Helping Our Youth Learn about Leadership and Service.

The Kiwanis Service Leadership Program (SLP) is our Club's signature program—the key element in our mission of Making a Positive Difference for Youth and Our Community.  The SLP organizes and mentors student-led clubs at elementary, middle, and high school levels as well as a college level club.  Our Service Leadership program provides our members a way to interact directly with our community and youth, bringing them perspective on service to others and on leadership in the community. Our advisors work with school faculty to enrich our students by providing them early opportunities to impact others.

SLP is a continuous, voluntary, program that develops competent, capable, and compassionate student leaders by helping them learn to help others. These Clubs enable youth and adult leaders to serve their communities and opens doors for them to change the world. The end goal is to develop “Servant Leaders”, a term coined by Robert Greenleaf in 1970. The Servant Leader is one that wants to serve and serve “First”. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to “Lead.

The MHKC SLP operates in all School District 38 schools except the Monument Academy.  We have been operating in District 38 schools since 1993.  The levels of SLP served by the Monument Hill Kiwanis Club are:

• K-Kids: A leadership program for Elementary school students, www.kiwaniskids.org:  We have five active K-Kids Clubs in D38 elementary schools, open to students in grades 4-6.
  
• Builders Club (Junior Key Club).  A leadership program for Middle and Junior high school students, www.buildersclub.org:  A leadership program for Middle/Junior high school students.  We have one active Club at Lewis-Palmer Middle School.
  
• Key Club International: The largest high school service leadership organization in the world, www.keyclub.org:  We have two active Clubs at Lewis-Palmer HIgh School and Palmer Ridge High School.
  
• Circle K: A global service organization for university students, aimed at community improvement, www.circlek.org, We have one Circle K club at the University of Colorado—Colorado Springs (UCCS)
  
• KC Graduate: A Rocky Mountain District Kiwanis program to connect graduated SLP members with Kiwanis clubs across the world,  www.kcgraduate.org

Students in our SLP clubs lead their own clubs with the assistance of at least one each faculty and Monument Hill Kiwanis Club advisors. The students:

Elect their own officers,

Select their own service projects and charities to support

Perform the elements of planning, preparation & execution of multiple service projects. 

While COVID affected SLP in 2020 and 2021, in 2022 the MHKC SLP studentsraised over $11,000 to improve our community.  Our expectation is that the 2023-24 school year will see a return to a strong, service-oriented effort from all our SLP clubs.

HOW DO WE DO IT

Operations
• We work within the regulations of D38, our Charter with Kiwanis International, and the MHKC Policies and Procedures for SLP
• Background checks are required for all D 38 volunteers, yearly. Kiwanis International requires a separate background check, every two years. The cost of background checks is reimbursed by MHKC
• KI provides a document of Youth Protection Guidelines. October 2016 current edition
• Risk Assessments are made by the Advisors for each event & organization we work with

Communication
• Club meetings
• Board meetings
• Key Club Advisor coordination meetings every Tuesday and Thursday
• SLP Committee quarterly meetings & monthly reports.

Participation
• Commitment to be involved with our youth
• Dedication of our volunteers every day to put the students first
• Teamwork: District 38 + Monument Hill Kiwanis + Community

YOUTH PROTECTION

All adults working with youth comply with School District #38
Policies for Volunteers
• We follow Kiwanis International (KI) Youth Protection Guidelines
• Section 432.0 thru 432.12 of KI Policies and Procedures - January 21, 2017
• All adults working with youth under the age of 18, at any Kiwanis event, read, understand, agree to, and abide by these guidelines

Twelve specific requirements for adults working with children (details follow)
• Chaperones, Substance Use
• Reporting, Overnight Stays
• Transportation, Medications
• Criminal History Background Investigations, Conflicts with Other Rules
• Personal Information, Youth and Social Media
• Behavioral or Health Issues, Education

Service Leadership Clubs operate during the school year and, for Key Club & Circle K, year around

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MHKC makes a difference by organizing and operating a 100 unit parade through historic downtown Monument, Colorado every Independence Day. In operation since the 1970s, this parade has been billed as “The Biggest Small Town Parade in America.” This parade is our largest Community Service project. Our members start in April, implementing parade plans and coordinating with our partners at the Tri-Lakes Chamber of Commerce, Integrity Bank & Trust, and the Town of Monument, to produce a full-day community celebration. The parade includes a children’s parade, VIPs, veterans units, horses & other animals, bands, churches, businesses, fire trucks, and other exciting units. Participation is open to the public for an entry fee of $50 which helps defray the cost of presenting the parade. The MHKC team manages publicity, coordination with law enforcement, transportation, services, trash, barricades, and unit applications. Our members also supervise parking, parade line-up, children’s parade organization, parade safety marshals, and cleanup. In all, it takes more than 80 of our members to make the parade a success. MHKC volunteers contribute over 1,500 hours to present this event—we’re very proud of this gift to the community.

