> Penguins, I had the honor and privilege to serve you as Division News Editor for the 2015-2016 term. This year was the best way I could end my high school career; from the number of service events I attended to the number of Key Clubbers I met I made memories most definitely worth cherishing. When creating my first newsletter, I was completely stressed out. I suck at time management so I had just a fews days to ask around for articles and put together the first newsletter for the division. As time went on, I still sucked at time management, but I did discover how to work with the limited resources I had to produce something worth reading. It might be to your surprise, but because I have no idea how to use photoshop or any editing software, every newsletter and graphic was created on Google Drive. Through inspirations like Pinterest and other divisions’ publications, I found my own sense of design. The most satisfying moment of this position was when members (even outside of the division!) told me that they read and loved the newsletter. Overall, serving on the division level really changed my perspective on Key Club and taught me that even a picture really does mean a thousand words. Even if I haven’t gotten the chance to meet you in person, know that you have motivated me to keep doing what I do. I truly thank you for giving your time and effort to serve the greater good of this world. In exactly one year, I want to see 100% of Division 34 South at District Convention 2016. Then will my dream come true.
Mary Zhen D34S 2015-2016 Division News Editor
Alexa Jade Rallos De La Pena Division 34 South 2016-2017 Lieutenant Governor Region 17 | Cali-Nev-Ha District Key Club International
To think that we are now weeks away from the end of the term really shocks me because I remember trying to recruit members like crazy just like it was last week! As president of Cupertino Key Club, I have really experienced the first leadership position in my life. I've learned a lot this year after panicking to organize & give out pizza for our first meeting, struggling to find events, leading numerous fundraisers, and so much more. Of course there were ups & downs during the term, but I'm thankful for my forever supportive officer board. I honestly couldn't have kept my sanity without you guys. I'm also super thankful for our club because we would be nothing without you all! In order to improve our club as a whole and to not fall into the inactiveness that has been trending in the past for our club, there were a lot of changes I had to make to our system. Hopefully, these changes will help our club in the long run. We've tried a lot of new things this year, including member of the month, food at meetings, and so much more that have brought our club to success. I am extremely proud of every officer and member coming from Cupertino Key Club because we've had such a great term. From the DCM we hosted that gained double the amount of can donations as last year, all the way to the countless fundraisers for our club, it's been a hard term, but overall super worth it. I've created many lasting relationships with tons of new Key Clubbers this year, as well as a variety of memories that I will keep forever. For those of you graduating, I wish you all the best & don't forget to join Circle K! For those returning members, I hope to make tons of new memories with you all next year! Here's to another amazing and successful term of Division 34 South~ See you all soon at DCON 2016! Jessica Lee, Cupertino
DCON is fast approaching, and with it - the end of a year and the beginning of another. It's ethereal, how quickly a year ends - election seems like yesterday, preparing a speech and a performance, worrying about club rush, preparing for DCMs, Fall Rally, etc. My only sentiment is that the term is too short for us to truly develop as leaders and to become as involved as we can. Opportunities are rare and our time in high school is too little - so we do what we can in that little window. With that in mind, a message I would like to bid farewell with to this term as a President for all of you who may be reading - I plead you to take that initiative: to talk to the officers, spearhead projects, brainstorm ideas, and to become the officers yourselves in hopes to inspire. A slump of inactivity fell upon our clubs in the pursuit of our true purpose community service. It is to be the arms and legs of those who don't have them - to be the ease of burden on those who offer and sacrifice for others. It reflects on my leadership and I can frankly say that I did not... lead and inspire as well as I hoped as well as those who had inspired me. Therefore, to the countless amount of Key Clubbers that came, that volunteered, that fundraised at the events that our team organized and put innumerable hours into in order to provide that opportunity, I'm awed and incredibly grateful. Please keep in mind that it is not the leader who is the most courageous, but the first follower. Arguably, the first follower takes on the most important role. That first follower turns the loner into a leader and puts meaning behind the cause and the movement. How many of you find it awkward when you're the first to cheer at Spirit Week at school or at Fall Rally? How many of you get louder as your fellow members join in and feel assured? It may be scary, but as someone who've led the cheers, I was incredibly satisfied as you all shouted along. So I implore you, be that first follower. Your clubs, your division, your region, your Key club is wonderfully full of kind, brilliant, creative, amiable, and passionate people that I have come to call family. Let's make this family bigger. - Albert Hwang, Palo Alto
