The Key Club is a service-oriented international club. Here at Pahrump Valley High School, we have our very own Key Club! Many volunteer opportunities within the community are organized by the adult or superior-like club, Kiwanis. Kiwanis also pays for lunch on the first Monday of every month for club members.

The Key Club meets every Monday during both lunch periods to discuss future events coming up that they need to prepare for. However, if there is no school on a Monday or it’s a break, there are no meetings since the whole point of break is no school! Even though there are no meetings during break, if there is an activity or volunteer opportunity, those plans are still on.

Mike Abbiss, the 10th-grade counselor and advisor for PVHS’s Key Club, helps to organize events and tasks that the Key Club does. Giving back to the community is very important to him. This is his first year as an advisor and it is very important to him to be involved with the community. He says the best part about being in Key Club is seeing the smiles on people’s faces when they see teenagers doing good things, “I truly believe that the community really looks down on teenagers, and seeing this gives them hope.” The most challenging part is trying to find new people who are willing to help their community. 

Being involved helps you prepare for the road ahead of you. It looks good for college and on job resumes for volunteer work. It also adds a good experience for you to have going into adulthood. Key Club helps to build characteristics like service-focused mentality which is the club’s main priority. Key Club also helps it’s members in earning basic job skills, respect for others, responsibility, and forming good human relations with peers and adults alike.

Isabella Wheeler; president, and Izabella Chapman; vice president both shared their feelings about Key Club. Going out into the community to help people is very important to them. They enjoy doing fundraisers to spread awareness and teach kids to care for the community. Being in the club brings them joy, and also helps to set them up for their future life. Even though there are not many people, everyone is really easy to get along with, and very accepting.

Key Club does many kinds of volunteer work for Pahrump’s community. Business-associated works, like the annual bell ringing during winter outside of Walmart and Smiths, as well as penny drives, returning shopping carts that get taken from stores, and cleaning weeds from smaller businesses. They also work the concession stands for games at mostly the high school but sometimes the middle school as well. For holidays, the Key Club does Halloween and Easter events for kids, as well as making Valentine’s cards to hand out to the elderly.

Getting involved with your community is beneficial for both you and the community. Key Club works specifically with getting involved, so next time they have a meeting check them out on Mondays in the counseling center during your lunch!