August Newsletter Division 25W
The Trojan Talk Jenks High School August 2016
VOLUME 3
ISSUE 5
Table of Contents Table of Contents
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President’s Message The August Social A Useful Tip The Print Shop Pilgrimage How to Balance School and Service How Key Club Has Served Me Board Member of the Month Hours Notice Finding Balance Recruiting New Members September Events Officer/District Contact Info Board Member Contact Info
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President’s Message Greetings fellow Key Clubbers, Welcome back to school! The year is now off to a full start. Our first general meeting will be on Thursday, September 8th at either 7:15 AM or 2:45 PM. Please plan on attending either one. This meeting will consist of a project fair, in which our Board Members will showcase their projects for you to sign up! We have an upcoming social at the Broken Arrow Roller Sports on September 23rd from 4-6 p.m. It will be $5 for admissions. Bring your friends! There are many service activities taking place in the month of September. You can volunteer at Hometown Huddle, Conquer Chiari Walk Across America fundraiser, Greek Fest, and the Vision for Children Event. If you want more information, please check out our website jenkskeyclub.org or email our Vice President of Special Projects, Dominique Savage, at serviceprojects@jenkskeyclub.org. We have also updated our policy on hours submission so please check that out in the following pages of this newsletter. Keep on volunteering! Yours in service, Hardi Patel
Hardi Patel Hardi Patel, Club President
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The August Social By: Elenista Lam For the month of August, since many of our Key Club members were getting ready for school, our Key Club officers and board members had a small get together hosted by one of our local Kiwanis leaders, Marellie Robinson. It was a beautiful summer day, so a pool party with a variety of delicious food was a fun way to end the summer with our fellow officers. Our host’s house had a view that overlooked its perimeters and accompanied with the light breeze that day, it was a good day for everybody to catch up with each other. Although nobody swam in the beginning, after we all had something to eat, many of us jumped into the pool to enjoy a few games of “pool volleyball”.
Another fun thing that occurred was the fact that the Robinsons had two dogs, Boss and Bella, who were a Shih-Tzu and a Dalmatian. They were both very adorable, but unfortunately one of our officers was highly afraid of dogs-- even the tiny Shih-Tzu whose body wiggled when he walked around the house like a little bunny. So the dogs remained indoors for most the time because the officer would actually scream and hide when she saw the dog. Aside from all of the fun, our Kiwanis leader, Marellie also gave us some advice and benefits of being a part of the Key Club family. Although Key Club gives its officers and board members the opportunity to show leadership, it also builds strong character and the love for helping your community; but we all had to agree over the fact that through our Key Club, we have met and became friends with
many incredible and influential people. It was really great the get to know one of our Kiwanis members and have the opportunity to have a conversation with her. It made us more eager to continue working and helping them in the future. Not only do they support our club in a variety of different ways, but they are also generous and kind people as well. It was a great opportunity to meet with our Kiwanis this summer that we would not normally have. We always want to be able to continue to build new relationships and make their lives a little bit easier. We definitely hope to continue volunteering and meeting with her in the future and may be even our other Kiwanis leaders.
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A Useful Tip By: Hridika Shah As school has just begun, stress levels are at an all time high. The scramble to manage classes, extracurriculars, clubs, and more can drive many people off the edge. This was especially true for me freshmen year, when I was drowning in work and stress for the first few weeks of school. I began high school marching band along with various challenging and time consuming courses; and of course multiple clubs. I was convinced I could handle it all, but I truly struggled with it as soon as school started. This situation applies to many Key Clubbers, as not only do they avidly participate in Key Club, they also take many AP classes and such that can make balancing school and extracurriculars a nightmare. Applicable to me, and many more I presume, procrastination is the main cause of stress. As much as many like to get some free time, we get pulled into the desire to do nothing for the day, and the weak voice in our heads telling us to finish our work eventually fades.
