Press release

Blankets, snacks and books were scattered throughout the Galion Primary School gymnasium floor for a special event April 29. Twenty-three Galion High School Key Club members spent the day with the youngest Tigers during the annual Reading Fair.

The event is a daylong activity involving every class at the Primary School. Students visited each station of 2-3 Key Club members and participated in various learning activities.

“This event has been happening for at least six years and is always a huge hit with the Primary students,” Key Club advisor and Board of Education President Dennis Long said. “This kind of activity was developed by design when we built the new school campus as a way to allow our older students to interact and work with the younger students. It’s been a great success.

Key Club members Gabe McKeever, Tristan Gosser, Rachel Jarvis, Connor Moreton, Dani Schieber, Natalie Rodriquez, Abby Barre, Dakota Rupert, Danielle Schnieder, Madysen Lawson, Markis Lawson, Jared Dixon, Ava Donnersbach, Sophie Carson, Lauren Huggins, Thomas Shawk, Bri Wallis, Ashleigh Wright, Farrah Gregg, Logan Gregg, Colin McCullough, Natalie Slone and Callie Wildenthaler all participated in this year’s activity. At each station, the Key Club members were in “costume” or had some sort of prop to help illustrate the story/book they shared with the Primary students.

“Our students and teachers love this day every year,” Primary School Principal Cindy Voss said. “This gives our students a fantastic opportunity to interact and engage with some of the best and brightest at Galion High School in one of the most important learning activities in school: reading.”

The Galion Key Club has grown from twenty members when this program first started to more than sixty today. A big reason for growth can be attributed to the Key Club’s involvement with the younger students.

“Every year, we have to turn members away because there isn’t enough room in the Primary gymnasium for everyone to have stations,” Long said. “It’s a good problem to have, and we try to make sure that every Key Club member gets to participate in this activity at least once during their high school career.”

In addition to annual Reading Fair, the Key Club is hosting the 2016 Superhero Charity 5K at Galion High School May 14. The event, which serves as a fundraiser for the Flying Horse Farm this year, includes a Fun Run for children 10 years old and younger that begins at 10:00 a.m. The official race for all ages will begin at 10:15 a.m. that day.

Those interested in participating in the 5K can download a registration form from the Key Club’s website, http://galionkeyclub.wix.com/galkc#!5k/zr2i9. The cost for the event is $25, and participants are encouraged to dress up as a superhero, but it is not required to run the race.

“I am incredibly proud of the work our Key Club members do to help so many in the Galion and surrounding communities,” Superintendent Jim Grubbs said. “As an educator, I love seeing our youngest students interact with our High School students. It shows the Primary students what’s possible with hard work and dedication.”

For more information about the Galion Key Club, visit their website at http://galionkeyclub.wix.com/galkc