Western HS Key Club September 2016-2017 Newsletter

CNH | KEY CLUB Division 30 South | Region 3 |CNH Volume: 5, Issue 7

The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | September 2016

a letter from the editor

Hello, friends!

It’s about time I released another newsletter, right?

For those that do keep track of these newsletters, thank you and sorry. I’m very grateful that you find some enjoyment/purpose from these archives of progress and activities that I create, and I apologize for their releases to be so sporadic and inconsistent. And admittedly, September hasn’t been the most eventful month in terms of volunteering and such—probably due to the transition into school—but that’s okay! There’s more of everything to come; it’s only halfway through the board term, after all.

OH MY GOSH THE FIRST HALF OF THE BOARD TERM HAS BLOWN AWAY. Looking back from this halfway point, we’ve achieved quite a bit as a club already! Thank you, all you dedicated members, whose combined efforts have made it possible for Western Key Club to stand where it is now. Let’s see what we can achieve for the rest of the term and the rest of the school year!

The next time I release a newsletter will probably be after Fall Rally. I very sad that I won’t be able to go, but I still hope everyone has lots of fun then! It will be insanely fun to have hundreds upon hundreds of Key Clubbers to mob Six Flags for a day. So for my sake: be spirited, be safe, and be excited!

Also a special thank you to our president Nhi Truong for working so hard to keep this club together! I couldn’t ask for a club president more dedicated and caring. I’ll save the elaboration for later in the year, but thank you, thank you, thank you!

A bit of cheesy advice before I close this letter: to parrot our prez’s own words, please take care of yourselves. Your physical and mental health should be in your top priorities, so take steps to keep yourself feeling good! Besides, we don’t want any unhealthy volunteers.

And without further ado, I present to you another monthly newsletter! Allow me to take you back on a reliving of all that we’ve done in the past month, from the liveliness of the festival to the spirit of the DCM! Make sure to check out our club goals progress infographic, our service hours leaderboard, the board member spotlight, and the calendar of future events. If you have any pictures of events or want have a question or comment for me, don’t hesitate to contact me!

Thank you for all of your support thus far, I love you all, and enjoy the contents of this month’s newsletter!

In all his beauty, Jerry Castillo Bulletin Editor

TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 Western HS Key Club Goal Progress 3 The President’s Thoughts 4 September Collage 6 OC Japan Fair 8 September DCM | Project Warmth 10 OC Children’s Book Festival 12 Boba Fundraiser recap!

15 Board Member Spotlight, ft. …

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6

16 Upcoming Events Calendar 18 Contacts Page

8 10 11

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THE PRESIDENT’S

Delving into the mind of a maniac…!

THOUGHTS Hello everyone!

It’s been a little shaky this past month but we’re getting there! I hope that for all of you who have had their first chances to start volunteering, you’ve found a bit of that love for Key Club and helping others (as corny as this may sound).

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being here and for joining this little family. I hope that you can share countless memories with everyone here, from standing in line handing hot cocoa to familiar faces to cheering alongside new friends in the early crack of morning. I hope that you can see all those little moments captured within this little newsletter from the bulletin editor with something like a big heart and the historians with something like an eye for happiness. We’re slowly getting to our goals of member hours and funds raised for service, but getting there nonetheless. Thank you for helping us make our way make it back on the Shining Clubs, if only for a little.

“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick.

Don’t lose Faith.” -Steve Jobs.

“When people care for you and cry for you, they can straighten out your soul.” -Langston Hughes “We all have life storms, and when we get the rough times and we recover from them, we should celebrate that we got through it. No matter how bad it may seem, there's always something beautiful that you can find.” Mattie Stepanek Please remember that despite everything, we will always be here for you all 100%. I’ve never been too good with conversation and these letter kinds of things (I’m far too vague/ abstract with things for anyone’s tastes, including mine—the cringe) but please remember that I am always here for you all! Wishing you all a wonderful year and looking forward to growing with all of you!

