Newsletter 2022-2023 Volume 11.11

THE KIWI

BRONX SCIENCE KEY CLUB

-The Secret World of Arrietty

"Sometimes you have to fight for the things that are worth fighting for.”

True or False

Hey all! Quick True or False Question!

Beaver teeth are orange.

If you want to know the answer, read this newsletter to the end! ;)

Editor's Note

HI GUYS!!

Can you believe it’s March already���� Like what?!! I feel like we just started this school year… THIS IS MY LAST MONTH AS A BULLETIN EDITOR AND I’LL BE GRADUATING IN LIKE 100-SOMETHING DAYS… This can’t be true �� I will forever miss being a high schooler and a Key Club board☹��

As a graduating senior, one thing I want to tell you guys is that try to surround yourself with good people who would positively influence you. If you think about your friends right now, they are probably the ones who affect you the most, whether it’s about how you think or how you act. There is a quote by Jim Rohn: “You're the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” I actually think we are affected by many more than just five people, but take the time to think about this quote and the people around you. If you want to keep growing as a better person, you would want to surround yourself with those whom you want to be. Being in Key Club really helped me surround myself with admirable people who constantly inspire me to be a better person. I feel like high school is the easiest time to become friends with different people and learn about them as well as yourself. Before it’s too late, try making more friends and memories (possibly by going to Key Club events. :):)) I also want to say that, before surrounding yourself with good people, be the good person people would want to be friends with. You Key Clubbers never fail to impress me with your kind hearts and strong passions, and I hope you never lose those. Make the most of your teenage! Anyway, enjoy my second-to-last newsletter before my term ends this month…

Warmest Regards,

Jeongwon Lee '23

Webmaster/Bulletin Editor

Service Update

GOAL: 20,000 HOURS

20357 HOURS

Fundraising Update

MEMBER OF THE MONTH

February Edition

NAGASAKI KINA '26

HOSSAIN SURAIYA '26

Kina and Suraiya were both very active members over the break, and I’ve seen them on the attendance sheets for multiple events. They’re both incredibly kind and helpful to everyone, and seem like very honest and hardworking people. Suraiya was teaching three people how to knit at once at the Hats for Homeless event that I attended, and I saw Kina running everywhere, performing odd jobs at the Arts Warehouse event. I’m glad that I can rely on them as Bronx Science Key Clubbers!

- Shiya Lin

CONGRATS Kina and Suraiya! You guys deserve this position so much.:)

'23

February Events

2/4/23: Spotlight Party 5K - Queens

2/5/23: Chop ‘n Pack Food Preparation

2/5/23: #LunchBag Queens

2/11/23: CUPID’S CHASE 5K

2/12/23: 25th Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade & Festival

2/18/23: Emergency Food Program

2/23/23: Materials for the Arts Warehouse

2/18/23: Make Hats for the Homeless

2/24/23: Van Cortlandt Park Forest Restoration

2/26/23: Kehilat Food Pantry

2/26/23: NYCRUNS Central Park Half Marathon & 5K

#Lunc Que 2/5

The event I went to is #LunchBag Queens. At this event, volunteers helped assemble sandwiches and packed lunch bags, each containing a motivational note, a refreshment, and snacks. I mainly helped with putting everything inside the lunch bags, which was fun since I got to do it with other Key Clubbers and younger kids (they were adorable and helpful !!) who helped out as well! One memorable part was seeing the creative drawings on the lunch bags and reading the encouraging notes before placing them in the lunch bags. Another memorable part was learning about where these lunch bags went to and the mission of #LunchBag Queens towards the end of this event. Overall, this event was nice and fun!!

Vicky Zheng

-

'26

chBag ens

On February 11th, I volunteered for the 5k Cupid’s chase, an extremely inspiring and eye-opening event. As I was one of the volunteers responsible for taking pictures of each and every runner, I was able to watch them push themselves in freezing weather towards a finish line 3 miles away, all in the name of charity. Their determination was spectacular to witness and made the whole event have radiant energy. The resilience they demonstrated to help a cause they care about showed me the pure kindness so many people have in their hearts. Leaving cupid’s chase, I felt driven to have even a fraction of that power, and paired with my experience on the track team, I signed up for 2 different 5k’s in New York for the Springtime. I even convinced my mom to do one with me for the American Lung Association, a cause we both strive to help as much as possible. My goal is to raise as much money as possible, to help those in need, and to push myself to my full potential. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity that this key club event gave me and am excited for future events that make me see the depths of the unbreakable human spirit.

- Cortez Pagan '25

p ary 11th with my friend Katherine. It was a morning event, and it was super cold and windy outside. It felt like my face was going to freeze off. I arrived like 10 minutes late because I stood at the building in the email, but it was actually another 5 minute walk away from where I was. When I got there, I saw that they were giving out headbands with hearts on them, so I went to get one too, but they ran out right when it was my turn. �� My friend and I were stationed at the tent where we filled the bags with small goodies like tattoos, mints, flyers, stickers, etc. After that, we moved to the finish line where we cheered on the runners. Honestly, this part was pretty funny because some people would start cheering when the runner was still very far away, so we would basically cheer twice for each person: once when they were at a distance and another time when they passed the finish line. At the end of the event, we received red volunteer shirts and a black and white cookie, which became my breakfast for the day.

