KEY FACTS June 2014
The official newsletter of the Cypress Woods High School Key Club
Set sail for
SUMMER
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President’s Letter Natasha introduces the new class representatives.
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Learning through Leadership Key Club’s valuable lessons.
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Perspectives
Builders Club Representative shares experience.
Volume 3, Issue 1 June 5, 2014
Contact Information Cy Woods Key Club Officers President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Editor Representative Coordinator Historian Webmaster Junior Secretary K-Family Board
Natasha Solanki Matt Faga Jacque Chan Ashley Kawakubo Shannon Steele Kishan Solanki Gina Zhang Nick Nguyen Sharon Zhou Ashley Butterfield Grace Teoh Naomi Zavala Madelin Cowden Richa Patel Trenton Bird Daniel Campos
natasha.solanki@hotmail.com mattcfaga@me.com jacque.chan1019@gmail.com
(281) 904-7873 (713) 449-3307 (832) 349-4198
shannonjsteele@gmail.com Kitchishere@gmail.com gina_zhang2008@hotmail.com Nick.erik2010@yahoo.com happysharonzh@yahoo.com ashleybutterfield97@gmail.com gracelvo@gmail.com naomizavala@icloud.com madelin11@live.com richa928@hotmail.com
(409) 767-5316 (281) 904-8652 (832) 773-3228 (281) 849-4885 (281) 346-9218 (281) 312-9706 (832) 298-4772 (281) 974-7152
Division 3N Lieutenant Governor Amy Jiang
Cypress Falls
amyjiang.kc@gmail.com
Texas-Oklahoma District Staff Governor Secretary Treasurer Editor Convention Liaison Tech Producer
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Kaitlyn Wilson Samuel Kinnin Colin Gonzalez Emily Zhao Ashlyn Salvato Bobby Thakkar
governor@tokeyclub.com secretary@tokeyclub.com treasurer@tokeyclub.com todistricteditor@gmail.com conventionliaison@tokeyclub.com
A letter from your
Club President Dear Key Clubbers, We are now officially on summer vacation! The stress of school is finally over, and we can all focus on having fun. This summer Cy Woods Key Club will dominate 3N with multiple socials, interclub events, and of course, volunteering opportunities! Since each Key Clubber is unique in his or her own way, I want to get to know each and every single one of you. One of the first things coming up on the list of fun events planned for the summer is the June PCM. Amy Jiang, our new Lieutenant Governor, will be hosting a fun-filled field day at Telge Park, and I have invited everyone to attend. After all, you all are the back bone of our club and nothing makes me happier than seeing the involvement of our members. Speaking of involvement, this past week has been of great importance to our club; we just finished the process of choosing our new representative team for next year. The Key Clubbers who applied this year showed a great amount of potential. Unfortunately we are limited to choosing only a handful every year. Nonetheless, I am so proud of the applicants who decided to become more involved in Key Club. Most of you do not realize that Key Club presents a wide range of opportunities beyond membership. Besides club officer positions at Cy Woods, there are also district and regional positions that all of you are capable of running for. If you were an applicant that did not make it on to the rep team this year, there will be positions available at the beginning of next year that I highly recommend you apply for. Officer positions in Key Club will help you acquire the necessary leadership skills, as well as the confidence, needed in order to be successful in your future endeavors. More importantly, it will help you create friendships that will last forever. Key Clubbers are some of the nicest and coolest people I have met, and I do not know what I would do without my Key Club family. The first step to become a part of this large network is showing your involvement. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our rep team for next year. I look forward to working with all of you! Sophomores: Matthew Trinh Abhinav Ashar Leia George Nirav Lalsinghani Sean O’Leary Nikita Dhar Jordan Miller
Juniors : Gabriel Quiles Lillian Trinh Stephanie Dao Christina Lam Victoria Luu
Seniors: Zach Wright Samantha Sliva Manaswi Marri
Yours in service,
Natasha Solanki President of Cypress Woods Key Club
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More Than A Classroom Can Offer. Key Club teaches valuable lessons in the real world. Nick Nguyen Webmaster
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he year has officially ended, metaphorically and psychologically, for many of you summer-longing students. But for the Key Club members and officers, the hard work has just begun. Right after DCON and like the revolving seasons, the term starts anew, bringing in fresh and motivating ideas. It is a special moment because officers use what they learned the previous year to make the upcoming year a fantastic one. Communication. Key Club is not like any other club because it has an extensive amount of representatives and officers. With this, officers and
