Rocky Mountain November 2016 Kiwanian The Official Publication of the Rocky Mountain District Kiwanis www.rmdkiwanis.com Special Edition November is Kiwanis Family Month!
November is Kiwanis Family Month! Think of November as a month-long Kiwanis family reunion. During the month of November, members of Kiwanis and every Kiwanis-sponsored club unite in service, discovery and fellowship. This is the time to celebrate the work we re doing to make the world a better place, to share what s working in our own clubs and learn how other clubs succeed. The unity that exists among our nearly 600,000 members has the power to transform the world! Photo Challenge Contest The committee is holding a photo challenge contest for the month of November as well. To qualify for the contest, the member (that's you) must post in the "Kiwanis Family Month" event page with a photo of their K-Family interaction with a caption. You can post as many times as you want! At the end of the month, the committee will look at all the photos and award a prize for the best picture for each branch of the K-Family: K-Kids, Builders Club, Key Club, CKI, Kiwanis and Aktion Club. Six prizes will be awarded! Winners will receive CKI swag from the committee.
Mary Forhan Builders Club Administrator Think of Builders Clubs as Key Clubs for middle schoolers. Builders Clubs build leaders, an interest in service, and a desire to help others in the community. It is all about service, project-based learning and of course, leadership and responsibility. Middle schoolers vary in their ability to take on the roles of planning and implementing service projects. The Builders Club at Powell Middle School in Littleton is incredibly competent. The students are often engaged in other service activities through various clubs at school and through church. For the most part, they are self-motivated and enthusiastic. The first year we re-incorporated after a several year hiatus, we had meetings every other week for an hour each after school. One meeting each month was devoted to planning and carrying out service projects. The second meeting was devoted to an outside speaker. The speakers talked to the kids about engaging in a bigger world, and building a life that incorporated service. Speakers included a visiting teacher from Uganda, a fireman, Miss Colorado (who had a platform of community service), founders of Sweet Dream in a Bag, and a policeman. Projects included working with Arapahoe High School on their Trick or Treat Street at Halloween and Easter Egg Hunt in spring for kids with disabilities, packing bedding for children in domestic violence shelters, collecting toys at Christmas, and writing cards to children in hospitals. I taught parliamentary procedure and Robert's Rules of Order at the first meeting by having the students make trail mix for snack using ingredients they voted on (M&Ms, cereal, pretzels, raisins, etc.). The students had to make a motion, second it, discuss it, and then take a vote on each ingredient. There are great resources for ideas online at the Facebook page for the Kiwanis K-Kids & Builders Club or www.buildersclub.org. The Builders Club at I Am Academy, a Douglas County charter school in the projects of north Denver, had an entirely different demographic. The students had not been exposed to leadership opportunities and taking responsibility for planning and executing service projects. They were unsure how to lead a meeting and get their ideas accomplished. We started out the year with the same parliamentary procedure lesson but they struggled to grasp the concept and voted down every ingredient except one and then didn't have enough trail mix to go around. They then had to backtrack and revote. We had the same format of meetings every other month alternating between a speaker and a service project. Since the students didn't have transportation for after school meetings, the meetings were during the school day for 30-45 minutes and included the whole class. There is no one way to manage a Builders Club. The key ingredient of success is to have fun The second year the meetings were only for interested students as uninterested students were disruptive. Projects included making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the homeless at the Denver Rescue Mission, packing bedding for children in domestic violence shelters, painting a large map of the USA on the playground, packing donated socks and treats for the homeless for Christmas, writing Valentines cards to vets, a Holiday Store (thru ABC Fundraising) for the whole school to provide inexpensive items for children to give their families, and a Book Swap. So far this year, students are working on doing a fund-raising projects to raise money for a Buddy Bench for the playground. The two fund-raising projects include a Neon School Dance and a snack/candy/bake sale selling donated and homebaked snacks and candy. They will also be writing a script and performing it at an all-school assembly to teach students how to use the Buddy Bench to help kids feel included and prevent bullying. There is no one way to manage a Builders Club. Details should be worked out to meet the needs of the school, the faculty advisor and the sponsoring club Kiwanis advisor. The key ingredient of success is to have fun while learning and doing. I am happy to help you get started. Contact me at maryforhan@comcast.net If you aren't already sponsoring a Builders Club, consider starting one this year. If you already have a Builders Club, please contact me so that I can include you on our mailing list.
