Key Club Unlocked: A Moment with Kiera Solomon

Westhampton Beach Key Club takes LTC 2014

Dariah Juma

Westhampton Beach Key Club takes LTC 2014

Community service has been ingrained in the Westhampton Beach society and culture for a countless number of years. Since 1990, The Kiwanis Club of Greater Westhampton has acted like an umbrella of kindness; providing service opportunities from East Moriches to East Quogue; including the Westhampton Beach Middle School with its Builders Club, and the Westhampton Beach High School with its Key Club. But what exactly is Key Club, why is it so important, and how can students and community leaders alike get involved?

Known for her generosity, humor, and overall sweet nature, Kiera Solomon has made an incredibly large impact on the Westhampton Beach community. Solomon is a renowned community service leader not only on Long Island, but throughout the entire New York State as well, and has been involved in the school Key Club since her freshman year. As previous Lieutenant Governor of Division One, as well as the current Executive Assistant of our New York District, Solomon is kind of a huge deal, and has come so far from a simple club member.

 

A MOMENT WITH KIERA SOLOMON…

What is Key Club, and why is it important? Key Club is a student lead community service organization for high school students. It is so important for students to get involved because this club allows students to take larger positions of power. It enables children who are strong leaders to show it off in many different ways.

 

Can you explain the details of your role in this organization? How did you get started? I started getting involved the first Tuesday of my freshman year. I have become Vice President of Westhampton Beach, Lt. Governor of Division One and now I am Executive Assistant of New York District. Being Executive Assistant is awesome because I am able to interact with other students throughout the state of New York. I oversee all of the Lt. Governors, which is a position who monitors clubs in a certain area.

 

How does Key Club affect not only our school community, but our world community as well? Key Club’s purpose is to serve our homes, schools, and communities. But it doesn’t just stop at our own communities, it is changing other people’s communities as well. Key Club is connected throughout the world so people are able to get involved in such important organizations that help out everywhere to those in need.

 

Approximately how many hours does our Key Club volunteer per year? Are students eligible to get community service hours as well? I don’t think it’s fair to give an average, but each volunteer can raise however many hours as they need. I have done about 400+ hours of community service, many of which are from Key Club, but there are some students in the club who don’t do as much who only have about 4 hours. But yes, we have many community service opportunities.

 

When and where does the club get together for meetings? How are they run? A “board of trustees”, which was elected by the club last March, run the club meetings. The meetings are Tuesdays after school in room 201, aka Mrs. Wiles’ home.

 

What kind of events does Key Club group get involved with? Can you provide some examples? Relay for Life, Light the Night Walk, Rec Night for Freshman, The Thirst Project, just to name a few.

 

What do you personally find most rewarding about Key Club? I think the best part is the respect that you get from other Key Clubbers. It’s common fact that Key Clubbers are some of the happiest and nicest people in the world, so it is awesome to be able to get to know these incredible humans.

 

Is there one specific project that our Key Club is going to tackle this year? What are you looking forward to? Personally, I am working very close with the Thirst Project which is a nonprofit organization that brings water to third world countries. This is a huge project for me and I think it will become very prominent in our Key Club career this year.

 

What makes the Key Club board so special? Our Westhampton Key Club Board is one of the closest ones that I have ever seen. We all love and respect one another, which is a huge reason why we are able to get so much done. Our leader, Mrs. Wiles, is basically like a second mother to us because of the love that she has for ourselves and our Key Club. Key Club brings people together and our little Key Club here at Westhampton is just one club full of love.

 

How can students get involved? Why should YOU join? Why shouldn’t you join?! If you want to make great friends throughout the state and possibly world, get community service, make best friends, and feel good about yourself, all you have to do is swing by room 201 every Tuesday!