The group’s Web site describes K-Kids as the “fastest growing service organization for elementary students worldwide.”
It’s certainly growing fast in Pittsburg.
Just a few years after Lakeside Elementary School created the area’s first K-Kids organization, its USD 250 counterpart Meadowlark Elementary School has done the same. And while the school’s first K-Kids meeting was last month, the group received its official charter and banner during a Thursday ceremony.
K-Kids, sponsored by the local Kiwanis Club, is a student-led community-service organization, which operates under school regulations and draws its members from the student body. The group plans for and develops community service projects and discusses ways that they, as K-Kids, can better their community.
“We are part of a club that wants to help each other and help the community,” said Kelsey Fuchs, Meadowlark fifth-grader and president of her school’s 34-member K-Kids group. Fellow officers are Elizabeth Graham, vice president; Caitlyn Burdick, secretary; and Robby Galarza, treasurer.
Fuchs said the group, despite still being in its infancy, has already made plans for numerous community-service projects, such as a coat drive, canned food drive, a toy box for less fortunate children and a box-top fundraiser. Melinda DeGruson, school counselor and a K-Kids sponsor, said the students already have “several ideas” for future projects.
“These are natural leaders,” she said. “There is a lot they want to do, and they have the energy to do it all. Being in this group hones their leadership skills and they are really learning to help out the community.”
Phillis Scorse, Meadowlark principal, said being involved in the K-Kids group will teach the students the “importance of giving.”
“It can’t always be about getting,” she said. “It needs to be about giving, too. The students in this group will be on the getting end sometimes, but now they’ll have an appreciation of where that stuff comes from and how hard people to have to work to provide it.”
Being involved with K-Kids also gives the students a chance to connect with their schoolmates, particularly the ones with whom they don’t often interact.
“I thought this group would be good for everyone,” Burdick said. “We help people and help the environment, but we also talk to other students who we might not have in class.”
DeGruson said Meadowlark wanted to create a K-Kids group after observing the success of Lakeside’s organization. Sharon Sisk, Meadowlark K-Kids co-sponsor and advisor, said she’s proud of how the students have “taken control” of the group.
“These kids have taken over and gone up the hill so fast,” she said. “They’re really working hard.”
American Education Week
For three days this week, Meadowlark hosted various community members for a special “thank you” lunch as part of the National Education Association’s American Education Week. Scorse said the school wanted to show its appreciation for “everything these people do for us.”
“None of these local schools would exist without the support of the community,” she said. “We just wanted them to know that we understand how important they are and appreciate all they do.”
