Episode 18 | Key Club Care Closet

In this episode of the Fairview Advantage Podcast, we kick off the 2024-2025 school year by spotlighting the Key Club Care Closet at Fairview High School. 

The episode explores the development and launch of the Key Club Care Closet, a new resource designed to provide students with essential items such as personal hygiene products and other supplies. This important addition aims to support students who may need these basic necessities, creating a positive and supportive environment within the school.

Listeners will gain insights into how the Key Club identified the need for the Care Closet, their challenges in setting it up, and how donations are being gathered from the school and community. The episode also highlights other service projects the Key Club is involved in, such as teaching technological literacy to seniors and organizing donation drives. It’s a powerful conversation about student leadership, community service, and making a tangible difference in the lives of others.

Transcript

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I welcome to the Fairview advantage podcast, the official podcast of the Fairview Park City School District. The Fairview advantage podcast takes a closer look at the students, teachers, staff and programs that make up our school community. We've got unique stories to share, highlighting creativity, innovation, collaboration and leadership, all part of the Fairview advantage, our framework for student success. To learn more about us, visit our website@fairviewparkschools.org or find us on social media today. And now here's this week's episode. Thank you for joining us for another episode of the Fairview advantage podcast. My name is Dan rajkovich. I'm the Communications and Marketing Coordinator here in the Fairview Park City Schools. And welcome to our first episode of the 2024 2025 school year. We're really excited to bring you even more stories about the Fairview Park City School District this year. So thanks so much for joining us today. We are joined by three Fairview high school students who are going to talk to us about Key Club and the Key Club care closet, which has started this year. Joining us are Nicole Jang a senior. Isabel clawman, sir, also a senior. Did I get that right? Okay, and Lauren Eberly, who is a junior. Here we go. So tell me, in your words, right, what is, what is Key Club? We're a national organization who is dedicated towards making changes in our community and offering service. That's pretty much it. Yeah. So talk to me about like service, I guess, like, what do we mean? Like service, we go about our community, like within our school and around our school, just to offer help to those who might need any assistance. We do a lot of stuff with the Gillis suite, PTA, especially, helping out at the EUC and Gillis. And we also are starting to do a lot more stuff within the school, like, with Mrs. Cole and the coffee cart, or, like you said, the care closet now, like, what is the Key Club care closet? Why did we do it? Like, what? Why was this important to the Fairview High School, Key Club? Well, the care closet is a space in the school where students can go to to get, like, personal hygiene products or school supplies, or really, like any basic necessities that they need. And this was especially important for us because I think we do a lot of donation drives throughout the school, like, not even just key clubs, again, NHS and builders club and whatnot, but those were all for, like, outreach at different communities and stuff. There wasn't really a space in the school where our students could go and get these things. So it was really Madame Peters brought it to us first, and we jumped on it immediately, because it seems like a really good idea to have in the school. Anything else to add there, I think we really started it just so we could be there for our peers who needed it, just so we can help out with our community more than we already do. Okay, so I'm going a little off script. Maybe it is on script, but how did we determine that need? Like, I mean, it's a sensitive subject for a lot of people, right? Not only getting donations of things, but, you know, having to talk about what they need, right? So, like, how did, how did Key Club figure that all out? I mean, at Gillis, I know they have a sort of system similar to a care closet, and we don't have something like that here, where people here can go and find things and get something that they may need. So we figured, we're an organization who's here to help. Why don't we set something up in the school? This was the care closet. Was something that was started by, I believe, a different teacher in another state, and has spread to a lot of different schools. So I think we used a lot of that as a basis for it, and seeing what other teachers recommended and what worked for other schools and that sort of stuff. How long have you all been in Key Club four years, at four years since you were freshmen. This will be my second year. I've been in it since I was a sophomore. What kind of drew you to Key Club to begin with? Because it's a different thing. It's not like stagecrafters or something like that, right, where there's a maybe a product at the end, like, why for each of you, maybe a different I don't know. Why did we choose Key Club? I wanted to go out there and try to make a difference in my school and community. And I mean, I know my sister did it, but I always loved the idea of being able to give a helping hand and just making a difference, to be