Stuyvesant High School’s Key Club
The Locksmith Caring—Our Way of Life
Volume 3, Issue 3 December 2007/ January 2008
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Black and White Ball
2
JCC Wrap-ItUp
3
NYRR Hot Chocolate 15K
Picture of the Month!
4-5
USACF Pen Pal Letters
6
20 Reasons to Be in Key Club
7
Comics
8
Word Search
9
Crossword
10
Crossword
11
Word Search
12
NYRR Manhattan Half Marathon
13
Important Key Club Information! The Cabinet Richard Huang (President) Sue Yee Chen (Vice President) Anthony Choi (Secretary) Olivia Hu (Treasurer) Ashley Cheng (Editor) Official Stuy Key Club E-mail stuykc@yahoo.com
The Board Jane Yang & Shadia Kim (Advocacy) Cissy Lin & Connie Liu (Art) Anne Tsay & Irene Kho (Fundraising)
Joanna Chen & Pei Xiong Liu (Locksmith) Rachel Dekhterman & Judith Chow (New Projects) Jing W. Xiao & Snigdha Das (Public Relations) Gavin Huang & Victor Ma (Web)
Send articles and pictures to locksmith@stuykc.org Visit our website stuykc.org
Bak n W ie al The Black and White Ball – a fundraiser with HSMSE and Living Beyond Belief – was held on Saturday, December 1st, 2007 at Cooper Chimney (a supposedly “elegant” location with many “luxurious” features) to raise money for AIDS prevention education and awareness. Well, at least there was a place. Oh wait, no there wasn’t, at least not for over a dozen people who were stuck outside waiting in the winter cold. I think it was a fire hazard to have more than a certain number of people in that small restaurant, so a policeman was standing outside by the door, not letting anyone in. -__I got there late, but luckily, not that late. The first floor was a restaurant, so I was escorted upstairs and… whoa, I thought, is this it? It was a cramped, narrow, way-too-crowded place. There was barely enough room to move around in (just try dancing). The food was okay – not too shabby – but then again, there wasn’t even enough (nowhere near the “tons of food” as promised). Even though the place that was booked was horrible, we tried to make the best out of it, and I think we did. We met new people, talked, and got to know one another. I met someone from my elementary school that I hadn’t seen since elementary school. The DJ was fine but the music couldn’t be played too loudly because there were diners downstairs. One good thing? There were enough drinks, non-alcoholic, of course. We had fun with the games that they came up with (except it made so much noise that it affected the kitchen downstairs… but it wasn’t that much noise). We raised money through raffles; the prize handouts are always fun! NY1 News came along and managed to interview some people in that oh so-claustrophobic space. (They’re 24-hour local news, what else can they cover?) We were told not to give the restaurant bad reviews, but I did so anyways… jkjk. We also decorated the murals that were going to be auctioned… except, I didn’t know that so I wrote something that I would not have written if I had known that that was going to happen. In the end, we got so-called “goodie bags” which contained a bunch of brochures, a Britney Spears CD o.o, lubricant, o.O, and a bunch of condoms O.O. Was it worth the $22 though? If you were just looking for a party, then probably not. (Perhaps Lily just overdid the description in her email and we were over-expecting.) We were promised another ball or something of that sort at a better place for free or at a cheaper price if we had paid for that ball. But there is something more to this that we should all realize – that these menial things and inconveniences should not matter when it comes to helping out the greater community. We are lucky, and even if you take that fact for granted, you should realize why you are helping out – because some are not as fortunate as we are. By Victor Ma
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T H E LO C K SM I T H
VOLU ME 3, ISSU E 3
W C C J
P U T RAP-I
Wrapped-Up Surprises Warm, tingly feelings fill my heart When I know smiles are brought To adorable little faces by my small acts of kindness. Just a simple task of wrapping a small surprise is enough To bring joy to a person’s life. How wondrous it is to know That a few minutes used could brighten a person’s day. And knowing that I was the reason A person smiled that day, Gives me a feeling of accomplishment. Since, I know that I made a difference in the world. It may seem small but in my little world, It is GIGANTIC! Victoria Tsang :]
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NYRR Hot Chocolate 15K Hot Chocolate on a Cold Day It felt like one of the coldest days of the year. At 7 o‟ clock in the morning, it was probably only around 20 degrees. Through my thin jacket, I could feel the full chill of the wind. The name of the event, NYRR Hot Chocolate, had misled me to think that I would be nice and toasty warm during the event. As I arrived at the volunteer sign-in, my spirits were slightly lifted as we were offered some of the sweet confection after which the event was named, along with some bagels, for breakfast. Despite the frigid weather, the volunteer coordinators were surprisingly warm towards us. They cheerily signed us in and gave us our volunteer vests along with bullhorns and hand-warmers (my lifesavers!). With my piping hot Styrofoam cup of hot chocolate as my source of heat and two packages of hand-warmers in my pockets, I felt for the first time that I could brave the cold weather. That is, until another icy blast of wind swept across Central Park. All in the name of community service, I thought. As we waited for our assignments, the Key Club from Bayside High approached the volunteer sign-in table. While we were prepared for the “Boomba!” greeting, many of the Stuy Key Clubbers answered with silence as Bayside Key Club said “Hey Stuy, how do YOU feel?!?” Richard quickly took over his presidential duties, teaching us how to respond to this Key Club greeting. “When they say „Hey Stuy, how do you feel?