TOWAMENCIN- Every year, more students seek to aid those around them, and there is no better way to do so than joining North Penn High School’s Key Club. This past Tuesday, students and parents gathered to welcome another 132 new members into the school’s largest club. As new members of the Key Club, students demonstrate a drive to give back to their community, organize Key Club fundraisers, volunteer, and help the people around them.

“The ceremony went off very well,” said Key Club president, Ben Dogonniuck. “My officers did a good job when it came to organizing what they were tasked to do. My Vice President, Maddie Payne, gave a really good speech on the values of Key Club and it kind of reflected what we as a group strive to achieve.”

Key Club adviser and athletics secretary, Mrs. Linda Law, then added to the highlights of the evening.

“Everyone involved really did an excellent job,” said Law. “We had two speakers: Mrs. Ward, who is a former teacher here and a member of the Kiwanis Club, and Mr. Muller who is a sophomore assistant principal. And I think our officers did fantastic as well.”

The Key Club strives to allow students to improve their character and leadership skills through service. The international club is ran successfully by student leaders whose work goes beyond the region of North Penn.

“It’s a really great group of people,” Dogonniuck said. “You get to surround yourself with a bunch of really nice kids who are genuinely good people and who look to help others.”

Dogonniuck has been part of the Key Club for three years now, being first inducted during his sophomore year like many of his comrades and fellow officers.

“About 50 to 75 percent of the students inducted are sophomores,” said Dogonniuck.

All of these inductees are required to have 25 hours of community service by December in order to be inducted. However, a member’s job is not finished following their induction. Once their 25 hours of service are complete, they still need to accomplish another 50 hours by the end of the school year. This adds up to an impressive 75 hours of required volunteer work for each member of the club.

“If a student has 5 hours or less by the end of January, they are removed from the club,” said Law. “However, that doesn’t happen often. By the end of the year, a lot of students have managed to exceed the 75 hours.”

Mrs. Law has been the advisor of Key Club for 19 years now, taking over after her predecessor, Ginny Ward in 1998.

“Key Club has been at North Penn long before me,” said Law. “Back when Mr. Ron Seiler was an advisor it was for boys only, then quite a few years after that it became open for girls as well.”

Today, Key Club hosts an incredibly diverse set of students, boasting every type of student North Penn has to offer.

“We have a very diverse group of kids that really have one goal in common, which is to provide service,” Dogonniuck said enthusiastically. “So you get a bunch of different backgrounds and a lot of different ideas from different groups of people.”

“We have every nationality in our club,” Law agreed. “Everyone can join, everyone can volunteer, but they do have to volunteer. If they don’t do the amount of hours that are required by a certain date they’re not a member in good standing. If you’re going to join, you need to do the volunteer hours, whether it’s for Key Club events or for your religion, or even just raking leaves for your neighbor. They just need to do the volunteer hours.”

Though it is easily the most populated, the Key Club is always looking for more members to swell their ranks. No doubt, this year’s large group of inductees will successfully bring a new class of leaders to the club.