November 2014 Newsletter

Burleson High School Character Building Leadership Caring Inclusiveness November 2014

T R I C K or T R E A T

Texas-Oklahoma District Division 1S

Volume 2 Issue 6

T R I C K or T R E A T

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In this issue Letters from the Advisor and the President- Page 2

Key Notes- Page 3 An Invitation from LTG of 1S - Page 4 Key Club Week & Operation Christmas Child- Page 5 Hajek Fall Festival & Miracle MinutePage 6 Founder’s DayPage 7 North Joshua Fall Festival- Page 8 Trick-or- Treat for UNICEF & Halloween Social- Page 9 Boo Bash, Member of the Month, Extra Special Announcement, Notes of Appreciation, and Contact InformationPage 10

A letter from the Advisor A Simple Goodbye

Last year was my first year as an official teacher. Sure, I had been a teacher’s assistant before, but never the person in charge of my very own classroom. Then, I was told this club called “Key Club” had lost its advisor. I was told the club would be disbanded if I did not become the advisor; there was no one else available to take the position. I knew I could not let those students, whoever they were, lose something they loved. Therefore, I became the advisor.

Last year, I sat back and did very little as I tried to understand what key club was about. I found myself enjoying spending time with great, weird students while we helped the homeless and the poor; while we helped in the beautification of Burleson; while we joined with others to maintain the spirit of Burleson through events such as Founder’s Day and Boo Bash, both of which I love and encourage others to attend. This club not only made me a better teacher, but a better person.

This club, I discovered, was what I needed in high school. It was the thing that was missing.

My life changed in more ways than one last year. Yes, I found key club, yet I also gained an addition to my family: my daughter, Claire. She was a great gift attached to a great burden. Claire has no functioning kidneys. Every night she is on dialysis and every week, if not twice in that same week, she visits the doctors in Fort Worth. She has had two surgeries and is expected to have at least two more before her kidney transplant, which she is not even on the transplant list until she meets the qualifications. It takes most dialysis babies at least one year to meet those qualifications. It is this reason that I am resigning as the Key Club advisor.

Every person has a value system; a list of importance on which the things can range from family to television. My top three is this: family, friends, and then school.

I consider my key club family very important, yet there is one family (member) that is more important: my daughter. It is to her whom I must truly devote my time. It is to her that I must go home and see every day for the next 18 years; and in those 18 years, it is to her that I must teach the art of loving and respecting others, to be the star of her story, and to be the kind and giving person who helps others with all of her heart. It is these facts upon which I say I cannot miss out on watching my daughter grow; to not see her but one hour a day as she cannot join me at the rewarding Key Club events.

This good-bye is not forever nor is it for all things. I love Key Club too much to leave and drop everything like a hot potato. No, I will be around and I will do my best to help in the background the hope beyond hope stay true that this club continues to grow as I have watched it grow since August of last year. The spirit of key club is coming to life here at Burleson High School and I will watch it burn like fire through the hearts of the staff, the students, and the community here in Burleson, Texas.

- Ashton Hughes

A Letter from the President Dear Burleson Key Club, I just want to let you know how proud I am of the strong showing we’ve had so far this year! I think I speak for all the officers when I say we could not ask for a better group of Key Clubbers. This is my last year as president and I want you to know my goals for you this year in Key Club. I hope that Key Club will do for you what it has done for me. I hope that it will instill in you a love of service, a love for people, a desire to be helpful and constructive in all situations, and an opportunity to be a leader. I hope that service will become a natural expression of gratefulness for the things you have been blessed with. Most importantly, I hope that the core values of Key Club: caring, leadership, character building, and inclusiveness become your personal core values. Thank you for being awesome!

Love, Taylor

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Board Meeting 4:20 Rm. 237

Club Meeting 8:10 a.m.

Lecture Hall

Board Meeting 4:20 Rm. 237

Club Meeting 8:10am Lecture Hall

Magic Show Fundraiser 7p.m.

KEY CLUB WEEK!

Canned food Scavenger hunt 12p.m. - 3p.m.

Special Kiwanis Club/ DCM Board Eat at 6 p.m.

