August 2020 Newsletter

VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 4

THE MONTHLY SUNSHINE

august 2020

Key Club International | CNH District |Region 3| Division 30 South| Oxford Academy Key Club

TABLE OF CONTENTS 04 05 06 08 10 12 13 14 16 PRESIDENT’S CORNER | EDITOR’S NOTE UPDATES

CALENDAR

THE BEACH BOOMBA RETROSPECTIVE UNICEF MATH GAMES FOR GOOD CHALLENGE

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS WEEK | CHANGING OPINIONS 101 D30S x D13S PENPALS

JULY DCM

GOT A QUESTION? CONTACT US!

Hey everyone! Hopefully quarantine hasn’t gotten you too bored out here. Are you all getting enough sunshine outside? Since school is back in business, we certainly have to focus some of our time on that, but don’t forget about some of the important concurrent issues going on around us.

As Key Clubbers, we don’t tolerate racial injustice. It’s true that we are limited in how much we can speak out about Black Lives Matter as an organization, but here are some of the things we CAN do, made clear thanks to our CNH executives. We can say the statement itself, that black lives do matter. After all, our motto delineates caring as our way of life. Key Clubs can also donate to charities such as the Minnesota Freedom Fund and the Loveland Foundation. It’s also possible to stream videos on YouTube whose creators dedicate their profits toward such charities. We can also spread information and educate others as well as ourselves. This can be accomplished through spreading/creating social media posts, encouraging eligible members to vote, and sharing resources to others.

All in all, don’t forget to observe the world around us, but remember to spread positivity whenever possible. Stay safe!

Timmy Bui

Timmy Bui OAKC President

HI AGAIN! A month into school and I already feel drained, but hopefully you don’t feel the same. Quarantine was quite boring for me and online school is not that different, except possibly worst. Although, let’s manage our workload well and make use of the free time that the world has kindly gifted.

Typically, I choose two colors that stand as my base or theme for the newsletter. Except, as the indecisive person that I am, I had a difficult time choosing the colors for this month. With low motivation and lack of creativity, my one brain cell decided to do black and white. I don’t think that this newsletter is bad, but definitely is different from the others.

Last month was quite better than the ones before and I would like to say that it’s getting better, in some ways. Let’s work hard and wish for the best suns!!

Warm regards,

Christina Nguyen

Christina Nguyen OAKC Bulletin Editor

UPDATES| 5

SERVICE HOURS

PTP FUNDS 81.8%

4578.5/5600

29%

435/1500

JULY 2ND SHINING CLUB OF THE MONTH

JULY CLUB MEMBER OF THE MONTH MEGAN TRAN

6 | CALENDAR

AUGUST SUN

MON

TUE

WED

THU

UPCOMING September 6: OA Minecraft Fundraiser September 19: SEPTEMBER DCM

2

3

4

5

6 Charity Miles Letters to Firefighters

UNICEF Math Games For Good Challenge

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10

11

12

13

19

20

Charity Miles Letters to Firefighters UNICEF Math Games For Good Challenge

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17

18

Charity Miles FreeRice

23

24

25

26

27 Charity Miles FreeRice

30

31 Charity Miles FreeRice

WARNING: EVENTS MAY OR MAY NOT APPEAR ON CALENDAR 1: Whitney X Oxford x Savanna Social 1-11 Charity Miles

U

FRI

SAT

1-11: Letters to Firefighters 1-11: UNICEF Math Games for Good Challenge 13-31 Charity Miles

