Bolstered by its mission of “Serving the Children of the World,” the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada held two luncheons honoring local youth through its TERRIFIC Kids program and the annual scholarship awards presentation.

Kiwanis Club of La Cañada President Joe Radabaugh said, “This is one of my favorite times of the year! It is great to acknowledge so many local ‘terrific’ kids as well as further the education of deserving, graduating high school students.”

With over 80 attendees, including civic and educational leaders, the TERRIFIC Kids luncheon recognized a total of 18 students. Selected from the sixth-grade classrooms of La Cañada Elementary School, Palm Crest Elementary School and Paradise Canyon Elementary School, the students were singled out for demonstrating such qualities as good citizenship and being helpful to others.

Spearheading the TERRIFIC Kids program is coordinator Nancy Leininger, assisted by Dr. Michael Leininger and Tom Slaughter. The kickoff began as students introduced their family members, followed by words written about each student by their teacher.

“It’s wonderful to have the children from all three schools come together,” said Nancy Leininger. “We applaud them for making such a positive impact in their classrooms.”

The acronym TERRIFIC stands for a student being Thoughtful, Enthusiastic, Respectful, Responsible, Inclusive, Friendly, Inquisitive, and Capable, and is a worldwide youth program of Kiwanis International.

In a separate celebration, the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada hosted a scholarship awards luncheon. Four recently graduated seniors from La Cañada High School were presented $2,500 each for a combined total of $10,000 in scholarships awarded. The recipients were Sam White, Rosalie Ahern, Jack Driscoll and Payson Dillon, who were joined by their family members at the ceremony. The program was orchestrated by Kiwanis member and scholarship liaison to LCHS, Dr. Michael Leininger, who rallied club members to raise the needed funds. The students were initially recommended by high school counselors with the final college-bound awardees selected by the club based on a criterion, which included doing community service.

Those interested in learning more about the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada and would like to attend a meeting that includes featured speakers, email president@lacanadakiwanis.org or visit https://www.lacanadakiwanis.org.