February Newsletter

KEY FACTS February 2015

The official newsletter of the Cypress Woods High School Key Club

AND LOADED

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President’s Letter Preparing for the 2015-2016 officer elections

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Elections

Meet the new officers

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Perspectives Recap the 2015 lock-in

Volume 3, Issue 10 March 5, 2015

IN THIS ISSUE...

3 PRESIDENT’S LETTER 4 DCON 2015 PREVIEW 6 ELECTION DAY

IMPORTANCE OF SERVICE CLUB ELECTIONS RECAP LOCK-IN

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Contact Information Cy Woods Key Club Officers President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Editor Representative Coordinator Historian Webmaster Junior Secretary K-Family Board

Natasha Solanki Matt Faga Jacque Chan Ashley Kawakubo Shannon Steele Kishan Solanki Gina Zhang Nick Nguyen Sharon Zhou Ashley Butterfield Grace Teoh Naomi Zavala Madelin Cowden Richa Patel Trenton Bird Daniel Campos

natasha.solanki@hotmail.com mattcfaga@me.com jacque.chan1019@gmail.com

(281) 904-7873 (713) 449-3307 (832) 349-4198

shannonjsteele@gmail.com kitchishere@gmail.com gina_zhang2008@hotmail.com nick.erik2010@yahoo.com happysharonzh@yahoo.com ashleybutterfield97@gmail.com gracelvo@gmail.com naomizavala@icloud.com madelin11@live.com richa928@hotmail.com

(409) 767-5316 (281) 904-8652 (832) 773-3228 (281) 849-4885 (281) 346-9218 (281) 312-9706 (832) 298-4772 (281) 974-7152

Division 3N Lieutenant Governor Amy Jiang

Cypress Falls

amyjiang.kc@gmail.com

Texas-Oklahoma District Staff Governor Secretary Treasurer Editor Convention Liaison Tech Producer

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Kaitlyn Wilson Samuel Kinnin Colin Gonzalez Emily Zhao Andrew Loh Bobby Thakkar

governor@tokeyclub.com secretary@tokeyclub.com treasurer@tokeyclub.com editor@tokeyclub.com cl@tokeyclub.com

A letter from your

Club President Dear Key Clubbers,

I’m thankful that I was able to serve as your Cy Woods Key Club President for the 2014 -2015 school year. It was truly an honor to work with some of the best officers and representatives I could have asked for. I am proud to say that each of you have proved that your leadership skills have become stronger through the dedication and hard work you have put into this organization this past year. Along with this year’s presidency, I have also gained a family. Regardless of the obstacles that I’ve faced this year, both the officers and the members have helped guide the club towards a successful year.

With that being said I’d like to say that these past elections turned out great, and I am so proud of those members who ran and took an initiative to deepen their interests in Key Club. I believe that the extra effort that each one of our candidates put forth is the first step into becoming a leader in our community! Congratulations to Leia George, 2015 - 2016 President, and her new officer team!

As a senior, this will be my last year at the Woods, and my last year as a Key Clubber. I will miss everything about the geeky meetings, the excited members, and DCON. Key Club has been a huge part of my high school career! I became a member my freshman year, and from then on I knew that I wanted to be more involved.

Before I knew it, I was a Sophomore Rep, and then Vice President my junior year. Key Club has definitely played an important role in my transformation through high school. I went from being a shy, nerdy, typical Indian student to a loud, expressive, excited Key Clubber! Let’s just say that the friends and experiences I’ve had through Key Club have molded me into the type of leader I am today!

Anyways, I hope you guys welcome Leia George into this new position! I can’t wait for you guys to get to know her! She is incredibly motivated and excited to help lead this club in the direction of further success.

But remember, she can’t do it without you. I’d like to end by saying good luck to all the future officers, and thank you for having me as your 2014 - 2015 Key Club President.

Farewell,

Natasha Solanki President of Cypress Woods Key Club

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TAKE A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

DCON 2015 WHEN? April 9 - 12 WHERE? Sheraton Hotel, Dallas, TX WHO? T-O Key Clubbers WHAT? A weekend of adventure, fun and leadership

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What’s the THEME? Prepare for an epic adventure through a jurassic land! Like the film Jurassic Park, Key Clubbers will spend four days “training” for the sensational - and possibly dangerous events to come.

What to expect: - Games - Service fair - Forums - District elections - Contests - New friends

ELECTION DAY Inside the Division 3N LTG Election Sharon Zhou Secretary

Alex Sims, Ian Nguyen and Amy Jiang at the Division 3N election

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ecently, I had the pleasure of going to a DEC, or Division Election Council, where I and a few of the Key Clubbers in my division voted for our new Lieutenant Governor. When I volunteered myself for the task, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Was I really giving up an hour of my Sunday afternoon just to listen to people give speeches? I don’t even know who the candidates are yet! I questioned my ability to choose the best person qualified for to lead Division 3N for the next school year.

On Super Bowl Sunday, I found myself sitting in a plastic chair in one of the conference rooms of the local library. I glanced around at the other Key Clubbers around me, four delegates from each school.

Somehow, we were expected to excel at the very challenging task of electing a competent Lieutenant Governor for the upcoming school year. The thought was still a little overwhelming to me. At the stroke of 5 p.m., the election commenced.

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One by one, the three candidates were allotted one minute each to give a short speech. Then, there was a period of three minutes where the school delegates were able to ask the candidate questions.

As each of the three candidates gave their speeches and answered questions about their campaign and platform, it was obvious that each of them wanted to convey to their audience that they were going to put in their best effort into making Division 3N the most successful division that it can be. All of them were extremely sincere, and it was clear from the start that this was going to be a very close election.

