Key Club members plans to unlock community service opportunities for yet another year.

The Bear River Key Club introduces high school students to opportunities they have to help the Grass Valley community and build their leadership skills. With a new year coming up, new officers were recently appointed. The new Key Club officers include Brittany Rogers as President, Massiel Chavez as Vice-President, Madison Templeton as Secretary, Maggie O’Callaghan as Treasurer and Lydia Fuller-Hall as Editor.

Key Club Advisor Jeff Carrow is going on his nineteenth year as the Key Club mentor. With his vast experience in community service, Mr. Carrow said that he hopes to see more members in the club during the 2018-19 school year.

“I’m excited about my nineteenth year being the Key Club adviser and yet another wonderful year of community service, starting with, of course, the famous River Cleanup,” said Mr. Carrow. “In the Fall, there are really a lot of things that we love as far as getting ready for Operation Christmas Child, working with See’s Candy, Adopt-a-Family, and we volunteer at the Hospitality House.”

Junior and Incoming Key Club President Brittany Rogers said that she has plans to bring new faces to Key Club in the upcoming school year.

“As well as increasing the number of members in Key Club, I want to make sure there are more opportunities for students to be involved in community service,” said Rogers. “ I want to make it easier for more underclassmen to be in Key Club. There are very few [underclassmen] in the club, and I think more freshmen and sophomores will be a good addition.”

Rogers explained why there are so few underclassmen currently participating.

“When I came into Key Club as a freshman, I felt like there wasn’t anything I could do because I had no car and the events were away from the school,” she said. “I just want the underclassmen to feel more involved and be a part of the club.”

Junior Madison Templeton said that she hopes to bring new energy to Key Club.

“I’m excited to bring new ideas to the table,” said Templeton. “I really want to encourage people to do more community service, [because] it helps our community as well as making students feel better about helping people.”

Senior Alyssa Telles, who is the current Key Club President, expressed her feelings regarding  the new officers taking over next year.

“I’m very excited [for the new officers],” said Telles. “I know that Brittany [Rogers] is going to do really well. I was hoping that it was going to be her as the new president, just because I know she knows what she’s doing and will work very hard.”

Rogers said that her favorite Key Club events are the classics such as the River Cleanup, which requires students to spend the day down at the Yuba River and clean trash left on the ground, and the annual Key Club Talent Show.

“The Key Club Talent Show is an amazing event that I’m excited to be involved in,” said Rogers. “Also, the River Cleanup is a great way for the club to make our rivers even more beautiful as well as have a lot of fun.”

As well as participating in the River Cleanup, Templeton said that she hopes to introduce new events.

“I really want to do the project called ‘Feeding Children Everywhere,’ where you are in a line and you take food and put it in a bag and after closing the bag you put it in a box,” said Templeton. “This will help children in the community that can’t afford food. We don’t realise that there are kids that come to school hungry because they don’t eat breakfast, so this event will help them become more motivated to go to school.”

Telles said that she hopes that the new officers will not stress over their new position.

“Don’t take the lieutenant governor so seriously,” said Telles. “He will put a lot on you, he will also ask a lot out of you. Just remember that it is ok if you don’t get it all done, just try to do as much as you can and try not to stress out about it.”

Mr. Carrow said that he believes that the club will thrive with the incoming officers.

“I think the new officers are great, a lot of enthusiasm, it feels like we are going to keep Key Club going,” said Mr. Carrow. “Every year it’s just great to have some new officers that are going to start off the year.”