A Key Club officer leads the event while enjoying a few smiles and laughs
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representative must rely on one another to get the task completed. Officers usually hold meetings to brainstorm ideas and collaborate on future plans. Reps have meetings as well in order to initiate the projects proposed by the officers. Together the Key Club faculty team work as a well oiled machine to efficiently and effortlessly knock down mandatory assignments needed to be done. Affability. It is inevitable. Key Club has a special aura and charm that just invites company. Members in Key Club are bound to make friends sooner or later. At events, members from different grade levels get to know each other and share a connection that cannot be acquired elsewhere. A d d i t i o n a l l y, members can even befriend Key Clubbers from other schools. At some large and inclusive events, multiple Key Club organizations are present to facilitate the process. In this big crowd,
members from each school can mingle and break the ice, creating strong relationships. Consideration. The purpose of Key Club is to help and benefit the society as well as nourish the members. As officers and members mature in learning and understanding, they gain a new perspective on how society behaves. When volunteering, members manifest a deep devotion in assisting others and harbor compassion in their hearts. Key Club helps develop each member’s potential for altruism and kindness. Time-management. To be honest, Key Club requires a lot of time and attention, but that is what makes it both a joy and a challenge. By learning to volunteer while juggling schoolwork, sports, or other extracurricular activities, Key Clubbers are prepared in the ways of organization. Key Club members learn to arrange priorities and understand the importance of managing time. This is a quality that is very important in the real world. All of these characteristics can be found in all members because Key Club is a place that helps mold students into leaders and responsible young adults. These crucial qualities cannot be taught in a classroom environment. Though teachers encourage students to have these traits, students have a hands-on experience in Key Club, a lesson worth much more than a grade.
Taking Initiative as a Representative. New ideas for the new year. Nikita Dhar
Sophomore Representative
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fter getting the exciting news that I was chosen to be a representative for the Cy Woods Key Club’s sophomore class, I found myself literally jumping up and down. I had been looking forward to holding a position in Key Club for a long time, and I felt like my dreams had finally come true. Although I have learned a lot in the past year as a member in Key Club, I believe I have much more to learn and I know that I will acquire that knowledge as a representative. My ideas for the future of Cy-Woods Key Club are endless, and I cannot wait to share them with my fellow Key Club members. For example, around Christmas time, we could hold a toy drive. This toy drive would be highly beneficial for less fortunate children, because it would provide them with toys they would not have been able to afford otherwise. We could collect new or gently used toys and give an hour to any member that donates. In addition,
Toys could be collected in a toy drive to be wrapped and distributed to kids in need
we could provide volunteer hours to members that help sort out the toys and to those who help transport the toys to the donation facility. I believe this event would be a huge success because it would provide a Key Club member with a donation opportunity as well as a volunteering opportunity. This event would therefore be a winwin situation for both the volunteers
and the children receiving the toys. I believe members would be excited for this event and look forward to it because it would benefit them by providing them with a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction in knowing that they participated in a cause bigger than themselves. By holding a simple toy drive, we could make a huge difference in the lives of many children, and it would positively reflect the mission of Key Club. By being a representative in Key Club for the 2014-2015 school year, I will be able to voice my opinion and suggest ideas such as that above. I am truly excited and ready to make a difference in Cy Woods Key Club. I will bring about a new and fresh perspective and brand new ideas that will help our club to prosper above all. I look forward to working with all of the brilliant officers and representatives, and I believe that this upcoming year will be a huge success.
