2012-2013 newsletter: issue 3 -- July 2012

BRONX SCIENCE K E Y C L U B 75 West 205 Street, Bronx, NY 10468

Phone: 1-718-817-7700

Fax: 718-733-7951

Volume 1 Issue 3

Let’s Go Bikers: Tour De Queens 2012!

By Melissa Lei, Scrapbook Committee Chair Sunday, July 8th was the 5th annual Tour de Queens, a 19-mile bike ride around the borough. The Tour de Queens route included a bike ride around Flushing, East Flushing, Murray Hill, Auburndale, Bayside, Bay Terrace, Beechurst and Whitestone. All proceeds from this event benefit Transportation Alternatives, an organization that advocates for eco-friendly transportation to promote a green earth.

They make bicycling, walking, and public transportation more efficient and safe for the public. Key Clubbers were split into two different stations, the Registration Station at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, and the Rest Stop at Little Bay Park.

I participated at the Rest Stop at Little Bay Park in Bayside with several other Key Clubbers. The Rest Stop station was where all the bikers stop to take a rest, refill their water bottles, and eat some fruits and snacks. Before all the bikers gathered at 11 A.M., Key Clubbers scattered to different stations.

We unpacked many boxes of almost-ripe bananas and cut each banana into three little pieces. We also unpacked many oranges and cut them into eight equal pieces using orange cutters that were extremely hard to use (for me at least). We also unpacked numerous boxes of granola Cliff Bars that kept the bikers energized for the rest of the bike ride. Everything was in high demand, and after the bikers were done resting, they resumed to complete their 19 mile route around Queens! We had lots of fun at this summer event, and as fellow Key Clubber Lisa Liu said, “I love to see many people bike around Queens, it makes me want to bike with them as well!”.

When it was over, we cleaned up the stations, and took a group photo. It makes me smile to see that Key Clubbers are still attending events even though the school year has ended, showing their never-ending love and dedication for Key Club!

THE KIWI

SPORTS EDITION

In this issue!

Tour de Queens 2012! ….…..…1 Other Recent Service events... ………………………..2-3 Service Spotlight: Adventures NYC!...………………...……….4-5 Fundraiser Event: Archery! .....6 Bonding Event: A Day at the Beach!..... ........ ........………....7 July ‘12 Member Spotlight!.....7 Credits!................………..……..8

UPCOMING EVENTS!:

RECENT A Ray of Hope: CAF Triathlon

By Anthony So, Dedicated Member For many athletes, losing a part of their body and becoming physically disabled is devastating. It is like losing all hope in life which makes it extremely hard for them to accept the fact that they may not be able to participate in the sports they use to be able to do, whether it is swimming, running, or biking! Many disabled athletes believe that there is no more hope for ever doing the sports they once loved. As a result, the CAF, the Challenged Athletes Foundation, was established. Their goal is to fulfill the dreams of disabled athletes, giving them the chance and opportunity to be able to participate in the sports they thought they would no longer be able to do.

Throughout the CAF Triathlon event, there were many athletes who had disabilities, from limping arms to prosthetic legs. Being at the event made me appreciate my life even more and taught me to never take anything for granted. Seeing all the disabled athletes got me thinking about how I could have been anyone one of them. As an athlete myself, I cannot imagine how life would be like if I were to be missing an arm or leg. The loss would no doubt be tragic and have a devastating impact on my life. After suffering that loss, I do not even think I would have the strength to pick myself up and continue on with life. Watching the athletes of the triathlon made me gain a newfound respect for them. To observe the athletes continue doing the things they love even with the physical inhibitors was quite amazing.

“Athletes swam two miles, biked twenty-six miles, and ran another six miles,” said Amanda Tam, “It is a an incredible feat that many brolic women and men completed. The whole triathlon was inspirational. The challenged athletes showed that anything is possible. Even with a metal foot, a missing arm, or no legs at all, men and women swam, cycled, and ran. Their perseverance is pretty incredible.”

Throughout the event, cowbells, cheering, shouts, yells, and clapping was heard all around to encourage these awesome athletes to carry on and persevere. Watching athletes not give up even when they want to stop, the disabled athletes pursuing their dreams, and the parent athletes high-fiving their children on the sidelines was a very heartwarming experience.

The triathlon was an event filled with good feeling. Seeing runners with prosthetic legs and some with no legs at all made me realize that the world is full of hope. Although you may have lost an arm or a leg or maybe

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BRONX SCIENCE KEY CLUB newsletter

SERVICE EVENTS! A MOMENT OF THANKS: CFK LAUNCH PARTY Kevin Chen, Dedicated member From time to time, it’s good to thank those who have you helped along the way, and to encourage others to join your cause. In this case, Change For Kids decided to hold a party to show its gratitude to the supporters of P.S. 73 and P.S. 81, two schools that used to be deeply underfunded. Through donations and close relations, CFK has been able to start art programs and supplementary classes in these schools.