Meeting Meeting at KEY LEADER Weekend7p.m.

8:10 a.m. @ Dixie Lecture House Cafe Hall

Retreat @ Piney Woods Baptist Camp

Board Meeting 4:20 Rm. 237

Club Meeting 8:10a.m.

Lecture Hall

Samaritan’s Purse Build and Send

5-6 @ Dollar Tree

Samaritan’s Purse Week Of Giving

BuildA-Bear Social Ridgmar Mall @ 4pm

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Key Club Week Monday- Show your K in every way!

It’s Twin Day! Represent Key Club by wearing your Key Club shirt!

Tuesday- Kudos to the Key Players!

Thank the Key people in your life by writing them a sticky note of thanks and placing it somewhere for them to find later!

Wednesday- Bring a friend to Key Club!

Bring your friends to the weekly Key Club meeting and show them how much fun Key Club is!

Thursday- K-Family Day! Come meet other members of our K-Family while enjoying ice cream and pies after a long day of school. This event will take place at Warren Park from 6p.m. - 7p.m. (if there is bad weather it will be moved to Vanessa’s house) Friday- Dr. Seuss Day! Show your Key Club spirit by dressing up in Dr. Seuss related wear.

(Idea: Thing 1 and Thing 2)

Operation Christmas Child On the week of November 17 through November 21, the Burleson Key Club will be collecting children’s toys (as well as money donations) for the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child shoebox program. They will be needing toys for both boys and girls. Money donations are also great because the Key Club officers will be going to Dollar Tree to buy extra goodies. These toys will be used to pack shoeboxes that will be sent as Christmas presents to children in developing countries. This box of presents is very likely the only Christmas present that child will receive. (Key Clubbers will receive points for every box filled or every $10 donated) 5

Helping at Hajek Editor Alie Shipman struggles with pulling apart two slices of pizza.

Members help at a local school On October 3 Hajek, a local elementary School, held their annual Fall Festival. The Burleson High School Key Club heard that their help was needed for this event, so they gathered as many Key Clubbers as they could to help out. There was a total of about ten Key Clubbers that were able to attend, and they played a big role in making this event successful. Since there was such a large number of Key Clubbers at this event, many did not have a specific job. There were two main booths that the members stayed at, the lemonade stand and the pizza booth. Some of our members walked around to see if any other booths were in need of assistance, but nearly all of the booths were under control. At one point, some of the Key Clubbers, who didn’t have an assigned job, joined a crowd of children dancing to popular party songs such as the Cupid Shuffle.

Member Mikayleigh Noris selling popcorn to children.

Member Abbie Avant pours lemonade at the Hajek Fall Festival.

Members Taylor Jeffery, and Bailey Faubion getting jiggy.

Members Jordan Brown, Shivani Dalal and Alie Shipman help pass out pizza.

Change for a Cause

Key Club collects money for the ELIMINATE project

At every pep rally, the Burleson Key Club holds a Miracle Minute, at which time the wonderful Baseball team runs up and down the stands of the school gym collecting as many donations as possible. The money collected goes towards the ELIMINATE project to help eliminate neonatal and maternal tetanus from the earth. $1.80 supplies mothers with a series of shots that will protect her and her future babies from contracting this terrible disease. On October 10, Burleson High School had a pep rally in which Key Clubbers were able to collect just over $200!

Burleson High School cheerleaders hold up a sign telling what the Miracle Minute is for. It reads “Help Key Cub save babies and moms”

Editor Alie Shipman and President Taylor Jeffery explain how the Miracle Minute works on October 17

Officers Skyelar Armstrong and Nithure Rema explain the Miracle Minute on October 24.

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Founder’s Day Fundraiser Key Clubbers have fun fundraising at Founder’s Day

The booth arrived.

before

customers

On October 11, the City of Burleson hosted their annual Founder’s Day. This event is held in celebration of the founding of Burleson. The whole community gathers in Old Town Burleson where many booths are set up to advertise their products. The Burleson Key Club had a booth with games for small children.

