Boys & Girls Club Blog

Keystone is a high school leadership club that teens can participate in at the Boys & Girls Club. It allows teens to get involved in their community through projects and activities at the Club. This is a program that is offered to Clubs all over the Nation and World. Through Keystone every year we have a National Project to work on together and as an incentive of doing these projects members also have the chance to go to the National Keystone Conference.

National Projects are based on topics of interest, such as last years project, “Conversations with Law Enforcement.” This project was all about getting youth of our area to gain a better insight of the job of a Law Enforcement Officer and get a better understanding especially after topics like racism were being discussed worldwide. We took a different path than most while planning the event for this project. Our project entailed a dinner for the Officers to sit and engage in conversation with club youth. Then teens took part in a panel of questions asking the officers any questions that they may have had. To finish the night, the Officers and youth engaged in an obstacle course to get a feel for the physical part of the occupation, followed by a fun game of dodgeball for everyone.

This year’s National Project is called, “United We Stand.” The objective of the project is to work to unite our Club members, Community, Peers, and All people in general, while building tolerance and acceptance of the individuality in all people. How we have planned to go about doing this project is pretty simple. We are inviting people from our community from all different walks of life that have differences that may cause people to stereotype them, to come in and speak to our club members about their struggles they are overcoming. This is to possibly even change some club members outlooks on people that they may have had a different perception of before.

When it comes to Keystone, community service opportunities are around every corner. One particular one that club members participated in was a Food Drive that we had put on with Feeding America to help families less fortunate. Keystone members volunteered their time to help set up and put on the food drive. This helped several hundred families in our community, including keystone member’s families.

National Keystone Conference happens every year to conclude a keystone year. This is when 2,000 Keystone members from around the world come to one place and meet to celebrate and learn about their positions in office and about the qualities of a keystoner and how we can impact our communities. We attend sessions geared towards interests we may have as well as things that will help prepare us for the workforce, college and our future. They also have some fun activities that help everyone get familiar with each other. Last years National Keystone Conference was in Chicago, Illinois. While we were there, we were able to take a tour of the “Windy City.” This included statues, monuments, historical buildings, the planetarium, and the Chicago Museum of Art. We also got to go on a walk to Millenium Park and see the Bean up close.

This year the National Keystone Conference is going to take place in Atlanta, Georgia. Keystone members continue to work towards the trip. Keystone isn’t just about all the things said above, but even more than that. It is the foundation of friendships that last a lifetime, the formation of future leaders, and working together as a community.

Wrote By 2018 Keystone Officers: Prestin DeGroot (President), Nichole Van Hoof (Vice President) Bree DeGroot (Treasurer) and Brandon Moench (Secretary)