- Emily Xia '24

25th Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade & Festival

2/12/23

During this event, there were a lot of students all with their own jobs. Some students helped hold the dragon and other students were dressed up as mascots as they walked down the parade. There were also groups of students who went down the street to sell plushies and others who had to help the mascots who couldn’t see through their costumes.

- Tiffany Zhang '26

Make Ha the Hom

This event was very straightforward; you obviously just knit/crochet… except I did not learn how to crochet or knit at all. There was definitely a bit of disorganization and chaos. For the first good hour, I did absolutely nothing as the person who was supposed to teach us how to crochet came in half an hour late. For 30 more minutes, I simply watched my friend fail to crochet until the teacher noticed I was doing nothing and provided me with a loom. She gave looms to those who couldn’t crochet, which can be, in a way, interpreted as an insult.

When I received the loom, I worked nonstop. Using a loom can be considered as “cheating”, but it turns out a lot of energy needs to be expended to use it consistently. It actually felt like a workout, and my arms and hands ached. Even worse, other adult volunteers brought their kids to the event, of which there was one that was all-out crying because she didn’t have a chance to crochet and they had to leave. Another kid was constantly whining to their mom about how to crochet and other random questions. In spite of these nuisances, it was still rewarding in the end because I made a lot of progress on a hat and even the teacher publicly praised my work.

- Kyle Wu '26

ats for meless

Materials for the Arts Warehouse

2/23/23

I had multiple jobs at the event since we only had five people, including me. Some jobs that I did were reorganizing records, CDs, tape drives, carpets, electronics, etc. This event was memorable because we had to do a lot of work since there were not a lot of people, and we had to carry heavy things to another area. Also, we got to see a lot of old things such as typewriters, tape drives, old records, and other old electronics. It is quite interesting to see what people do before or use when they don’t have the technologies we have right now. I met some new people at this event and we were chatting about the mid-years and other things while working together. Overall, I think it was worth it of going to this event because it widened my mind and I got to meet new people.

Mingyang Zhou '25

Van Cortlandt Park Forest Restoration 2/24/23

The Van Cortlandt Park Forest Restoration took place at a spot that used to be a junkyard but is now being turned into a garden. We had to dig up debris and invasive species alike. We found tons of glass bottles and old tires hidden under the piles of leaves. It was also required to dig up certain trees and it was tedious work, having to dig around the tree and then needing to hack away with pickaxes at the sturdy roots. Just when we felt like we had made decent progress, we learned that we were only working on a small section of the overall project. The area we worked on was perhaps 1/150th of the entire region. I hope that more people can go and try and preserve nature as it is a huge project that requires tons of people to join in on.

- Benjamin Huang '26

Pottery Painting Fundraiser

In February, we collaborated with Cardozo Key Club on a Pottery Painting Fundraiser!

Members had a lot of fun painting their own customized salad plate. :D It was definitely a unique experience for many of us!

All proceeds went towards Pencils of Promise!

Pencils of Promise is our district project this year, and it is an organization that works to make sure that every child has access to quality education by creating schools, programs, and leading communities!

3/11/23: Customer’s Choice Food Pantry

3/11/23: Project Cicero

3/12/23: Project Cicero

3/19/23: Hell’s Kitchen Community Clean Up

3/25/23: Lets Clean Up the Coasts of Soundview

Due 3/26/23: Charity Miles

Due 3/28/23: Rice Race

Check Out Upcoming Events! Sign the Petition Sets!

Petition Set #12: Minimizing Deforestation

Deforestation is a major environmental issue with farreaching repercussions for the forest ecosystems, biodiversity, and climate. Reduced deforestation rates, as well as increased reforestation and sustainable forest management, are critical for minimizing the effects of climate change and conserving the world's natural resources. Signing petitions for causes that you believe in is one step to make change.

Petition Set #11: Preventing Child Labor / Trafficking

This month's petition set will focus on supporting immigrants and refugees. Human rights violations against immigrants and refugees can include rejection of civil and political rights like illegal arrests, violence, or a lack of due process, as well as financial, social, and cultural rights like the right to health, housing, or education. Signing petitions for causes that you believe in is one step to make change.

- Public Relations Coheads, Stacy Qu '25 and Sumaya Suma '24

Click on the poster to sign the petitions!

Check our Website!

You can check all the upcoming events, fundraisers, and even petition sets on the main page of our website! (Click the bucky on the right)

Check Our Youtube!

- Watch youtube videos created by our social media Coheads Eric Leem '25 and Emily Zheng '25!

I hope you all pull up to our meetings this month as we will be having many fun activities!

I look forward to seeing you all at the meetings and events!

Answer to the True or False Quiz

True

The answer was True!

Beavers have long incisors that get their orange color from an iron-rich protective coating of enamel.