1

13-31: FreeRice WKC X OAKC X SKC Social

22: August DCM 27-31: Environmental Awareness Week

7

8

14

15

EVENTS OA Minecraft Fundraiser WHEN: September 6

Charity Miles

WHERE: Minecraft

FreeRice

21

TIME: 4 - 6 PM 22

BUNDLE OF SUNSHINE GRAMS 1 Sun Plushie, 1 Cake Pop, August DCM

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29

1 Sticker, 1 Customizable Note DEADLINE TO ORDER: 8/31

September DCM WHEN: September 19 WHERE: TIME: -

Lance Sahagun | 12 | Treasurer

On a hazy, summer morning, the cool chill of the waking house warmed my sore and aching body. lifted me off my feet into my worn-out tennis shoes, drawstring bag draped on my back like a rega slung over my shoulder. The car ride to the sand and sea felt frantic, a ship lost in the storm. Stran shore, practically midway from the water to the land. An entire day of activities, interactions, and m disappear like distant vessels on the horizon, and despite the hectic chaos of this whirlwind, never the unknown. Little did I know that my first time would be my last time. Fast forward to now. Slee ace, completely juxtaposing everything I once knew. This time, on a gaudy summer afternoon, I ro tute. I started from my mom’s car and ended in my room, with only thoughts of the past clouding one of those highly anticipated Key Club events that, like Fall Rally South, you do not really unders enced it. Desperately trying to make the most out of my breakout room, I couldn’t help reminiscing which made this DCM add to a growing consciousness of familiarity; dissociated memories flowing same lake of similarity. Whether that be from the lack of activity from other people or the gross sp passed, my previous eternity in a day was reduced to the second of a minute, a single tick of a clo

(sidenote: mad props to the division execs for continuing to try their hardest, nothing but respect). With the continued halt of what was normal, the more and more I become appreciative of every passing day, for the good and the bad, for the lives we choose to live and the lives we choose to impact, especially over what we can and cannot control. It can be so easy becoming caught up in the mindless sensitivities of the world screaming into your ear. This July DCM helped me reinforce not only my duties to my club and to the many lives we serve, but also my responsibilities over myself. After all, Beach Boomba last year helped me establish my confidence and happiness serving with Key Club. July DCM: Game Night helped me remember the same magic to which I hold Key Club in such a high regard by retrospectively reflecting on our purposes and what we take for granted. Although there is no smoky bonfire or freezing ocean breeze this time, the waves of the sea continue to crash and recede, the sun smiling above.

THE BEACH BOOMBA RETROSPEC

. The sun’s illuminating glare al, majestic cloak, camera bag ngers sprawled across the moments would appear and had I been so excited over epless nights and days of solose 2 hours before the substimy mind. Beach Boomba is stand unless you have experig over that missing magic in separate streams out to the peed at which this DCM ock’s little hand to the right

CTIVE

THE BEACH BOOMBA RETROSPECTIVE| 9

10 | UNICEF MATH GAMES FOR GOOD CHALLENGE

UNICEF MATH GAMES F

Timmy Bui | 12 | President

It really couldn’t have gotten much better than this. As an elite disciple of math, I’ve always had to set aside my calculative abilities when it came to Key Club service projects. But finally, a project banking on one’s proficiency in mental math! My time came, and I was ready to show up.

Of course, it wouldn’t have been as fun or motivating without a challenge. That’s why Helen and I decided to compete, seeing which person would be able to raise more money via arithmetic solutions. Many nights, I didn’t even touch the website. On others, though, I remembered that I had to crush my competition in order to increase the satisfaction of completing the service project. This drove me to spend multiple hours volunteering for this event.

Each correct math problem earns a quarter. All the money is donated to UNICEF’s causes. In the end, I helped raise $1700 with my own brain. Fantastic.

FOR GOOD CHALLENGE

x

Devanshi Kothari | 10 | Historian

This month, we had many different virtual volunteering opportunities. However, one of my favorite ones was the UNICEF’s Math for Good Challenge. In this volunteering project, we were directed to a website where we could compete in one-minute rounds and answer as many math problems as possible. For every problem, a gift of 25 cents will reach UNICEF and the money would go toward getting children to school and out of poverty. We could do as many rounds as we wanted, and the questions definitely got harder as we answered more questions.

Gradually, I got the hang of the challenge and was answering more and more questions each time. By the end, I had earned about a hundred dollars for charity and had a lot of fun doing it!

This was an enjoyable and memorable event that I think helped me sharpen my mind and get even better at mental math as well as support children who face obstacles when trying to obtain an education. I hope we can continue to this event and hope we earn even more money for these children struggling to get an education because of countless obstacles and hurdles.

Competing with friends and just dusting off those mental math skills are some other reasons why this event was so satisfying, instructional, and helpful. Additionally, we are all in quarantine and spend so much time at home so why not use your spare time benefiting children and helping them out with an education they deserve?

