Student leadership is nothing new at Homewood High School, but this year, it is particularly abundant. The HHS Key Club is what senior Will Palmisano calls the “center of the Key Club universe,” with students holding Key Club offices throughout the state and country. “We have an unprecedented concentration of leadership here at Homewood,” Palmisano says. Palmisano serves in two positions at the state level: the District Governor of Alabama and Lieutenant Governor of Division 5 (Birmingham area). “It’s the first time that someone from Alabama has held both positions at the same time.”
In addition to Palmisano, senior Rebecca Riley serves as the International Key Club President. Officers from around the country report to Riley about activities and progress, while sophomore Caroline Sims serves as Lieutenant Governor of Division 10 (Talladega and surrounding area).
The Alabama District of Key Club has been very active in the Keeping Promises Campaign for the new Benjamin Russell Children’s Hospital, a Children’s Miracle Network hospital in Birmingham. The district’s five-year goal of raising $150,000 was realized and exceeded this January, just two months short of the five-year mark of its original pledge. This donation funded the building and furnishing of a teen activity room and a pediatric waiting room in the new hospital.
Key Club is just one level of a group of organizations headed by Kiwanis International. The groups include Kiwanis and Kiwanis Young Professionals for adults, Circle K for college students, Key Club for high school students, Builders Club for middle schoolers, and Aktion Club for citizens with disabilities. Collectively, these organizations comprise what is commonly known as the "K-Family"
On the international level, the Kiwanis is working to rid the world of maternal and neonatal tetanus with its Eliminate Project. Kiwanis, which has partnered with UNICEF on the project, aims to raise $110 million to vaccinate 61 million mothers and their future babies against tetanus spores commonly found in third-world countries where sanitation and healthcare are poor. If it succeeds in its goal, Kiwanis will have wiped 40+ countries of the blight of tetanus by 2015.
By taking posistions as state and international leaders in Key Club, these Homewood students have made it their mission to build their homes, schools, and communities through service. While it is exciting to have so much leadership at Homewood, all three students maintain that what they are most excited about inspiring those around them to take pleasure in the service of others. The future holds great possibilities for the HHS Key Club.
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LtoR: Rebecca Riley, Caroline Sims and Will Palmisano[/caption]