Hello suns! My name is Lydia Lee, and I’ll be serving as your OAKC President for the 21-22 term. The upcoming term will be absolutely amazing, so be excited for a great year. As President, I’ll try my best to ensure that your Key Club experience is truly memorable to the point that just the words “Key Club” provides serotonin. Especially as we grow deeper into a year and transition back to in-person, the number of events will only increase and get better as I and the other officers become more experienced within our own positions. As a new term begins, it’s always important to reflect upon our past accomplishments and achievements. In the past term, we raised over 10,000 service hours which was an all-time high for OAKC. It is extremely impressive, and I hope to continue this amazing trend and rate of growth! Furthermore, I can only hope for the members of our club to continue to prosper! With Christina as our LTG and Helen Tran, a freshman, appointed as the division Executive Assistant, I have high hopes for the future of our club. Furthermore, with Sofia, Megan, and Kaylin all part of DLT, it goes to show the size of our club and its influence within D30S. Overall, I hope you’re as excited for the new term as I am! I promise to give my all in everything for Key Club, and I hope to see all of you at a service project or meeting in the near future!
Lydia Lee
Lydia Lee OAKC President 2021-2022
Hey Suns! My name is Lynne Ta and I previously served as the stand-in Bulletin Editor for Christina last term but I am officially Oxford Academy’s Bulletin Editor for the 2021-2022 term! I am an upcoming junior and I’ve been apart of Key Club since my freshman year. I look forward to sharing updates, events and memories with you all through the newsletter! It will be posted at the end of every month and it’s a recap of the month prior. As Bulletin Editor I promise to highlight all the amazing memories we have made this term and showcase how wonderful Key Club can be. So what are you waiting for? Flip through the next few pages to reflect back on the month of May and see what Oxford Key Club has been doing! The new term begins with summer sign ups, which is where I personally began my Key Club journey, through filling out a google form that led me to spend all of my summer volunteering. I hope I can be able to serve you all and I’m excited to see how much Oxford will grow over this term, and I hope you will be apart of it so make sure to sign up for summer emails!
Lynne Ta Lynne Ta OAKC Bulletin Editor 2021-2022 Notes | 3
Calendar | 4
MAY SUN
MON
TUE
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
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15 Fundraiser
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Letters to US Troops Shave the Day
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Sign Ups Due! Map Swipe Swim Dash
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31 Sonrise Food Riverbed Farms
UPDATES EVENTS: *may not be pictured on Calendar
Service Projects: Apr 29-May 16 ★ Shave the Day ★ Letters to US Troops Service Projects: May 20-Jun 1 ★ Swim Dash ★ MapSwipe OAKC May Bake Sale: May 18-26 Panda Express Fundraiser: May 15
In Person Events: ★ River Bed Farms - May 31 June 4 ★ Grandma House of Hope June 2-9 ★ Hunger Hero - June 16-18 ★ Heart of Compassion Food Bank - June 1 ★ Sonrise Community Church Feeding - May 31 ★ Anaheim YMCA Blood Drive -June 3
DIVISION ★ ★
May DCM - De-Stress into Summer: May 22nd May Division Service Week - May 22-29
DISTRICT ★
District Leadership Team: Applications due May 7th
Devanshi Kothari | 11 | Secretary On Saturday, April 24, April DCM occurred at 4 to 5 PM. This was a super fun, interactive DCM and though it only lasted an hour, the hour was well spent with bonding, reviewing Division News, and virtual activities. First of all, as we entered the zoom call, we jammed to music and renamed ourselves according to our schools. Then shortly after, we began with old business and new business of the division. Reviewing DCON, the Division goals, division fundraisers as well as upcoming club fundraisers, helped me learn more about the happenings within the division and how members could support various clubs. Next, we played a quick ice breaker where we chose between simp or a sip of water for various pictures of people, idols, and more. This was truly funny and enjoyable as well as helped everyone get comfortable in the virtual setting. Next, we were split into breakout rooms led by the club presidents. In the breakout rooms, we played the web game, gartic phone which was entertaining when we saw the chains of telephones with drawings and how all our stories evolved into something different or amusing. I enjoyed this game because there were so many unique ideas, and some stories were simply hysterical. As we returned to the main room, we awaited the reveal of the new Division Leadership Team. Congratulations to Oxford’s Kaylin Chan for Division historian, Megan Tran for Spirit Coordinator, and Helen Train for Executive Assistant! I know they will make us proud, and they are going to do amazing in their new roles. In all, this DCM was eventful with a DLT reveal, interactive games as well as informative on the current happenings in the Division. I encourage all of you to come out to our next DCM to have a memorable experience just like this one!