With my best of love,

Nhi Truong

I sincerely hope that all will go well for you, and if things ever seem a little dark or rough, I hope you will WHS Key Club President remember these bits.

SEPTEMBER...

OC

Japan Fair

Oh, fair indeed… !

I’ve needed something like this for a while. Bits of relaxation of water balloon fishing and flickering lanterns. Little smiles.

Granted, there was a huge deal of stress prior with regards to sorting out volunteer complications—a bit I was hit with right after I had come out from my ACT testing. Hence the reason why I was so relieved even more so when I was allowed to volunteer at the fair. We had volunteered with this fair last year before it had spread on a division wide level, an event for the Western volunteers to enjoy. I was glad for that and now that it had spread across the division, I was hoping that the general members would bond and grow, just as the fair had.

With our (lovely?) bulletin editor Jerry Castillo, I headed into the fair. We were assigned to little game booths, the “shooting” game and water balloon fishing those of Japan-obsessed tween dreams. I have to say I was pleased.

One little event that I can remember quite clearly were the three small siblings whom I had smiled at and they, sweet pitying souls, headed over to my empty booth. Little brother offered to go first with his fragile tissue paper hook and his hands had shook. Big sister took the hook and tried her bit before Older Brother spoke a few words, grabbed the hook and received rather sweet smiles from the other two. I wanted to cry.

But not in a sad way, really! It’s these moments that make everything I do worthwhile. I should try to plan something with my siblings soon. That’s all for now, thanks for listenin’ to my little spiel. :’) ~Nhi Truong

IMPORTANCE OF MEMBERSHIP DUES

Membership fees were due on October 20th, but it’s never too late to become a member! Talk to the treasurer or any of the board, and get your money in! Turning in your dues is something to do!

September DCM

Project

Warmth!

On Saturday, September 17th Division 30 South conducted one of their fantastic DCMs with Division 4 North.

Lead by Kelly Tran, our current LTG, the divisions made blankets for those in need.

This DCM was at Mile Square park, a park where I always seem to get lost at. While arriving, we surprised ourselves on a number of individuals at the DCM. The DCM was short and quick, as the LTGs wanted us to get started on our service project. Once we got started, we got quite lost on how to meet people and trying to invite new people into our working circle. It was more the case of people just being interested in joining our group, which made me happy since this gave the opportunity for new members to meet new people and expand their horizons.

While everyone was finishing the blankets, two other board members and I sold pins in order to help raise money for PTP. With our board’s handy skills at selling, we were able profit around $90 from the pins sale; great for our club considering we were able to add on to our goal in donating to charity.

After everyone finished the service project, many new members were happy to meet new people and have fun. It was a great experience for since I knew that these new members have probably found their Key Club moment at these kinds of DCM’s. ~Abraham Vicente Since this was the first Division Council Meeting for new members I was quite nervous if they would enjoy it or not. Admittedly, I thought I was running a bit late… but luckily for me, they had barely started the meeting when I arrived. We looked over new updates and recognized hard-working members at the meeting.

As the meeting came to an end, I was able to meet up with the rest of the club, and seeing a bunch of new faces at the DCM warmed my heart! I set a goal to get to know every single one of these new members—which was easy fun, it was nice to make new Key Club friends. While making the blankets, we even had a girl from Cypress join our group, and we quickly became friends. The whole bonding experience included in the blanket-making service project was very enjoyable for me.

After a point, we were unable to make anymore blankets due to the supplies running out., and we just began playing games. We played ninja and ended up extending the game to other schools for round 2!

Overall, the whole event was an enjoyable and funny experience. I was able to learn more about the members and get to bond with them. ~Jennifer Hernandez

I arrived with Kelly Tran, 2 hours before the actual meeting, to help set up and socialize with members from multiple schools. This DCM gave me the opportunity to socialize with various amounts of people; reuniting with old friends, along with making new ones. Since there were many officers and new members present, everyone was ready to talk and make friends. After the meeting, we went on with the service project: making blankets to donate to St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Unfortunately, my blanket-making was problematic. At first, we didn’t follow instructions, so a lot of the blankets we made got sent back. We had to do some extra knots so that it’s secure for people to use! What’s more, I actually broke my durable scissors in the process and manage to cut myself (yay!). Luckily, LTG Kelly Tran predicted this situation and packed some bandages.