1. Consider sponsoring a Key Club. WHY? If you believe in the Kiwanis mission that Kiwanis is a community service organization dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time, then working with the youth of your community is a perfect fit. The expense of sponsoring a Key Club depends on the size and participation of the members. Once the Key Club has been chartered, it is the Key Club s responsibility to fund themselves by paying dues and organizing fundraisers. If the Key Club is trained property, then sponsoring the Key Club would be a minimal expense to the Kiwanis Club. The Key Club generally will meet after school each week. The faculty and Kiwanis advisors work best as a team. With a committed faculty advisor, the time requirement of the Kiwanis advisor may be minimal. In my experience, when the faculty and Kiwanis advisor can attend most of the weekly meetings and many of the Key Club projects, Key Leader, DCON or ICON, the club is able to grow well and become very strong. The time commitment would be a minimum of one hour a week. 2. Get involved. WHY? Kiwanis motto: Serving the Children of the World, that s why! What better way to serve the children of the world than right in your community? Participate in the Key Cub events sponsored by your club and others. Encourage the faculty and Kiwanis advisor to include the local Kiwanis Clubs in their events and invite the Key Club to your events. Attend Key Leader and bring a few youths from church or another youth program. This event gives the youth an in depth look at what Key Club is all about. Often those that attend come home looking to get involved with a Key Club which helps give strength to the existing clubs. Who knows there may be a need to charter a new club, too. Chaperone an event. There are many opportunities to get involved with the youth while chaperoning for Key Leader, District Convention, International Convention, Board meetings and other out of town events. 3. Check in. WHY? Three steps to a successful Key Club year Check in with your Key Club often. If they know you re watching, they will want to make your proud. Check in with your Key Club Ltg. Governor. If they know your club is willing to be a resource, they will bring you opportunities to support them. Ask them to send you their monthly newsletter. You would be amazed at all they are doing in your division. Check in with the Faculty advisor. If they know you re there to support them, they will be willing to go above and beyond. Being actively involved with the Key Club is the single best way to grow your club, the division and ultimately the district. People get involved in Kiwanis to support the children of the world, so what better place to do that than with the local Kiwanis Club. I m fortunate to have had the opportunity to be involved in Key Club as a chaperone, advisor and now the District Administrator. I strongly encourage each and every one of you to get involved in one or all of the Service Leadership Programs (SLP) sponsored by your club. If your club doesn t sponsor a SLP, they should. To find more go to www.keyclub.org or give me a call. I LOVE chatting about Key Club
Jan Brown Reed CKI Administrator Circle K International (CKI) is the premier collegiate and university community service, leadership development, and friendship organization in the world. With more than 13,770 members in 17 nations, CKI is making a positive impact around the world every day. Circle K clubs are organized and sponsored by a Kiwanis club on a college or university campus. CKI is a self-governing organization and elects its own officers, conducts its own meetings, and determines its own service activities. CKI blends community service and leadership training with the opportunity to meet other college students around the world and work together on a common goal. One such project is the Six Cents Initiative, CKI s International fundraiser that aims to provide water to the 2.2 billion children worldwide who lack safe drinking water. The RMD CKI boasts 7 Chartered CKI Clubs with 162 active students. With the number of community colleges, universities and colleges in our district, we have the potential for many more CKI clubs. I ve been the RMD CKI Administrator for the past 4 1/2 years. The students I ve had the honor of working with are truly amazing in their desire to build a better world, give back to their communities and build life-long friendships. Is there potential in your community for your club sponsor a CKI club? Call or email me, janbrownreed@gmail.com, to discuss this awesome opportunity. Ryan Chepovsky 2016-2017 CKI Governor CSU - Pueblo Trevor, Ryan, Breana, Victoria CKI Volunteers at 2016 DCON 2016 CKI Retreat
