THE HIVE
November 2015 CNH District D30S Whitney HS Volume XVIV Issue VIII
From your Bulletin Editor Hello Whitney Key Club, I just wanted to remind you all that everyone has a chance to be featured in the monthly newsletter. Send me an article on anything Key Club. It can be about an event you attended or just something you wanted to say. Feel free to message me if you have any questions at all! I really hope you will send in some articles, even if it’s just once every few months. Also, I got quite a few compliments last month about the new newsletter design, so I wanted to thank you all once again for the positive feedback. I hope you enjoy this month’s newsletter as well! :) Thanks again, Amy Wang
Greetings, new and old suns! Welcome (back) to Whitney Key Club - an ohana where you can be yourself as crazy or as sane as you may be. You’re about to return to or embark on an emotional journey with your fellow volunteers - you’ll get extremely attached to this club and to helping your community but that’s okay! We’re all here for you to be just as attached. Key Club isn’t just a volunteering organization but it’s a way of life and a family that is always there for you. Every event you attend makes a difference and every cent you donate impacts a life out there - remember that as you volunteer your time and effort. The work that you do for 3 hours on your Saturday morning may just be a morning to you, but it may mean the world to someone else. On that note, thank you for joining to help make a difference in this world and I’m so incredibly happy to have you all on board :-) Congratulations on a successful month of October! It was amazing to see all your dedication for the club and the love that you have. We’ve had many many volunteer opportunities for all of you and we sincerely hope you loved each and every one of them. If you have any suggestions for volunteer events or projects, feel free to let us know! This is OUR club and we’re always working together to make it better and to expand. And oh my goodness - do I even have to mention how proud I am of Trick or Treat for UNICEF? With the leadership of our SUNny treasurer, Karen Long, the week long drive went successfully and we were able to save 700+ mothers and their future children’s lives. It was so extremely heartwarming to see all your publicity and interest to eliminate maternal neonatal tetanus and can’t wait for Operation Christmas to rekindle your passion for giving. Now onto the month of November *gasp* it’s already here! And before we know it December will already be upon us. We have many Thanksgiving-themed events for you this coming month so I hope you’re all very excited for that because I am :-) And when December 1st rolls around, guess what that means? Operation Christmas WOOT WOOT!! I know we’ll accomplish so much this coming month with our dedication and passion for this club. I love you all so much, regardless of number of hours or amount of funds raised because of all the SUNny faces I’ve seen these past few months. I’ll always be such a proud mama sun - you all make me so happy to serve you. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, feel free to email me and I’d be ecstatic to answer your questions! (p.s. good luck to all you seniors who have early decision/action due today and the UC apps at the end of the month!!) Signing off, Frances Lee Whitney Key Club President ‘15-’16
From your President
Regional Training Conference By Danielle Lee
RTC
Every year hundreds of key clubbers gather to celebrate and continue the legacy of service together. Through the annual Region Training Conference, new members are invited to learn how to get more involved in leadership and the club itself. Every individual is introduced to the inviting family of our region and get to see how close knit all the key clubbers are even if we come from different divisions. Each color red, blue, yellow, orange, purple, truly becomes wonderful together when mixed up in a melting pot of happiness and service. It was truly amazing to see so many different types of people come together for one purpose: to better our community and the world. The event started off with some icebreakers to make sure that everyone was comfortable enough and then proceeded with some delicious pizza that filled everyone up! Then we got into our divisions and went through our usual division updates and cheers! It was great to be back with the rest of division cheering for other schools’ achievements in fundraising, service, and dedication. After the meeting we were able to choose which workshops we could go to. Each of us chose 4 different workshops to go to that would teach us better ways to market, publicize, recruit, and even fulfill responsibilities as a regular/board member. Although before the workshops started, 3 hours of listening may have seemed like a long time, during the workshops there was so much to learn the time went by quickly and the day came to an end. By the end of the training conference, my passion for key club has grown so much more. Through attending all the workshops, bonding with fellow key clubbers, and seeing all the smiles, I really enjoyed my entire day and rekindled my love for the community and our special cause that we all stand for; serving our community wholeheartedly!