April DCM | 7 Kelly Vo | 10 | Tech Chair Today was the April DCM: Spill the DLTea. Overall, a very enjoyable event that hopefully everyone was able to attend (better come to the next one if you missed). In all honesty, the funniest part would have to be the drink break before Simp or Sip. After having sent most of us to get some sort of drink for the game, Christina decided to pass the time with jokes. Of course, she is known for her pronunciation mess ups, so it was natural that people requested tongue twisters and repeats of old words. Sadly, no mess ups this time (at least not really). Can’t forget about those other jokes people told! Now, Simp or Sip was quite a surprise. We had anime boys, K-pop idols, even pickles up there! There were obvious winners such as Olaf and the Teletubbies, however, some questionable ones, like toes. It was really an interesting experience to see what caught people’s interest. Definitely an amazing activity. With that, we broke up into breakout rooms to play Gartic Phone. For those who haven’t played yet, it’s a game where you say a phrase, and another draws it. Then, another person will try and guess what you are trying to draw, write a phrase, and the line continues. At the end, you just get a bunch of mistranslated phrases, and you end up with pretty hilarious drawings. The albums at the end are pretty cute too. In my group, we had started with a water bottle eating a tree, and somehow then to photosynthesis. It was funny seeing how we started with one picture and how it developed into a completely different phrase. A recommended game you should try with your friends. And so, to end off the DCM came the awaited: DLT reveals. Slowing announcing positions by positions, you could see how hype that chat was getting. Congrats, cheers, they were all being thrown out. The team was looking pretty solid (congrats to three of our own board!). It was a great ending to April’s DCM, and I am definitely excited to see how they do this term (obviously amazing).
Lydia Lee | 12 | President Every month, the division hosts a division council meeting to communicate with all the general members and officers. It’s a chance to give updates to the entire division and increase bonding between the division as well. At April DCM, Christina Nguyen, the LTG, gave her monthly updates and allowed clubs to give their reminders as well such as for upcoming fundraisers. April DCM was the first DCM of the term and was also when the Division Leadership Team for the 21-22 term was announced. Generally, Oxford has 2-3 representatives be part of DLT, and this year was no exception. I’m extremely proud to say that the OAKC Publicist, Megan Tran, was appointed to be the spirit coordinator while Kaylin Chan, the OAKC historian, was appointed to be the division historian as well. Furthermore, Sofia Gange was also appointed to be the Division Fundraising Coordinator. Finally, Helen Tran, the OAKC publicist, was appointed to be the division Executive Assistant. It goes without saying that I am extremely proud of all of my officers and am excited for their futures. Overall, the future of OAKC is always bright and I look forward to seeing what all the officers can accomplish! As an incoming senior, I’m growing old but am reassured to see that such bright young individuals will lead OAKC once I am gone.
Leann Vo | 11 | Treasurer All I can say about April DCM was that we definitely started off this term with a BANG! There were so many exciting things that happened within the span of one hour. I mean we have normal DCM shenanigans, some terrible tongue-twisters, a fun online bonding game, and most notably, the reveal of the 2021-2022 Division Leadership Team, I am definitely looking forward to the rest of this term and although it just started, I can already sense some wonderful things happening for Oxford Academy Key Club. I am so, so, so, so excited to see what the future has in store for not just our club, but our freshies that are soon to be sophomores. I can already tell that they are going to do great things for our club in the future. Let’s make this next term our most memorable one yet! Love ya OAKC!
