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Students at Kramer Elementary School have now joined the Oxford Kiwanis Club service family as Kiwanis K-Kids.

Prior to K-Kids at Kramer, there were three branches of Kiwanis in Oxford — The Builder's Club at the middle school level, the Key Club at the high school level and Circle K at the collegiate level.

The children of K-Kids pledge to serve their neighborhood in addition to their school community. The purpose of the club is to help make the world a better place to live.

Mike Rudolph, a Kiwanis adviser, contacted Dr. Candace McIntosh, the principal of Kramer Elementary, in the summer of 2006 to discuss the expansion of Kiwanis at Kramer.

"We decided to limit K-Kids to just fifth-graders at this point," Rudolph said. "We have a group of 28 who are all actively working hard and doing a great job."

"I decided upon just fifth-graders because of the project we are doing," said Jay Hunsche, the school adviser of Kramer's K-Kids. "The project requires older, more mature students."

According to kkids.org, K-Kids is the largest service organization for elementary school students and has more than 20,000 members worldwide. Its members are between the ages of 6 and 12.

K-Kids usually works in conjunction with Kiwanis in its projects; however, the members also are encouraged to create their own projects, Rudolph said.

Kramer's K-Kids are working on recycling drives, as well as a project at Hueston Woods.

The club is working to improve the enclosures for the bobcat and a mountain lion at the park's nature center. K-Kids members are designing a new cage and enclosure for the animals.

The current enclosures for the animals are not very similar to their natural habitats.

"We're giving them more space — mostly natural ground and more sunlight," Hunsche said.

The club is working on a local community project in conjunction with other community residents.

"We are working with a local architect, Scott Webb, and a local construction company, DeWitt Construction," Rudolph said.

Hueston Woods is one of the largest natural parks in Ohio, and the animals the K-Kids are working with are unique, Hunsche said. The K-Kids members are doing a great deal of research on cougars and mountain lions.

The club is hoping to begin constructing the new cages sometime this spring.

"I hope (K-Kids) improves their leadership and community service feeling, allowing them to give more back to their community," Rudolph said.

A few of the major objectives of K-Kids are to develop leadership potential, to show a strong moral character and to express loyalty to school and the community.

Involvement in K-Kids makes the children better people, Rudolph said.