REGION 3 DIVISION 25W
The Trojan Talk JULY NEWSLETTER Jenks High School July 2018
VOLUME 5 ISSUE 4
TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents 1 Editor's Message 2 President's Message 3 My Time in Key Club 4 How Key Club Changed Me 5-6 Fall Rally 7 Pictures 8 Key Club and Me 9 Multicultural 10 The KEY To A Caring Community 11 August Events 12-14 Who I Am 15 DCM 16 Faith Based Interview 17 Major Emphasis Projects 18-21 Contact Information 22
EDITOR'S MESSAGE LILY TENNEKOON
"Make each day your masterpiece" -John Wooden
Hi Key Clubbers! I am excited to be serving as your editor again for the 2018-19 school year! Remember to stay on top of your service! We just appointed our new board members and I am so excited to see the service projects they have planned for you! If you have any pictures from volunteer activities or would like to write an article for the newsletter, please email me.
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE EMILY TURNER
It’s exciting times at Jenks Key Club as we launch into our new year with our great new officers and board members. I am so thrilled to be apart of such a hardworking group and can not wait to see what we accomplish together this year. The summer holiday is a great time for rest and regrouping but also for making an impact in our community - as our key clubbers know well, and do all year round. The summer provides more time in which a student can really find their niche and what they are passionate about in the community. For many Jenks Key Clubbers this is volunteering at various hospitals in the area and for others it’s helping at the local food bank or community center. Whatever your passion, I hope this newsletter can give you some ideas from the service projects that have been going on these past couple of months and some insight into what Jenks Key Club is all about. I can't wait to be joining you all in making a difference this year and seeing our returning key clubbers as well as meeting all of our new service leaders. We are the next generation and together through service we will make it great!
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My Time in Key Club Aubrey Lewellen Like many freshmen just entering high school, I was overwhelmed by the amount of clubs and organizations students could join. I didn’t know much about Key Club at first, but after attending the first meeting, I learned that it was a student-led organization dedicated to serving our community. Soon after, I began getting involved by regularly volunteering in projects like Jenks Library, the hospital, and Animal Allies. I had no idea that joining Key Club would foster the maturation of core principles, and help shape who I am over the course of the next three years. By participating in various service projects throughout Tulsa, my love and dedication to service has grown immeasurably. For the past two years, I have worked as a student volunteer at St. Francis Hospital during the summer. This has been one of my favorite projects because I’m able to pursue my interest in medicine while assisting staff, families, and patients. While working closely with medical professionals, I have gained a whole new perspective on how my actions can directly influence the lives of others. Because I do love dogs, another project I hold near and dear is Animal Allies; every Saturday the Pet Adoption League brings shelter animals to a local Petsmart in hopes they will be adopted. While the impact is relatively small, it’s incredibly heartwarming to help animals find their forever homes. Considering the prevalence of materialistic views in today’s society, donating your time and effort without remuneration is a baffling concept to many. However, (as cliche as it may sound) the experience of helping others is truly priceless; I absolutely love it! Understanding the value of selfless serving is one of the most valuable lessons I have learned throughout my years of being a Key Club member (and now Board Member); there’s truly nothing more humbling than seeing your actions make a difference in someone’s life. Key Club is so much more than another extracurricular activity, it’s an organization that has shown me that it’s more than just serving the community, it’s also being able to love doing it. As I’m moving into my fourth and last year as a Key Clubber, I’ve been looking back all of the memories I’ve made, and I'm so grateful for all of the experiences I’ve had while a part of this organization. As a Board Member this year, I’m excited to find new ways to positively impact our community, and inspire fellow students to love volunteering as much as I do!
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How Key Club Changed Me Emma Bryan Key Club is something that has helped me become the person I am today. I am always busy and there is never a boring or dull moment in Key Club. I am very proud to be a member of Key Club and even more proud to be a board member for The Little Light House. Key Club has made me into the person I am today for several reasons. Some of the ways Key Club has made me into the person I am today is it has allowed me to get out of my comfort zone, volunteer at all kinds of events, and make new friends. Before I got involved with Key Club I was the person who would always do the same things that I was comfortable with. I would never get out of my comfort zone and actually try to form new relationships and talk to people about something I am very passionate about. Throughout my freshman year, I noticed myself growing a stronger love for volunteering. I started wanting to explore all kinds of volunteer opportunities. Key Club is something that has helped me become the person I am today. I am always busy and there is never a boring or dull moment in Key Club. I am very proud to be a member of Key Club and even more proud to be a board member for The Little Light House. Key Club has made me into the person I am today for several reasons. Some of the ways Key Club has made me into the person I am today is it has allowed me to get out of my comfort zone, volunteer at all kinds of events, and make new friends. Before I got involved with Key Club I was the person who would always do the same things that I was comfortable with. I would never get out of my comfort zone and actually try to form new relationships and talk to people about something I am very passionate about. Throughout my freshman year, I noticed myself growing a stronger love for volunteering. I started wanting to explore all kinds of volunteer opportunities. Before I joined Key Club it was really hard for me to put myself out there and talk to people about how much I love volunteering and show them how they can help out too. Key Club has allowed me to see so many amazing things and also create so many new memories that I will cherish forever.