completely honest, for me, because I think that a lot of people in Key Club kind of. Do the same thing and have the same experience. It was sort of just an extracurricular that I felt that I should do, like I just I needed something to do after school. Key Club just seemed like an easy option, but over time, I've stayed and wanted to become an officer, because I saw the impact that I was making, and all the volunteer experiences that I had were really fun, and I actually really enjoyed it, like Nicole, I just wanted to have another extracurricular to put on, like my college application. But I also really like making connections in my community and school and seeing a difference and making that change and helping my peers also make that change too. Let's talk about some of the other things. The Key Club, right? I know we do the Easter baskets. That was a big one last year. What's some of the other projects that that Key Club does throughout the year? Well, right now, we are helping out with the Fair Use Senior Center, and we are teaching, or like tutoring, technological literacy there. So we go there every week, a few of us, and we sit and help the seniors with any technological problems they're having. And it's, it's a really fun thing that I think a lot of people are enjoying, like how to access email on cell phones. And the more technological problems, like the actual my phone is not working, how do I fix it? Sure, and how's that going? Is it? I mean, fun? It's gonna be pretty fun. Yeah, the seniors love having us there, and they love talking to us. So, yeah, sure. Okay, so what are some of the ways that we are collecting things for the care closet? Can people just bring in items to the school? Or do we have, like, drives? Or how does that work? We have bins around the school and PTA also has, like, an Amazon wishlist that we get, and we have our homecoming game next week that we're taking notation donations for. So we're just gonna be collecting out our homecoming game for people to just put stuff in our care closet. And this might be our only football game that we're collecting. I don't know if that's special, but probably, but we're gonna look at doing other sporting venues too, like basketball games, sure, maybe some track meets down the road. Just we try, we want to try to get the notice out there about the care closet. So like, Hey, you're coming to this event. Why don't you just bring something small that we're looking for when you come in. And the wish list is really open to anybody in the community, really the world, right? I mean, if they wanted to make it, if an alumni was living in California, and they wanted to give back to the school, realistically, they could do that through the wish list. Wish List is pretty easy, right? I mean, maybe even for our senior citizens at the Senior Center. I mean, it's a pretty easy it's a pretty easy thing to do, correct? Yes, what kind of things are do we have on the wish list, like deodorant, body wash, toothbrushes? We're trying to get a lot more of the personal hygiene products, rather than, like, school supplies and stuff. They are still on there, but we want to more shift our focus to personal hygiene, personal necessities. Yeah, we have, like, laundry detergent and stuff on there. Is this the first year we do that? Or did we do this last year too? Did we start it last year or, like in the process of coming up with the sustainable way to do this system? But we were just in the plannings last year, so this will be our first year actually implementing it. So let's say I'm a student who maybe needs an item from the care closet. How do we go about connecting them, you know, to those resources? We're still in the process of setting that up, just because we're still trying to get more donations and stuff, but I believe it'll just be a system, either through the counseling office or midham Peters herself. You know, we're not going to ask any questions if anyone needs any supplies or anything, but, you know, if someone needs something, they can just ask and we'll get them access to it. Sure. Has there been any challenges so far, like getting this off the ground? I mean, I mean, I don't know, outside of getting the word out. I mean, was it difficult coming up with the list of things, or, I mean, I don't know, has there been challenges for Key Club in terms of getting this started? I think you kind of just have to think of, like, what you would need, and then kind of expand on that, like, like laundry detergent and stuff. Like, would definitely be an expansion on that. But and donations is a big thing. We need to get our donations up, and we need to make sure that people are aware of our care closet. Sure. Do we have any goals for this year? Like, any help is good help, right? I mean, so like, but as a as a group, did we kind of have some goals coming into it this year? I think we just want to kind of get it off the floor and running and just keep it going past this year. I don't think we really had a concrete like amount that we wanted. We just want enough to get it started and to have it as a space where people can go and get what they need. Yeah, I think we just want to fill the closet up so that, like after Isabel and I leave underclassmen and all the future underclassmen can work on, you know, keeping. Running and stuff, sure, yeah, you know, you mentioned, you mentioned before that it was kind of a resume thing, and it was something to do after school, like, what's your sell to somebody who's a student at Fairview High School interested in