Our Parade is part of the Tri-Lakes Independence Day Celebration

According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 2/3 of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of the 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare.

MHKC makes a difference by providing volunteer tutors to the Children's Literacy Center for elementary students in D38 schools. The program is aimed at K-3 grades.  MHKC volunteers tutor selected students twice per week between 5:30-6:30 pm.  A background check is required but no specific teaching experience is required.  Tutors participate in a half day training session before working with students.  Students are screened by the CLC and assigned to volunteers who maintain continuity with a single student through their participation in the program.  MHKC volunteers contribute about 500 hours annually to this project. This event takes place during the school year and during a short summer session.

The CLC has both school year and summer sessions

MHKC makes a difference by providing judges for annual area and state DECA competitions. High school DECA students compete in a number of marketing challenges in several specialty areas to earn college scholarship support.  Area competitions take place over a 1-2 day period.  MHKC volunteers work in pairs to judge student presentations in a number of specialty areas.  No specific qualifications are required of volunteers and training is provided to assist them in the judging tasks.  Judges are not involved in compiling scores or in selecting competition awards.  MHKC volunteers contribute about 30 hours annually to this project.  This event takes place on one weekend in early December every year.

Two judging sessions yearly between November and February—No experience necessary

MHKC makes a difference by supporting the Griffith Centers for Children Chins Up (GCCCU) in several ways. The GCCCU is a state-wide organization that provides assistance for abused, homeless, and otherwise at-risk children.  Centered in five locations around the state, GCCCU provides residential and other services to help rebuild families and provide an opportunity for at-risk youth to return to a more normal, successful, and happy life.
Club members volunteer to serve as mentors for selected students who earn the opportunity to participate in the PPSBD program.  MHKC provides cars that the students disassemble, reassemble, and race.  MHKC mentors provide assistance to the GCCCU students as they learn about tools, instructions, attention to detail, and competition. This event takes place in May and June of every year.
MHKC provides assistance with real property maintenance and improvement for GCCCU, when needed.
Overall, MHKC volunteers contribute over 300 hours annually to GCCCU support.

Two days per week for six weeks in May and June

MHKC makes a difference by supporting the annual Pikes Peak Soap Box Derby (PPSBD) which provides the opportunity for young boys and girls to build and race gravity propelled cars in an environment of safe competition. www.soapboxderby.org or Pikes Peak Soap Box Derby. Club members provide assistance with inspecting and weighing cars as well as supervision of track preparation and race activities.  Members also provide special assistance to the Griffith Centers for Children Chins Up (GCCCU), supervising selected students who build and race cars in three categories.  MHKC volunteers contribute about 200 hours annually to this event.  This event takes place in early June every year.

Three weekend days each June

MHKC makes a difference by supporting the annual Rocky Mountain Youth Leadership Conference. The RMYLC is operated by a separate 501(c)3 organization, the Rocky Mountain Youth Leadership Foundation (rmylf.org). The RMYLC provides a 5-day on-campus experience for 99 area high school juniors at the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs (UCCS) or Colorado State University-Pueblo (CSU-P).  The fully chaperoned event provides attendees with a college-like experience and education in leadership, patriotism, and the free enterprise system.  Students participate in team and individual problem-solving challenges as well as attending presentations by highly qualified educational speakers.  Volunteer opportunities are available with the Foundation and with the Conference.  Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
In addition to providing a grant for the conference, several club members volunteer time to assist with the operation of the conference.  MHKC volunteers contribute about 100 hours annually to this event
This event takes place in late June every year.

5 day, in-residence, college-like experience each June

MHKC makes a difference by providing assistance to Silver Key to deliver a hot meal to residents of the Tri-Lakes area at the Tri-Lakes Senior Center (Grace Best Education Center, 146 N. Jefferson Street, Monument, CO 80132). On selected days of the week, MHKC members pick up empty service containers at the Center, return those containers to the Silver Key kitchens in south Colorado Springs, pick up containers of hot food, and bring those containers back to the Center for serving at a noon meal. The work is shared between 12-15 volunteers so that each volunteer performs this service once or twice a month.  The work is entirely voluntary and no compensation of any kind is provided.  MHKC volunteers contribute over 400 hours annually to this project.  This event takes place every week of the year.

Two hours, once per month, year around