5-29-2023 12:18pm

Alamogordo Kiwanis Club Student of the Year and Bring Up Grades BUG Awards

Chris Edwards Editor

Kiwanis Alamogordo is all about kids with a variety of programs. Listen to Ned Kline from Kiwanis Alamogordo in an interview about the Student of the Year on KRAZY KALHRadio.org’s AlamogordoTownNews.com radio edition with Anthony Lucero…

KALH INTERVIEW Alamogordo Kiwanis Students of the Years

In other Kiwanis news…

Bring Up Grades, or BUG, is a program designed to provide recognition to students who raise their grades from one grading period to the next. The purpose of the BUG program is to encourage students by recognizing their efforts to improve their grades.

Recognition includes being placed on the schools’ BUG honor roll and a presentation of a certificate and an award gift package.

The Alamogordo Kiwanis Club helps support the BUG programs at Imago Dei Academy, Emmanuel Christian Academy and St. Frances Cabrini elementary schools. The teachers establishe a baseline grade for each student during the first grading period. Students are honored each grading period thereafter. This encourages students to put real effort into improving their grades. It doesn’t matter where they are starting from,Kiwanis wants to encourage them to do their best from here onward. Each grading period, grades are compared to the previous grading period. Kiwanis is celebrating the BUG’s for the fourth nine week grading period :

Imago Dei Academy: Imago Dei Academy celebrates their BUG recipients at the end of each semester.

3rd Nine Weeks: 15 BUG recipients. The top Bug was 4th grade Alexandra Duray who raised her grades in four (4) subject areas.

4th Nine Weeks: 25 BUG recipients. The top Bug was 3rd grade Skylar Campise who raised her grades in five (5) subject areas

St. Frances Cabrini School

11 BUG recipients. The Top Bug was 5th grade Hailey Lucero who raised her grades in three (3) subject areas.

(Note: In the picture, Kiwanis BUG man Ned Kline and Principal Victor Gonzalez are included)

Emmanuel Christian Academy

8 BUG recipients. The Top Bug was 2nd grade Isaac Reyes who raised his grades in eight (8) subject areas.

Kiwanis is looking out for kids in every corner of the globe with more than 550,000 volunteers who serve their community such as the local chapter in Alamogordo.Kiwanis International was founded in 1915 by a group of businessmen in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The organization was originally called the Supreme Lodge Benevolent Order of Brothers but changed its name to Kiwanis a year later.

The name "Kiwanis" was coined from an American Indian expression, "Nunc Kee-wanis," which means, "We trade." In 1920, the motto of Kiwanis became “We Build.” It remained the motto until 2005, when members voted to change it to “Serving the children of the world.” In the early years, members focused on business networking but in 1919, the organization changed its focus to service — specifically service to children.

Kiwanis became an international organization with the founding of the Kiwanis Club of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in 1916. Kiwanis clubs formed in communities across the United States and Canada until the 1960s, when worldwide expansion was approved. Today, Kiwanis clubs are helping children thrive, prosper and grow in nearly 80 nations and geographic locations.

All people are welcome to participate in the Kiwanis movement of improving communities for children. In 1987, women were invited to join. In 2008, delegates approved a resolution that calls for Kiwanis clubs to celebrate and foster inclusiveness.