As the Key Club Year draws to a close, I would like to thank our Kiwanis Advisor, Mr. Davis; Staff Advisor, Mr. Bechara; Homestead Key Club Officers; and Members for the many feats we accomplished this year. Homestead Key Club has come a long way, owing its success to everyone taking part. Thank you members for attending our Wednesday meetings and regularly serving at our events, officers for their countless hours to put on events for the club, and advisors for their support and guidance. I would also like to thank my parents, who have been my stronghold, always there to assist in Key Club events. This Key Club Year has passed so quickly. Although our club has had our share of struggles, I am proud of all we have achieved this year. In the following summary, I have detailed the most impactful events we held each month. In September, we were able to serve at Our Daily Bread on Labor Day, serving food to the needy with the help of our Lieutenant Governor Alexa. In that month, we also held the first clean-up as a part of the Schools Goin’ Green Project with the City Of Sunnyvale. In October, we partnered with FHS Key Club for the Annual Sunnyvale DPS Firefighter Pancake Breakfast, helping to serve 925 attendees and raise $5,500. In November, we held a Crane Week Social and volunteered with the Friends of the Sunnyvale Library, a regular event we that volunteer. In December, we hosted the first school campus cleanup of the year. Vice President Gloria Cheng and I planned the 10th annual Caroling For Cans at the Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church, which occurred the following day. The Division got together, singing carols for the special purpose of donating goods and raising funds for the Sunnyvale Community Services. At the end of the event, we raised 173 cans and $150, a great Division 34S fundraising success. January was a busy month, but we took some time to volunteer while getting to know each other. Opening my home to Key Club Friends, I hosted a pizza party/poster-making social. We were able to make posters to promote our meetings and school events, while getting to know the amazing volunteers who share our heart for service. The next day was the IGreenSunnyvale App Launch at Nokia Offices. The event was part of Sunnyvale’s efforts to obtain the $5M Georgetown University Energy Prize. Homestead Key Clubbers helped attendees navigate through the app. Thank you Mr. Bechara, our staff advisor, for helping me with my speech. I represented Homestead Key Club to deliver a report on the Schools Goin’ Green Project in front of the citizens of Sunnyvale. In February, we conducted another Schools Goin’ Green Cleanup with the City of Sunnyvale, this time at Stevens Creek. It was breath-taking journey down the creek, but finding many spray cans, paint, glass, and other hazards – 63 pounds of waste, we would later discover – deeper into the path that could pose danger to animals was heartbreaking. This month, Treasurer Andrew Mou is hosting a Can Collection Fundraiser, open to the entire school to donate empty cans and bottles. In the present, our club is planning the first Green Week for Homestead with Project Chair Kassandra Newton’s lead, a week raising environmental awareness with planning from all the way in 2015. In May, we will hold our biggest annual fundraiser at Hands on the Arts, with Kiwanis Advisor Mr. Davis’s assistance. Mr. Davis always runs I feel blessed, recapturing these striking events, because all of this has been the joint work of our Key Club Family. With the efforts of everyone, we have attained many of the goals we set for 2015-2016. Thank you everyone for an amazing year and unforgettable memories! - Julia Song, Homestead
This year I have had the incredible honor of leading Lynbrook Key Club. We started off the term hosting the July DCM at the park and made sandwiches for homeless people. Then as the year came around, we did all we could to increase membership. We had balloon promos, social media challenges (with point compensations), freshman literature class presentations, and plenty of advertising at club days. Our first meeting was a huge success with over 200 members attending (YAY) and from then on we maintained high membership and higher member retention! We kept our club funds high by doing regular fundraisers and later used those funds for staff appreciation presents, advertising tools, and towards getting a division bus for FRN (thanks to our lovely treasurer Maggie). In the very beginning of the year, we advertised committee positions, which are basically interns for the officers. We got lots of wonderful applicants and in the end we had an extremely close-knit team :). We also widened the scope of our club duties by using our meetings to talk about pivotal issues like suicide, and global events. Rather than simply taking donations for PTP, we have also taken donations for the natural disaster in Nepal, and for children facing poverty. Our journey has been amazing thanks to our very close relationship with our fellow Kiwanians. On numerous occasions, we dined at IHOP with them and teamed up with them on various projects. This year (thanks to our lovely PR Melvin), we have Lynbrook Key Club sweatshirts!!! I don't think I can really discuss the year without mentioning all the important people and their wonderful contributions so here I go!