joining Key Club, you know, but maybe they're on the fence about the time commitment, or however that works, like, and I know key Club's a very popular group here in the school, I know you guys have a ton of members in Key Club already, but what would you say to somebody who maybe is on the fence about joining it or maybe donating, right? I mean, it's, you know, it's sometimes maybe there isn't a lot of money in their family to make a donation. So, like, how does that? How does that look for you? I think if you join Key Club, it's an easy way to make a change. It doesn't require money. We only have a $20 fee. But other than that, it's an easy way to make a change. It's fun. You build relationships with your the other people in the club, and volunteering is also fun. And you get to figure out new things about yourself, figure out what you like to do. So it's kind of just like a very good way to get yourself started at going into college, continuing into world and figuring out what who you are as a person and what you want to do. Yeah, and there's so many opportunities that, like, even if you are involved in so many other extracurriculars, like I know I am, I still find so much time that I'm able to do different opportunities and still help out in my community, in school, and like Lauren said, volunteer experience in general, even outside of Key Club, is just so important because it teaches you so many things, not only about yourself, but other people, like I know, I've gotten so much better at like connecting with people through volunteering and through Key Club, and I think that's just such a valuable experience for anyone, especially a high schooler. What's our favorite event throughout the year? Is it the Easter baskets? Or what you know, my favorite is going over the Rec Center and doing the respite for the special education children? I really I grew up around them because my mom's a speech therapist, so I really enjoy helping out with those kids and kind of learning how to interact with them and help them have a good time, as well as giving their parents a break. Yeah, I love going to Gila suite because, I mean, we were all there once, and it's just fun to see these little kids seeing how eventually they're gonna be where I am now, and just being able to help them out, seeing them have fun, and just giving them that opportunity, yeah, like Isabelle, I really enjoy the venticula suite on the EEC. It's like seeing these little kids have so much fun with their family, and being able to help out with that is, is really special. Here's the last question, so let's talk about next year, right? You two are seniors, you're a junior. So we'll get, we'll get to you in a second, plans for next year, looking at college. What do we what are we thinking for next year? It's okay if the answer is undecided or we don't know, but you know, it's that time of year, right? Starting to look around a little bit, starting to starting to figure out what's next. So I'll leave it to you. I'm definitely going to college. I'm planning on majoring in environmental engineering. Not sure where I'm going yet, but I'm I'm definitely looking at continuing my education, and I do will be going to college. I'm looking at the like film and writing sides, because I want to be able to be that person who can be a gateway for people to have their voices spread. And that's also I like doing Key Club, because it gives me that opportunity to go out there and help people. And I want to continue doing that. I'm not 100% certain where I'm gonna go, but I know I want to make a difference. And Lauren kind of, we're getting started right, maybe in the college process, or, you know, yeah, so I'm hoping to major in mechanical engineering and minor in clinical engineering, and I'm looking into like, Miami and BGSU, but I'm excited to have my senior year of high school, so I'm trying to take it one step at a time, just so I don't lose this, sure. And we're all officers in Key Club, yes. Okay, and we are, I'm the secretary, I'm the senior President, I'm the junior president. Okay, so just to sum up really quickly, best way for people to make a donation probably is through the Amazon wishlist, probably the easiest. But if they also want to drop off donations, can they do that at the main office? Or how does that look? I believe. So I think we're going to start working on that process, and also we have our homecoming game next week, so hopefully everybody comes to that and supports our football team, and everybody nominated for court and stuff. And let's talk about a little bit about that. So we'll have a table set up at homecoming or something like that, and then we'll just be collecting promotions there. Some of our volunteers will be standing at the table and collecting stuff. Well, thanks very much for the time. Of course, yeah, of course, you guys are doing great work. I mean, I'm sure it's appreciated all over town. You know this, it's a sensitive thing, right? And you guys are doing a great job and making sure everybody's needs are met. So I really appreciate it. And thank you so much for joining us here on another episode of the Fairview advantage podcast. You. And we look forward to having you join us for another episode. Thanks so much. Thank you for tuning into the Fairview advantage podcast. If you have something you'd like to hear on a future episode, submit your idea at Fairview parkschools.org, forward slash podcast. We look forward to connecting with you in future episodes of the Fairview advantage podcast. Until then, go warriors. You.