St. Mary's Ryken Key Club "Nothing but Nets"
by Steve Kupka

The Key Club at St. Mary's Ryken High School, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of St. Mary's County, was looking for a novel way to raise money for the Key Club Division 22 general project, "Nothing but Nets". The "Nothing But Nets " project generates funds to buy mosquito nets for those parts of Africa where malaria is a severe problem. The Key Club officers came up with a "first" for the school; a "Gamers" night. Video games have become very sophisticated and popular with primarily the male students of St. Mary's Ryken. The idea was to ask participants to bring in their video games along with their game computers with the object of teams being able to compete with each other for bragging rights and some prizes. A number of the faculty kindly lent their computer projectors to the Key Clubbers which allowed the competitors to see their progress displayed on 5x5 foot screens. Observers enthusiastically cheered on great plays as well as game disasters. All told there were ten screens in the darkened gym documenting the high action of the games. Over 100 students participated and all were clamoring for another "Gamer" night as they left that night. With paid admissions and proceeds from the sale of pizza and drinks, the Key Clubbers will be able to donate over $400 to "Nothing But Nets".