Kaylin Chan | 10 | Historian Throughout this year, the pandemic has caused quarantine and has put a halt to most physical, in-person activities and events. Key Club is a service organization that is powered through leadership, character building, caring, and inclusiveness: the four core values. During this quarantined time, the leaders of Key Club have stepped up to the challenge and have led the members and organization all through a successful year, virtually. The experience was unprecedented, and all the events and service projects that were usually in-person, were altered to adapt to the circumstances. Even during a situation that they did not sign up for and were not prepared for, the leaders demonstrated outstanding leadership and adjusted brilliantly to the online term of 2020 - 2021. As this has been an unusual term, the members of Key Club have undergone a different experience in this club. Having to lead through a screen, participate using the internet, and serve from home, each and every member of Key Club has had their chance to continue building their character in a unique scenario. How has Key Club, that values inclusiveness so much, created a community from the behind the screens of their computers? This year, the events and activities have been as inclusive as always. Although we were separated, and although we couldn’t be together this past year, the glue that keeps Key Club together and makes this organization’s existence possible, still, has never weakened one bit. We are kind. We are strong. We are ever evolving. We are Key Club.
Virtual Memories | 9
Kenneth Nguyen | 11 | Project Chair With the conditions of the pandemic becoming much better, the world is slowly adjusting to in-person settings. With vaccines, continued social distance, and masks, even Key Club is going back in person! Oxford Academy will be going back to in-person learning next year, so that means Key Club will as well! However, with the summer Key Club happening, new in-person events will be starting alongside our usual virtual service projects. Serving as your Project Chairs this term, Victoria and I are working hard to provide great in-person opportunities for all of you, such as food bank distributions, farms, and COVID-relief packing. We hope you are all able to volunteer at these events once this newsletter comes out! For this term, we are finally able to combine both virtual and in-person projects! Being a part of Key Club for 2 terms, I experienced both a virtual and an in-person term. Last term, the term of 2020-2021, I really liked how I was able to volunteer at home during my free time. Especially since my workload for school as a sophomore has increased a lot since 9th grade, I was very busy for the whole term. However, during the summer before the school year and during my free time, I was able to serve hundreds of hours online through virtual service projects such as Shave the Day, Charity Miles, Letters, Beanbeanbean, Freerice, and the Chinese Classes event. It was great to have fun while volunteering remotely. However, a lot of the apps became redundant in my opinion since we were limited to working online instead of away from the screen and with other Key Clubbers. In my opinion, I would prefer the in-person Key Club much better, which I experienced in my first term at Key Club. I really miss my freshman year in Key Club, since both the seniors that are leaving this year were really good friends with me, and I loved all of the events. I created amazing members that I can never forget and even become sad about since it has been so long. Hope Food Distributions every other week became a normal routine for me, and I always made sure to attend the general meetings! Turkey Trot, a four-hour event in the middle of the morning where I and many other volunteers had to endure freezing weather, strong winds that blew away trash cans, and both terrible showers and heavy rains. Everyone was gathering together and hugging each other, passing around free pancakes to use as hand warmers. The Muzeo Polar Express Pajama, where we watched the Polar Express with warm hot chocolate and marshmallows. I remember D30S winning the Spirit Stick during Fall Rally South 2019, where I cheered my heart out and rode on a few Six Flag rides. And finally, my overall FAVORITE event ever, Pooch Match. I spent 4.5 hours hanging out and petting tons of rescued dogs. As well as helping them become more familiar with the human touch, it was an amazing event that I could never forget and is my favorite event to this moment. There are all memories I will always cherish, I really hope to be able to experience more of these events. Let’s hope for the pandemic to come to an end, and we can finally experience even more fun and amazing in-person events! What’s your favorite virtual service project? What is your favorite in-person event? I hope you all have an amazing summer!
2019 :
2021:
Rachel Kim | 10 | Historian Even though this pandemic has set us apart, our Key Club has had another successful year! And, as usual, the term of 2020-2021 was wrapped up with the year’s highlight, District Convention. For those who don’t know, District Convention is a big annual event held towards the end of the term, in which we celebrate all our past achievements, elect our new District Executives, and welcome the start of the new term with Key Clubbers from all over California, Nevada, and Hawaii.