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This became my habit for all of August and September freshman year which did not bode well for me later that night. I ended up finishing more of my work after 12 pm, sustaining myself on coffee and sugar throughout the night. In the concluding days of September I decided to abandon my unproductive and illogical routine. I formed a schedule, to manage my time and compartmentalize my work. To continue participating in Key Club, I collected service hours by visiting the Grace Living Center a few days a week, right after school. I started my homework immediately after school to avoid my procrastination habits, and then rewarded myself with an hour of free time in the evenings. My schedule allowed me to sleep at an earlier time which in turn allowed me to be more productive in school. On weekends. I woke up early and discarded my normal routine of sleeping in. This allowed me to finish my work and do multiple things on the weekends. Trips to volunteer at the food bank and spending time with friends became possible, even with my demanding coursework and various extracurriculars.
By second semester, I was able to juggle everything with ease and allow myself to enjoy the rest of my year. The best way to manage time is to make a schedule that best suits you and your habits. Compartmentalizing my work, avoiding procrastination, and opting for an earlier start in the day benefitted me exponentially as. While this stressful time of the year may give many the feeling that all is lost, I implore you to give this a try! This will help you through all of high school and maybe even in the future, as I am learning as I enter Sophomore year with much more work on my plate and responsibility on my shoulders. To all Key Clubbers, balancing your school work and extracurriculars will reduce a lot of stress, allow you to volunteer more, and enjoy your school year!
The Print Shop Pilgrimage By: William Chao 12 points by the end of the month; that’s six hours worth of volunteering due every month to stay in good standing in Jenks Key Club. When I was a freshman, that was a lot considering I had barely done any volunteer work outside of class before the school year. Also, as a grade-A procrastinator then, I could expect that all six of those hours would be crammed in the last week of the month. In the beginning of the school year, I volunteered sporadically for “special projects” and “pet pals”, barely squeezing in enough hours each month. Tired of inconsistent service hours, I wanted to try volunteering at our high school print shop. Rumor had it that the old ladies volunteering there were nice, it was close to the high school, and they provided staple, routine service hours. There was one problem, there were several different addresses listed as the location; it wasn’t published on the internet, the board member didn’t respond to my inquiries, and nobody I knew had ever been there. Still, I decided to volunteer there one way or another. Tyler, my friend, was the guy I dragged to every volunteer opportunity. We were determined to at least remain in good standing in Key Club. Toward the end of the school day, Tyler told me that he wasn’t feeling well, so we decided to postpone our volunteering for the next day. By the time the next school day was coming to a close, a blizzard kicked in, perfect. We clearly did not expect this on the Oklahoma weather forecast!
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to volunteer today man. Let’s just make up our hours next month.” suggested Tyler. Pointing to the palm of my hand I replied, “We need to get these hours in. Do you want to stay in good standing? You want to go to USC? You want to become successful and all that?” “Fine, let’s go.” sighed Tyler, bundling up for the storm. We pulled up the addresses on our phones and embarked on the “planned” journey ahead. The more we walked, the colder and snowier it got, but we endured under the freezing temperature. The snow drenched our phones, making the touch screens impossible to recognize our fingertips and our shoes were soaked with snow seeping into our socks. Unable to find our way, we stumbled into the nearest police station and asked for directions. Who would’ve thought the police knew where the Jenks High School print shop was? We were told to walk to the location of the bus depot which was near the printshop. After what felt like an eternity, we arrived at a car repair shop to ask for more detailed directions.
“The print shop? You mean the one by the buses? That’s right down the street. Keep walking and you’ll see it.” the repair woman answered. As we walked, we weren’t sure of what was more persistent; the storm or us? Still, the print shop felt miles away under the unpleasant conditions. There were no buses or signs of the print shop in sight through the thickening blizzard. Right as we were about to give up, I saw snow blowing across a sign above a warehouse revealing the words, Jenks Public Schools. We strolled in hoping for the best, and as it turned out; it was the print shop! The warm, friendly staff showed us around, explained some procedures, and we got to work! It didn’t matter to us the path it took to get there, because we wouldn’t give up the opportunity to volunteer and remain in good standing.
