Western High School Key Club November/December 2012 Newsletter

Division 30 South | Region 3 | CNH Volume 1, Issue 6

KEY CLUB The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | November/December 2012

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[key club pledge] [SERVICE PROJECTS] We Give Thanks.........................................................................................2 Power of One Beach Clean Up...............................................................5 [OTHER EVENTS] November DCM.........................................................................................6 District News................................................................................................7 International News.....................................................................................8 Club News...................................................................................................9 Western’s Top 5 Shinin’ Suns.....................................................................10 Member’s Spotlight...................................................................................11 Board Member Spotlight: Historians........................................................12 Board Members’ Contact Information...................................................13

WESTERN KEY CLUB raised $583.17 for UNICEF! Thanks for all of your hard work!

president’s remarks Hello Key Clubbers!

I hope everyone had a great holiday season with their family and friends! Now that it is a little bit half way through the 2012-2013 term I would like to say proud I am of the club and the members I serve.

Members are still attending the meetings and there are waiting lists for service events, which means their commitment to service is still high and going. January is going to be a super busy month with elections, fundraising for District Convention, and looking for more service events. With 2012 ending, it is time to ring in the new year with new officers! The board highly encourages members to for an office, it's a great experience and opportunity to get involved with Key Club! We also encourage everyone to go to District Convention! It's a time to celebrate the members and their commitment to service. It's part of that Key Club experience! Thank you to everyone who helped contribute to the club's success and I know that we will keep moving forward together! Have a Happy New Year!

I pledge on my honor, to uphold the objects of Key Club International, to build my home, school and community, to serve my nation and God, and to combat all forces which tend to undermine these institutions.

the

bulletin editor’s

MEMO Key Clubbers... it’s the end of December and the new year is about to unfold, which means there will be a new bulletin editor! This will be my second to last newsletter for my term, and I’ve had a lot of fun along the way. Thank you for giving me a chance to serve you and for helping me to discover my artistic abilities, though they are quite limited.

I’m excited to know who our next bulletin editor will be! Be sure to check out the international and district news in this issue. I hope that you will attend this year’s District Convention in March!

Going to DCON 2012 sort of “kicked off” my Key Club career, and it really helped me when it came to making newsletters. Keep volunteering and do what a Key Clubber does best--service.

Service has defined a large part of my life, and I can’t tell you how important it is to get involved. I must be heading off now, see you soon!

Yours in service, Mercy Tran

Jennifer Tarm Western High School Key Club President 2012-13

The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | November/December 2012

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we give

THANKS

The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | November/December 2012

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HOW we...

The "We Give Thanks" event started out bad for me because I didn't know where to go and sort of got lost. It was only after I decided to follow other volunteers that I finally made it inside the building. I think I was acting like an idiot, just walking around outside for awhile.

The actual event was really fun. My group cut potatoes and celery. After finishing the potatoes, I needed new gloves. But I had a really hard time pulling the gloves off because they were so tight. We cut a couple of celery sticks and thought that we were done, but it turned out that there were a lot more celery sticks to be cut. I had a lot of fun, helping those who are not as fortunate as we are. It's really heart-warming.

chelsa deguzman

andy pham

A few weeks before We Give Thanks, I was already excited for the event. I usually always do something for the needy during Thanksgiving but it took me a while this year to find an eventthankfully I found the right event!

When I arrived we waited a little until we were let in. When we were finally in, it was not exactly as I expected but it was just as good. I was given a volunteer shirt and then we sat down to listen to some instructions. I had to wear an apron type thing and gloves, thank goodness I didn’t have to wear a hairnet! After we got our supplies, we got to work.

Luckily, my group and were able to start off with cutting potatoes instead of onions- the onions made the whole room get teary. Cutting the potatoes was actually my favorite thing to cut out of all the foods we worked with. We worked with potatoes and celery, and my group and I got a lot of work done; at some points we ran out of things to do. I was proud of my group.

We worked for about two hours, simply cutting and separating the food but unfortunately our service had to come to an end. We cleaned up a bit and took our gloves and aprons off and preceded to sandwiches they kindly provided us with.

We Give Thanks reminded me that not everyone gets the three meals a day they need and that it isn’t always easy to provide those meals. I as an individual am refreshed with the idea that as students, who are capable of giving back to the community and more, should do so and be thankful for the opportunities of service they are given. Along with that, it taught me that people can’t do things need alone, and we all have to work together. I am thankful for all the members in Key Club take their time to do service.

Being able to work at We Give Thanks was such an exciting experience! Hearing that the event was going to involve cutting vegetables, it seemed really exciting to me.