‟,” Richard explained, “We respond, „We feel good, OH we feel so good, UH!‟, with a pelvic thrust on the „uh.‟ Don‟t forget the pelvic thrust, it‟s very important.” We were then led on a march, with one of the volunteer event coordinators slowly picking us off the end of the procession and assigning us to spots along the trail. As we walked, I realized that I could hardly feel my toes. I shook my hand-warmers viciously, seriously considering putting them in my shoes. Our task for this event would be to cheer on the runners as well as to make sure they stayed on the left side of the lane. After waiting about half-an-hour for the event to start, we saw a police vehicle coming around the corner. With a few runners behind it, the Hot Chocolate run had begun!
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At first, our task seemed easy enough, with cheers of “great job, keep up the good job” and the occasional “stay to your left, please.” This relatively easy job quickly became chaotic after another half hour. Since we were at the one mile mark, many of the faster runners had passed by. However, after this half hour, the mob started appearing. I quickly looked on in shock as hundreds of runners rounded the corner. Rather than taking up the half of the lane that was marked off by orange cones, the runners started overflowing onto the rest of the path, until there was only a narrow space available for cyclists and joggers traveling in the opposite direction. With a greater sense of self-importance, I encouraged the runners, shouting out to keep to their left every few seconds. While this did not exactly work out very well, I was impressed by how many people had braved the cold and come to this event to run so early in the morning. As thousands of runners passed by, certain people stood out in the crowd, such as a two people dressed as ketchup and mustard. Santa also got his exercise at this event as he jogged past with his herd of reindeer. In addition, I was surprised at how many elderly people were trying their hardest to finish the 5 kilometer run. I was especially touched later in the day when one elderly man passed by as we were heading back to the start line to sign out, asking us to “Tell them to wait for me. I want to finish this race.” The cold started becoming more bearable as time progressed. In fact, after about another hour, the temperature was probably in the 40s. I could feel my toes again. I reluctantly took my hands out of my pockets and found that I didn‟t need the hand-warmers anymore. In addition, my mood was being warmed by the runners passing by. The best part of the run was after the large group had passed by. As runners passed by in smaller groups, the cheers I made seemed to be more personal. “Let‟s go runners, let‟s go!” I shouted. I was delighted when many runners clapped along to my chants. Towards the end of the run, I added another line to my cheers. “You‟re doing great, thanks for coming!” With just one sentence in reply, my entire morning of braving the elements was worth it. In a response that warmed me up better than any hot chocolate could have, some of the runners replied, “Thank YOU for coming here today.” -Irene Kho
USACF Pen P al Letters A Little Note Goes a Long Way If you were in Key Club last year, you would probably have heard of the United States African Children Fellowship (USACF) Pen Pal Program that several of your fellow Key Clubbers participated in. These pen pal letters were mailed almost a year ago and finally, responses have arrived. My pen pal, Bhekukuthula Mathuthu, is twelve years old and in seventh grade. Although his English is not perfect, he writes earnestly about his everyday life. “[I] like rice and cassva [and I] like football.” Thanks to all the donations to this program, this boy can finally experience the joy of seeing a football glide gracefully through the air, and the satisfaction that comes with every goal and touchdown. He also writes, “I like math [too].” This simple statement shows just how wonderful these children are—their love for education (go math!) is strong, despite the hardships they face every day inside and outside of school. This love cannot be taken away; it will propel these kids to become the future leaders and empower them to better their communities. Bhekukuthula concludes his letter with a drawing of a teacher writing letters on the chalkboard. I have to admit, this boy draws better than I can ever hope to. Without the donations from USACF, who knows what would have happened to this undiscovered talent? Just think—an artistic, creative, and beautiful imagination was made possible all due to one simple little thing: a pencil. This just goes to show that a little note goes a long way. By Kenny Yu
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VOLU ME 3, ISSU E 3
1. We get to help other people. 2. We have fun while helping other people. 3. You get credit for helping other people. 4. You get to know that you made someone’s life easier. 5. You get to know that you made someone’s day. 6. The feeling you get when people thank you for volunteering is amazing. 7. You feel like you’re part of a big, caring family. 8. You get to meet new people from every background. 9. You make lots of new friends. 10. You have plenty to talk about when you get back to school.