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When I first signed up to be in Key Club all I remember is that I was so nervous and I really didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know what kind of volunteer work I would be interested in or would want to do. Throughout my freshman year of high school, I really enjoyed volunteering anywhere that I could help out and make an impact. I volunteered at many of our school sites, Grace Living Center, fundraisers, The Little Light House, and much more. Volunteering at all these different locations and events helped me see things that you wouldn’t normally see on a day to day basis. One day I went to one of our school sites and simply helped correct bubble marks on tests. This allowed me to see the struggle teachers have to deal with during that time of the year and I was glad to help take some of the stress away from the teacher that day. The biggest way Key Club has shaped me into the person that I am today is by creating an environment with so many different people with all kinds of different stories and backgrounds. I have made new friends just by volunteering at all sorts of events that Key Club has to offer. I have gotten closer with people in Key Club at my school. Key Club helps build friendships because you obviously love what you are doing so if you and a friend can both be having fun and helping the community out at the same time then it’s a pretty good friendship. Key Club has changed my life so much in the past year and I can not wait to see what will happen in the upcoming years. Key Club has made me the person I am today by allowing me to get out of my comfort zone, volunteer at all kinds of events, and make new friends.
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Key Club and Me Thang Kim Key Club is the great club for people who are willing to add their values to the community. Volunteering to our community is another way to add value to ourselves. When we help other people we can get back the “gifts”. In my life, I never wanted to help other people. When I was a ninth grade, my dad wanted me to help other people by translating; especially Zomi and Burmese people. But I was not willing to help them because I did not know other people who are volunteering in their community and giving community services, also in that time I did not know the “Key Club” had existed. I started volunteering when I was in tenth grade. Then I started to love helping other people as a volunteer. I was in Houston, TX when I was a ninth grade, then I moved here since I was tenth grade and I started to volunteer in our community. I did not know Jenks High School has giving service hours from DSG and Key Club. In three months later, my friends told me there are DSG and some clubs that are giving service hours and collecting volunteer for the community. Then I started doing DSG and I was too late to join Key Club in that time. I love helping and volunteering in the community. We can learn many new things. For me as a foreigner, I learn the lifestyle of the US citizenships and how other people react to their community. Then I join Key Club in my Junior year. I love this club because this club has a board member project and they organize a volunteer who is willing to help the community. In the Key club, they have many opportunities and they help many students. This club is making our community great. When you help someone, you can see how they are happy, as well as you can be proud of yourself. Therefore, the Key Club is more inspiring me to help our community and add value to other people as we are in the present. We do not have to be perfect to help other people, but we just have to be willing in our mind. That is the "Key" to volunteer in the community. In the community, there are a lot of people and we can learn to become good leadership lessons. This club is a great club or our community.
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Multicultural Ciin Shalom
My name is Ciin Shalom. With Rena, I am in charge of the Multicultural category for Jenks Key Club. Since it’s my first time being a board member, there were a few obstacles. When I first got chosen to as one of the board member, I was so happy but when I become a board member, it was not as easy as I thought. First, I don’t know what I’m doing with my life. Second, I tried to set up our account for the Key Club page but it just didn’t let me set it up. But thankfully my partner was able to set it up. During that time, I got this email from the Tulsa-County Public Library about an Asian-American Festival asking me if I would like to volunteer for them since they need people. And I said yes and asked them if I could also post it for our Key Club page since some people might want to help too, which they approved. At first, I was shy to ask them but after I asked them and have a few interaction, it felt nice. After that, we got an email about an India Festival needing some volunteer.
Since we need more information, we tried to email them back for more information but got no reply at all. We also tried to call them but no one answered so I visited their website to see what I can find. As I was looking through it, I saw the festival poster and on the bottom of the website I saw this one box that shows we could message them. So just in case they could reply, I left some message. And on the next they, they actually replied and we were able to work things out. Altogether from those things had made me a more responsible person and makes me step up from my comfort zone so that I could get to where I need to. The Asian-American Festival already happen but I’m looking forward to the Indian Festival coming up on later August. And I’m looking forward to more projects in the future.