At the warehouse of the Anaheim Convention center, where we would be cutting the vegetables, many tables were set up with all of our materials and of course the vegetables. Today’s task was to cut potatoes, celery, and onions. Everyone was checked in with their permissions slips, given blue bands, and free complimentary t-shirts. Preparations had to be made such as sanitizing one’s hands, wearing an apron, and covering your head with a hat of some sort or typing up your hair.

The vegetable despised of them all, cutting onions wasn’t so bad! Since there was fresh air coming in from the open entrance, I did not tear as much as I expected! Compared to the celery and potatoes, I thought cutting the onions was a more interesting task personally.

Cutting vegetables for nearly two hours wasn’t boring at all. Meeting new students around you, talking while you cut, and especially with the music blasting in the background, it was very fun. Seeing everyone work so diligently while having fun at the same time gave me a nice feeling, which made me want to volunteer at more events like this.

In the end, to reward the hard-working volunteers, sandwiches and water were given to everyone. It was a nice surprise and it ended the day well. Having the event end so early though, I was a bit saddened, too. I actually wanted to cut the turkey too, but I guess I was a bit too young to handle that, haha.

I will definitely participate in this next year as it remains one of my top favorite events, even if I stank of onions that night.

emmy han

The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | November/December 2012

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henry torres

I had been anticipating the night of Wednesday, November, 21th since the day I had signed up to go to the We Give Thanks event. I would finally have an opportunity to help prepare food for Thanksgiving. It made me excited knowing volunteering would help people in need have a dinner on this very special day.

When the day arrived, I was counting down every hour before the event. I was really excited but at the same time nervous at the thought of using a knife. My fear, however, left me as soon as I left for the event.

As I arrived I joined my group and was amazed at the amount of people willing to help out.

All around me were students from other schools and even families all gathered to lend a hand and help out. As everyone entered we were all given an apron and gloves, as safety precaution, and were assigned a task for the night. Our group, in my opinion, was given the hardest task, cutting onions.

At first cutting onions was painful. I couldn’t go a minute without my eyes becoming watery. However, after a while my eyes adjusted to the pain and cutting the onions became a fun activity.

Throughout the event I would wonder if my horrible cutting skills would affect the flavor of the food. I was glad to see that everyone else was at least better than me and that gave me confidences. I was really glad I was doing this.

By the end of the night, I was sleepy and smelling like onions. I didn’t care, it made me remember what my help was doing. It was helping other and that made me happy.

I was excited for the We Give Thanks event because it’s the first Thanksgiving Key Club event I’ve ever been to. I asked my dad to drive me there at 6:30 but instead we left at 6:50. I was getting worried because we have to be there 35 minutes before our shift starts and I don’t want to be the last one to arrive. We arrived in front of the Anaheim Convention Center at 7:05, so I got out of the car started walking towards the convention.

I was walking when I heard somebody calling my name. I turned around and saw my friend youngin. I asked her if she knew where to go, but she responded with a no. I was getting anxious because of the time. I called my Huy and asked him who else is missing from the group, he said the only one’s missing are young-in and I. So, I hanged up and told her what happened, We started walking and walking when we noticed two people running towards us. They were Nhu hao and Hao. They told us to follow them towards the event. We followed them and after 3 minutes of walking we entered a huge room. We saw bunch people and some of them are lining up, waiting for their shift while others are busy slicing vegetables. There were people from different schools, organizations and group working at the event. When we finally arrived with our group I was relieved because I thought I wasn’t going to make it.

Our shift finally started at 7:35. They asked us to put on a pair of gloves and an apron. We washed our hands, lined up and waited for them to assign us a station. When they finally assigned us a station they told us that we are going to slice potatoes because they need it for mash potatoes for thanksgiving tomorrow. We had 8 people in our group and they gave us a box full of potatoes. We started slicing potatoes until our box was empty. After we emptied our box, I was wondering what other vegetable are they giving us next.

They finally gave us another box. This time they assigned us to slice celery. After an hour of slicing celery our shift finally ended. They thanked everybody that helped them slice vegetables and they gave us sandwiches. This was one of the most memorable events I’ve ever been to because of the amount of people helping together. I hope we could do the same next time.

and... niel apostol

.... give thanks The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | November/December 2012

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POWER OF ONE C

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@ HUNTINGTON BEACH

by sharmaine espiritu, MEMBER

by trini nguyen, MEMBER When I first stepped onto the cold sand, I could already smell the fresh and salty ocean. The crisp breeze hit my face making it a bit chilly, but I loved the cold weather. My friends and I got there a bit earlier than expected, so we waited for the others to arrived. In the meantime, we walked along the pier and shore.

