STEAM Fair sparks creativity and leadership

STEAM Fair sparks creativity and leadership

Feb 20, 2025 | General interest, Kiwanis Children's Fund, Service Leadership Programs, Service projects | 0 comments

A California Kiwanis club inspires students to pursue their dream careers in the sciences and arts 

By Erin Chandler

On September 28, 2024, the gymnasium of Diamond Bar High School in California, U.S., was science and technology central, with robotics and 3D printing demonstrations, drones, introductions to coding and more. Outside were performances from bands, the local Hawaiian School and a K-Pop dance cover crew. Booths from organizations like Mathnasium, the Society of Women Engineers, the Department of Public Works, and Curtiss-Wright Nuclear stood alongside those from the LA County Library and the Literacy Guild.  

The Kiwanis Club of Diamond Bar Young Professionals’ second annual STEAM Fair was a true celebration of science, technology, engineering, the arts and math. 

“I always stress STEAM,” says club president Roseangeli Ayson. “Because the ‘A,’ the arts, are just as important, and I think a lot of time people lose sight of that. I just think it makes the world better when all of those aspects are embraced.” 

Clearly, the community agrees. Hundreds of kids flocked to the book giveaway; the reading/Lego corner; the stations for making bookmarks, slime and K-Pop photocards; the poetry readings; the face painting; and the sessions on professional development and college applications.  

The event, Ayson says, is all about “exposing the kids to things that are of interest to them and sparking their creativity.” 

A big idea
Only a few years ago, the project seemed impossible. The club was about six years old and had fewer than 20 members.  

“It was one of those things, like, ‘Maybe in the future that could be something,’” Ayson says. “‘One day when the club gets bigger.’” 

Then, at a fundraising event, she was introduced to Gabe Aguilar, now an instructional dean at Diamond Bar High School and advisor for the school’s robotics club, Team Sprocket. Once they agreed that Team Sprocket would cohost the event, with the high school serving as a free venue, the whole endeavor seemed much more possible. 

In the end, the first STEAM Fair came together in just six months. Members of the Kiwans Club of Diamond Bar Young Professionals called on family, college friends and coworkers to serve on the professional panels.  

Students step up
The real stars of the event were the high school students from Team Sprocket and other school clubs, plus members of Key Club Divisions 35 East and 35 West, and the Kiwin’s Goldstone Division of the Kiwanis California-Nevada-Hawaii District. 

“A lot of times, we can’t hold our events without SLPs [Service Leadership Programs],” Ayson says. “I don’t have 50-60 Kiwanians to help me pull it off.” 

The STEAM Fair offers its student volunteers all kinds of opportunities to grow as leaders. In the STEAM Fair’s second year, Ayson says, the students even joined the Kiwanians as leaders in organizing the project. 

“With another year under their belt, some of the juniors, who are seniors this year, were a lot more involved in the planning, which is, I think, probably why the gym was better coordinated and had a lot more activities than last year.” 

Among the new activities was a gallery of art made by local middle school students, a collaboration that highlighted another benefit of having Key Club members volunteer at events. They don’t just develop their own leadership skills — they also inspire younger attendees to follow in their footsteps.  

“When the kids come and they see all the high schoolers helping out, it’s more fun,” Ayson says. “They’re a lot more interactive than us old-fogey Kiwanians.” 

Inspiration and connection
Ayson made sure to leave time in the teen volunteers’ shifts to enjoy the booths, performances and panels that interested them. While most of the STEAM Fair targets younger children who are still discovering their interests, it also offers career panels for high school students. 

For some students, the fair was a chance to find mentors from their own communities who had “made good” in their chosen fields. For others, it was an opportunity for networking. One Key Club member who performed at the fair was scouted by a Friends of the Library board member to sing the national anthem at their annual toy drive. 

Another student approached Ayson after a career panel that featured Academy Award-winning documentary director Martin Desmond Rowe and an author who had written about how to make money in a creative career. The student said she had been struggling with whether she could pursue her interest in photography professionally, but after the panel she felt more confident. 

“Even if it was just that one person, we helped her see that her dream actually could happen,” Ayson says. 

Looking to the future
After its first year, the Kiwanis Club of Diamond Bar Young Professionals’ STEAM Fair was a top 10 finalist in the Kiwanis International Signature Project Contest and received a club grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund. For other clubs looking to host similar events, Ayson recommends partnering with local high schools and extracurricular clubs.  

Because the students are interested in and impacted by what the fair represents, Ayson says, “you get the buy-in right away.” 