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The KEY To A Caring Community Kazi Rabbe Transitioning into my freshman year at Jenks High School, Key Club provided me with an excellent opportunity to become more involved in my community. Since its origination, it has inspired numerous members to continue their efforts of goodwill outside of the classroom. Between the countless paths it has offered me to develop my passions and interests, to the amazing and loving people that I have met on each and every one of those roads. It is no secret that Key Club has made an influential difference in my life as well, helping me realize the importance of contributing to the lives of others. Given the contributions Key Club has made to my life outside of school, I am truly humbled and thrilled to be a Health and Wellbeing board member for the 2018-2019 year. I am excited for the opportunity to not only become more immersed in my position, but also to help encourage new and upcoming key club members become more active in their community similarly to the way previous key club members and officers motivated and impacted me. This summer, I had the privilege of partnering up with the Bridges Foundation and setting up a volunteering session for all key club members. The Bridges Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping unique individuals with disabilities thrive in various capacities of life. Some volunteering roles include tutoring, mentoring, and office administration assistance. This opportunity helped me truly understand the joys of volunteering. Witnessing the jubilation of a client solving a complex math problem or piecing together several parts of a 513-piece puzzle is a delight that can only be understood in person. One of the greatest aspects of Key Club is the flexibility it offers its students to branch out and volunteer in an area they’re passionate about, whether that be helping foster animals find a home or helping provide food for others in need. Nonetheless, throughout the course of the school year I will be dedicated to bringing even more volunteering opportunities to the members of Key Club and helping others become more aware of these opportunities. During the summer, the Bridges Foundation project will be available every Tuesday for volunteering. Other upcoming projects that will likely be initiated further on in the year include the St.John’s Medical Center, American Red Cross Blood Drives, and Tulsa Habitat for Humanity among others. Thank you to everyone in Key Club and anyone interested in volunteering in the Health and Wellbeing projects for taking initiative in bringing a positive change in our community! I am looking forward to a great year of service!
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August Events August 1 K2K West August 4 Jenks Food Bank August 6-8 K2K West August 11 Jenks Food Bank August 13-15 K2K West August 18 Jenks Food Bank August 20-22 K2K West August 25 India Fest August 27-29 K2K West
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K2K West Address: 900 North Adams, Jenks, OK, 74037 thang.kim85@jenksms.com
Jenks Food Bank Address: 324 West Aquarium Pl, Jenks, OK, 74037 Time: 10:00am-12:00pm evyn.tennekoon63@jenksms.com
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Who I Am Derek Huang If I were to take a step back and evaluate myself I would say that Key Club has become a significant part of who I am today. When I first arrived at Jenks High School I was a little critical of community service because most of the time I couldn’t see where your work was going so it was hard to believe that I was actually making a difference. When schedule pickup time rolled around there was a countless amount of clubs advertising and trying to attract people into their respective clubs. I knew it was going to be a really difficult decision so I decided to ask my upperclassmen friends what clubs I should join. They recommend that I join Key Club, and even though I was a little skeptical I decided to take their advice. I couldn’t be any more grateful for their advice because Key Club is the best club you’ll ever find! For starters I am in Jenks High School’s band program and in the beginning of the year it takes a lot of time and it pretty much dominated my schedule. Key Club was perfect for me at the time because it demands as much time as you are willing to put into it. After my schedule started opening up I was able to devote more time to my community and I think that was the turning point for me because I opened myself up to the bigger world of community service. One of the first events I volunteered at was a STEM night at local elementary school because they needed translators to make sure that everyone who came could enjoy the event equally. Up to that point I thought that all volunteering consisted of manual labor and tedious tasks but that night I realized that volunteering could have meaning too. It really changed how I looked at community service in general because I was able to see where my hard work was going and I knew that it would make a difference. Being able to visualize the difference I was making awakened me and inspired me to be more active in my community. Specifically, working with kids, which is the project I’m currently associated with, is exceptionally rewarding because when I was a child I definitely had moments where I wished I had a mentor that could push me forward and show me that academics doesn’t have to be boring. The moments when someone pushed me to reach my goals made me feel the rush of achievement and accomplishment and that’s the kind of excitement I believe everybody should have the possibility to have. Now that I have the chance, I want to make sure that every kid has the opportunities that I wished I had when I was younger. I feel like I have a bigger purpose to strive towards now and it’s all because of Key Club. I’ve also grown as a person thanks to the support of my fellow members and I wouldn’t have been able to have as much fun as I do if it weren’t for the friends I’ve made because of Key Club. Key Club has notably improved my High School experience so far and I’m so glad to be able to say I am a part of such a great organization! THE TROJAN TALK | PAGE 15
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Our Faith Based Board Member, Mark Mills, interviewed a fellow schoolmate about his time at New Life Ranch (NLR), an outdoor faith camp, with many leadership opportunities for high schoolers. 1. How long have you been going to NLR? I’ve been going to New Life Ranch for 5 years. My first time going I attended “Echo” as a camper, then “Unstoppable”, “Rooted”, “The Big Picture”, and finally “Get Set. Go!” as a Tim Teamer. 2. What are some of your most fun memories as a camper? Wow, I could not be able to begin to tell you all of my favorite memories. But above all were the memories of worshipping and standing humble in the presence of God during Leadership Development Chapel. 3. What have you learned about service and faii by going through NLR’s high school leadership program? One of the most life changing things I learned was that serving in, and for the Lord is the most fulfilling thing I can do, it’s something I’m called to do. 4. How has serving and living with a team affected you or others around you? Working with a team has taught me so many life lessons that I may have missed out on if I didn’t attend NLR. Teamwork is a beautiful thing, so many lasting friendships can be made while you are accomplishing a goal. It really brings people together. 5. What’s something you wish everyone knew? I want you to know that you are loved far beyond all comprehendible measure by someone who died to know and love you. And through this man our savior, Jesus Christ, we are all made new, able and ample to share the gospel. I encourage you to read 2nd Corinthians 5:17, Romans 3:21-24, and John 14:1-7. THE TROJAN TALK | PAGE 17
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