It came as no surprise that Shady Spring High School teacher Jane Laraba was named Key Club Adviser of the Year. It’s the fifth time she has garnered the award.

“The award is named for Jeff Britton, the Key Club adviser at Woodrow Wilson High School,” Laraba said. “He had been the Key Club adviser for 40 years. He was an excellent adviser, so to get this award is a great honor.”

Laraba said inclusiveness and diversity is one key to Shady Spring’s Key Club success.

“They get to learn about others’ cultures and get exposed to things they might otherwise never be exposed to,” she said. “I found that if teenagers get the opportunity to do good things, that is what they prefer to do.”

The students in Shady Spring’s Key Club agree.

Mathew Lilly, 18, a senior, is a four-year veteran of the Key Club.

“I’m the president this year and I’ve seen the membership grow rapidly this year,” he said. “We got more active in getting new members and won an achieving increasing membership award this year.”

Amna Khan, 17, is this year’s vice president.

“In terms of membership, we took the approach with current members that if your best friend isn’t here then why not invite them in to Key Club,” she said. “Most of our members were juniors looking to connect with friends and for the volunteer hours they needed to put on their college applications.”

Khan said Key Club members can earn scholarships for college.

“Key Club is a great experience for any student’s future,” she said.

Sher Khan, 15, a ninth-grader at the school, says his sister, Amna, influenced him to join the club.

“I joined on my sister’s suggestion,” he said. “I really enjoy it.”

Samantha Harper, a 16-year-old, 10th-grade student at Shady Spring, says she likes being in the Key Club because she gets to help others.

“I have a passion for kids, especially those who don’t get much,” she said. “You give them what you can and see the joy in their faces and that’s what I like about it most.”

Lukas Meadows, 17, is an 11th-grade student in the Key Club at Shady Spring. He said he wants to help his community.

“To see how some of the projects benefit the community is great,” he said.

Ashley Estep, a 15-year-old ninth-grader at Shady Spring, says this was her first year in Key Club.

“It’s awesome,” she said.

Estep is on the West Virginia District Board as a project chairperson.

“I help with ideas on projects,” she said. “And next year, I will also be the sophomore representative.”

Morgan Hung, 16, a 10th-grade student, said he joined because he felt it was important.

“Volunteering and serving others is a very honorable thing and I wanted to be a part of it,” he said.

Christian Martine, 17, a 11th-grade student, says the Key Club at Shady Spring is all about giving to others.

“It’s all about giving back and seeing what you have in your own life, what others don’t and giving some of what you have to other people,” he said.

Martine says without an adviser like Laraba, the club wouldn’t go anywhere.

“Maybe we need a little bit of help or might have forgotten something; Ms. Laraba is always there to keep things rolling in the right direction,” he said.

Kaitlynn Beckett, 16, a 10th-grade Key Club member, says helping others started at home.

“My parents were a big influence and taught me the importance of helping others,” she said. “The Key Club is a great way for me to do those things.”

Domonique Whiteman, 15, a ninth-grader, says the joy in helping others goes both ways.

“Seeing a smile on someone’s face that you helped also helps put a smile on your face,” she said. “It’s a great feeling.”

Key Club was started in May 1925 in Sacramento, Calif., by the local Kiwanis club. The original purpose of Key Club was to provide an active, vocational guidance program for the student body. Later, in response to many other opportunities for service in the school, Key Club began to expand.

Today, Key Club is the largest high school service organization in the world. It has become the high school service club.

Laraba says the Key Club is a student-led service organization, and although the club operates under the school’s regulations, it is different from other clubs.

“Key Club is unique because it blends children and community service with outstanding leadership training,” Laraba said.

The projects and activities undertaken by the Key Club provide learning experiences outside the classroom and encourage students to become involved in their school and community, Laraba said.

“We raised $530 for March of Dimes this year,” Laraba said.

Other major emphasis projects include the Children’s Miracle Network, the March for Babies, Trick or Treat for UNICEF, and Live 2 Learn, Laraba added.

“We have taken crayons and coloring books for the Raleigh General Hospital pediatrics unit,” she said.

Key Club, along with serving the community, also provides many services to the school.

“We’re involved in the Homecoming Parade, Teacher Appreciation, spirit posters and cleanup of the school’s trophy case,” Laraba said.

Laraba says participation in Key Club service activities helps to develop initiative, leadership and good citizenship.

“This involvement helps to heighten awareness of the community’s needs,” she said.

Each Key Club is sponsored by a local Kiwanis club. This sponsorship is part of the Kiwanis program to strengthen today’s youth. The Key Club works closely with the Kiwanis during the year.

Kiwanis projects at Shady Spring High School include the Adopt-A-Highway program, Pancake Day, Tailgate Halloween, Salvation Army bell ringing, K-Family Christmas Party and a pre-school expo.

Laraba, who teaches family and consumer sciences at the school, says she is friendly with the students but she is not their friend.

“Teenagers like being teenagers and they like adults to be adults,” she said. “I’m Mrs. Laraba.”

Laraba says she hopes the Key Club keeps growing.

“Today’s teenagers all have jobs and so many other things they have to do,” she said. “There are more pressures on kids today, and Key Club gives them the opportunity to have some fun and learn about volunteerism and helping others at the same time. I hope more students want to join because it offers an experience of a lifetime. Something they will never forget.”

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