Ayson hopes to get a panelist from the Grammy Museum next year. The past two years have taught her that when the members want to do something, they can make it happen. 

“We’re a small club,” she says, “but I feel like we’re a small-but-mighty club.”  

How you can help
If you want to support projects like the Kiwanis Club of Diamond Bar Young Professionals’ STEAM Fair, you can make a gift in support of The Possibilty Project.  

The Kiwanis Children’s Fund makes grants that improve the lives of children around the world by identifying projects that create a continuum of impact in a child’s life — one that spans their entire childhood and sets them up for a bright future. Through The Possibility Project, the Children’s Fund ensures that its grantmaking has the greatest possible impact, supporting projects that target the Kiwanis causes — health and nutrition, education and literacy, and youth leadership development — whether through a Kiwanis club’s local service project or a club’s partner. 

Learn how your club can apply for a grant to help kids in your community. 

Instant impact in Ironton

Instant impact in Ironton

Feb 14, 2025 | Club building, General interest, Service Leadership Programs, Service projects | 0 comments

A new club in Ohio, U.S., is gaining members and stature in its community. 

By Tony Knoderer

It’s been less than a year and a half since the Kiwanis Club of Greater Ironton, Ohio, U.S., held its first meeting, but its members have already figured out a few things about attracting new members — and becoming an integral part of the community. 

Rather than reinventing the wheel, the club relied on some tried-and-true concepts. An ambitious fundraising project. Community partnerships. Chartering and sponsorship of a local Kiwanis youth program. In general, an attention to needs and opportunities, and the ability to act on them. 

When the Ironton Kiwanians sought out members for the new club, they used local and online means to get people’s attention. But they also benefited from one of the simplest methods of all. 

“For me,” says club member Brad Bear, “it was because I was asked. Someone showed up. I had been sort of laterally involved with other groups, but no one actually asked me.”      

A simple pitch
While Bear joined because of what he calls the club’s “door-to-door” recruiting, he and his fellow members also credit Kathy Moylan, a Kiwanian and an area coordinator, for setting up a public meeting in September 2023 for people interested in volunteer service.  

“I saw a post on social media,” says Sasha Riley, now the club’s treasurer. “When I looked into Kiwanis, I saw it was about serving children. I have a teenager and a preteen, and there wasn’t a lot in Ironton at the time where you could give back to kids in the community.” 

In turn, Riley invited Stephan Harris — who is now the club’s president-elect.  

“I had moved here not long before I started (with the club),” Harris says. “I had been in a Kiwanis club about 10 to 12 miles down the (Ohio) river, so I wanted to get involved. And I didn’t know that many people here at the time.” 

He and Riley both smile when she recalls her pitch to him: “I said, ‘I know a great way for you to meet people.’” 

Raising funds for students
Another effective way to get people’s attention, of course, is to work with local schools and do big things for their students. Last year, the Ironton club made an impact by helping Open Door School, a local educational facility that offers services for students whose developmental disabilities are difficult for local schools to accommodate.  

Specifically, the club helped raise US$9,000 to help Open Door update its playground and add new swing sets. 

“The principal had been aware of Kiwanis, and she reached out,” says Sean Davis, current club president. “So we did an onsite visit and listened.” 

It was an especially memorable moment for Stephan Harris.  

“My first meeting was when we saw the plans and the pricing,” he says. “It’s an ongoing project, and we had a chance to help accomplish the first phase.” 

In addition, the club intends to help with the upkeep of the mulch around the new swing sets every year — with the club’s annual pancake-breakfast event to help with the cost. 

Personal connection
The Ironton club’s work with the local educational community didn’t stop there. Like many new clubs, they have used Kiwanis Service Leadership Programs to connect with kids and educators alike — and to serve in ways that expand the Kiwanis family. 

For instance, the club is currently working through the chartering process for a new Key Club at Ironton High School.  

“Our goal was to reach out to the school and get the ball rolling,” says club president Davis. “Sasha really took the reins. She educated herself and made it happen.” 

Riley herself says the potential for a local Key Club was “the reason I joined Kiwanis.” 

As so often with Kiwanians, a personal connection sparked the initial interest: Riley’s daughter is a student at Ironton High School. In fact, she’s a member of the school’s color guard. As a result, Riley became aware of a need — and that need became a club opportunity.  

When the Ironton High School football team was competing for the state championship, members of the marching band and the color guard got to go with them to Canton, where the finals were played. One catch: Arrangements had been made for the football team to be fed there, but not the others. The club helped fund their meals by raffling game tickets. 

For a new club, it was a small but effective way of getting members involved in the community and putting the club’s name into view. 