I encourage everyone to do this math challenge in your free time because this event helped me work my mind during summer break when I haven’t done mental math for a long time and to help those children out there who don’t have the same opportunities as us. In all, I am happy and satisfied that I got to help so many children around the globe get an equal opportunity towards education and get themselves out of poverty by my choice of spending just a few hours answering simple math problems. It is really not that hard!

x

Ryan Dang | 11 | Historian

With school having ended a while back ago, it was really relieving to be finished with AP testing. I could finally say, “I can finally take a break!” But, I didn’t because immediately after I had to worry about my summer classes, next year’s courses, the SAT! Life was just bogging me down with tons and tons of work again. And so, with not much control over my summer, I began to slave away at my work.

Summer wasn’t looking like I was going to have the greatest of times, but fortunately, Key Club helped create a lot of enjoyable moments during my times of misery.

With school starting in 2 weeks, give or take a few days, I found myself enjoying the thrill of working through playing the UNICEF Math Game For Food Challenge. The challenge was really enjoyable as it was in relation to a subject that I enjoy a lot. Doing these problems wasn’t only a way for me to relieve stress and have fun, that doesn’t matter as much, but what does matter is that I was also able to raise money for those less fortunate than me. This service project is like a double whammy! I had a great time answering questions before the timer reached zero, while also raising money for every correct answer I get right. The service project was really motivating, and it had me sucked in for hours. Though the moments Key Club gave me over the summer might seem small, it meant a great amount to me that OAKC was my shining sun during the dark summer days, a bit ironic I know!

Claire Lee | 11 | Project Chair

Oxford Academy held Environmental Awareness Service Week from July 27th to the 31st that helped spread environmental awareness through various activities. Since my partner and I are project chairs for this term, we had a pretty long conversation regarding which activities to focus on for this week that didn’t include too many projects that included apps since we always included those. We wanted to pick more hands-on activities, so we decided to do a recycling project, a nature clean up, and a project where people were able to create graphics and publicize using their social media platforms. I participated through the nature clean up activity with one of my friends. Through this activity, I was able to realize how important it is for us to clean up after our own city. For our next service week, my partner and I will try to find more hands-on activities for our members :).

ENVIRONMENTAL

AWARE NESS WEEK

CHANGING OPINIONS 101 Kenny Le | 12 | Vice President

25 days ago, Timmy forwarded an email from Douglas Gin, Key Club Administrator for the CNH District, to our executive board. Detailing Key Club International’s commitment towards eradicating “racial inequality and injustice” while also describing the reasons why Key Clubs could not expressly support the “Black Lives Matter” organized movement, Gin encouraged us to pursue “educational live streams and webinars”. So, of course, I immediately went in the direction of finding impactful local speakers, and lo and behold, I found the Thurgood Marshall Bar Association—the only Black Bar Association in Orange County. I cold emailed them, honestly not expecting a response, but they quickly communicated back to me. After a process sometimes marred by misunderstandings, miscommunication, red tape, and disagreements, yet at the same time incredibly useful and enlightening to me, this webinar finally happened. In summary of the webinar, lawyers Michele

Bell and Ray Jones first went through the history of racial injustice in America. They described how the United States’ racist past has heavily contributed to the current inequities between Black communities and White communities in America. With policies that have barred Black Americans from having the resources to pass down generational wealth as easily as other groups, education, healthcare, and the criminal justice system have all disproportionately negatively affected Black people. The criminal justice system itself faces problems regarding “implicit bias”. Because juries and judges are predominantly comprised of non-Black people, their interpretation of the attendant circumstances regarding a Black case is incredibly skewed. Near the end, in response to a student’s question, they talked about their own lives. In their own words, people have told Michele “Can I touch your hair? You speak so well,” and a judge told Ray that he “Needed to stop making those faces.”

D30S X D13S PENPALS| 13

D30S X D13S PENPALS Giang Nguyen | 12 | Tech Editor

Ever since my first Fall Rally South, I have viewed the Division 13 South Ninjas with nothing but respect and admiration. In the days leading up to that event, our division worked hard to win the spirit stick and triumph over all opposition at the rally session. It was a hard-fought battle, but in the end, our spirit shined above the rest and we held the spirit stick high in our hands. With the strength in our bodies and the pride in our hearts, we thought that our spirit was unparalleled by any other division. That is, until we encountered the Ninjas in the streets of Six Flags Magic Mountain. Another division as grand as ours, boasting a spirit stick from a separate rally session, carrying voices as powerful as our own. They were a worthy adversary. Battles were fought. Tears were shed. Lives were nearly lost.

On that fated day, I knew that the Division 13 South Ninjas were the true rivals to the Suns. We were to engage in spirit battles until the end of time.