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How to Balance School and Service By: Audrey Adib-Yazdi When it comes to time management, balance is key. We all wish we could spend time with friends, participate in clubs, volunteer, and have stellar grades all at the same time, right? Well, it’s no secret that those wishes are super hard to achieve. Fortunately, I’ve had four long years to work on this teenage balancing act and have picked up a few tips that might help you along. So, without further adieu, here is a few tips and tricks to give you a head start on a stress-free school year.
Tip Number 1: Buy A Planner I didn’t learn this trick till junior year, but it has incredibly improved my life since. I used to think that I could just simply remember everything my teachers told me to do, but it’s just not possible. Eventually, you’ll reach a point in the year where the homework starts piling up, and you’ll thank your planner for giving your brain a place to plan your busy schedule out. So, how do you use a planner? Well, there’s not much to it honestly. What I personally like to do is divide each day into 6 sections, one for each class hour. Then, as you go through the day, record all of my assigned work. If I have a particularly heavy homework list, I might go through each class and estimate how much time each task will take me to finish and how important it is. This way, I know what can be prioritized, and what can be put on the back burner to better manage time. Remember, these are just suggestions to get you off on the right foot, but you obviously don’t have to follow them to a T. Feel free to personalize it, whether it be with colored pens or doodles about your day, whatever keeps you interested in your organizer.
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Tip Number 2: Know Your Limits No matter how much we might wish, unfortunately none of us are superheroes. Heartbreaking, isn’t it? No matter though, you can still have awesome grades and participate in extracurriculars, you just need to know your limits. There’s a very simple way to do this. Let’s imagine that you’ve been invited into a really interesting school club, but you know it will take time out of your schedule. Just take a step back, think about the pros and the cons and then make your decision based on what you believe you can handle. This will hopefully keep you from spreading yourself too thin.
Tip Number 3: Find Some Free Time This final tip is pretty straightforward. Simply find time during each day to destress a little by doing something that you love. Whether it be taking a walk, volunteering, or playing a game, just do what you enjoy. Trust me, take time to treat yourself, your mind will thank you later.
So, there you have it folks. I present to you a very quick guide to balancing school, service, and life in general. Hopefully, we can all use these tips and find that, hey presto, balance isn’t so hard after all.
How Key Club Has Served Me By: Kate Kouplen Every year at enrollment, I am overwhelmed as I walk into the room and see all of the club choices for JHS. There are so many great options that it’s difficult to decide which ones to join. My freshman year I had no idea where to start. Key club was recommended to me by several upperclassmen. They talked about all the fun activities they took part in, and shared memories they had made. It sounded like a club that I would enjoy, so I joined, and I am so glad I did! I knew that it was going to be a good fit because I’ve enjoyed helping people and my community since I was young. Of all the clubs on campus, Key Club is one of the largest clubs focused solely on volunteering. I’ve heard rumors that some people join Key Club just to be able to list it on their college application, but this club is so much more than just a line on a college application.
Through Key Club I’ve found ways to be connected with my community and made great friends with similar interests, all while volunteering. We all know how big Jenks High school is and know that it is impossible to know everyone on campus. The Key Club has students from across all grades which enables you to meet lots of people that you wouldn’t have known otherwise. Key Club encourages you to be motivated to help your community and become more involved in school. As a member of Key Club, I have been volunteering at the Tulsa SPCA for about a year and it has changed my life forever. So many dogs and cats have come through the shelter this past year with heart wrenching stories; and to be able to say that I played a small part in making their lives better makes it so rewarding. It pains me to think about why someone would abuse an animal, yet it happens all too often.
I’ve learned that these kind animals have only one goal in life and that is to sit on your lap, beg to petted and love you unconditionally. Volunteering at the SPCA has helped me realize just how much we can learn from these abandoned and abused animals. They have taught me how to get through rough patches in life; push through, always see the best in people and love unconditionally. The Jenks Key Club has certainly helped me be more active in and aware of my community. Helping others in the community lays the foundation for being the best person you can be. I am very proud to be a part of such an amazing group.
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CONGRATULATIONS to Hailey Welch For being the August Board Member of the Month!
