How Key Leader Has Changed Lives / First-Ever Key Leader Reunion

by Nicole McDermott

On August 22, the Capital District hosted the first-ever Key Leader Reunion one-day event. Students and Kiwanis members who attended either of the two spring 2011 events were able to come and there were 21 students present and 9 Kiwanis members. Kiwanis International Trustee Jane Erickson led and facilitated the day's activities. It was a rewarding experience that punctuated the value of the Kiwanis Key Leader program.

As part of the opening activity, students shared how Key Leader changed their lives. Here are some of the student responses:

How did Key Leader change your life?

Key leader taught me how to apply principles to every day life.

Key Leader built my confidence.

Key Leader helped me learn to trust.

Key Leader helped me have a better relationship with my father.

Key Leader made me more open to other people.

Key Leader helped me meet amazing people.

Key Leader helped me be more open-minded.

Key Leader inspired me.

Key Leader helped me to be able to analyze the big picture better.

Key Leader made me closer to my family.

Key Leader helped me make new friends.

Key Leader taught me how to trust.

Key Leader helped me appreciate the people around me.

Key Leader made me brave enough to run for club president.

Key Leader made me more outgoing.

Key Leader helped me meet new people and get close to them.

Key Leader helped me be a more confident to be a leader.

Key Leader helped me put myself out there more to new experiences.

Thank you to all of the Kiwanis Clubs that supported Key Leader in 2011! Without you, the above would never have been possible. This program is one of the many ways that Kiwanis is changing the world one child (teen), one community at a time.

In 2012, the Capital District will have 3 Key Leader weekends:

#1: April 27-29, 2012 - Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center, Millersville, MD

#2: May 18-20, 2012 - Jamestown 4-H Educational Center, Williamsburg, VA

#3: November 9-11, 2012 - Northern Virginia 4-H Educational Center, Front Royal, VA

Registration will open in January 2012 at www.www.key-leader.org.

For more information, please contact District Chair Nicole McDermott (Kiwanis Club of Tysons Corner/McLean, Virginia) at capitalkeyleader@gmail.com or 703.829.5481.

For more information about Key Leader, please visit www.youtube.com/CapitalKeyLeader and watch live student testimonials about the quality of the program. The students featured on our YouTube Channel are all Capital District "kids." Also, search Capital District Key Leader on Facebook and like it or visit key-leader.org.