It was our destiny. Anyway, we recently had a little pen pals event. I signed up thinking that I couldn’t possibly pass up a chance to meet a Ninja and talk to them. Staying at home all day during quarantine has also been a cause for loneliness, I suppose. And who wouldn’t want to make new friends? It’s always exciting to get to know someone, especially when they are a member of the esteemed Division 13 South.

This was my first time participating in a pen pals event, and it wasn’t bad! I didn’t have much to say about myself at first when getting matched, but it didn’t seem to matter. My pen pal and I shared interesting conversations, and I was able to learn a lot about their role in Key Club and how their division works. We also talked about our lives outside of Key Club, and shared some sentiments over how boring quarantine has been. I’m not exactly the type of social butterfly that goes out of their way to make conversations with strangers, so it really feels great to have someone new to talk to. Overall, this pen pals event has been a positive experience for me, as I’m sure it has been for many of the people who participated. I call it a success!

14 | JULY DCM

Tiffany Ong | 11 | Project Chair

This month, D30S held another monthly DCM for July. It was a Game Night, so it was super fun! Before playing games, the actual DCM portion was on YouTube Live. As usual, we went over old business such as OTC and the KCI Summer Leadership Conference, as well as new business such as the Operation Gratitude service project and the District Visual Media Team.

There was an update on our division’s progress on our PTP funds and service hours goals too!

We’ve already raised 9.6% of our PTP funds goal and served 39.3% of our service hours goal, which I think is great considering all the changes we’ve had to adapt to these days. :) Then we did recognition, where Oxford Academy Key Club won 2nd Shining Club of the Month! I’m super proud of our club for growing so much since the beginning of the term, especially because so many freshmen have joined the club recently. :DD After the DCM, we could finally go to our breakout rooms on Google Meets. I was in a breakout room with other people from Oxford as well as people from Western. We decided to play skribbl.io first, which was pretty fun. One of the things I drew was pasta, but I had no idea how to draw it and I tried to draw spaghetti... but it looked nothing like it :’)) After skribbl.io, we played Crazy 8’s on our phones. I hadn’t played the game in a while now, but it was actually really fun and I’m glad I got to play games with people in these small breakout rooms because time passed by pretty quickly! Especially since I’m so bored during quarantine, this DCM was a super interesting and entertaining addition to my schedule. :)

Leann Vo | 10 | Historian

Another month, another online DCM. Honestly, I really do not know how many more DCMS I can handle being online. I miss actually leaving my house and seeing other people, but that won’t be happening for a while. At least I get to attend DCM while laying on my bed I guess we are all going to have to get used to seeing other Key Clubbers through a screen.

July DCM started on a YouTube live. It was fun reading the comments. Oxford got second shining club of the month which was great. All of those times I walked/ran for Charity Miles were worth it. My favorite part of the DCM was playing Skribbl with my breakout room. Since I have played this game so many times on multiple occasions I have learned to enjoy it more. We played three rounds and there were some really fun words that popped up. Overall, I had a really good experience, especially since I placed 3rd hehehe. Since we didn’t have much time left, our group played Spyfall. The game only lasted like ten minutes which was sad. The rules were really clear, but I guess not for everyone. Overall, DCM was a good experience and it was fun.

Lydia Lee | 11 | Secretary

This month, Oxford Academy Key Club was awarded 2 nd Shining Club of The Month due to our hard work! I’m extremely proud of all of our officers and hope that everyone keeps on shining!

It also was the end of the first.

In the DCM, we were separated into groups and played games like Skribblio and Spyfall. In my free time, I play lots of Skribblio and Spyfall with my friends, so I was used to the game. Spyfall was very cool and fun to play, and I also enjoyed Spyfall. It was cool to be able to meet new people through the small groups that were assigned to us. At first, I was nervous because I didn’t know anyone in my group, but it was cool to become closer with the people who were in my group. Although I miss Beach Boomba and want to go to the beach with the other Key Clubbers, this was a fun alternative.

I look forward to the next DCM because OAKC has achieved so much this month in terms of hours! We continue to grow exponentially as people and volunteers, and I look forward to what the future has in store for us.

