Male-only, elitist organizations used to be common in the 1900’s. Key Club was just another one of them, and many people, including Mike Lathrop, didn’t know about it.

“I knew it was a service club,” he said, but that was all he had heard.

That all changed when a student came to him and asked him to be the advisor. Lathrop, a physics teacher, accepted the offer, and he has been leading the club at C. M. Russell High School for 18 years.

Being the advisor of the club comes with a bigger workload than anyone might expect. Lathrop takes care of the agenda, gets information about upcoming events, and controls funds.

Although he does a lot of the behind-the-scenes work, he also makes sure that it is the students who are the ones making a difference.

“Key Club changes every time we change the boards,” Lathrop said, referring to the students who take positions such as secretary, treasurer, and reporter.

Stepping up as the president of the club was a major change in the role of sophomore Maura Hodges.

Although she is only a second-year clubber, Hodges has already been elected to take on her position of leader and the jobs that come with it. These include running the weekly meetings and keeping people informed.

Hodges believes that it is important to sign up for volunteering events to make it possible for Key Club to become a regular part of a student’s weekly schedule. By doing this, she has come to appreciate volunteer work more than ever.

“It has made me really aware of other people,” she said.

Lathrop also recognizes the significance of the people involved in the club. He said that the biggest thing is that people step up and make it a real time commitment.

“There’s times that it has kept me in teaching because I have realized there are good young people in the world.”