VP Tesia Huang: She has always been willing to lend a hand and handles situations perfectly! She pretty much always offers to help and her effort has never gone unnoticed. She handled FRN difficulties, made wonderful meeting powerpoints, baked cookies for fundraisers, currently has MANY dippin dots in her freezer because of our last fundraiser, and so much more I'm probably missing something.
Secretary Richard Li: Although Richard's journey has been relatively new, he takes tasks with so much excitement. It's very refreshing to see so much passion and drive in him! He completes tasks impeccably and has astounding work ethic. I'm so excited for his journey next year!
Treasurer Maggie Chou: Without Maggie I have no idea how our club would exist (literally because I'm referring to our membership scare haha). She handled every high stress situation and because of it we came out successful. I'm so thankful that Maggie spent countless time figuring out the FRN bus situation, numerous PMT fundraisers at the top of the quad, filling out TMRFS always on-time, and figuring out the membership roster. She always does her part and contributes!!
VP Beatrice Li: Beatrice has amazing ideas that have really taken our club forward. For example, in the beginning of the year we had profile pictures of our hand covering our face with 5 reasons we like Key Club. Our pictures really set us apart from all other clubs that simply use graphics. She also came up with the wonderful system in which we are selecting officers this year in which candidates are weighted equally 25% interview scores, application score, event attendance, and election votes.
Project Chair Veronica Martin: Veronica is extremely dedicated and committed member of the officer team. She is always excited about divisional events and helps spread the word :) She has also completely revamped the way we do our events. She sends out meeting reminders, and has overall made the system more organized. She finds INCREDIBLE events that have extremely high attendance rates!!! I can't wait to see all her wonderful contributions next year (because I will be that annoying ex-president that is overly attached to the club).
Project Chair Manasvini Hothur: Manasvini has been receptive and committed. I appreciate her bringing supplies, putting in effort to find unique events, and her effort to speak at the first meeting. I love her passion for Key Club and I see that she helps spark that passion in her friends at our meetings!
Public Relations Mel Chen: Having Mel on the team was a real asset. He is known for his beautiful graphic designs and thankfully he made ALL our club graphics (some on really short notice). He also handled our photography promos in the beginning of the year which was hugely successful. He also made wonderful posters and advertising tools for our beginning of the year promo which really helped us stand out. I'm thankful that he has been willing to help out pick up cookies for our meetings, bring supplies pretty much always, and help revamp our point sheet!! He also designed/ordered the first Lynbrook Key Club sweatshirts which are super swaggy!!! To everyone: I hope this year I have aided you in our tasks, and hopefully made you feel less overwhelmed. I love you all very much and you are all very special to me (getting emotional right now oops). Thank you for giving me the best Key Club year, and some of the most critical learning experiences. We must always keep in touch :) - Tanvi Varma, Lynbrook
This past term was honestly more than I ever asked for. When running for president, I didn’t exactly know what I was getting myself into, but I knew that something was calling me to achieve higher things. Key Club opened me up to so many opportunities to serve with passion, build my leadership skills and make unforgettable memories. This organization has touched me in ways I would have never imagined. Freshman year, I was the most shy and awkward person you could ever meet. I hated public speaking and I didn’t know how to socialize in group settings. But look at what Key Club did to me. I’ve learned that I don’t have to be in the limelight to be a leader. I discovered exactly how much I love service because each and every service event hits the bottom of my heart. I unveiled the love of Key Club because each and every member I meet and witness fall in love with service melts my heart. The one event that changed my whole perspective on Key Club was District Convention. Backtrack to the last day of DCON 2014, it’s the final general session where the Lieutenant Governors will be retired and installed and the room would be filled with tears of joy and sadness. I was walking to my division, trying to find where the rest of the penguins were seated. Then suddenly, there was an exact moment where it felt like a movie, no