed with due to a child’s illness. We can’t thank all the teachers and elementary students enough for their service. One way we try to thank them is to host an ice cream social for the classrooms in each elementary building that has collected the most tabs.

The awards HHS Key Club received reflect the emphasis that the Kiwanis and Key Club have for youth, life, service, and leadership in our community. As a club, our future appears bright. We have returning leadership, young membership, projects on the horizon, and a community that supports our service projects. Jess Otto will serve as Division 7 lieutenant governor and continue working with CASA on the Foster Backpack program. Alexandra Barkus will coordinate and host a community blood drive at the St. Jude Parish Center June 28. Our club is sponsoring our second annual Easter Egg Hunt Sunday, April 9, at 2 p.m. on the practice football fields at the high school and the money collected from the free-will donation will be split between The March of Dimes and the CASA Foster Backpack program. The Key Club began this year and innovates ways to stock and maintain the shelves of a small food pantry for HHS students.

Often, I hear young people talk about how bored they are living here in Havre. Boredom is a self-imposed behavior not to exercise options, yet the Key Club of Havre is filled with young adults who have chosen the option to be involved in their community. I am proud and fortunate to be their high school advisor and wish to celebrate their community service commitment.

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John Ita is the advisor to the Havre High School Key Club