But besides the death of my scissors and my injury, I had a good experience with the service project! I got to talk and bond with club members over the service project and the games we played, and this DCM was an overall great experience! ~Tiffany Nguyen

At this DCM, we made blankets that were to be donated to St. Joseph’s Hospital and met new people in other Key Club divisions. In order to account for the inconveniences regarding uneven distribution of materials required for service projects that occurred in past DCMs, it was mandated for each individual to be responsible of bringing his or her own pair of scissors for the blanket-making process. With all that in mind, it was no surprise that the DCM ran very smoothly.

For the majority of the time spent at the DCM, I actually went around with our club’s treasurer Abraham Vicente to publicize and sell Division 30 South and Region 3 button pins, which were customized and made by our very own club president, Nhi Truong. Our sales had a very successful turnout with all the Region 3 pins sold and only a few Division 30 South pins left by the time the DCM was finished.

The DCM ended on a happy note with our club members started an intriguing game of “Ninja.” Members from other clubs inside and outside of our division participated in the game and everyone seemed to have an amazing time bonding with one another! ~Brenda Lee

Time to book it!!

OC Children’s

BOOK FESTIVAL Being lost when coming to an event tends to be a ritual because it seems to be happening every time I go to one (sobs). After what seemed to be hours wandering cluelessly around the festival looking for my designated location, “the green room,” I finally found a gentleman to help me find this mysterious area.

When we arrived, the room was completely empty! Not one sign that a human was in there other than a cart of unopened water bottles. Just when I was about to throw my hands up in frustration, the gentleman told me to go to another shift because it wasn't fair that I had to do nothing for six hours. And me, being desperate to do something, listened to the kind gentleman and chose to work in the V.I.P room, which I soon discovered would be the greatest decision I made all day.

I met up with three people from Western and two people from Whitney and Cypress who I quickly bonded with while making hot dogs. Our volunteer leader, Lisa, was the epitome of fun. Like sunrays beaming against a window, she filled up the room with joy and laughter.

Although it was torture working with and serving delicious food we couldn't eat, it was worthwhile in the end because we found out that the volunteers could eat the leftovers, which was our motivation to stay strong during our shift.

When we saw Lisa give us the approval that we were able to eat the leftovers, let me tell ya, the volunteers and I went ham. Not one single crumb was left after we were through with the food; we either ate it all or took it home for our family.

Volunteering at this event was an incredible experience. I bonded with some members from my home club and formed new friendships with members from other schools. I also got to interact with one of the funniest adults I’ve ever met—Lisa. Not to mention this was my first volunteering event since I came back from Vietnam. I sure started off my volunteering journey this term on the right foot. ~Annie Nguyen

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Did someone say boba?

BOBABOBABOBA!

I thought it was supposed to be fall already. According to the 80-100-degree weather, Mother Nature thinks otherwise.

Well you know what? You can count on Key Club to save the day because we’ve got ice-cold drinks just for you!

THREE DOLLARS! ONLY THREEEEE DOLLARS FOR THIS CUP O’ HEAVEN! Isabel and I yelled at the front of the school to sell the last few cups of boba.

Despite a few complications here and there with the fundraiser, everything went really well! We eventually sold out by our third day! It took the collaborative efforts of all of the Key Club board. From driving to the boba supplier to setting up the table and cups, having the board work together made everything so much easier. Usually when we’re in the process of selling, there are a few officers with nothing to do. No one’s wasting time though, as those people are quick to ask friends that pass by to support Western Key Club in our efforts of keeping our club account above 0. A bit of guilt tripping is involved, but all well-intentioned!

