Our school offers many opportunities for students to engage in activities and groups that they enjoy.
With over 30 clubs and the ability to start new ones if interested, students are able to connect with others and do something they might not be able to participate in outside of school.
Key Club is a prominent club offered by our school. With over 60 students engaging in this club currently, it is important they have enough funding to allow equal opportunities for members to go on the yearly trip to Albany to attend a conference.
In order to raise money for events like this, the club hosts the Halloween carnival which offers elementary school students games, food, and prizes. Key Club also has several bake sales a year to ensure they make enough profit.
This year they also sold flower slips for Valentine’s Day as a way to raise money. This is the first time the club has done a fundraiser like this.
Continuing to grow this club is one of the officers’ main objectives, but their major goal is not self-benefit. It is helping outside of school in the community.
“The purpose of Key Club is to provide community service opportunities for our distinguished members..we also want to contribute to society by helping those in need,” states the current president Imaad.
In order for the club to function, there are five officer positions which allows for equal workload and the ability to contribute the much needed help in running meetings, along with gathering community connections.
“We have five different officer positions including president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, and historian/PR. This allows the roles and jobs to be split up to ensure the club functions smoothly,” explains Imaad. “Currently I am president, Lauren Tesak is vice, Nathan Amankwah is secretary, Katherine Thrailkill is treasurer, and Caitlin Alt is historian.”
Officers serve their term from March into the following school year, when their candidacy ends. Elections take place in January or February to allow a smooth transition once March comes around.
“Recently during late January we had our elections for 2024-2025 officers. Khalid Elmarasy won president, Jon Wassel is vice, Deklan McCarthy will be secretary, Nicole Zuniga claimed treasurer, and Caroline Sekula was elected historian/PR,” states Imaad. Khalid Elmarasy points out, “elections for officers are held during the months of January or February. Although the elected officers are not finally appointed until LTC[Leadership Training Conference], where they will learn how to run the club.”
As mentioned previously, Key Club goes on a yearly trip to Albany to attend a conference for elected officers.
“Those willing to be an officer can go on the yearly trip to a conference in Albany which allows for participants to go through training in their elected positions,” explains Khalid.
“LTC for several people was about learning to be comfortable with public speaking and realizing it’s okay to not be good at something initially but you must definitely try it. You’re forced to be outside and engage through activity night, karaoke night, etc. and meet and learn about the amazing people that make the Key Club community,” explains senior Nathan Amankwah.
This club also travels all around New Hartford and Utica for service opportunities. Volunteering is the main goal of Key Club, so it is important that they constantly have available work they can contribute to organizations.
“We participate within 12 different service organizations scattered throughout New Hartford and Utica, such as the Utica Rescue Mission, the Salvation Army, New Hartford Recreation Center, and for the PTSA,” explains Imaad. “We do not go anywhere specific, only to places that need help from the volunteers. They are usually local whether it’s in Utica or New Hartford,” summarizes Khalid.
Key Club prides itself on having so many of its members willing to give back and help in the community. So far this year they have had roughly 20 volunteering opportunities for members to gain service time.
“Volunteering for me is about staying active and feeling productive. It’s always fun to go out and volunteer with friends and I enjoy the feeling of keeping busy,” says Nathan. “Sometimes it’s just nice to go out of your way and do something outside of your regular activities and to have fun doing it too, because then it makes you forget you’re actually doing any work at all.”
Meetings are held in the Spartan Seminar room to ensure that if all members are able to attend there will be enough space. Key Club also has a teacher-advisor, Mr. Goodelle, who keeps officers in line and meetings running efficiently.
“The club meets Wednesdays during the second half of lunch. Meetings are occasional to ensure people can both enjoy going out, but also be able to receive valuable information. We like to keep our members happy,” says Imaad.
Overall, Key Club is definitely an extracurricular activity that everybody should be a part of. Contributing to work in the community and being able to travel with your friends is all just a plus to this fantastic organization.
