A group of students hurriedly bend over and scribble their names onto a sign-in sheet as they try not to create a traffic jam, but it proves impossible. Key club members spill out the door after them, clogging the hallway.
The weekly Key Club meeting begins with President Haley Hines lifting a wooden gavel and ringing the bronze bell beside it.
As the bell’s sound resonates around the room, Hines asks members to stand and recite the Key Club pledge. At this time everyone in the room stands and holds their right hand above their head and in unison began to speak the solemn words, pledging to “serve their home, community and God.” The tension was broken when members yelled the next line as loudly and aggressively as possible promising to “combat all forces, which tend to undermine these institutions.”
“The icebreaker today is in the spirit of Halloween- a mummy wrapping contest,” Hines said. “Split into two groups and pick one person to be the mummy. The group with the best mummy wins.”
Hines stepped forward and handed one person from each group a giant roll of school issue toilet paper. The Key Club sponsor, Shelley Burkett, put a timer in the shape of a bomb on the screen.
“Four minutes left to build your mummies!” called out Club Editor, junior Natalie Gaona.
The two teams hurriedly wrapped one member in a tight cocoon of white bathroom tissue. Sophomore Benjamin Speigner, tried not to laugh as toilet paper was wrapped around his face and Key club officers count down the 30 seconds left on the clock.
When the clock hit zero the bomb exploded on screen and Hines called for everyone to stop.
“Alright what you’re gonna do now,” Hines said, “is you’re going to have one member from your team come present your mummy to the judge.”
The two mummies waddled up to the front of the room where one member from each team described why their mummy was the most fashionable.
Cheryl Litke, the club’s Kiwanis sponsor and the competitions judge, deemed team two’s mummy the winner of the competition. The members clapped as the two mummies burst out of their wrappings sending toilet paper flying across the room. As a result, the losers’ mummy had to pick all the toilet paper off the floor.
The Key Clubbers took their seats once again, as the president began to read off that week’s agenda. The first things listed on the agenda were volunteer opportunities for the members. To be a member of Key club you must earn 25 hours of community service each semester. Members use volunteer opportunities presented at meetings to earn their service hours. Service opportunities for the month of October were mostly centered around Halloween, events like the Ponder Pumpkin Patch, handing out candy at the Halloween football game and two elementary school fall fairs were requesting volunteers.
The next event on the agenda was Key club’s annual Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF. The club will meet at Town Park the day before Halloween and walk through nearby neighborhoods collecting change to donate to UNICEF, who will use the money to send tetanus vaccines to third world countries.
“It’s gonna be just like last year,” Hines said. “ Come dressed in your costumes, at 5:30 we’ll eat pizza and snacks before we start trick-or-treating.”
The president also reminded members to recycle. Key club has the responsibility of picking up all the recycling as part of serving their school.
“All the time, everyday, any day, before school, after school,” Hines said. “We need people to recycle.”
Hines picked up the wooden gavel and rang the bell again to end the meeting.
“See you all next week!” Ms. Burkett said.