By Nicole McDermott (CapitalKeyLeader@gmail.com)  

Our spring 2010 weekend will be April 23-25, 2010, at Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center, in Millersville, Maryland. Registration is NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE for this event. Please visit www.key-leader.org and click on Registration Information on the left side. Then find our event listing and click Register. Follow all prompts to register. Registration is complete only when a screen shows at the end that says something to the effect of 'Thank you for registering - registration now complete.' 

The date of the weekend is approximately one month after Key Club District Convention and does not conflict with Passover, Easter, SATs, or local spring break weeks. Arlington Echo is the same location as the 2008 and 2009 spring Key Leader events and consists of 24 wooded acres on the Severn River and boasts heated cabins, a dining hall, an outdoor ropes course, and more. Arlington Echo is about 45 minutes from Washington, D.C., and about 20 minutes from Annapolis. Corey Goggin from the Kiwanis Club of Tysons Corner is our 2010 Arlington Echo site coordinator.
 
Kiwanis International has determined that the 2010 registration cost will be is $200.00 per student if not in Key Club or Builders Club. Thanks to the Kiwanis International Foundation, the cost is $175.00 for students in Key Club or Builders Club. Meals, lodging, t-shirt, participant manual and more are included in registration fee. (Please note that this information is different from what appeared in previous eBuilder articles about the cost; this was a recent change per Kiwanis International.)
 
The spring Key Leader events are open to any current 8th-12th grade students (in or out of Key Club or Builders Club). Once again, our goal for this event will be 60 students plus an additional 8-10 student facilitators. We were so very happy that our 2009 event "sold out" with 80+ students attending Key Leader and reaping the benefits of this tremendous program! We are looking forward to the same in 2010. Last spring, there were Kiwanis Clubs and others who wanted to register, but could not because we were sold out. Please register early to ensure a space in this amazing program! 

Key Leader is a leadership education weekend for high school students focusing on the concept of service leadership and five principles: integrity, growth, respect, community and excellence. The weekend is casual and includes hands-on exercises; writing and reflection activities; cooperative, team activities; physical challenges; risk-taking opportunities and more. Students arrive between 4-6 p.m. on Friday and depart between 11 a.m.-12 noon on Sunday.  All adult chaperones have undergone background checks, and the weekend is run by a professional facilitator who has successfully completed a training course on the curriculum and who brings experience working with young people.
 
Thank you again to all of the Kiwanis Clubs that supported Key Leader in 2009! We hope for even more support from Kiwanis Clubs in the District for 2010! Special acknowledgement to the Kiwanis Club of La Plata, Maryland; La Plata is the sponsor of the first two students who have registered for 2010 - woo hoo!
 
For more information about the Spring 2010 Key Leader weekend (April 23-25-2010 in Millersville, Maryland), please contact Capital District Key Leader Chair Nicole McDermott at CapitalKeyLeader@gmail.com or 703.917.8877. Search Capital District Key Leader on Facebook and become a fan! Visit www.youtube.com/CapitalKeyLeader and watch live student testimonials about the quality of the program.