Fall Rally Spirit Night
By Jason Park
At Fall Rally Spirit Night, Key Clubbers from Division 30 South gathered to bonds with fellow Key Clubbers, learn the new Fall Rally South cheers, and watch a movie! Although there weren’t that many people who showed up at first, more and more people slowly began to show up. We began the bonding with an icebreaker I definitely consider different. The game Pterodactyl made people in a circle go around and either say to the person next to them pterodactyl in order to keep the rhythm going around in a circle, or squawk like how you think a pterodactyl would. Squawking would reverse the order that the rhythm was going around the circle in. The catch was that your teeth could not show at any given point in the game. Showing your teeth as a result of laughing at someone’s squawk would get you eliminated. After playing this icebreaker for a little, more and more people joined us, and it allowed for a game of musical chairs. 4 groups were formed, and the games of musical chairs commenced. Each round, people were getting eliminated, and the rounds kept going until there was one person from each of the 4 groups remained. The last 4 then were eliminated until 1 winner was left. After the musical chairs was over, there was a Halloween costume contest. Key Clubbers could dress up as something if they wanted to, and the winner of the contest would receive this thing (I actually forgot what it was called). The two most popular costumes within all of the costumes was the John Cena face and the Pepe face. In order to be the most popular in the eyes of the crowd, that person wearing the costume had to act out what that person was. In the end, the Pepe face got the most noise, and won the prize. After this contest, everyone headed outside to learn the new chants and a few of the old ones. One chant that was really cringe-worthy yet clever was a parody of Drake’s song: Hotline Bling. Fall Rally Spirit nights are really worth attending, especially if you are attending Fall Rally itself. At these bonding events, you get the opportunity to connect with your division, and the spirit session at Fall Rally will be much more enjoyable. There are so many benefits that come from bonding with new Key Clubbers, because there is some sort of mutual connection, whether you hate the same school subject, or both play League of Legends. In Key Club, being close to more is merrier, and you can build a second family right behind you to do with you the things that this world deserves: leaders and harbingers of peace. Through bonding events as simple as Fall Rally Spirit Nights, your perception of Key Club and your willingness to partake more than you would ever have had.
Buena Park Nursing Home
Halloween Decorations By Frances Lee
And as Builders Club and Key Club members filled the MPR, alongside the Arts2Cure members, we took to the crayons, markers, color pencils, construction paper, scissors, and string to create Halloween decorations for the Buena Park Nursing Center. Then as the volunteers snacked on some candy, they made one decoration after another – pumpkins, witches, brooms, ghosts, candy corn, tombstones. And we saw the volunteers come together to create huge decorations with the words “Happy Halloween!� on them to small cards to the elderly. The Buena Park Nursing Halloween Decoration event was so special not only because it provided artsy decorations for the elderly whose eyes would sparkle when they saw our decorations, but also because it brought together Key Clubbers and Builders Club members. Despite the age difference, the motivation and the goal for their service were so similar: to help others. Service surpasses the limits and barriers that age puts on us and brings us all together for a common goal. As the clock hit 4:30 and we began to wrap up the event, we had filled a corner of the MPR with strings of little ghosts, candy corn people, and little baskets. Happy Halloween, Buena Park Nursing Center!
WHS Key Club Bonding Activity By Christina Hur
Sun Plushies
With so many new and eager freshmen, cabinet wanted to do a bonding event to start off the year positively. Since so many people have asked about the sun plushie I was carrying around at club rush and the cute little keychains so many other members had, I decided to host a sun plushie making event. Encouraged by an excited initial response to the idea, I got down to planning. Felt or fleece? How many yards of fabric? How big will the plushie be? Should they sew? Do they even know how to sew? So many questions that needed to be answered quickly before the event. With my arms full with a 10-lb box of poly-fil, I went into the MPR to start setting up. It was a pretty hectic day with the end of the school-wide Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF drive, Key Club food sale, AND this bonding event. BUT WE MADE IT WORK! It was really cool to see new members come in ready to make their own plushie and bond with other people. There were quite a few bumps along the way as I tried to get the event going, but it gave the members more time to converse amongst each other. Unfortunately my instructions for the sun plushie were vague and many had no background in basic sewing so most of the time I individually worked with someone to teach him or her how to stitch. I got to talk to many of them personally in that way, but I think it would’ve been better if I taught them all the basics beforehand. It was nice to see all of them help each other and give suggestions on what the sun plushie face should look like and all of the plushies had a personal spin to them. I still have a lot of learn when it comes to planning events but this was a great experience for me and hopefully it was a memorable first one for the members as well.
Community Emergency Response Team
CERT
By Karen Long
Earthquake!! What would you do in the middle of an earthquake? What would you do if you were injured during an earthquake? Who would help you? CERT stands for Community Emergency Response Team. It’s an annual event hosted at the Cerritos Sheriff ’s Station that’s dedicated toward helping to train people on how to react after a disaster, such as an earthquake. How did we help? We acted as injured people who needed to be rescued by taking on various roles such as being a pregnant lady and a person who couldn’t speak English. Makeup was used on our body to resemble different types of injuries such as lacerations, scrapes, and dislocated bones. Perfect for Halloween, right? All of us chose different levels of severity regarding our injuries. Some of us were the “walking injured,” meaning we were still conscious and able to walk on our own to the rescue team when help arrived. Others, however, had more serious conditions and needed to be found at different places such as under a desk and had to be carried or wheeled in. The inside of the station was arranged to portray what it would mildly look like after an earthquake with a few wires out and chairs flipped over. But, waiting to be rescued actually took a while when we were at our positions. There were many false alarms when we thought help was near so we began screaming. And by screaming, I’m talking about intense shrieking. “My baby!” “Help me!” “Help!!!” It was definitely a great way to prep for the spirit session at Fall Rally. Once we were taken out of the building, we were placed outside onto mats where we were each assisted by people who asked us information about ourselves and took care of our injuries by wrapping bandages around them. It was an interesting scene for all of the Key Clubbers, but it was pretty hectic for the people being trained. After the random sessions of intense screaming, we celebrated with pizza!!