JULY DCM Kenneth Nguyen | 10 | Publicist

This month’s DCM was just like every month since quarantine started. Going to Youtube Live to watch LTG Jennifer Vo announce upcoming events and awards. However, this Key Club community never gets boring. From meeting a new person to finding out who is the 1st shining club of the month, DCMs never seem to bore any dedicated Key Clubbers, as many of us are willing to attend DCMs each month. Despite any hate that Key Club may receive, Key Club as a community does not let anything get in our way. We always find ways to bond and continue to hold meetings and DCMs, including finding a way to attend a DCM online. At the July DCM, we were able to see our division’s progress in our PTP and service hours. Looking at the progress, I saw that our division has served so many service hours despite having to volunteer online. Another major point in the DCM was that Oxford Academy Key Club got 2nd Shining Club of the Month!!! Good job everyone and make sure to continue to volunteer and participate in our service projects. After all the awards and announcements, we were all separated into different breakout rooms on Google Meets. In the breakout room, I was able to meet new people from all 3 schools. There, we played Spyfall & Skribblio. Although the games were a bit confusing to some participants, we were still able to have lots of fun in the DCM.

Christina Nguyen | 10 | Bulletin Editor

Not going to lie, we didn’t really have anything special this month. The usual service events and of course, the monthly virtual DCM. Everyone is trying their best to make the most of this term, but the most that we can do leave many people unsatisfied, including myself. July DCM was quite awkward for me and leading rooms is probably something I shouldn’t do in the future??

I’m not completely sure because it may be awkward for me, but not for the others. But, I feel as if I always have to be constantly talking and not having people respond to me is emotionally painful. But it may just be that I get butthurt really easily. As much as I would like to be positive, it’s quite hard, so please bear with me. Okay, back to the DCM. At least it wasn’t as laggy, or I think it wasn’t. Everyone split into rooms well and everyone had mixed opinions, so I’m not completely sure if I would consider it a success or not. But now, we prepare for the 5th virtual DCM...if you have any ideas please tell me because, trust me, we’re all desperate at this point.

Helen Tran | 12 | Publicist

One final DCM of our summer. Pushing past all obstacles, D30S remains strong and united virtually. After the DCM itself, we split into our separate groups of approximately 10-15 people. I really enjoyed this size because it allowed for inclusivity and it felt more personal. My group spent the rest of our time playing skribbl.io, a “free multiplayer drawing and guessing game”. I actually discovered skribbl.io only recently thanks to Key Club, and it’s such a simple, fun way to have fun with others. Throughout quarantine, I’ve also played skribbl.io with my friends, but that’s besides the point! I really didn’t expect to have so much fun playing this game with members of D30S. We all got pretty competitive (in a friendly way of course) and laughter filled our Google Meets. All in all, I’m grateful that July DCM gave me an opportunity to continue bonding with D30S members virtually. I can’t wait to see what other activities future DCMs will present! I especially hope to make the most of the bonding aspect of DCMs as a rising senior.

district

SERVICE PROJECTS | TOBI YAO cnhkc.sp@gmail.com

division

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR | JENNIFER VO

d30s.cnhkc.ltg@gmail.com EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT | CHRISTINA NGUYEN christinamyanhnguyen@gmail.com PUBLICIST | BRANDON LUU cubomone@gmail.com SPIRIT COORDINATOR | JOYCE LI joyceli8201@gmail.com

Club exec PRESIDENT | TIMMY BUI

bu1timmybu1@gmail.com

VICE PRESIDENT | KENNY LE kennyle303@gmail.com SECRETARY | LYDIA LEE lhlee017@gmail.com TREASURER | LANCE SAHAGUN lance.sahagun03@gmail.com

GOT A QUESTION?

?

contact us!| 15

Club appointed BULLETIN EDITOR | CHRISTINA NGUYEN christinamyanhnguyen@gmail.com PROJECT CHAIR | TIFFANY ONG ongtiffy@gmail.com PROJECT CHAIR | CLAIRE LEE 0128jil@gmail.com PUBLICIST | HELEN TRAN helentran952@gmail.com PUBLICIST | KENNETH NGUYEN kennethnguyen6296@gmail.com HISTORIAN | RYAN DANG ryandang03@gmail.com HISTORIAN | LEANN VO lealinhkay@gmail.com HISTORIAN | DEVANSHI KOTHARI devanshi3743@gmail.com TECH EDITOR | GIANG NGUYEN giangadonrawr@gmail.com

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OXFORD ACADEMY KEY CLUB

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