Carl Shinn Aktion Club Administrator This is the story of Kiwanis Aktion Club, the centerpiece for me of the whole Kiwanis world. In case you haven t heard, an Aktion Club is a service and fun organization for adults with disabilities. Although the Aktion concept started in Florida in the late 1980s, it didn t become an official Service Leadership Program until 2000. Today, there are clubs in Canada, Barbados, Malaysia, Jamaica, Bahamas, Philippines, Australia and the United States. During the last sixteen years, the Rocky Mountain District has built 11 Aktion clubs, 9 of which are still officially operating. These nine clubs (listed below) now have roughly 100 members. Divisions without Aktion Clubs today are 1, 2, 5, 8, 11, and 18. If you are in one of those Divisions, think about Aktion Club Potential! Club Division Charter date Blue Spruce/Evergreen, 14 January 31, 2011 Castle Rock 15 June 1, 2015 Grand Junction 7 May 15, 2004 Northern Colorado 16 September 22, 2006 Panhandle Partners Scottsbluff 6 August 24, 2005 Powell Wyoming 10 June 15, 2012 Pueblo Diversified Industries 12 October 21, 2013 Rampart Range Colorado Springs, 4 September 3, 2013 Rocky Mountain Partners Lakewood 9 October 2001 How shall I tell you about our Aktion clubs? Well, of course they are just as diverse in their service and fellowship as our Kiwanis club are Some wash cars to raise money and others sell peanuts Some serve meals and others make Christmas placemats Some go bowling and others go to the zoo You get the idea they re just like us! What do we need to make our Aktion clubs even more attractive? We need to create a list of prospective sites for new Aktion Clubs. We would love to build 10 clubs this year, but we would settle for one or two solid ones. What can you do for our Kiwanis Aktion clubs? We need more Kiwanis Clubs to start and sponsor Aktion Clubs. We need Aktion Clubs in Divisions 1, 2, 5, 8, 11, and 18. We need more Kiwanians to befriend, transport, and help Aktion members. We need Kiwanis Clubs to make sure Aktion Clubs dues are paid. Please contact me with your Aktion Club questions. It is my job as the district administrator to supply you with Aktion Club information, support or presentations. Please let me know how I can help!
KC Graduate A Bridge to Kiwanis Membership K for Key Club and C for Circle K Club. So what is it? It is a personal proactive program, developed in the Rocky Mountain District, to provide a method for retention of the Key Club and Circle K graduates. KC Graduates have an advocate in the Kiwanis District KC Graduate Administrator. That is what makes this program different than any other. As the KC Graduate Administrator, I work for the KC Graduate, introducing them to a Circle K Club, when the past Key Club member enrolls in a college having a CKI Club. If they do not enroll in a college, I seek out a Kiwanis Club that they can join. Max Williams KC Graduate Administrator Created in 2013, KC Graduate has 64 students currently participating This program has no boundaries. The introductions involve several phone calls, emails, and/or text messages to provide that initial contact and introduction of the KC Graduate to the Circle K International or Kiwanis Club. KC Graduates remain as a special class of Honorary Members (KCG Members) of their home clubs. Home clubs are Kiwanis clubs that sponsored their Service Leadership Program. There are no fees or dues to the member or the home club for participating in the program. It is up to the home club to adopt the program and determine what they will provide to the KC Graduate. The member may sign up in high school and receive KC Graduate communications, but becomes an actual member and receives their ID card after graduation and when they have reached their eighteenth birthday. College students in Circle K International may become members anytime, provided they are age 18 and may continue membership to age 40. The KC Graduates in the military may receive the same home club benefits that all the other KC Graduates receive, recognizing that participation may be difficult at times. The Rocky Mountain District launched the program in the spring of 2013 and currently has 64 KC Graduates participating in the program and three have joined their local Kiwanis Clubs. Most of the KC Graduates are in the United States, but there are a few in other countries. I believe the program has started very well and Policies and Procedures are in place to provide for the sustainability of the program. I believe it is important to do something proactive rather than sit on the sidelines of passiveness and wonder what to do to actively strive to retain our youth who are already members of the Kiwanis Family. If you would like more information, please see the web site www.kcgraduate.org.
RMD Kiwanis statistics 6563 adult and youth members Adult clubs MEMBERS CLUBS AUDIENCE kiwanis.org 2586 86 Adults aktionclub.org 136 9 Adults with disabilities circlek.org 162 7 College and university students KC Graduate kcgraduate.org 64 Key Club and CKI students Youth clubs MEMBERS CLUBS AUDIENCE keyclub.org 3312 20 High school students age 14 18 buildersclub.org 152 27 Middle school students age 11 14 k-kids.org 151 20 Elementary school students age 6 12 Programs Foundation Academic achievement and character development recognition programs for students age 6 12. kiwaniskids.org The fundraising and grant-giving arm of the Rocky Mountain District. rmdkf.com A weekend leadership retreat for teens age 14 18. key-leader.org P.O. Box 270738 Fort Collins CO 80527 Phone: 303-462-5148 FAX: 970-568-8032. rmdkiwanis.com All figures approximate as of November 1 2016, and subject to change.