On June 27th, Ivy Lee and I went to 320 Studios to help set up food, and supervise tonight’s event. We met a young female adult, Kate, who was really enthusiastic; and we enjoyed carrying out our job of disposing cups, food, and napkins simply because we had each other’s company. After a while, everyone gathered to hear from the principal of one of the “Change” schools, as well as key supporters. CFK hoped to show their spirit and success in their projects through this event, and so we were glad to have helped.

Starting from the Roots: MEADOW MAINTENCE Kevin Chen, Dedicated member Sometimes you don’t know how beautiful something is until you’ve actually seen it. At the Swindler Cove, the New York Restoration Project committee hopes to convince you that nature is more than food growing and trees breathing. The objective of the day was to make a barren strip of dirt turn into a meadow of native flowers. Afterwards, we were guided through the park to learn about the unique wonders it had to offer.

Jeffrey Wu and I made our way to the prospering park that was started nine years ago. From that time, the place has changed from an illegal disposal area to a remarkable combination of native plant species. Now, we were given the opportunity to start a new area for life to begin. Using trowels, we dug holes for baby sunflowers. Then, we put a blanket of mulch across the soil to ensure that the plants would grow safely under any circumstance. And just like that, we reshaped the course of a plot of land; quite the accomplishment I would say. Of course, there was more to the park, such as the biologs wavering near the shore, the butterflies and bees dallying from flower to flower, and the water seeping between the soil and roots. Anything can happen when the chance exists.

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CRAVING ADVENTURE?:

A FAMILY-FRIENDLY ADVENTURE: ADVENTURES NYC Nina Zou, Dedicated Member The Adventures NYC brought together thousands of New Yorkers to enjoy a nice day outdoors at Central Park. On June 23, Bronx Science Key Club volunteered for this event and assisted in various activities such as hiking, biking, kayaking! Along with other Key Clubbers, I worked at the rock climbing station, which turned out to be one of the event's biggest attractions. The line for rock climbing expanded quickly and it was my job to keep it orderly so that the event could run smoothly. Rock climbing was opened to anyone who wanted to try something adventurous and have a fun experience.

When it came time to start cleaning up, the generous people in charge of the rock climbing station allowed the other Key Clubbers and me to try rock climbing. After watching many children successfully climbing to the top, I expected it to be much easier than it actually was. The children had demonstrated great determination to climb all the way to the top. I also observed many proud parents talking photos of their child. I dfasdfsdfsdfdfdfdfsdf loved how this was a day where parents and their children can spend time together while celebrating the great outdoors because after all, that is what the Adventures NYC was all about.

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BRONX SCIENCE KEY CLUB newsletter

ADVENTURES NYC @ CENTRAL PARK

ADVENTURE @ ADVENTURES NYC Amanda Tam, President

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On June 23, 2012, Bronx Science Key Club volunteered at the 8th annual Adventures NYC event, held by NYC Parks and Backpacker magazine, from 10 AM to 4 PM at the Bandshell in Central Park. New Yorkers and tourists were able to enjoy the free outdoor activities such as rock climbing, kayaking in a temporary pool, riding a bicycle to create an electric current that would charge a cellular phone, mountain biking in makeshift rough terrain, hula hooping, and dancing to DJs. Participants were able to, receive free sunglasses, cheese, smores with cheese, Honest Tea, tattoos, backpacks, granola bars, and adventures and, try out rock climbing shoes, mountain bikes, t-shirt imprint machines, and catch-and-release fishing rods.

At this fun and interactive event, not only was I able to help out Evolv, a company that produces high-tech rock climbing shoes, but I was able to watch children try out the shoes and rock climb. Then I was able to climb the wall with my sandals and had a free lunch.

I enjoyed the event because it was always hard to find outdoor activities to do in the city and this event brought the outdoors to the busy street life of Manhattan. People were able to rock climb, kayak, and mountain bike all within the same place, right in front of the Bandshell! I helped Evolv set up their many pairs of really cool rockclimbing shoes,and was positioned at the waiver station so that I could put a neon green bracelet on children and adults who were able to rock climb, and acted as a bouncer to the gate that led to the rock-climbing station of the event. I talked to a Marine, some police scouts, and people of all sorts of athletic abilities who had to use incredibly amounts of strength to climb the 30 foot walls.