Finally, the other Key Club members came! They brought trashbags and gloves for everyone to share. After that, we were to get into groups and go pick up trash around the beach. I was grouped with my friend Tran, and my awesome Key Club president, Jennifer.

The three of us first picked trash around the beach shore, then near the sidewalk. The whole time we were picking up trash, we talked and laughed and made lots of fun memories. But I was surprised at how much trash there were, our bag almost filled more than half!

Although I was disgusted at first, I realized that picking up trash was for a very good cause. Not only does it help the environment, but it makes you feel happy inside, cause I know I was. But all in all, It was a fantastic experience, one that I would always enjoy if I could do it again.

I absolutely adore beaches and helping out my community; therefore, this event was totally perfect for me! The moment I heard about this event, I definitely didn’t hesitate about participating in it since it would be my very first beach cleanup.

The Power of One Beach Cleanup took place in the afternoon of Saturday, November 17th at Huntington Beach. The cleanup was scheduled for 11a.m. However, I didn’t arrive until 12 p.m. due to another community service project I had attended prior to the cleanup. I was welcomed by other students who had arrived earlier and were waiting for the rest to come. It turned out that the students who decided to take the bus were also scheduled to arrive late due to the rainy weather earlier in the morning. Several students and I waited patiently beneath the pier. Once the other students arrived, the beach cleanup began. There were about thirty of us volunteers in total. After all of our names were recorded, gloves and garbage bags were distributed and groups of four were to be formed. As I looked around at all the different faces of my peers, I was uncertain of whose group I would join. I decided to make new friends that day by inviting myself into a group of three friendly faces.

As all of the groups diverged on to the beach to collect trash, my group wasn’t hesitant to introduce themselves to me. They were extremely polite as we engaged in conversation while stuffing our garbage bag with all the trash we found. Surprisingly, Huntington Beach was already somewhat a clean beach so that made our job a lot easier and our bag a lot lighter at the end. Once we were all reunited beneath the pier, we were allowed to leave. The beach cleanup definitely is a memorable event to me.

The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | November/December 2012

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sharmaine espiritu, MEMBER November’s DCM was the first DCM I had ever attended. I heard about them before, but I was never really convinced to attend until November came around. What a horrible mistake I have made!

November’s DCM definitely inspired me to attend more DCM’s in the future and even become a more dedicated Key Club member.

The DCM took place at Modjeska Park on Friday, November 9th. I arrived about fifteen minutes late, but my President reassured me it was no big deal. The picnic area was filled with an overwhelmingly high amount of Key Clubbers from different schools and districts. We all sat huddled closely together as it was extremely cold from the chilly breezes. The fun was yet to begin as we all stood up to begin the activities. Everyone around me appeared to be extremely happy and it was nearly impossible for anyone to not feel the positive vibes that filled the atmosphere.

Since everyone was practically shivering, the games we played consisted of tons of running to get warm. Out of all the games we played, my favorite was definitely the one where we all frantically searched for people to hug. A number would be given to us and it would be our job to form groups with that many people and have a humongous group hug for warmth. I found myself being hugged by people I have never met in my life, and although most people would have felt uncomfortable in situations like these, I found myself having an amazing time because it was quite enjoyable.

As the day drew to a close, I was disappointed by the fact the fun would soon have to stop. I made plenty of new friends that night and I hope to see them and a lot of other fresh faces in the DCM’s I plan to attend in the future.

The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | November/December 2012

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[district news]

HELLO my name is _____________ and i am attending dcon 2013.

[WHEN] March 22-24, 2013 [WHERE] Anaheim Convention Center [COST] $267 [WHY] To celebrate A MILLION WAVES OF SERVICE! Come be a part of Cali-Nev-Ha’s 67th Annual District Convention! Learn more about Key Club, and make new friends! You won’t want to miss out on this if you are running for an elected or appointed position!

visit... www.cnhkeyclub.org/events/dcon

for more information!

The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | November/December 2012

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news

international

GET READY FOR....

ICON 2013 ICON is Key Club International’s annual International Convention that is similar to the upcoming District Convention in March 2013. This year, Key Club International will be celebrating its 70th annual convention in July 2013 in Washington, D.C. Registration will be available soon, but check out http://www.keyclub.org/events/ convention.aspx in the meantime for more information!

The ELIMINATE Project reaches US

$1 MILLION

Thanks to the hard work, precious time and abundant giving of members of the Kiwanis Family, we have raised one million dollars toward the Eliminate Project, translating into 555,555 lives saved or protected from MNT. If every Kiwanis Family member (that means you!) raised $5.40 a year for the remaining three years, we would be able to reach our fundraising goal and help protect mothers and their babies from tetanus.