“Our club has done a lot of work getting members out there and networking,” Davis says. 

Quite a year
Club members have volunteered at traditional community events, such as a local farmers market, but last November they also showed up at the Ironton WizardFest — an event that attracts thousands of people.  

“It’s for the kind of people who love the Harry Potter books and movies,” says Brad Bear, whose involvement with the event made it a natural selling point to his club. “At some point I realized we had more people in our club than were volunteering at this 7,000-person event. You can make yourself visible really quickly. For us, it was a way to make people aware of Kiwanis and what we do. It was a win/win for everyone.” 

It was just one of the moments that made 2024 “quite a year,” says club president Davis. “We went from meeting once a month to weekly, and we talked about having a guest speaker every other meeting. It’s going pretty well.” 

One key, he adds, is to focus on speakers who are “geared toward serving youth, or at least civic-adjacent.” That includes guests who speak about topics such as food insecurity or work with local branches of programs such as Boys & Girls Clubs and Big Brothers Big Sisters. 

“We keep it topical,” Harris says. “It’s not just a new business selling its products.”  

A culture of engagement
Located in southern Ohio, near the Ohio River — and near the convergence of Ohio’s border with those of the U.S. states of Kentucky and West Virginia — Ironton offers access to a larger culture of civic engagement. For instance, the Kiwanis Club of Greater Ironton has participated in a quarterly meeting in which members of various volunteer organizations talk about themselves and what they do. The Ironton club even got two new members from the event in December, according to Davis. 

The club is particularly looking forward to a “megamixer” in the spring, when Kiwanians can discuss their collective potential impact with members of Lions Clubs, Rotary clubs and others. 

Ironton Kiwanians have already seen how powerfully that potential can turn into reality. In November 2024, they worked with two other Kiwanis clubs from Ashland, Kentucky, U.S., as part of a meal-packing project. In one night, the volunteers cumulatively packed 35,000 meals for kids. 

“That was a big thing for us,” says Harris. “It showed that our service doesn’t stop at the river.” 

Resources for your club
Looking for ways to increase your club’s visibility? Read how important it is to tell your club’s story — and to get the Kiwanis resources that help make it happen. You can also check out how a few Achieving Club Excellence tools can help.

Key Clubs serve communities, classmates 

Key Clubs serve communities, classmates 

Jan 14, 2025 | General interest, Service Leadership Programs, Service projects | 0 comments

The Kiwanis Children’s Fund awarded 41 Youth Opportunities Fund grants to outstanding Key Club projects in November. 

By Erin Chandler

This year, Key Club International is celebrating 100 years of making a difference in schools and communities around the world. The Kiwanis Children’s Fund established the Youth Opportunities Fund so that Key Club leaders can continue taking action for the next 100 years and beyond.  

In November, the Children’s Fund awarded Youth Opportunities Fund grants for 41 outstanding Key Club projects that serve kids with medical needs, unhoused families and more — including their own classmates. Of the top 11 projects — as determined by the Key Club International Board committee and Children’s Fund representatives — nine are ongoing projects that have been awarded grants in the past. In alphabetical order by club name, the top 11 are:    

Colors for Children’s 5K/1-Mile Run
Key Club of Auburn High School, Alabama, U.S.
Participants in the Colors for Children’s 5K/1-Mile Run are pelted with colored powder at every mile, making for a vibrant, festive fun run — and all for a good cause. In its first two years, this Auburn High School Key Club event has raised approximately US$13,000 to support research and improved facilities at Children’s Hospital of Alabama. Thanks to a Youth Opportunities Fund grant, the third annual race will be better than ever, with snacks, water stations, race day video and photo ops, and medals for the runners. 

“Key to Sweet Dreams” Bedtime Kits
Key Club of Boyd County, Kentucky, U.S.
The Boyd County High School Key Club knows that kids need a good night’s sleep to learn and grow. That’s why members founded and coordinate a project to provide 125-250 “bedtime kits” consisting of sheets, a comforter or blanket, a mattress cover, a pillow, a stuffed animal, a book, a night-light, an alarm clock and a mattress to children in need each year. They also pack a bag of hygiene products for the whole family, while Ashland Build-A-Bed provides a twin-size bedframe. The club works with four Key Clubs, four Kiwanis clubs, a Builders Club and an Aktion Club in the district to collect supplies for the bedtime kits, which have gone to kids in their own community as well as survivors of natural disasters in Kentucky and Tennessee. 