There was a wheel of fortune and a bean bag toss. The Key Club charged $1.00 for two spins on the wheel and $1.00 for four tosses on the bean bag toss. The wheel was set up so that no matter what number a customer landed on, they were guaranteed candy or a toy from the treasure chest. When there were no customers, the Key Clubbers bonded by using the toy michrophones that belonged in our treasure chest to sing High School Musical songs together.

Historian Vanessa Castañeda holds out the candy bowl to a winner.

Secretary Skyelar Armstrong helps the children pick up the bean bags.

A little girl excited to see what prize awaits her.

Treasurer Nithure Rema sings to attract customers.

Treasurer Nithure Rema amazed by the wheel.

A group of teenagers visits the booth to invite Key Clubbers to an upcoming revival, and they decide to take a spin on the wheel.

One of the winners enjoys his prize from the treasure chest.

Secretary Skyelar Armstrong and Treasurer Nithure Rema excited about Founder’s Day.

Members Vanessa Castañeda, C’Adiddan Beauchamp, Alie Shipman, and Grace Ruby pose for a silly picture.

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What is service?

By: Vanessa Castañeda

Helping out with a fall festival at an elementary school. Sounds fun right? Think again. Today my club helped out at a local elementary school’s fall festival. Going in I was so excited! Then I actually got there….

When I got there I was told that the other Key Clubbers and I needed to help watch over the many tables with baskets for a silent auction. So four other key clubbers and I kept watch over the many tables (a few of them had different jobs). It was just after three o’clock Member Payton Hudak jams out while and the sun was beating down on our faces. I felt like I was going to melt like the chocolate watching baskets. bars that were in the movie night basket in front of me. After standing behind the tables for a while I figured that they would eventually relieve us, surely they didn’t expect us to watch these baskets for three hours straight. I was wrong. While they were kind enough to bring us water, we stayed there for a little over three hours. It was brutal.

While I was not having fun at all, I made a big effort to keep a smile on my face.

After a while, I was actually asked to watch over some different baskets which were inside the school, and while I was excited to be out of the sun, I felt like I was being a traitor to my Treasurer Nithure Rema watches baskets fellow key clubbers leaving them out to bake in the sun. Nevertheless, I went inside as I for North Joshua. was asked and kept that stupid smile on my face. Inside, while it was cooler, it was so much more boring. Finally 6:30 rolled around and the auction was over. Then I had nothing to do. I was able to find one of the ladies in an orange shirt, and I told her I had nothing to do.

She told me that they were about to start giving away the baskets to the winners and that I could be the one to collect the paper that said that the person had paid and that I needed to make sure they got their basket. So I stood outside with the baskets, waiting for people to come claim theirs. I continued giving away the baskets and eventually enough were gone that many of the tables were empty. I then took it upon myself to fold up the tables since I figured they would need to be taken inside later and the people coming to claim the Member Jordan Brown helps sell tickets. baskets were a little slow. I also took it upon myself to clear the tables of the tape that had been used to separate the different baskets. Someone was going to need to clean it up so I figured the least I could do was help them out. I was finally feeling useful. Then another lady in an orange shirt came out and told me to go home already. She thanked me for my hard work but I didn’t really feel like I had done anything. So even though my dad wasn’t there yet to pick me up I went around to the front of the school because I felt like she just wanted me out of her hair.

As I stood there in the front of the school waiting for my dad to come pick me up, I replayed the whole afternoon/evening in my head. I wondered why I had just wasted five hours of my afternoon staring at baskets. The answer was simple: community service Andrea Honstein with the catch of isn’t always about feeling like you did something great, sometimes it’s doing something the day. very small, but necessary, to accomplish a greater good. While watching over the baskets seemed completely pointless to me, I know that we saved those PTA moms the trouble of having to stand there themselves and not be able help where their presence was truly needed. So while we may have been doing a menial job, I know that us watching the baskets saved those PTA moms a headache, and that’s what service is all about.

Children enjoy a train ride at the festival.

Jaxon and Brooke Burge pose to look like an owl and a farmer.

Member Haley Doyle also helping kids be successful in their fishing endeavours.