! NEW HOURS SUBMISSION NOTICE ! Starting this year, all hours will have to be individually recorded on the website. Any hours recorded on sign-in sheets will not be entered into the website by our VP of Hours. Sign-in sheets are only for documentation purposes. All members will have to be responsible for submitting their own hours after each volunteering activity. If the president declares a project that will not require individual submission, she will announce this prior to the volunteering event. Hours will still be due on the last day of each month. If you have any issues with hours, please contact Anitesh Bajaj, VP of Hours at vicepresident@jenkskeyclub.org.
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Finding Balance By: Lily Tennekoon High school is a busy time more most teenagers. Between taking classes, doing homework, participating in clubs, volunteering, sports, getting enough sleep and managing a social life, we have a lot on our plates. As Key Clubbers, we participate in many things. Balancing school and activities can be tough. I know it is for me! Aside from Key Club, I am an officer in Robotics, am in Chinese club, Science Olympiad, and I’m taking four AP classes. Whew! Doing all of this most definitely becomes stressful at times and I feel like I cannot handle it. I know a lot of teenagers feel stressed and overwhelmed because of high school. There are a few ways that I reduce stress. One way I help destress is by taking a “me day”. A me day is where I spend one day of the weekend doing relaxing activities; drawing, listening to music, napping, watching television, etc.
This lets me focus on my personal health rather than school for a short time. Another way to reduce stress is by hanging out with friends. I urge you to spend time with people you care about. Well rounded students are not only surrounded by school, but spend time with people that make them happy. Go on an adventure, go to a movie, have a sleep over. It is worth it. While school is great, having a break is great as well. So, now that I’ve shared my favorite and most helpful ways to reducing stress, how does one manage their time with all of these activities going on? Organization! My go-to item is a planner. I always have mine with me because it helps me keep track of everything that is going on. A simple planner is fairly cheap and has a monthly calendar along with daily sections. On the calendar, I keep track of bigger events, tests, or due dates. On the individual days I have a to do list and homework written down.
This majorly helps me manage my time because everything I have happening is all kept in one, organized area. Another way I manage my time is by doing the bigger, more important tasks first and then complete smaller things. Do not procrastinate. I, myself, am prone to procrastination, but I am starting to break that habit. Procrastination just leads to less time to for completion. All in all, teenagers are busy people. Balancing school and extra curricula is certainly difficult, but with proper organization, not procrastinating, and allowing time to relax or have fun we can get through these four long years of high school.
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Recruiting New Members By: Sana Shaikh Clubs and organizations are always on the lookout for new members that will increase their group, but many do not know what techniques to use in order to gain new volunteers or members. There are multiple ways to recruit new members to join a club, for me, specifically, it’s Pet Pals, and so here are some of the main ideas that helped Key Club members to gain interest in this club! First of all, being a leader or coordinator of a club section makes it necessary to be organized. Being organized helped me figure out how to plan events and how this club’s volunteering will work! From previous knowledge, I know that a large amount of members will sign up for this club, so I need to make sure that everything is fully thought out and that there will be no misunderstandings. Also, another way to recruit members is to make Pet Pals, or anything club in general, appealing!
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The more appealing something is to people, the more likely they are to come and be more involved within the organization! This is a key element with getting new members! With Pet Pals, it attracts animal, specifically dog lovers, which helps with gaining more volunteers! Lastly, a great way to recruit members that are new is cooperation! Collaboration with the members creates a mutual understanding and also helps people know what to do! Overall, there are a couple of successful ideas that assisted with the involvement of new members! Creating events and spreading information about more opportunities to volunteer is an attention getter! Making posters and flyers to get people’s attention also helps greatly! Also, with Pet Pals, I made a Remind101 to keep in touch with my volunteers who volunteer at PetSmart.
