Students from fourth through sixth grade at Central wrapped up K- Kids Week with a meeting Friday.
Students were welcomed to their meeting in the Central Steamer Gym by K-Kid advisors Jennifer Vickrey and Chelsea Stout, who offered each student a Valentine’s Day donut. Joining the students for their meeting was Kiwanis Club President Beth Bognar and Kiwanis member Gary Montooth. Three students from the Kewanee High School Key Club also attended the meeting.
This week was K-Kids Week at Central, said Vickrey, and each day the kids performed an activity that focused on the club’s main focus of service to the community.
On Monday, the K-Kids kicked off their week with “Show Your K-Kids Pride” and wore buttons and the color purple to celebrate International Epilepsy Awareness Day.
Tuesday was “Kudos to the Helpers Day” and the students signed a thank you poster and delivered cookies from the Cookie Cart to the Kewanee Police and Fire departments.
Wednesday was the “At Home Service Challenge,” where K-Kid families competed in a recycling challenge. The parents who recycled the most that week won the challenge.
Thursday, the students focused on “Random Acts of Kindness,” by decorating coffee collars and labels that read “Have a Great Day” for two area coffee shops, Coco’s and Country Morning Coffee. At Central, they decorated a poster with sticky notes offering messages of kindness.
Friday’s meeting allowed the students to connect with both the local Kiwanis Club and high school Key Club members, who were invited to attend.
The K-Kids club is a service organization, the elementary version of the local Kiwanis Club. Junior high students can join the Builders Club and the Key Club is offered for high school students. The club even extends to the college level with the Circle K Club.
“Everything we do is about giving back,” Vickrey said. “It’s a great introduction to volunteering and giving back starting at the fourth grade.”
The club volunteers and helps out during the school year with activities such as filling Good Fellows Christmas baskets, making cards for nursing homes every holiday and collecting aluminum cans to raise money for worthy causes such as hurricane relief. A weekly school task performed by the K Kids is to collect recycling from each Central classroom on Thursdays.
The Central K-Kids is a large group this year, Vickrey said, with 85 members who have already dedicated over 278 service hours.
