The Kiwanis Club of Bradford recently recognized the organizers and sponsors of the Kiwanis Key Leader student community forum held in November in the Bradford Area School District.
Key Leader is a one-day leadership training program aimed at middle and high school students. Nearly 200 students took part.
Recognized at the Kiwanis luncheon meeting were sponsors PA Kiwanis Foundation, Bradford Area School District, Kiwanis Club of Bradford, Bradford American Legion, Bradford VFW and Auxiliary, the Eagles Club and Ladies Auxiliary, Hamlin Bank and Trust and Northwest Bank.
Also, PA Kiwanis Foundation regional representative Terry Shaffer presented a check of $2,000 in support of the Key Leader student community forum.
PA District Division 1 Lt. Gov. Kathleen Durner offered the event through a collaborative and supportive effort with the Bradford Area School District administration, the Kiwanis Club of Bradford, Kiwanis sponsored service leadership programs including the Floyd C. Fretz Middle School Kiwanis Builder’s Club and Bradford Area High School Kiwanis Key Club, and the PA Kiwanis Foundation.
When the high school sent students to weekend Key Leader programs in spring 2016, Durner wondered how she could impact more students to begin developing leadership skills, especially those who might be unable to attend a weekend event but who would benefit from the training. As a former faculty Key Club Advisor at the high school and Key of Honor recipient, she knew the benefits student leadership and community service bring to young people, as well as the future of Kiwanis.
While attending the 2016 Kiwanis International Convention in Toronto, Canada, Durner learned about one-day Key Leader programs that could be taught within the confines of a school district.
She contacted Bradford Area School District Superintendent Katherine Pude about conducting the forums and learned the school district was also looking to provide leadership training for its students.
Durner then contacted the Kiwanis International office in Indianapolis, Ind., for additional assistance and began to frame the logistics and finances needed to conduct such an event.
The Kiwanis International office in Indianapolis provided a Key Leader facilitator Chris Niles from the Harrisburg area.
Student participants and student facilitators were nominated by the faculty of each school, some of whom were in the Builder’s Club and the Key Club. The lieutenant governor’s goal was to have 100 students from each school, for a total of 200 students, participate in the Student Community Forums. Kiwanians with appropriate clearances participated in the sessions as monitors, as did the faculty advisors for both Builder’s Club and Key Club. Some school faculty were also recruited to assist, and school principals and Pude attended the events.
The mission of Key Leader is to inspire young students to achieve their personal best through service leadership. Students worked individually and in small groups to address key principles of personal integrity, personal growth, respect, building community and pursuit of excellence, both in their everyday life and in their school environment. Students developed plans to embody and implement these principles in their respective schools.
