At the start of high school, during club rush, I stumbled upon KIWIN’S. Having not known what the club was all about, I joined it with a few of my friends. After my first meeting, the officers and members made me feel truly welcomed, as if I had been a member for years, so I then looked into attending my first service event. This event, I remember so vividly, was a breast cancer awareness walk, and our club was placed at the end, cheering people on as they finished the course. Since we had a lot of time on our hands, I asked our group if they wanted to do a dance, the Cha Cha Slide. While a silly request, our club started to dance as we waited, and we decided to cheer others on as we continued to dance, to raise up everyone’s energy. As we cheered others on, they began to cheer us on as they continued the walk. This being my first event, it helped me realize that service can be both fun and meaningful, and started my passion for KIWIN’S.
With this newfound passion, I searched for ways to become more involved in KIWIN’S, becoming appointed as our club’s spirit chair, wanting to form more connections between our home club, and making it feel like a true Ohana. After that term, I was fully enthralled in KIWIN’S, taking on the opportunity to serve as our club’s co-vice president, and attending my first DCON. This experience helped me realize just how big KIWIN’S was, and inspired me to get even further involved. During the same term, I actively served on the District’s Membership Development and Education, DCON Planning, and UNICEF Committees. Through my love and passion for KIWIN’S growing as each year passed by, I knew I wanted to be in a role where I could help inspire others to reach their full potential, and fall in love with KIWIN’S just as I had since the start. Bringing me to where I am now, serving proudly over Jet Division as your Lieutenant Governor, with a goal to be the microphone to help amplify members voices, hoping to guide their passions for leadership, service, and KIWIN’S forward!
While KIWIN’S strives to build leaders and their potential to serve, KIWIN’S means so much more to me. I truly believe that KIWIN’S has become my second family, and I treasure every moment I make as core memories that will stay with me for all of my life. For all my future KIWINNERS, I have some personal advice! Make the most of your time in KIWIN’S, the 4 years we get in high school goes by extremely fast, so stay in the present moment, leap onto future opportunities, and build strong connections and memories that you can cherish forever. When times get difficult, always remember the memories you’ve made, and that will keep you motivated for the future. When I first joined KIWIN’S, I would have never imagined just how much of an impact this organization would have made on my life, and I hope each of you have the opportunity to find your voice and home within KIWIN’S.
Serving with a Voice, Leonardo Navarro
HEY JET MANATEES! It’s your lieutenant governor Leonardo Navarro here, excited to announce our latest newsletter! First, a BIG THANKS to Anh Pham for creating this newsletter, I really hope you all get to enjoy reading through it! Anyways, I wanted to say serving as your Lieutenant Governor has been a BLAST, I’ve gotten to make so many new memories, truly bond with each club’s and its members, and make this term one to remember. Now in Quarter 3, I plan on emphasizing the point of making this term memorable to all, and plan on continuing strong until the end of the term! From my personal advice, it is never too late to start your KIWIN’S journey and you can become involved at any point in time. I hope that reading through this letter encourages you to learn more about KIWIN’S, and take your first or new steps forward into this organization. I know that each and everyone of you have the potential to reach GREATNESS, and find your home and voice in KIWIN’S! With that all said and done, let’s see the newsletter and learn more about KIWIN’S together!
Beginning in 1974, Sid Smith, a past California-Nevada-Hawaii Kiwanis District Governor, wanted. Since the only option at the time was the all-male Key Club, he decided to take matters into his own hands and started a new club called Keyettes. They eventually changed the name to "Keywanettes" due to some naming rights issues, but with support from the Cal-Nev-Ha Kiwanis Sponsored Youth Advisors and high school principals, the Keywanettes became a successful program available to the young women of the community that provides the opportunities young men had in Key Club.
Originally, there were four districts of Keywanettes: West Virginia, Texas, North and South Carolina, and CNH. The club was growing faster than any other high school organization in the country. Eventually, the Texas, Virginia, and Carolina districts merged with Key Club.
Keywanettes was renamed KIWIN’S when the House of Delegates convened at the 1995 CNH Convention. KIWIN’S comes from the Otchipew language and translates to “people, men and women, working together in service.” The CNH District changed their name to get rid of gender specific connotations, welcoming all to join.
The CNH KIWIN’S District joined Key Club International in 2001 after the District Convention. CNH KIWIN’S did not merge with the CNH Key Club District, which is a common misconception. We simply became the Cal-Nev-Ha KIWIN’S 32nd District of Key Club International.
Although there are many misconceptions about the differences between Key Club and KIWIN’S, given our goals closely align with those of Key Club, KIWIN’S proudly uphold our unique traditions. Our sense of OHANA is significantly strengthened by our smaller size, yet our ability to make a positive impact in our communities is just as powerful as that of any other organization.