The board members treat themselves to a cup of refreshing milk tea boba every once in a while. I had a cup on the first day, but unfortunately that was all the money I had so I couldn’t buy any on the next two days. A friend of mine was spending some time with us as we were trying to sell our last few cups. Ignoring my protests, he put $3 in the money bag and handed me the second to last cup of boba. Shoutout to Ubaldo, thank you for saving me from the heat!

And thank you to everyone who’s supported any of our fundraisers! ~Crystal Ly

“BOBA IS “satisfy the students…!”

LIFE!—and Key Club too I guess”

“...boba?”

“We truly appreciate all the support given to Western Key Club!”

“…a great way to sell for our Fall Rally attendees!”

“Wow … !”

Thank you! for supporting Key Club & our boba fundraiser!

SEPTEMBER SERVICE HOURS

LEADERBOARD

Thank you for all your hours of volunteering! Keep shining, suns of WHS Key Club! :D

Justin Soria & Abril Petlacalco| 11.5 hours

Breanna Benavides, Nayeli Hernandez, & Michelle Tran

Jennifer Gomez, Yahaira Lara, & Annie Nguyen

6 hours

5.5 hours

Cedric Baral & Viet Truong| 5 hours

Ivan Cruz & Samantha Perez| 4.5 hours

BOARD MEMBER SPOTLIGHT Featuring… one of our publicists, Annie Nguyen!



Are you usually this awesome?

“OH GOSH IM TRASH.”



What are you good at?

“I think the one thing that i can say that I'm good at is being there to cheer someone up when they need it.” 

If you put “weapons-grade” in front of any word, what would be the best?

“Shrek!”



If you had to choose an ice cream flavor that describes you/ your life, what would it be? Please excessively elaborate.

“If I had to choose an ice cream flavor that basically sums up myself up...I think it'd be mint chocolate chip. The stimulating mint represents my energetic personality and the chocolate chip represents the soft and sweet part of me. But, mint can come off as too harsh on some people's tastebuds which represents that my energetic personality can be just TOO much for some people (and that's okay).” 

Other than me, who’s the greatest person you know? What is it about them that makes him/her so cool to you?

“JERRY PLEASE LOL. Okay, I guess the greatest person I know would have to be my mother. My mother motivates me to do the best I can at everything I do. She would drive me to Stator Brothers at 10 P.M to buy materials I need for school because she wants me to have everything I need. My mother puts me before herself and does everything she can to help me. My mother never fails to remind me that she loves me; her warmth is currently manifesting in my heart (i think it'll be there forever).” 

What motivates you to better yourself and move forward?

“My current motivation is the feeling of how proud ill be of myself when I accomplish my goal.”



Here we go… what’s a choice you’ve made that you regret now?

“A choice I've made that I regret is relying on a single person to determine my happiness.”



ON THE FLIP SIDE, what makes you really happy?

“Something that overjoys me is winning a very close tennis match!”



How was homecoming?

“It was amazing!”



Fictional or non-fictional, if you could meet any character, who would it be?

“If I could meet any character, I would meet Cath from the book Fangirl.”



How do you feel... about Key Club?

“I feel that key club has changed my life for the better, it has made me more compassionate and caring towards others.”

MONTHLY CALENDAR: OCT-NOV SUN. MON. TUE. WED. THU. FRI. SAT. 23

24

25

26

- Woah. 15th anniversary of the iPod

30

31

1

2

27

28

29

- Navy Day

- National Breadstick Day

- SoCal Corgi Beach Day

4

5

3

- 4th Annual de los Muertos Art Festival

6

- Spirit Night @ Cypress HS

- Spirit Night #2!

11

12

- Daylight Saving Time Ends

- Veterans Day

- One Walk @ Angel Stadium

- Spirit Night #3!

- FALL RALLY @ SIX FLAGS MAGIC MOUNTAIN!!

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7

14

8

15

9

16

10

17

- America Recyles Day

20

21

22

28

23

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25

30

1

26 - November DCM

- Thanksgiving

29

19

- Mickey Mouse’s birthday

- Thanksgiving Break!

27

18

2

3

Cecilia Dang Historian

ceciliaa.dang@gmail.com (714) 837-5187