Key Leader 2011 - Don't Miss Out!

By Nicole McDermott
 
Key Leader is Kiwanis's values-centered, weekend leadership education program for high school students. There will be TWO Key Leader weekends in the Capital District in 2011, and I hope your club is committed to sponsoring at least one student to the event closest to you. Our two Capital weekends are as follows:
 
#1 - April 15-17, 2011
Jamestown 4-H Educational Center
Williamsburg, Virginia
Site Coordinator: Yvonne Holley (Kiwanis Club of Virginia Beach, Virginia)
 
 #2 - May 13-15, 2011
Arlington Echo Outdoor Educational Center
Millersville, Maryland
Site Coordinator: Corey Goggin (Kiwanis Club of Tysons Corner/McLean, Virginia)
 
Spring Key Leader events are open to any 8th-12th grade students (in or out of Key Club or Builders Club). Once again, our goal for each event will be 60 students plus an additional 8-10 student facilitators.
 
We encourage Kiwanis Clubs to ensure Key Leader in their 2010-11 budgets. It is $200/student (or $175/student if the student is a member of Key Club or Builders Club). For such a small amount of money, Kiwanis can truly make a difference in a young adult's life.

Registration will open in January 2011. We anticipate selling out both events as we did in 2008 and 2009. For this reason, it will be very important to register students as soon as possible. It is recommended that Kiwanis Clubs begin identifying students NOW (by the end of December at the latest) so that part is already done once the registration website is available.
 
Key Leader is a leadership education weekend for high school students focusing on the concept of service leadership and five principles: integrity, growth, respect, community and excellence. The weekend is casual and includes hands-on exercises; writing and reflection activities; cooperative, team activities; physical challenges and more. Students arrive between 4-6 p.m. on Friday and depart between 11 a.m.-12 noon on Sunday.  All adult chaperones have undergone background checks, and the weekend is run by a professional facilitator who has successfully completed a training course on the curriculum and who brings experience working with young people.
 
If you are interested in serving on the Key Leader District Committee and helping to promote Key Leader around the District and in your own area, please contact District Chair Nicole McDermott (Kiwanis Club of Tysons Corner/McLean, Virginia) at capitalkeyleader@gmail.com or 703.829.5481. We are currently looking for representatives from the following regions particularly: DelMarVa, Heart of Virginia, Mason Dixon, Presidential, and Southwest Virginia.
 
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.