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KCI leadership lessons… Knowing Who You Are and What You are Doing
By Bob Robinson
Editor
GREENVILLE – Service, character, leadership… and fun.
Key Club International Division 3 Lt. Governor Mariah Reitz gave
Greenville Kiwanians a taste of what it’s like to go to one of her
Division meetings.
She had Greenville High School Key Club members hand out three work
sheets, telling them to do the “Beginning Exercise” first. Some
Kiwanians pulled out pens and pencils and started following the
directions… Step 1: Draw a large circle in the middle of your paper…
Suddenly, a number of Kiwanians stood up and started walking around the
room. A couple of them even sat down in a different seat than they
started in…
It seems Step 9 said “only do steps 7 and 8.” Seven… Stand up and walk
around the room twice. Eight… Now sit down at a different seat.
Kiwanians had just learned one of the lessons of leadership that Key
Club leaders learn: To lead a group you have to know who you are and
what you are doing.
“Games are a cool way to do this,” Reitz said. “I like to make all of
my meetings fun,” she added.
Two more games were on Reitz’ agenda for the Kiwanis Wednesday lunch
presentation. The first was a demonstration… no Kiwanians needed (or
expected). Students sat on the floor, locked arms with their backs
against each other and stood up (or tried to), using each other as
braces.
The second included volunteers from the older folks. Several
participants stood in a circle and grabbed the hands of the person
across from them. This resulted in a dozen or so arms intertwined in
the center of the circle.
They were then instructed to extricate themselves without releasing the
hands of the other person… the results were interesting.
These were warm-up exercises designed to help students get to know each
other.
Some exercises helped students know themselves better or learn more
about the world around them.
“If the World was a Village of 100 People” there would be… how many
Asians, Europeans, Africans and people from North and South America; or
how many would be female and male… and so on.
It was interesting to learn that out of 100 people six would own 59
percent of the wealth (all in the United States), 20 consume 80 percent
of the energy, one is dying of starvation, one has a computer and one
has a college education.
“The point of this,” Reitz said, “is that when you are educated and
know more about something, you are more likely to make better
decisions.”
Reitz told the group that Key Club International, the largest
student-led community service organization in the world, is in 33
countries. It has more than 244,000 members and performs 12 million
hours of community service each year.
The organization is larger than its sponsoring organization, Kiwanis
International.
Reitz told Kiwanians that Division meetings are not all “fun and games”
despite the lessons and values learned from them. Recent meetings have
been to plan the Division’s final event of the year, “Box City” at
Greenville High School.
“It’s being held to increase awareness of the plight of the homeless,”
she said. “It’s open to all high school students… they don’t have to be
Key Club members.”
Box City will take place from 5 p.m. April 2 until the next morning at
9 a.m. in front of the high school, or in the gym if the weather is
bad. Students are encouraged to get sponsorships and boxes to sleep in.
Proceeds will be donated to organizations serving the homeless.
Reitz told the group that her experience as Lt. Governor was rewarding
in that she was able to get comfortable as a leader.
“I was nervous about it in the beginning,” she said. “But I soon got
the confidence to take the leadership role. If you don’t have
confidence, nothing gets accomplished.”
Reitz was introduced by Piqua Kiwanis Youth Services Coordinator Mark
Reedy. Division 3 Key Clubs include Troy, Piqua, Covington, Miami East,
Tri-Village and Greenville. Reitz will be completing her term as Lt.
Governor next month, turning the leadership over to another Greenville
High School student. Sophomore Natasha Swank was elected Division 3 Lt.
Governor for 2011-12 and will be sworn in at the Ohio District
Convention in Columbus on April 16.
Greenville Kiwanis meets each Wednesday at noon at the Chestnut Village
Community Center in Brethren Retirement Community. Membership is open
to any individual wishing to participate in the organization’s
community service and weekly fellowship.
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