Builders Club

Maybe it's because I'm a teacher, but I get down-right angry when I hear people talking about today's "Kids", as if there just isn't any hope left for them, that they are a lost cause. All we hear about is how poorly they are doing in school, how they can't compete with kids from other countries; that our kids have no regard for others and have no direction to their lives, etc.
That is NOT the kids I meet or hear about, who are involved in Builders Clubs. It's time Builders Club members are given the opportunity to educate our Kiwanis Clubs and our communities about the positive things they are doing. If your Kiwanis Club has a Builders Club, make sure your club is involved with them and know what service projects they are doing; what they would like to do that your club could help with, and what they can do for your club, if only you would ask them. It's time for every Kiwanis club to become involved with the youth of today. You and your Kiwanis clubs need to start giving the young people of your community opportunities to get involved helping others! If we don't take the initiative, we will have no future, and all the negative things we hear will become self-fulfilling prophecies. The habits you help Builders Club members develop, the leadership skills they pick up in the process, the self-esteem they develop and the feeling we all have had, of getting more from helping others than we gave, will become part of their very being, and as adults they will be much more receptive to joining Kiwanis clubs and being involved in their communities.
If you don't know of a Builders Club near you, get one started! If you have a Builders Club, start making sure that everyone in your club knows what they are doing! Get involved with them; don't just "sponsor" them. And, start spreading the word to other clubs and to your community at large.
Every year there are contests, sponsored by Kiwanis International, for Builders Clubs to participate in. Every year my committee and I get to learn about all the things some Builders Clubs are doing and how involved the members are. We SEE Scrapbooks and Books, documenting what their club is doing. In these, we SEE the good that kids are doing for their communities. They show kids collecting and sorting warm coats to give to those less fortunate; show kids making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for homeless shelters; show kids wrapping Christmas gifts to give to children who otherwise would not have one; cleaning up a neighborhood, growing vegetables on a vacant lot and giving them away so that others have food; collecting money for a teacher or student who has a horrible illness; Trick or Treating for UNICEF to benefit the ELIMINATE Project, playing bingo with residents of a nursing home, caroling at a subsidized senior citizens home, and so much more. AND, we see the smiles on the kid's faces as they do these thing that show the warm feeling of pride they have that comes from doing something to help others. We know that feeling! We need to give kids more opportunities to know that feeling!
In these contests we get to read the student's write ups about a single service project they are especially proud of. In reading and evaluating these projects we come face to face with the leadership and other skills the kids have developed by doing these things.
In one contest, clubs can submit documentation for one student who they believe has a real passion for service. It is with real pride that we read each of these entries for the Leadership Award. It's not easy to pick the best entry; they are ALL exceptional - and they are Middle School aged kids!
The New York District Builders Club Winners for this 2012-2013 year were:
    Scrapbook Winner - Ogdensburg Free Academy
    Builders Club Book Winner - Ogdensburg Free Academy
    Builders Club Speech Contest Winner - Shermean Khan from Woodland Middle School
    Builders Club Single Service Winner - Jonas E. Salk Middle School in Levittown
    Builders Club Leadership Award Winner - Isabel Londono from Woodland Middle School.
These winning entries were submitted to Kiwanis International for judging in the International Contests.
The following New York entries were also International Award Winners!
Book Award - second place internationally went to the Ogdensburg Free Academy Builders Club.
Single Service Award - Second place internationally went to the Jonas E. Salk Middle School.
International Leadership Award went to Isabelle Londono, from Woodland Middle School
AND: The Builder Clubs of Woodland and W.T. Clark Middle Schools were named Distinguished Clubs
The Builders Club of Alfred Berner Middle School was named an Honor Club.
THESE are the things we should be talking about in our clubs, our communities and in Newspapers and Television. It's time we get all our Builders Clubs to submit entries to these contests AND for Kiwanis Clubs to Get the Word Out about our Kids and the things they do! Now start spreading the word!
 

Column Posted on Web Site July 27, 2013