By LAURA BROOKHART / Community Columnist

Key Club members from HHS and Evangel Christian were on hand to hear Sen. Cam Ward speak at the Helena Kiwanis Club, just prior to the presidential inauguration.

Helena High School senior Madison Bearden (on left in photo), who will study pre-pharmacy at Auburn this fall, shared her thoughts.

“As I’m growing into my own person I’ve had to figure out my views on the world,” she said. “While I haven’t figured it out completely, it was a great pleasure to sit and listen to Senator Cam Ward. Hearing his views and opinions on the subjects of mental health, education, and the prison system brought about a new perspective I didn’t have before.”

At 17, Bearden shared, she finally understands to a degree what is going on in the world—however, not so long ago, she could’ve cared less about any issues Senator Ward has to deal with.

“Now, as I’m preparing to enter the world as an 18-year-old freshman at Auburn University, I value the opinions of people like Cam Ward because every day they fight for what they believe in and for the people they promised to represent,” she said. “Before hearing Ward speak, I was unaware that our Alabama prison system is in bad shape or that 55 percent of the people in prison have been diagnosed with some sort of mental illness. Listening to Senator Ward helped me understand how important it is for all of us to be knowledgeable and aware of issues concerning our state and nation.”

As the oldest and largest service program for high school students, Key Club’s motto is “Caring – Our Way of Life.”

As a student-led organization, Key Club teaches leadership through serving others. Core Values emphasized are leadership, character building, caring and inclusiveness.

“Classes teaching current affairs and government tend to be more prevalent at the college level, but high school or college, I think the most effective format is small round table discussion groups,” Ward noted talking with the students afterwards.

Key Club Faculty Advisor at Evangel is Mack Farley.

New Key Club Faculty Advisors recently appointed at HHS are Rachel O’Connor and Michelle Wilson.

Key Club students will be on hand for the upcoming all-you-can-eat Pancake Breakfast, from 7 a.m. to noon on Feb. 18 at Helena Elementary School.