Key Club produces leaders

Debbie Blank

Batesville High School principal Sherri Preston walked into the gym Jan. 15 wearing a bright yellow raincoat. She hugged senior Bryce Gorsuch, who was holding a bucket, then handed teacher Larry Lemen her glasses. Preston teased Gorsuch about getting a detention. With that, she sat in a chair in front of the student body while he climbed a ladder behind her.

The principal covered her eyes just before Gorsuch tipped the bucket of slime onto her head.

It was all in good fun and just the latest attempt by the school’s Key Club to raise dollars for worthy causes, such as the March of Dimes. Club co-adviser Larry Lemen explains, “The goal the students set was a Dash for Dimes – a 200-yard dash, that is. Two hundred yards of dimes is over $1,000.”

To get teens and staff excited, officers approached Preston for a promise: If they raised that much money, she would be covered in goo.

Member Tyler Meyer, a sophomore, says they achieved success by “begging. Certain kids went around to each (third block) class with cups each day asking for donations.” While students mostly threw in change and $1 bills, teachers were adding $20 bills for the chance to see their leader all wet.President Brittany Brewer recalls, “When we gave her the news ... that the school had met the goal and raised about $1,059, she was dumbfounded!”

Treasurer Shannon Morris believes the Key Club is vital “because ... our students can learn how to help other people.” Brewer adds, “It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from or what you’re interested in, every kid has the opportunity to help out.”

Two other fundraisers got the year off to a great start. The club’s Run for the Dawg 5K Sept. 26 earned $736. Half went to Alex's Lemonade Stand, an organization working to find a cure for childhood cancer, and half was saved for training workshops.

Last fall members decided to donate $500 to a needy family during the holidays. They raised $200 by selling candy cane-grams at lunch – five for $1 or one for a quarter. “It was crazy on the last day,” Brewer laughs. “We got in about 200.” That’s a lot of taping messages to candy and delivering the grams.

Different clubs supported different BHS families in need in an effort organized by counselor Matt Maple. “Our family had two at the high school, but we don’t know who it is,” the president says. After they handed over the contribution, members felt “just really happy and proud that our club could actually do something that really affects someone at our school, someone who needs help.”

The fundraising just keeps on happening. “We sell doughnuts every Friday,” Brewer mentions.

The next big one is a Valentine’s Day quiz organized by a company. “That’s going to be a good one,” the president predicts. “Kids take them in flex every year” to determine who’s most compatible in a student’s grade, then the whole school. Proceeds will help pay for a leadership conference.

Meyer is looking forward to one way fundraising dollars will be spent. He and adult Bill Fisher are starting Kids and Us, a program that will satisfy basic needs of the underprivileged, such as shoes.

Two other club committees have brainstormed ways to collect funds, a seniors vs. teachers water balloon siege and a video game tourney.

To support the sponsoring Kiwanis Club of Batesville (see box on page 1), members plan to help with the Kiwanis spring carnival and Relay for Life concession stand.

The club isn’t all just work-work-work.

Members who meet deadlines or take part in projects may attend a pizza party or other reward.

Officers learned “everything you needed to know” at a Sept. 19 session at Kiwanis International headquarters in Indianapolis, Morris reports. Then key leaders were trained in Nashville the next weekend. “We learned a lot and made a lot of new friends,” she recalls. Next about 10 members will give up part of spring break to attend a March 26-28 district leadership conference in Indianapolis. “There’s a dance, so it’s going to be fun,” Morris says.

Brewer describes members as outgoing and creative. During the 5K, some already in a band called Group Therapy played classic rock to encourage runners. “It was really neat that we had the talent in our group to provide entertainment.”

“We are always doing something exciting that everyone wants to participate in,” says freshman member Kaitlyn Christie. “I would recommend it for any incoming freshman or even people already in high school to join.”

What sets the Key Club apart from other BHS groups is “we are mainly student run,” Morris notes. Members pick their projects and lead meetings.

According to Meyer, “You feel like you have more of an accomplishment.”

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