Fair 46° F

Home > Archive > Feb 21, 2008

SCHS Introduces 'Key' to Success
By Sharon May
Managing Editor
A new club was recently formed at Snow Canyon High School, and the club is already taking big steps.
Rebecca Powell, 16, is the historian for the Snow Canyon Key Club and also in charge of public relations. She said she has been frustrated in the past with student-run high school clubs that never seem to get off the ground, but Key Club is different. Though still in its first year at SCHS, Key Club has already accomplished many things and is currently gearing up for a spring-break service trip to La Mision, Mexico.
“It's a lot of fun,” Powell said. “Out of all the clubs I've been in during high school, this would be my favorite – the best run and you learn the most from it.”
Though a new organization on campus, Key Club has a steady membership of about 65 students, 50 of whom will be donating their spring break time to participate in the Mexico trip.
The trip, March 10-15, will be to the Door of Faith orphanage, where students will be involved in cleaning and building projects, grounds maintenance and providing and preparing food for the orphaned children, according to a press release.
The students have conducted fundraisers for their trip, including setting up booths at Lin’s and Smith's grocery stores and talking to customers as they entered and exited the store. That fundraiser was a great success, according to the press release. It's important to note, Powell said, that all of the money raised will be used to benefit the orphans; the Snow Canyon students are personally paying for their own travel expenses.
“We're paying our own way to go to Mexico,” she said, “so any fundraiser or any money that we raise goes to the orphanage.”
The Key Club has been planning the trip since October. A local toy company has donated toy cars to the club’s efforts for the orphans, according to a press release, and a local LDS Relief Society group will be providing blankets for the children. Toothbrushes for the orphans will be provided by Nathan Moore, a local dentist.
The three-fold focus of Key Club, according to the press release, is to perform local service in school and the community and to also perform international service. In addition to organizing their upcoming trip, the Key Club students have been put in charge of organizing and carrying out the construction of a new school symbol on a hill north of Snow Canyon. They have additionally taken part in many community service projects with the Santa Clara Kiwanis, which is the local sponsoring body for the club.
The SCHS advisor for the internationally affiliated club is Dennis Leavitt. In addition to leading the Key Club students in their service efforts, Leavitt also teaches them leadership principles and various life skills in regular workshop settings.
“He teaches us different leadership principles and things that we can use throughout our lives in family and community,” Powell said.
Part of the goal of Key Club is to turn students into leaders through service and training, according to the press release.
To join the club, students don't need to have a certain GPA or any special qualifications, but they do have to be committed to working hard, Powell said. For their efforts, students will have a rewarding and enjoyable experience, she said.
“It's been great. It's so much fun,” she said.
The Key Club is currently accepting donations of both money and goods for their humanitarian trip to Mexico. To contribute to the club's efforts, contact Dennis Leavitt at 652-9726.

---