I also made a Google Document that is open to everyone that has all the info about this club. It also has a table with the dates and timings that people can volunteer! Again, this links back to organization, which is very much needed when running a project of a large club! Similarly, the more fun you have, the more members you’ll have! I have also learned that there are numerous ideas that are not successful when attempting to recruit new members into a club. A main idea is that you should not be closeminded when it comes to new ideas or suggestions! Always be open to change! These are some helpful tips that will help to recruit new members!
SEPTEMBER EVENTS September 8
First General Meeting!
September 10,12-18
Greek Fest
September 15
Vision for Children Event
September 16
September Social Hometown Huddle
September 17
Conquer Chiari Walk Across America
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CLUB CONTACT INFORMATION VP of Special Projects
PRESIDENT
Hardi Patel president@jenkskey club.org
Dominique Savage specialprojects@ jenkskeyclub.org
SECRETARY of Minutes
SECRETARY of Hours
Rejoice Chigede minutes@jenkskey club.org
Cing Nuam serivcehours@jenk skeyclub.org
EDITOR
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Ruthie Ashley editor@jenkskey club.org
Angela Chen ltg@jenkskeyclub. org
Anitesh Bajaj vicepresident@ jenkskeyclub.org
TREASURER Taylor Burnett treasurer@jenks keyclub.org
DCON LIAISON John Jacob dconliaison@ jenkskeyclub.org
WEBMASTER
WEBMASTER
WEBMASTER
Fawaaz Hameed webmaster@ jenkskeyclub.org
Valerie Hinkle webmaster@jenks keyclub.org
Anamitra Paul webmaster@jenks keyclub.org
DISTRICT CONTACT INFORMATION Governor
Dianna Cardenas
governor@tokeyclub.com
Secretary
Mackenzie Merbach
secretary@tokeyclub.com
Treasurer
Leia George
treasurer@tokeyclub.com
Editor
Sophia Tran
editor@tokeyclub.com
Convention Liaison
Christopher Do
cl@tokeyclub.com
Technology Producer
Stephanie Tran
stephanietran.kc@gmail.com
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VP of Hours
Club Sponsor: Rachel Langley
BOARD CONTACT INFORMATION Janet Hong Sydney Langley Brandon Le Hridika Shah Hridaya Shah Lucy Kim Valerie Song Kathryn Aung Lily Tennekoon Don Nuam William Chao Kelsey Yeagle Zoe Ganye Francine Chun Elenista Lam Sana Shaikh Lauren Wilkin Audrey Adib-Yazdi Naomi Curtis Emily Turner Mikayla Diggs Clayton Engelby Angela Cao Sanjeev Musuvathy Alan Morrel Kate Kouplan Hailey Welch Mujtuba Yousufi
Grace Living Center gracelivingcenter@jenkskeyclub.org K-Family Representative kfamily@jenkskeyclub.org K2K High School k2khs@jenkskeyclub.org Community Outreach communityoutreach@jenkskeyclub.org Community Outreach communityoutreach@jenkskeyclub.org Social Chair clubsocial@jenkskeyclub.org Random Acts randomacts@jenkskeyclub.org Bridges Foundation bridges@jenkskeyclub.org Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless tdchomeless@jenkskeyclub.org K2K West k2kwest@jenkskeyclub.org Print Shop printshop@jenkskeyclub.org K2K East k2keast@jenkskeyclub.org Jenks Campus Beautification jenksgreen@jenkskeyclub.org Libraries jenkslibrary@jenkskeyclub.org Social Chair clubsocial@jenkskeyclub.org Pet Pals pals@jenkskeyclub.org K2K Southeast k2ksoutheast@jenkskeyclub.org Aquarium aquarium@jenkskeyclub.org Sports Concessions concessions@jenkskeyclub.org Wright Elementary wright@jenkskeyclub.org Hospital hospital@jenkskeyclub.org Partners with Purpose partnerswpurpose@jenkskeyclub.org Global Gardens globalgardens@jenkskeyclub.org Food Bank foodbank@jenkskeyclub.org Little Light House lighthouse@jenkskeyclub.org SPCA spca@jenkskeyclub.org Faith Based faithbased@jenkskeyclub.org High School Tutoring hstutoring@jenkskeyclub.org
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