The question and answer section was unlike any other that I’d ever seen. Many of the questions were normal questions that you’d expect to hear, such as “Why did you run for Lieutenant Governor?” However, one poor candidate got stuck with the question, “If Key Club was an ice cream flavor, what would it be and why?” The candidate’s answer?

“Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. It’s an amalgamation of many different elements, but they all come together to make one great ice cream.”

Just as soon as we began, the speeches were over. All the candidates headed outside as we delegates were each given a pencil and a sheet of paper to write down the vote. Throughout the room, pencils scratched on paper as 20+ Key Clubbers casted their votes. Too soon, the fateful moment arrived.

The three candidates stood together to the side, nervously grasping each others’ hands. As the new Lieutenant Governor, Ian Sims, was announced as the winner, I saw one more example of the amazing club that Key Club is. As a unity, everyone stood up and started congratulating Ian on a job well done, including the other candidates and former Lieutenant Governor. No one was bitter about the election results; everyone was excited about what a new Lieutenant Governor would bring to Division 3N.

The Good Effect.

The importance of service Nick Nguyen Webmaster

will prove to “Non nobis solum nati sumus. (We be useful later are not born for ourselves alone.)” in life. Key Club instills in ― Marcus Tullius Cicero, On Duties. members the he nature of human beings are mentality that to help others when they are in service is not a chore but an honor. It need of assistance. We care for others is an honor to give up one’s time and and hope they people with care for effort in order to help others. The us, a cycle of interdependence in the epitome of human nature, acts of society that we live in today. Though small service reinforces the ideal that times have changed, the act of helping others not only does good selflessness and service remains an upon them but on oneself as well. important part of connecting with How, you may ask? When selfless others and forming a strong social service is done, goodness spreads bond with the community. within the community like wildfire, Key Club, a club specifically not necessarily in that connotation. dedicated towards selfless serving People are greatly influenced when within the community as well as people around them do good and outside of it, promotes good faith and therefore add to the movement of good will between students and the selflessness, bettering the society as society. Key Clubbers get the chance a whole. Key Club is a congregated to learn that the experience is more group of passionate leaders and crucial than the reward, a lesson that helpers that go out to the real world

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and demonstrate these ethical actions of kindness.

As goodness spreads, it cycles.

The good that one puts in will one day come back and reward. Just like karma, the actions we do come back to bite us or praise us so we must try to do as much good as possible to reap the benefits.

As a senior, I can attest to this.

What may seem like an effortless task to volunteer is greatly appreciated by people. People love it when kids from organizations like Key Club come together to help the community.

Being a part of Key Club for four years, I’ve have seen people at events personally go up to volunteers and thank them for their hard work. If you think your actions do not matter, I assure you that they do and even the smallest act of service can make a world of difference.

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STILL INTERESTED IN A LEADERSHIP POSITION?

Meet the new

OFFICERS

On Feb. 23, the Cypress Woods Key Club held its annual officer elections. The open offices were that of Vice President, Junior Secretary, Webmaster, Editor, Historian, Builders Club Representative, Representative Coordinator and Treasurer. With numerous candidates to choose from, the club heard speeches from each student before voting. The following students were elected into each position on the 2015-2016 officer team.

Not pictured: Joshua Goodwin - Webmaster

PRESIDENT

LEIA GEORGE EDITOR

ABHINAV ASHAR HISTORIAN

JORDAN MILLER TREASURER

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VICE PRESIDENT

JOCELYN YAO

GINA ZHANG BUILDERS CLUB

JAMES KEISER

Class representative applications will be available in late April SECRETARY

SHARON ZHOU JR. SECRETARY

ASHLEY KAWAKUBO REP. COORDINATOR

KISHAN SOLANKI

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Recapping the 2015 lock-in

Nikita Dhar

Sophomore Representative

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his year we held our annual Key Club lock in, put together by our Vice President, Matt Faga. Matt did a great job putting it together, and we had plenty of service projects to offer to our members.

One of our service projects was blanket making. At this station, the members brought their own fleece, and used it to make a blanket. First, they cut off the corners of each sheet of fabric, and then they made slits in the sides. After doing so, they tied the slits together to create a warm and pretty blanket for those in need.

Our next station was cape making.

In this station members took a piece of fabric and turned it into a cape. It was done by adding a piece of Velcro to close the cape. Our club donated all

of the capes to a children’s hospital, so that patients can wear them to be superheroes.

Also at the lock in was a donation opportunity: attendees brought canned goods to donate to the local shelter, and the drive was extremely successful because of the amount of people who participated.

Another service project we held was letter making. Members wrote heartfelt letters to the soldiers, wishing them good luck, with hopes they would make it home safe and sound. The letters were filled with love, and I can only imagine the smiles it will bring to the soldiers who read them.

Part of my job was to stamp the tickets as members completed each

station. As members finished, they ran over with excitement to receive their stamps. Having participated in this I was able to see they joy that members felt as they helped others while having fun. The lock in is a great was of helping the community while having fun, and they are definitely my favorite part of Key Club.

To sum it up, this year’s lock in was a huge success. We raised over $2,000 and made almost 50 blankets, 40 capes, and countless letters. I ran the blanket-making station and helped show members how to make them, and it was an exciting experience.

Everything ran very smoothly, and I cannot wait to take part in next year’s lock in as well.

From left, clockwise: Nathan Tupa & Kishan Solanki (photo by: Nikita Dhar) Key Clubbers make blankets at the lock-in (photo by: Isabelle Meyers) Blanket making at the lock-in (photo by: Ashley Kawakubo)

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CONTRIBUTIONS PHOTOS

ARTICLE AUTHORS

ARTICLES

NIKITA DHAR NICK NGUYEN SHARON ZHOU

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

NATASHA SOLANKI

KEY FACTS CYPRESS WOODS HIGH SCHOOL KEY CLUB FEBRUARY 2015