AHS Key Club 2022-2023
March 23, 2023
AHS’s Key Club has been working with Brighter Birthdays for 5 years, over which they have managed to pack over 1,000 bags. This year at AHS we have seen some Key Club events and fundraisers such as the Valentine’s Day bake sale, Brighter Birthday’s, and Holiday Hotcakes. Kaitlyn Baty is a sophomore here at AHS, who joined Key Club just this school year. Baty has enjoyed her time with Key Club and taking part in these various fundraisers and functions. She said, “I joined Key Club because I was really interested in doing more around the community and getting involved with school events too. I had a great time working with Brighter Birthdays this year which is a really amazing program that works with schools to provide less fortunate students with party supplies and presents.” In the eyes of Riley Roberts, Brighter Birthday’s has been the club’s most impactful service project. She said, “Brighter Birthdays really is just an amazing organization and I am so glad that we have been able to work with them consistently. In an hour we can pack hundreds of bags for these children. That’s hundreds of hearts and lives touched by a small portion of our day.”
The Key Club bake sale was once a very popular fundraiser that took place every year, but unfortunately, with the covid outbreak, was done away with. Until this year, Key Club hasn’t put on a bake sale fundraiser in 4 years. For Valentine’s Day this year, many key club members brought in baked goods from home to sell for the very first key club Valentine’s Day bake sale which raised scholarship money for a senior Key Club member. Abbie Carson is a first-year member of Key Club this year who participated in the fundraiser by bringing in some home-baked brownies. She said, “I was very excited when I found out that the Key Club was going to put on a bake sale fundraiser. I don’t really bake, but this fundraiser got me excited and encouraged me to try something new. I’ve had a great time participating in different events with Key Club this year, but this was my favorite fundraiser this year so far, solely because it got me interested in something I wouldn’t have tried otherwise.” The bake sale this year proved to be a very popular event among students because the club nearly sold out of every item brought in on the first day. Carson and many others hope that the Key Club will continue with this fundraiser, looking forward to bringing in or purchasing more items next year.
Holiday Hotcakes has been a tradition here at AHS since 2016, not only is it an inventive fundraiser for the school, but a great event for Key Club members to volunteer for as an opportunity to earn service hours. Manu Singh is a Freshman, and this year is his first as an active Key Club member. Singh was one of the members to work at Holiday Hotcakes. He said, “Holiday Hotcakes was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed seeing all the little kids have a good time and get to see Santa. This was one of the less demanding events I worked on. I mainly just cleaned up and handed out pictures, but it was still a great event for the school and I’m glad I got to be there.” Earlier this year, Singh was elected by members of the club to be the 9th grade Key Club officer. As an officer, Singh attends the weekly officers meeting and is in charge of keeping fellow members of his grade level up to date with upcoming Key Club events and news.
While on the topic of Key Club Leadership, Riley Roberts is a senior this year at AHS who has been a part of the Key Club for all four years of high school. Roberts is also the president of the Key Club, this means that she is not only the head of the leadership team but works to organize the various club functions. Roberts has been a part of the Key Club leadership team for the past 3 years. She said, “I would have to say that being involved in the leadership team is my favorite part of Key Club because it’s something I genuinely enjoy doing. I definitely encourage others to be a part of the Key Club because it’s the perfect way to plug into your community.” The Key Club is a valuable organization that is all about giving back to the community, but also providing students with work and volunteer experience, allowing students a head start in the skills needed after graduating high school. It’s been a busy year for the Key Club so far, and we’re excited to see the new opportunities that will arise in the upcoming year.
