The start of the new school year has brought new and old students to Mepham and allowed for many to branch out and explore the countless opportunities that this school has to offer. Numerous students are incentivized to join the wide variety of clubs and sports provided. However, one certain club that has sparked growing interest among the Mepham community is Key Club.
Advised by Ms. Cogelja, Key Club focuses on helping and serving the community, where club members volunteer to aid in various events, benefiting struggling groups while earning community service hours. Key Club is currently offering several different opportunities to participate in the club, a notable option being the blood drive. Members can choose to either advertise the event to fellow classmates or even help out in the gym themselves. Other events include making cards for hospitalized children or collecting donated coats, jackets, and sweaters at the upcoming coat drive. Many Key Club members are optimistic about the future of the club for a multitude of reasons, including the sudden increase of members from the previous year and plenty of participation from past events.
When asked about her goals for Key Club, Ms. Cogelja stated that she wanted more students to get involved and take initiative. As the advisor of the club, she runs a lot of the leg work in order to make fundraisers and drives happen, but she says that “the students are the ones that are communicating with one another and spending a lot of time together to work on these fun community projects.” She also says that Key Club is a great way to give power back to the students. As for her goals for Key Club members individually, Ms. Cogelja prioritizes students finding their place in their community, what they want to serve for, and getting students to find a purpose. She also believes Key Club can enhance traits like responsibility: “By offering these opportunities for community service and volunteering and serving Bellmore, I think that it gives them more of a sense of responsibility, and it teaches them how to be driven kids.” If you are interested in joining Key Club, see Ms. Cogelja in room 214 or join the Google Classroom (code: yrkbnvw) for more information.
As the Mepham community grows, clubs are a significant part of getting to know others, getting to know yourself, and school life in general. Extracurricular activities are ways to try something new and make bonds with other people.