The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | November/December 2012

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apply for the 2013-2014 Western KEY CLUB BOARD

[club news]

[elected positions: application + interview + elections] elections to be held end of January/beginning of February

president vice president secretary treasurer [appointed positions: application + interview] publicist historian bulletin editor tech editor

join the key club board family. for application info email jtarm9@gmail.com

The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | November/December 2012

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NOVEMBER’S

TOP FIVE*

1 Jenny Cevallos, 110.5 hours 2 Lam Bui, Kevin Ho, 14.5 hours 3 Huy Ngo, 12.5 hours 4 Jennifer Tarm, 10.2 hours 5 Kim Truong, 9.7 hours DECEMBER’S TOP FIVE*

1 Thu Nguyen, 18.9 hours 2 Hao Ho, 18.7 hours 3 Henry Torres, 15.3 hours 4 Nhuhao Do, 15.1 hours 5 Grishma Patel, 12.9 hours

*hours do not include UNICEF

The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | November/December 2012

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MEMBER

spotlight

[angelica chee]

Hello! My name's Angelica, I'm a student at Western High School and a member of Key Club. I'm not a board member but I look forward to becoming one in the future! I like to participate in a lot of activities at school, such as sports and our class of 2016 club. If you get to know me, I'm sorta a bipolar person. I could be the happiest, most talkative person to a person that makes things awkward. But don't worry, I don't bite! I love making new friends, and that's one of the reasons why I'm in key club. Being a part of key clubs allows us to meet a lot of great people and help out the community at the same time. It's all worth the experience, because once we all mature and get out of high school, we're going to be too busy to do all these things. Each person's hard work pays off at the end. It's like when you collect coins. Each coin counts, including pennies because once you add it all up in the end, it becomes a much bigger amount that you can use. :)

The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | November/December 2012

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HISTORIAN

spotlights

It was a cold, blistery morning, January 4th, 1996. The wind whispered frosty morning greetings to a hospital’s window. A baby’s cry cut the panic...NAH. JUST KIDDING. Well. Hello there. I am Kim Truong, one of your Key Club historians. I may seem like a deathly quiet, shy person, but, once you know me, I can be quite sociable. I love art; I love to experiment with different medias , to experiment styles— TO CREATE. My imagination can be big and my works don’t always come out how I wish it could have, but everything’s worth a try. I never thought of being part of a board, much less being part of a board with such a spirited core. What else should you know? My favorite colors are black, white, green, and yellow. I don’t know what career pathway I will be heading on. I’m a lame person. LOL. I don’t know what else to say, but HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

kim truong

Hey friend! I'm Zayrha and I'm one of the two historians of Western's Key Club. I'm still an amateur/beginner when it comes to cameras. I have a Canon t3i and I'm still learning how to use it properly but just know I got it for you guys! My two lovers are indie/rock music and books, preferably the ones about mundanes and supernatural creatures together. If I have spare time, I'm either watching YouTube videos or Vampire Diaries. It's my favorite show ever! One last thing, I love hanging out with my sister, Lyly, because she makes me laugh. A lot. So I'll see you around cool cat.

zayrha arambula The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | November/December 2012

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CONTACT US! 2012-2013 Western High School Key Club Board

PRESIDENT, Jennifer Tarm [714] 213-9335 jtarm9@gmail.com

VICE PRESIDENT, Grishma Patel [714] 270-4346 grishmapatel26@gmail.com VICE PRESIDENT, Miranda Phan [714] 548-5143 mirandaphan@yahoo.com

SECRETARY, Hillary Tran [714] 797-4843 Hillaryt44@yahoo.com

TREASURER, Denne Tiengthong [714] 331-9124 dennetiengthong@gmail.com PUBLICIST, Ericson Tang [714] 422-9375 tang_ericson@yahoo.com

PUBLICIST, LanVi Nguyen [714] 878-8059 omg_its_lanvi@yahoo.com HISTORIAN, Kim Truong [714] 471-8732 piggy654321@yahoo.com

HISTORIAN, Zayrha Arambula [714] 315-3611 fam_bam12@yahoo.com

TECH EDITOR, Ana Chavez [714] 515–2584 gaby3141@sbcglobal.net BULLETIN EDITOR, Mercy Tran [562] 852-8541 mercyxtran@hotmail.com

ask us how we

FEEL

The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | November/December 2012

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THANK YOU FOR READING The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter Thank you to Ms. Rittel, Mr. Carter and Mr. Barry for supporting Western Key Club.

a Kiwanis-family member keyclub.org | cnhkeyclub.org 8360 RED OAK STREET #201 RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA 91730 ~ 909.989.1500