Our high school's Key Club is joining ARCh, the Association for the Rights of Citizen with handicaps. They plan to help serve more people, break down the wall of disabilities and spread awareness of preventable disabilities.
ARCh is an organization that supports children with disabilities from middle school to high school, spreads awareness about preventable diseases, and helps out in the community. Using such programs as Teen Time, a monthly get-together to help kids with disabilities build social skills and friendship, the leaders of ARCh work with children with disabilities and to help them build new friendships.
Junior Chris has been a part of ARCh since seventh grade and is the Youth Team Representative, helping to organize events with the teens. ARCh was showing a presentation about shaken baby syndrome during his health class. After that presentation, he signed up right away.
He goes to meetings four times a month and helps others to serve the community.
“I love it,” he said. “I hope to continue with ARCh into senior year. After college, I hope to work at ARCh full-time.”
Key Club first encountered ARCh at a book drive. Maria, the Associate Coordinator for Programs at ARCh, introduced Key Club to ARCh. Both organizations hope to have more kids become involved in the community. ARCh will come on October 8th to give talk to Key Club members about joining the cause.
Kathie, one of the guidance counselors and the head of Key Club, was excited about Key Club joining ARCh. “Key Club will help give presentations about accepting others, help others build social skills, help out with teen time and inform the community about a focus preventable disease,” she says, explaining what Key Club would be doing.
“Each year, the focus of the presentation will adjust based on the community. The focus this year will be on fetal alcohol syndrome and on shaken baby syndrome.”
Both Chris and Kathie hope Key Club members will join ARCh and help out more people. Through the collaboration of Key Club and ARCh, the differences between abled and non-abled people can be broken and discrimination can be eliminated.
If you wish to get learn more or get involved, you can visit their office on Fredrick Street in Waukesha or visit their website at http://www.waukeshaarch.org/. For any questions, call their office at 262.542.9811.