Chinese Parents Association for the Disabled By Kristina Theam
CPAD Seminar
iPads, board games, decks of cards, and puzzles. All of these could be found in a room filled with children during the Chinese Parents’ Association for the Disabled, or CPAD, seminar. I attended this event for the first time this month and I was more than happy to discover a new side to me. I’ve always been hesitant to volunteer at CPAD seminars. This is partly because I find that I lose my patience easily with children and at CPAD, volunteers watch children for about 3 hours while their parents attend a seminar to learn about different ways they can enrich their disabled children’s lives. I’m always willing to extend a helping hand and volunteer whenever I can, but I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Before volunteering for this event, I feared being too aggressive with the children, so that always held me back. This month came around and I told myself I’d try something new, so I signed up to volunteer at the CPAD seminar. I have to admit, the moment I arrived, my heart was racing so unbelievably fast, I didn’t want it to be a long 3 hours. I walked inside the industrial looking building and met with one of the ladies who run the seminar. She gave me a few things that I could use to entertain the kids. This is when I started realizing that within a few moments, I would be working with children and trying to entertain them. It was real. I couldn’t avoid it. When the first child arrived, the other volunteers and I each manned a station, awaiting the arrival of the other kids. Key Clubber Joshua Do and I put together a puzzle with the first girl that came. To my surprise, she was really calm and understanding and she didn’t act out against us. I realize how prejudice I had been towards disabled children. The feeling of guilt soon followed. But I didn’t let it get to me. I then made it my goal to make sure every kid that was there stayed entertained and had something to do. I felt bad for not wanting to be a part of these children’s lives and enrich them. By the end of the seminar, more kids came and I got to meet so many new faces and was met with so many beautiful, bright smiles. The feeling I got from helping them was indescribable. Was this human instinct? I’m not sure. But I am sure that in a mere 3 hours, these children were able to touch my lives like no other. They showed me that just because they’re disabled, it doesn’t mean they’re any less capable of being decent than anyone else. CPAD is an AMAZING event. The event really touches the hearts of all the volunteers who attend, showing them that all it takes to make someone’s day is to care.
HOPE Food Bank
Writing Articles!
By Eunice Shim
Hey Key Clubbers!!! Can you believe that we’re already done with 1st Quarter?! Some of you Whitnerds may be busy with studying and that kind of stuff, but, I know a lot of you have time after comps!! ^_^ You know what that means? I’ll gladly tell you what that means according to Eunice’s Lexicon. According to Eunice’s Lexicon, the word ‘havingnothingtodo’ is the ‘availability of more people who can write articles’. The SAT committee will soon be adding this word to their vocabulary list! (HAHA) In all seriousness, for those of you didn’t know, you are allowed to share anything you learned or felt about anything related to Key Club. Whether it’d be something that came to you as you volunteered or an afterthought, you are welcomed to contribute to Key Club by writing and submitting your articles to Amy Wang, our club Bulletin Editor! ^_^ If you are interested, you are free to submit your article to Amy at {amywangh32@gmail.com} by the 25th of every month! So go write, write, WRITE, and send, send, SEND! In addition to this, cabinet members, let’s turn our articles on time. ;)
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Contact Cabinet(:
Frances Lee, President - sweet2frances@gmail.com Iris Xu, Vice President - itzmeiris98@gmail.com Isabelle Lee, Secretary - isabellelee2424@gmail.com Karen Long, Treasurer - long.karen09@gmail.com Amy Wang, Bulletin Editor - amywangh32@gmail.com Amy Lee, DIrector of Activities - amylee90703@gmail.com Christina Hur, Director of Activities - christinahur16@gmail.com Eunice Shim, Director of Fundraising - euniceshim07@gmail.com Jason Park, Director of Fundraising - jasonoftheparks@gmail.com Danielle Lee, Director of Publicity - danielle9lee@gmail.com Joshua Ahn, Director of Publicity - joshahn2000@gmail.com Kiristina Theam, Historian - kctheam@gmail.com Richard Tee, Historian - richardtee2000@gmail.com Victor Phong, Kiwanis Chair - victor_phong@yahoo.com