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BOW AND ARROW Connie Liang, Public Relations Committee Chair The terms, bow and arrow, always remind me of movies or books such as, The Hunger Games, but I never dreamed of holding a bow and arrow in my own hands. But on June 30 I tried my hand at archery at the key club fundraiser we held at a Archery joint called Pro Line Archery.

When I first started shooting, it was much harder than I expected. Whenever I shot the arrows, it would either go to the canopy, the floor, or the targets of the people next to me but it would never go on my target. After observing my terrible form, the owner of the store, Guy, came to give me pointers. He then put balloons on each of our targets. I was quite surprised when I popped my balloon. A sense of accomplishment hit me because I was getting used to the equipments.

This was one of the most cool experiences I have ever had. We all had an extremely fun time, as Irena Chen says, “It was a lot more fun than I expected. Especially when the man Guy started blowing the balloons. :) I would totally go again.� Archery always looked so simple and easy in movies. However, it was much complicated than I expected. It requires good aim/accuracy, good arm strength, and form. I cannot imagine how shooting a moving target would be. I wonder how many years of practice it took Guy to be able to climb up to his level. This shows that practicing and trying your best may change what was thought to be impossible, possible.

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BRONX SCIENCE KEY CLUB Newsletter

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: JULY 2012 Jimmy Lin, Dedicated Member familiar face in the crowd during various Beach day, what can I say? Sand, sun, and swimsuits! ItKey Club meetings and was just a fun day for Key Club, a day for us to relax and get events who go above FAR ROCKAWAY GATHERING: A FUN TRIP TO THE BEACH

In a club as large as our own, it is important to recognize those

away from our busy Bronx Science lives. The event was at Far For the Month of JULY 2012: Rockaway and everyone all came by the crowded Q53.

It was clearly blazing outside but everyone was so excited to have some fun. We were applying suntan lotion on each other before the bus came. Key clubbers were in the water playing football, on sand playing volleyball, or on towels tanning.

I was the first one to run into the water when we all arrived. However, staying in the water with a whole bunch of masculine men such as Michael Jiang, Allen Sieh, and Wallace Wang (Stuyvesant) was not a great idea. We were tossing a football around in the water while being tackled Dedicated member since 2009 from behind. It was war zone for all of us while we battled Avid committee member of Advocacy Committee through the huge waves that were gigantic, watching our backs so we wouldn’t flip.

On the sand, all the cute girls of course started a Kevin happy go lucky person that strives for volleyball circle. Almost everyone in the circle had volleyball nothing but the best. He has been supportive in everything but is never held back to say what he experience which made me really happy. I remember this guy believes is right. He is a great friend and he's who was flirting with Connie Liang but like always she was almost like family to me now. I hope he can strive too oblivious to notice. Edmund, who joined the girls in their even higher because I believe has great potential. volleyball circle, I have to say was really attractive!

-- Herman Li, Lt Gov Everyone there enjoyed their time and met new people. All the girls loved Thomas’s 32 pack.

Kevin is always willing to do so much for If only I had his body; then I’d get all the girls! I got the club no matter what it is. He's also very sunburned for once in my life but it was worth it because I enthusiastic about what he does and has got to have my first real summer experience with Key Club!

KEVIN CHEN!

taught me so much in the little time that I've known him.

-- Jasmine Quindala, Dedicated Member

Kevin Chen has to one of the most dedicated members i have ever had the pleasure of meeting. His commitment to the club is unparalleled.

– Jimmy Ji, Dedicated Member Kevon as he likes being called, is a wonderful individual who honesty gives his all to Key Club and what it stands for.

Personally he is an inspiration to me to have such dedication and love for Key Club. To sum it up he is an amazing person.

-- Jimmy Lin, Dedicated Member

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CREDITS! The Newsletter Staff!

Jessica Chan, Editor Connie Liang, Public Relations Committee Chair Qing Lin, Public Relations Committee Chair Valued Contributors: Kevin Chen, Jimmy Ji, Herman Li, Jimmy Lin, Jasmine Quindala, Anthony So, Nina Zou,

A Note to Contributors: Thank you so much for submitting to the newsletter. Please admire your work if it is published in this newsletter! If it does not appear in this issue, do not think I did not appreciate your work! All other articles have been submitted to the divisional or district newsletter. It has gone on, so look out for when those are released!

To our lovely readers: Thank you for taking your time to read!

Much appreciation from the staff. ď Š

BRONX SCIENCE KEY CLUB BOARD AMANDA TAM Club President JAEHWI KWON Vice President LAWRENCE CHEN Secretary ROMAN MONDAL Treasurer JESSICA CHAN Editor

Email us @ bxsciencekeyclub@gmail.com

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