A Night to Remember: After Prom Party
Key Club of Chillicothe High School, Missouri, U.S.
The Chillicothe High School Key Club hosts a free, fun, safe and substance-free prom after-party to make sure fellow students get home safely on prom night. A Youth Opportunities Fund grant will allow the club to hold this year’s party at Extreme Racing, where partygoers will enjoy go-kart racing, arcade games and paintball as an alternative to more risky behavior. 

Winter Blitz 2024
Key Club of Clackamas High School, Oregon, U.S.
In 2024, the Clackamas High School Key Club teamed up with the Key Club of Adrienne C. Nelson High School to raise a combined US$14,000 in a Winter Blitz fundraising drive. The total raised will be supplemented by a Kiwanis Children’s Fund grant to purchase food, clothing, household items, hygiene products, children’s toys and holiday gifts for over 600 families in need. The club has been serving its community through this project for 26 years, and they hope to be able to meet even more families’ needs in the future. 

The Hope Festival 2025
Key Club of Eastlake High School, Washington, U.S.
A Youth Opportunities Fund grant will help the Eastlake High School Key Club move its 2025 Hope Festival to a larger venue to accommodate the ever-expanding services it offers the club’s community. The Hope Festival provides free groceries, clothing, hygiene products, toys, haircuts, massages, vaccinations, health screenings and more to low-income and unhoused families. Members also offer fun activities for kids, and they partner with local organizations to connect people to essential services, including mental health and educational support, domestic violence assistance and help finding employment. The event allows young volunteers to develop their leadership and love of service while spreading hope throughout their community. 

Reading for Reason
Forest Hills Northern High School, Michigan, U.S.
The Forest Hills Northern High School Key Club consulted with librarians at the Cascade Library to set up a Reading for Reason program. Club members will read to children ages 4-11 at the library to help jumpstart their love of literacy — and every book will impart a meaningful message. A Youth Opportunities Fund grant will allow the club to deepen the kids’ learning through creative, interactive activities and crafts. Then, at the end of the session, each child will be able to bring a book home with them. 

Essentials for Education
Key Club of Hagerty High School, Florida, U.S.
The Hagerty High School Key Club is planning two drives to collect and distribute school supplies such as notebooks, pencils and backpacks for students, as well as classroom supplies like dry-erase markers, tissues and paper for teachers. A Youth Opportunities Fund grant will supplement the supplies the club gives to those in need. In the process, club members hope to raise awareness about educational inequality in their community’s schools. 

Eagles for Eagles
Key Club of Kennet High School, New Hampshire, U.S.
In 2022, a Kennet High School family support liaison reached out to the Key Club with a request to lend a helping hand to their own classmates. In their “Eagles for Eagles” project, the club raises funds for groceries, hygiene items and gas cards for approximately 30 Kennet High School students while maintaining their privacy. By alleviating the financial burden of these essential items, club members hope to increase their classmates’ attendance at school and work, academic engagement and self-esteem — and to allow the school’s support programs to focus on more long-term assistance. 

Life Skills Prom
Key Club of Kewanee High School, Illinois, U.S.
This year, a Youth Opportunities Fund grant will help 80 students with disabilities at Kewanee High School and five other area schools enjoy a circus-themed prom with dancing, catered food and new decorations. The Key Club hosts the prom in its school gym during the school day to make sure students in the Life Skills program, who may not be able to attend an off-site prom in the evening, don’t miss out on this special event. The students’ families also attend and take pictures. Everyone involved looks forward to the Life Skills Prom all year! 

Dance Marathon
Key Club of Lake Minneola High School, Florida, U.S.
The Lake Minneola High School Key Club has discovered a way to raise funds for kids in need and bring fun to the community at the same time — the Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon program. The club will hold fundraisers such as candygram sales throughout the year, culminating in a four-hour dance marathon. Proceeds from ticket sales, concessions and sponsorships will help to fund research and education, purchase medical equipment and enhance patients’ stays at Children’s Miracle Network hospitals.  

Project Wellness Pak
Key Club of Utica Academy for International Studies, Michigan, U.S.
The Utica Academy for International Studies will help fight rising homelessness in their community through Project Wellness Pak. Key Club members will package blankets and personal hygiene projects such as shampoo and conditioner, body wash, combs, hairbrushes, toothbrushes and toothpaste for people experiencing homelessness. They hope these Wellness Paks will increase health and quality of life for those sleeping outdoors, especially in adverse weather conditions. 

How to get involved 
Does your Key Club have a project idea that could benefit from a Youth Opportunities Fund grant? Learn more about the grant and how to apply on the Key Club website. If your club does not yet sponsor a Key Club, learn about the advantages of chartering one today on the Kiwanis Service Leadership Programs page.