DCON 2021, Stargazing in Service, was my first ever virtual convention, but attending through my computer screen didn't take the fun away from it! I was very impressed to see so many Key Clubbers all over the districts of our region, and it was overall a great opportunity for me to meet new people and see what leaders do. There were a variety of activities including the informative workshops, bonding in breakout rooms, singing along to AJ Rafael’s live performances, being inspired by guest speakers, and even playing games while having random conversations about topics like how many holes a straw has! Although it was virtual, it was so uplifting to see so many students in a Zoom meeting, creating memories and sharing our own experiences with Key Club. To be honest, at first, I was intimidated and scared because there were so many other people, but everyone was so encouraging and kind to each other. On top of that, it was great to be there to virtually hype up our district and congratulate our own Oxford Key Club members during the awards ceremony. Older members who may have already attended DCON before would probably feel used to this excitement, but seeing the liveliness of fellow members on a Zoom meeting brightened my 3 days at DCON. I will never forget my first (and probably/ hopefully only) virtual District Convention. I want to thank all the district executives, district leadership team, lieutenant governors, region advisors, administrators, and everyone who had helped to make DCON work this year. I am looking forward to DCON 2022, and I strongly encourage all our members to come next year! Now, as DCON wrapped up and began the new term of 2021-2022, I just wanted to say that I am ecstatic to serve as one of your historians in this new term. This past year has been quite difficult and unexpected for everyone as we had to adjust to online, whether it be for service projects or just school in general. Speaking of which, I also want to thank our prior board members and executives for leading OAKC so well even through quarantine. Looking towards the future, I can’t wait for the start of in-person events and all the good things that will happen next year. Let’s start strong!
DCON |11
Why You Should Join KeyDCON Club ||13 13
Zuleyka Urieta | 12 | Historian Shin Splints. They occur when muscles, tendons, and bone tissue become overworked. Typically shin splints are found in athletes who've suddenly intensified or changed their workout routines- yet in my case they mostly stem from running mile after mile to raise money to be donated to charity. Despite the burning sensation around my shins after running 5280 feet in 7 minutes, I always run with a purpose: the purpose to give. Charity Miles not only serves as my motivation as an athlete, but as a key clubber as well. I don’t run miles for the sole reason to gain hours, but rather to create positive impact. Charity Miles donates 25 cents for every mile of walking, biking, or running to a charity of one’s choice. Although it’s not a large sum of money per mile, it is profit nonetheless that eventually builds up over time. Through the app Charity Miles you are given the option to choose from over 40 charities that are making an impact in various aspects of the world: such as health, children, animals, the environment, education, veterans and more. Since discovering charity miles a few months back through a service event for Oxford Academy’s key club, it is safe to say that I’ve found myself slightly addicted as I have accumulated more than 250 miles ran through the app. In retrospect I honestly don’t think that I would have run that number of miles without knowing that I was not only running for my benefit, but for the possible benefit of others. I encourage anyone and everyone to download the app charity miles and check it out for themselves. Whether you’re an athlete who trains daily or a student who needs a break from studying, taking a quick walk, jog, or run can improve your health while you simultaneously donate to charity. Embody the slogan of Charity Miles: “Walk, Run, Bike for a Cause”, as I know that I will continue to do so in the future…even if I have to deal with irritating shin splints.
