august newsletter by andrew

Application forms are available in Mr. Blakely’s, room 511. The deadline is October 11th, turn it in to any officers before the deadline!

YEN

| president RICKY | treasurer

Hey Keyclubbers!!! I hope everyone's had an amazing first couple weeks of schoo!! Make sure to turn in membership forms due Oct 11th!! I hope to see you guys soon at our volunteering events and meetings!!

KAYLA | secretary

Welcome back to school!! I hope you guys enjoyed the first general meeting and Hot Trot! It’s really only going to get hotter from here, but I hope we can manage through September! My favorite event of the year, Heart Walk is coming up, so stay tuned!!

ZARA | secretary

hi cuties!! i hope everyone is enjoying the start of school and i also hope everyone enjoys our new key club events this month!!

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Hi Key Clubbers!! I was so happy to see so many of y’all at our first meeting! Im looking forward to you guys attending our future meetings and continuing to sign up for events. I hope everyone is enjoying the school year so far; I know that many of you are balancing classes, sports, and other extracurriculars, so make sure not to overwhelm yourselves and stay healthy! See y’all!

Sincerely,

Samrawit Bekele

FREE RICE

What: Answer trivia questions and earn rice that will be donated to people in need

When: throughout the month

Where: Free Rice website

BOOK DRIVE

What: 2 for 1 hr, max of 5 hrs to be donated to local libraries

When: throughout the month

Where: Room 511

VIRTUAL MEETIN

meeting through zoom! on September 4th

meetings on September 11th and 25th in the

WATER BALLOON SOCIAL right after the 1st general meeting on the 11th! there will be concessions so make sure to bring some money!

DALLAS HEARTWALK

What: Come assist the walk by working at booths, setting/tearing down, guiding participants and bringing energy to the event

When: September 21st 6am

Where: Base of Reunion Tower: 692 Spots Street, Dallas, TX 75207 DART EVENT

PAINTING SOCIAL

right after our general meeting on the 25th!

FALL FLAP JACK FUNDRAISER

What: help raise funds for NEDC Kiwanis!

When: September 28th tickets for pancakes: every ticket bought = 3 hrs, max 6 hrs

august fmsc!

New Beginnings New Beginnings

By:

Jeannie Nguyen

Key Club is an international service organization where individual high school students gather to give back to the community. From the kindness deep within their hearts, teenagers from around the globe strive to lend a helping hand to those in need. The brightness of past ficers presented a new path for members to low, leaving a light in their wake. I followed them, d was inspired to become part of that leading ht and guide those around me.

an ordinary member of the North Garland Key ub, I realized my strong passion for working in rvice. By the time I came to this conclusion, I knew I wanted to run for a higher position and pursue the remainder of my time in Key Club as an officer. I sincerely wished to dedicate myself to this club and put my passions to good use. At first, I was extremely doubtful of my capabilities and became frightened at speaking in front of a crowd. However, I shortly understood that I had no reason to be afraid; I knew these people, I knew what I was passionate about, and I knew what I had to do.

Starting as an officer was rough; it’s no easy feat to pull off, especially since I assumed the unfamiliar role of our club’s historian. There are plenty of duties for me to fulfill as the lead person managing our socials. Working on posts, managing/updating the page, putting scraps together, and working harmoniously with the board became part of my routine. Although I have many things to cover, I adore our Key Club and put everything into each project I produce. All it takes is the will to move forward. Overall, being a key club officer is such an honor. I sincerely cherish this club and my board and wouldn’t trade anything for it. Working with them, inspiring members to step up, and being able to do what I love the most is so incredible. There may still be some ups and downs. However, it’ll only help me to improve in the long run. I still have a long way to go, and I can’t wait to see what the next chapter will hold for me!

Loving Through Loving Through CConnections onnections

By: Yen Do

Entering high school as a wide-eyed and nervous freshman, I was too scared to leave my comfort circle of immediate friends who I had known from middle school. While I did slowly become close with people I had mutual friends with, I took no initiative of my own to approach other students in the school. Not only was I lost in the building, I was lost in finding my own interests, especially when new clubs were being advertised. I mostly followed what my friends decided regarding clubs and electives, which eventually led me to signing up for Key Club. Of all the interest meetings I had attended, Key Club’s caught my eye the most as it provided volunteer opportunities that, at the time, I only viewed as an inclusion to brighten my college application. I could have never imagined Key Club to be such a strong bridge of support connecting me to some of the most valuable mentors and friends I could ever ask for in life. The socials and engaging service projects from Key Club forced me to be more outgoing and create new connections with others I would have otherwise never met. Falling in love with this club and its causes beyond an activity to include in my college application was easy for me from the second that I started making friends. It helped transform me from a timid, teary-eyed freshman into someone who is more comfortable and confident in the school surroundings, and with how much Key Club had done for me, I decided to run for an officer position to create the same welcoming environment for the next freshmen as the club has for me. Within the new board, I was able to become friends with some upperclassmen, who gave me invaluable guidance and tips through my later years of high school that I am still putting to use today. As I am entering my senior year of high school, I am forever grateful for the doors that Key Club has opened for me. It has become a legacy that I am proud to be carrying on from the previous officers; I hope that I will be able to continue Key Club’s strong bridge of connections especially for lost freshmen.

