Box Elder High School Key Club

The Box Elder High School Key Club is dedicated to improving the present and future life of youth considered at-risk of failing school.

Box Elder High School is located in rural Brigham City, UT in an area where 62% of children have both or their only guardian in the workforce. Many guardians lack the time or skills to help their children academically. Since 1993, the dropout rate has increased 21%. A solution was needed to help Box Elder County youth stay in school.

Engaging in academic mentoring, Box Elder Key Club is helping youth succeed. Adhering to the belief that an individual’s education level and degree of academic success have a direct correlation with becoming involved in criminal behavior, teenage pregnancy, substance abuse and other at-risk behavior, their solution is to assume the role of a caring role model in the life of at-risk youth. In less than a year, 20 members have contributed some 100 individual hours of service to Project LEARN, an academic mentoring program.

Mentors teach their mentee self-empowerment and responsibility through setting and working toward goals. Students are learning valuable study and social skills. The results are evidence that they make a difference: 84% of guardians report their student is doing better in school, 88% report a decrease in school discipline episodes and 65% saw a significant increase in their child’s self-confidence.

Project LEARN is the only organized mentoring program in Box Elder County. The director of LEARN, Tabbie Mayne, believes that “without the help of the Key Club, our mentoring program may have failed. There exists a real need for this program. These youth serve both as friend and tutor. Their contributions mean the difference between hope and the despair that comes from failing.”