Key Club Story | 15
Victoria Tran | 10 | Project Chair It’s April 2020, straight into quarantine and online classes don’t actually matter, so I’m spending my time coloring and making cute letters for “Love for the Elderly” and “Color A Smile”. Now, it’s April 2021 and I’m spending my time writing my first ever article as a board member for a club I originally was only interested in for the volunteer hours. How did this happen? I’m still not exactly sure but I can say that this club is a lot more than what you think. Key Club is more than just scrolling down the spreadsheet to see our name and the number of hours we have. Key Club is more than its 15-minute meetings and it’s “everybody is so quirky and way too positive for no reason” reputation. I started off my freshman Key Club year by going to my first event, which was the JFK x Cypress x Oxford Social, where I met some really cool upperclassmen. I started off by using chat-only in the breakout room, but after somebody shouted me out for having the same opinion as them in a “Would You Rather” game, I started to put myself out there to meet new people. We had a good time in the end, all laughing and creating our own inside jokes and I’ll always remember this event for showing me how inclusive and fun Key Club is. I ended off my first year in Key Club by going to the last event of the year, which was the Oxford Academy Key Club Banquet. During the End of the Term Awards portion, the “Most Spirited” award was given to me and I was absolutely shocked. Kenny presented it by saying, “We always saw this freshman signed up for our events since the very beginning and they never stopped with their spirit at events...” When I saw my name on the screen under this award, all I could think of was the JFK x Cypress x Oxford Social and how this one event was the start to my spirit for this club. All it took was one event to start my passion and love for Key Club and somehow that got me to not only awards like Member of the Month and Most Spirited but also to things I would have never done before like presenting a speech in front of the division about socks or spending an entire weekend at DCON or so many more things I did by putting myself out there. Everybody in Key Club has their own story of how their love for this club came to be and it doesn’t matter if you are an awkward, shy, scared ninth grader at your first ever Key Club event, everybody here is a family ready to welcome you with open arms.
Megan Tran | 10 | Publicist
At the March DCM and 2021 Banquet, I signed myself up for the Open Mic session, having no idea what I signed myself up for. Later that day, I found out that I signed myself to perform a 90 second speech about anything I wanted to speak about. I sat there at my desk the day before the DCM, staring at my wall, thinking about the possible ideas for my speech. My first idea was to write a thank you speech for all of the wonderful officers that have guided my Key Club journey this year, but eureka! After 15 minutes of staring at my blank, empty wall, I knew exactly what I wanted to write about. I wanted to write about something I loved, I was passionate about, and I knew the perfect idea for my speech. My idea was new, a little bit peculiar, and never done before. Ideas started pouring and I wrote the speech in under ten minutes. After reading it a couple of times, I knew it was perfect. I wrote about my love for pickles and Key Club. You may be thinking: Ew, pickles are gross and how are pickles and Key Club even related? Well, think of it this way: When you first join Key Club, you are a cucumber that has just dipped your toes in pickle juice. However, after several years of dedication and leadership, you become one with the juice and eventually transform into a dill-icious pickle. Get it? Dill-icious? Dill pickles? Hahaha, funny! Whoever is reading this, I want to let you know that you are a pickle. All pickles are different, and you can never predict what a pickle will be like until you take a bite, revealing its true colors and how it may be on the inside. Some pickles are tall, short, and some are sourer than others, but no matter how different they are, they are joined by a common force. No matter who or what decides to go against them, pickles prevail, just like how Key Club members unite to combat all forces that tend to undermine our institutions (reference to the Key Club pledge). All pickles live in the same jar no matter their differences, similar to how Key Club is united as a family, despite our many differences. You, being a Key Club member, are a pickle, just like the rest of us. Everyone in Key Club is connected, just like pickles in a jar. We are pickles. Whenever one of us is stuck in a pickle (get it, haha), there is always somewhere there to help because Key Club is a family of pickles. After writing this masterpiece, I had to give myself a little pat on the back because you have to admit, it was pretty clever to connect two of my favorite things (pickles and Key Club) to create an awesome speech. Then came the time to deliver my speech at the DCM. I logged into Zoom, nervous, maybe even a little sweaty because the fact had just hit me that I had to deliver a speech in front of 100+ people. The biggest audience I have had before that was my three friends who heard me practice my speech the day before. When the time came, I pressed the button to unmute myself and the words started to flow so smoothly. After I was done, I was surprised to see a ton of supportive messages in the chat. As I scrolled through the chat, I smiled because everyone was so nice to me and I knew that this was the reason that I joined Key Club, because of the inclusive community that is never hesitant to hype each other up and support each other. Key Club inspired me to step outside of my comfort zone and showed me that doing this brings great things, even if it may be nerve-wracking at first. I also was featured in the DCM recap on the D30S Instagram account, which was pretty cool. This was my first time ever doing something like this and I cannot wait for the countless opportunities I will continue to have in my Key Club journey.
:)