From Socks to Success From Socks to Success

By:

Chris Pham

I have never worn matching socks. Every morning, I face my sock drawer, a collection of mismatched, missized, hole-infested feet coverings jammed into a 6x8 plastic drawer. Each sock tells a story that rivals the stories I face as an officer of Key Club. This drawer is a chaotic representation of the unpredictability I embrace in my role. 3:45 AM, 15 d calls. I overslept. Scrambling out of bed, I ont my sock drawer, grabbing the first pair omewhat fits. I bolt towards the door, ng towards my car--my only shot at avoiding late. The DART train would be leaving in 20 es, and I was the last officer to leave their . Arriving at the station, I face a horde of illen, sleep deprived zombies that I am forced to call my fellow “members.” Everyone seemed to run on autopilot as they became accustomed to the countless amounts of early mornings we faced together. Yet, I continued to brave the horde as I led my members to victory (the end of the marathon)! After lots of attendance, cheers, and passing of medals, the Texas sun had taken its toll on everyone. Amidst the chaos of my late arrival, I found success in guiding my members. Each problem I faced, such as the directions of my not-so-street-smart officers, were fought head on and with a smile. This chaos, mirrored in my socks, can only be described as necessary as each event wouldn’t truly be a Key Club event without something going wrong. Just as I deal with socks that don’t always match or fit, I always tackle the issues of Key Club with my commitment. Each challenge, whether it be a missing sock or a club mistake, is part of my journey as an officer. Though I have lost many hours of sleep to this club, my responsibility as an officer often means putting in extra effort and time, even if it means facing a chaotic sock drawer or waking up at the crack of dawn.

Jeopardy Social Jeopardy Social

By: Krystal Tran

Over the past few months, we have provided our members with many volunteer opportunities and social activities to give back to the community and allow them to bond with one another. Although we had a lot of events, my favorite was the Jeopardy Social, which we hosted for the members to test their knowledge about Key Club. Our Jeopardy was held in the school cafeteria with a projector that displayed the classic Jeopardy board. As members start forming their group, they hope the people the choose to be with will know about Key Club. I paired up with a past historian in the hope tha we could answer all the questions correctly. T our surprise, we were unlucky with the rules and questions; we weren’t fast enough to answer. Most of the questions were easy, but some were challenging and tested how much you know about Key Club internationally. However, everyone seemed to have a tremendous time, as everyone was extremely competitive. They elaborated in their groups to come up with the best answer and put themselves in the lead. It got super crazy when we came up with the idea to place a bell where they had to ring it first. I was able to ring the bell once, but at what cost? But don’t get me wrong, it was entertaining watching the members race each other to ring the bell first. What made this Jeopardy unique from all the other Jeopardy that I have played is that it allowed me to learn more about Key Club. As vice president, I want to have a better understanding of all the terms and backgrounds of this club. Overall, the Jeopardy was one of my favorite socials that we hosted because I got to spend time with my senior friend before she graduated. I also got to experience our members' competitive sides as they all competed to win the grand prize of some frozen yogurt. I love every event and social that we have, but Jeopardy Social will always be one of my top options!

Building Connections Building Connections

By: Sarah Nguyen

Key Club is a community of selfless, like-minded individuals working hard to make a difference in the lives of others. Through this club, members have invaluable opportunities to connect with others individuals from all walks of life. Attending the most recent LEDCON, our officers made a new addition to our network: Allen High School. er connecting with their officers on social dia, our historian, Jeannie Nguyen, rdinated efforts for an interclub meeting via agram groupchat. After comparing edules, we agreed to meet at a Plano cafe in ween Garland and Allen. At the meeting, the cers discussed plans for an interclub social. We agreed to host a volleyball tournament/outdoor social at a local park in Plano during Fall break. Alternatively, we explored the possibility of a joint fundraiser and social between the two schools at an ice cream shop. The officers argued that the location was convenient for both schools and the business offered a promising percentage of their profits. Although we accomplished our ultimate objective, organizng an interclub social, we continued to stay in contact and plan occasional hangouts, such as Melon Dash and a pool social. Not to mention, certain officers from both clubs continue to hangout outside of Key Club.

All in all, these blossoming friendships are what makes Key Club’s community and environment so special. There are, and will always be, opportunities to venture outside your bubble and make new connections. Personally, I can’t begin to express the multitude of people and experiences that this club has introduced me to, and I can certainly expect many more to come.

TTime ime

By: Ricky Nguyen

As I prepare to start my term as an officer, I come to realize the importance of time and how every second counts. Key Club has had a profound impact on me with my time management and grasping the importance of time.

Before I joined Key Club, I often wasted my time rotting away and mindlessly scrolling on social media with no goal in mind as well as playing useless games. However, since joining Key Club, I've begun to be more thoughtful of my time and how I should manage it. For example, as I continue to volunteer for my community, I realize it is important to plan out a detailed schedule for the rest of my day that accommodates the time I spend volunteering. As I began to balance out school assignments, volunteering, and friends and family, I realized the profound vast improvement on my daily life Key Club has had on me. Another instance of when I found the importance of time was during one of my volunteering events at FMSC (Feed My Starving Children.) This volunteering event showed me how such little time could have such a profound effect and improvement on people around the world who need our help. Our Key Club spent just around 1.75 hours working with other groups and managed to be able to feed 44 kids for a year with a total of 16,200 meals packed. Being able to know that I was able to help a cause just by simply giving 2 hours of my time has made me realize that every second counts whether it be hours or even seconds.

Whether it be hitting deadlines, simply wanting to sleep more, or volunteering, Key club has taught me that time is a priceless currency that shouldn’t be taken for granted.