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Trick-or-Treat Key Clubbers Trick-or- Treat for UNICEF

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF is an annual event that individuals all around the United States participate in. For Key Clubbers, this is an opportunity for members to collect donations specifically for the ELIMINATE project. On October 4, Burleson High School Key Clubbers participated in Trick-or Treat for UNICEF. They met up at the high school before splitting up to go to different neighborhoods. Once they arrived in said neighborhoods, Key Clubbers began knocking on doors as if they were trick-or-treating, but instead of asking for candy they asked for donations to support this great cause. They explained how the money would be used to save babies and mommies who would otherwise suffer from this terrible but highly preventable disease called tetanus. They also explained that any small amount of change could help, and that it only takes $1.80 to provide one tetanus shot to a baby or a mother. A few extra spirited Key Clubbers decided to dress up because they figured it may increase their donations.

The Burleson Key Club was able to raise a little over $300.00 which averages out to about $100.00 an hour.

Members Skyelar Armstrong and Nithure Rema put the donations they just received into their Trick-orTreat for UNICEF boxes.

Spooktacular Social Key Clubbers party at Vanessa’s

Friday October 24, Key Clubbers gathered at member Vanessa Castañeda’s house for a social after the football game. There was fun, food, and fellowship. Key Clubbers enjoyed nachos as well as homeade festive cupcakes. Attendee, Skyelar Armstrong says “it was great spending time together watching a movie and eating delicious food.” The social was a great opportunity for Key Clubbers to truly bond and bring to life the spirit of Key Club.

V a n e s s a Castañeda b a k e d cupcakes for the Halloween social.

Treasurer Nithure Rema eating nachos at the Halloween social.

Treasurer Nithure Rema and Secretary Skyelar Armstrong feed each other nachos

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Burleson Boo Bash Key Clubbers hand out candy to children

Right in time for Halloween, the city of Burleson hosted their annual Boo Bash, a Saturday evening of spooky filled fun. On October 25, Key Clubbers were able to participate in Burleson’s Boo Bash where they passed out candy to little kids. Many of the children were dressed up as Disney princesses or frightening costumes like vampires and werewolves. Unlike last year, Key Clubbers did not run out of candy until the event was over. Secretary, Skyelar Armstrong said, “It was fun.

I always enjoy doing Boo Bash!” To prank their hardworking secretary, Key Clubbers got a creepy old clown to stare at her.

Use the QR code to view the video of our secretary, S k y e l a r Armstrong.

Thank you to those who brought in candy for the numerous events where we needed candy this month.

Member Gabriela Samaoya hands out candy to children.

Secretary Skyelar Armstrong takes over the candy bucket.

Breaking News!

The Burleson Key Club ranked as one of the top 25 clubs in the TexasOklahoma Key Club District for the second quarter.

To those who donated candy this month

Congradulations to the Member of the Month for November:

Jordan Brown

To those who provided rides for Trick-orTreat for UNICEF

Thank you to those who gave rides during Trick-orTreat for UNICEF.

To the baseball team

Thank you to the baseball boys for running around at the pep rally collecting money for our Miracle Minute.

To the Kiwanians

Thank you for helping us set up our booth for Founder’s Day and for supplying prizes for our treasure chest!

Club, Divisional, and District Contact Information

Taylor Jeffery President bhskeypresident@gmail.com

Nithure Rema Treasurer bhskeytreasurer@gmail.com

Payton Kinsey Webmaster bhskeywebmaster@gmail.com

Samuel Kinnin District Secretary secretary@tokeyclub.com

Anisa Vidic Vice President bhskeyvicepresident@gmail.com

Alie Shipman Editor bhskeyeditor@gmail.com

An Bui Division 1S Lieutenant Governor ltg1south@gmail.com

Colin Gonzalez District Treasurer treasurer@tokeyclub.com

Skyelar Armstrong Secretary bhskeysecretary@gmail.com

Vanessa Castañeda Historian bhskeyhistorian@gmail.com

Kaitlyn Wilson District Governor governor@tokeyclub.com

Emily Zhao District Editor editor@tokeyclub.com

Would you like to have an article or picture of yours featured in next month’s newsletter? Email your ideas to Alie, Nithure, or Vanessa by November 12th 10