kidding. Everything around me had paused and moved at the slowest pace ever. At that exact moment, I saw the bigger picture. I was in awe of how thousands of high schoolers were willing to pay such a big toll for a weekend to meet members, connect over service, learn from workshops and all those cheesy things you would hear in a commercial, but this was real. I realized that every single person in that room had a burning passion for what? For service. When you actually say it out loud, it sounds amazing. It’s different than connecting with a partner in calculus class than connecting with a key club member over service. I met so many passionate key clubbers because I love service. From that point on, I fell in love with Key Club and passion was at the bottom of everything I did, from volunteering to leading meetings. I wanted everyone to experience what I experienced because I truly believe that is the full Key Club experience, and without it, I would be empty. If you’ve never attended a larger scale event, outside of the division, try to before you graduate because it’s honestly so different from a DCM or a service event. Don’t ever discourage yourself from trying something new because if you don’t venture outside of your comfort zone, you’ll never know what you’re capable of. And most importantly, no matter what you do, know that you are a leader because there is at least one person in this world you have inspired, even if you can’t see it. Always keep reaching for the gold and don’t ever stop serving because caring is our way of life. - Mary Zhen, Mountain View
AWOO! Hey purple friends, I can't believe how quick that year swept by! Fremont High School Key Club has been quite the experience, from which there were many lessons to be learned... From working through each week's logistics to meeting new people at events (be it in a suit or with purple face paint on), everywhere I looked there was tremendous excitement brought together! Being in Key Club gives back as much as you put into it; whenever anyone helps volunteer or organize events, the satisfaction repaid is awesome. I'm reminded of the November DCM, in which we tied blankets for premature newborns. Seeing our ASB room filled with laughter while knowing what a great cause we were working toward made me a very happy penguin. I can't wait to see what Circle K has in store for me. Welp, Ian signing off for the very last time as a Key Club President. Aravoir my waddling companions! - Ian Phillips, Fremont
This term, despite the loss of past members, was pretty successful, especially with the dedication of our newer members. There was a lot of struggle trying to find service events in our area because of numerous situations, but our newer members really did a lot to make each event really great. I'd like to recognize a group of sophomores (Sam Shi, Claudia McMillin, Krizia Araracap, An Huynh, and Jia Seow) and these two freshmen (Katherine Houston and Adrienne Mitchel) for really pulling through, attending all of our events and meetings without fail, and showing a lot of interest in our club. And even though we had a smaller club this year, managing ourselves for district events was pretty difficult for me, as I am not too experienced with leadership positions. Despite that, a lot of my board members really helped out and were extremely willing to make my job easier. I'd like to thank Stephanie Lee for being my partner in leadership, Liam Lee for giving a helping hand whenever he can, and Aevia Trainor for working super hard to find service events that work for our club of teenagers. I really can't show enough how much I appreciate their efforts in helping me with the club. Because of this though, I know they're going to do a rocking job for the next term. - Helena Chi, Los Altos
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Code of Conduct & Medical Release forms Toiletries Electronics & chargers Money for Friday night dinner Money to donate for ribbons and buttons Appropriate clothing for 3 days and 2 nights ❏ Friday - Spirit Attire ❏ Saturday - Business Professional ❏ Saturday Evening - Semi-formal or Business Professional ❏ Sunday - Convention Casual or Business Casual *Remember that dresses and skirts must be knee-length or longer Refer to the code of conduct for more details Visit links below for...
check out the district newsletter for the month of March!
Alexa DeLa Pena Lieutenant Governor d34s.cnhkc.ltg@gmail.com
Mary Zhen Division News Editor d34s.cnhkc.dne@gmail.com
Helena Chi Division Secretary lahs.kc.pres@gmail.com
Kelena Jue Eliminate Coordinator 10kelena.j@gmail.com
Gloria Cheng Executive Assistant glory132@gmail.com
Tesia Huang PTP Coordinator tesiahuang@gmail.com
Valerie Tan Executive Assistant valerietan.lhskey@gmail.com
keyclub.com cnhkeyclub.org division google group