20 REASONS TO BE IN KEY CLUB ~DONNA KOO 11. You get free t-shirts.
12. You get free breakfast. 13. You feel useful.
14. You feel needed. 15. You become an ACTIVIST in your community. 16. You get experience. (Some of them you’ll never forget) 17. Events are great excuses for procrastination (Disclaimer: KC does NOT endorse this =p). 18. There are so many things you can do in Key Club (like the different committees) that there is always something for everyone. 19. You get the right to shout “BOOMBA!” at people and laugh when other people don’t get it. 20. All the cool kids are in Key Club! :D
LAUGH OUT LOUD! =D ZOE WU
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VOLU ME 3, ISSU E 3
DECEMBER EVENTS! By: Jensen Cheong Q Y
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HOT NYRR LATE CO CHO GIFT W R AT B A APPING ND N
RAP JCC W IT UP
PEN PA L
LETTER
U AY FO D I L O H MILER S
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B WHI LACK A ND TE B ALL
N ERMA
EIN JOE KL RACE
T H E
C R O S S W O R D
P U
BY BETTY ZHAO
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VOLU ME 3, ISSU E 3
LOCKSMITH DECEMBER CROSSWORD By Divya Dayal
Across: 1. the number of bake sales we've had this school year 4. location of Key Club bulletin board 5. NYRR Hot __________ 9. our sister school in upper Manhattan (organized the Black and White Ball) 10. number of Key Club committees 12. this event involved wrapping gifts and writing
Down: 2. Boomba! 3. Key Club's college equivalent 6. in October, we handed out fliers for this organization 7. he's our faculty advisor 8. dues cost _______ dollars 11. October's Project of the Month 13. ________ Educates Youth
Down: 2. Hey 3.Circle K 6.ACS 7.Cocoros (Mr.) 8.Twelve 11.MSABC 13.Kiwanis 14.Central Park Across: 1.Three 4.First Floor 5.Chocolate 9.HSMSE 10.Seven 12.JCC Wrap It Up 15.Olivia ANSWER KEY
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JANUARY
CALENDAR CHAMPAGNE COUNTDOWN
KISS MIDNIGHT PARTY
FAMILY
RESOLUTION
FRIENDS
STREAMERS
HOLIDAY
TIMES SQUARE BY LOREN OUMAROVA
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VOLU ME 3, ISSU E 3
The New York Road Runners Half Marathon, which was held in the Upper West Side on January 27 and lasted from 7 AM to 12 PM, was certainly not an easy event to volunteer for. With temperatures below freezing, the Sunday morning proved to be a formidable challenge to both volunteers and runners. Initially, I did not want to get out of bed to volunteer for the marathon, since it was on a Sunday, and I had a nagging cough at the time. However, I felt that I would regret it if I did not participate at least for a portion of the event. Hence, I rolled out of bed, still somewhat groggy, and arrived in Central Park’s East Drive at a little past 9:30 AM. I was a little disconcerted when I first arrived, though; I could not find my project captain since I had arrived late. Nevertheless, it did not take me long to find one of the volunteer coordinators for the half-marathon, and soon, I was cheering for the runners on a part of the course not far from the finish line. I felt a little awkward at first yelling, “ Stay to your left, runners!” or “Good job runners! Keep it up!” to unfamiliar people. However, most of the runners appreciated the support, and that positive reception motivated me to keep on cheering. By 11:30 AM, the lower part of my body was numb, but I was all smiles as I signed out, took one of the shirts the coordinators were giving out, and left the park. At the end of the event, the satisfaction of knowing that I had participated in route marshalling the event and had put my all into encouraging the runners to do their best in the half marathon left me with a warm feeling that compensated for the cold toes and fingers.
The NYRR
Manhattan
Half
- Shayra Kamal
Marathon