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Defining Leadership. The importance of juggling committments. Gina Zhang Historian
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eing a part of Key Club is a great opportunity to give back to the community while also developing and improving leadership skills. As a representative of Cy Woods Key Club this year, I have learned various skills from volunteering at events such as seasonal festivals and school-sponsored academic days. A big part of maintaining your membership in Key Club is being responsible and participating, which equates to completing a certain number of required hours each semester. Fulfilling this requirement has helped me A planner is a good place to jot down important events and information learn how to balance my try explaining something to them. If weeks or months later, I am sure to schoolwork with the time I spend volunteering and the time I use you are met with a blank expression put it in my calendar so I will not to relax. It is certainly time-consuming that must mean that the message did accidentally forget. If members do to volunteer every single weekend for not get through. As future leaders in not attend events they sign up for it many hours, so signing up for events the real world, we have to be able to reflects poorly on our entire Key Club. that are spread out from each other clearly describe what we want done, We thrive on community events, and is less stressful. Volunteering can also or the rest of team will not be working one way to ensure the availability of these is to be a dependable source of give you a break from homework and towards the same goal. Another leadership quality Key volunteers. Additionally, if you have staying home all day. It is a great way to get yourself involved in something Club has helped me improve is to take your name off the sign-up list, other than academic work and get commitment. We have all heard this it is important not to do it the day of your mind off grades. Key Club taught word before, but sometimes we do the event. If you realize that day that me to be responsible in attaining the not actually apply it to real life. In you cannot go, it is your responsibility short, being committed to something to find someone else to fill in. This required hours each semester. Key Club has also taught me simply means you promise to work will display your commitment to Key how to communicate better. Good hard without giving up for any certain Club as a team player and make sure communication does not always reason. I have learned to always show the event has the proper number of mean just talking to people; it means up at all the events I sign up for. If I volunteers. others understand you whenever you sign up for an event scheduled for
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Turning a Good Leader into a Great One. Three key qualities that stand out from the crowd. Jacque Chan Secretary
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eing in Key Club has allowed me to experience ways to improve myself as a leader. At the end of my sophomore year, I was selected as a sophomore representative. As a representative, I was bestowed duties that put me in a place of authority which in turn gave me an increased sense of responsibility for not only myself, but also others as well. Through Key Club, I was able to observe some of the best leaders I have met at work and be inspired at how they lead and make the club reach its full potential. This year, I was honored enough to become the Junior Secretary (the trainee of sorts to become the official Secretary) and just recently my term as Secretary began. Dedication. This is one of the most important qualities any leader needs to possess. No matter how
great of a person is at something, it is meaningless without dedication and passion for it. In a leadership position, Key Club has taught me that being true and focused on what and who you are leading makes a good leader into a great one. Courage. Although a leader should take into consideration other people’s opinions and ideas, sometimes the last resort is to stand firm and assert authority. This is precisely the type of situation where one cannot be afraid to use his or her position if it is in the best interest of the organization. In another sense, a leader requires the courage to face the burden placed on his shoulders. It also takes courage to take actions unprecedented to further advance the organization. Patience. Members may not always
be on the same level or work at the pace you do. Just like in life, patience is a virtue. It may seem hard at times, but I have learned that possessing such a skill is necessary not only in a busy world of school but also in the world we have awaiting for us. Key Club has always been a world not only created to connect students and service, but also to encourage and train the next generation of future leaders. Through its system, opportunities like no other are presented to those willing to go the extra mile no matter their reason for doing so. The qualities I mentioned are just a few of the many that one can gain through Key Club. To me, these are some of the most important qualities that one can take away and use throughout their whole lives.
Division 3N Lieutenant Governor Amy Jiang with officers (current and former) of the Cy Woods Key Club at the last general meeting
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Service On A Global Level. Worldwide effects of service. Sean O’Leary
Sophomore Representative
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e all know that service sounds like something nice that people can do to help one another. But what impact does it really have? One major impact is experienced by communities worldwide through essential work done by volunteers. Volunteers do countless projects, from delivering critical services by being volunteer fire fighters to delivering meals to homebound seniors or homeless youth to building houses and schools, digging water wells, and repairing infrastructure in large and small projects around the globe. They are an essential part of aid to poor and/or dysfunctional individuals and societies. Volunteer service work is critical in elevating the conditions of the poor, maintaining peace, and providing essential elements for the creation of improved health and opportunity for prosperity. Another method of determining the impact of volunteers is to take a look at statistics such as the economic value of volunteer time and the hours served. According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, 61.8 million individuals in the United States contributed eight billion hours of service in 2008 alone. The economic value of these volunteered hours and projects is estimated to be $162 billion, in addition to the goodwill and friendships earned and developed. To put that in pure financial context, that is roughly equivalent to the 2008 Gross Domestic Product [GDP] of Egypt. Volunteers are critical partners of, and participants in, societies throughout the world. Volunteers
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Service is a worldwide effort
actively give their time through formal or ad hoc organizations or take part in what is sometimes called “informal volunteering” where citizens voluntarily participate in community activities or provide personal care for family, friends, neighbors, or strangers in need, as part of their accepted cultural norm. These communities that promote positive behavior, emphasizing selfless service are healthy and strive. Volunteering can greatly improve the mind and body of the giver and the recipient. It can also simultaneously provide a healthy boost to your personal satisfaction and selfconfidence. By doing good for others and the community, you feel a natural sense of accomplishment. This sense of pride and identity makes you feel better about yourself, builds personal character, and in turn gives you a more positive outlook on life. In some cases it can strengthen your future goals. One of the leading causes of depression is social isolation. Volunteering in Key Club keeps you in regular contact with others as you work together, and provides individuals who might find themselves in need with an
organized support system. For both giver and recipient, this can protect them against stress and depression when they are going through challenging times. Some studies have indicated that volunteering for social services also greatly can increase your life expectancy. An analysis of data from the Longitudinal Study of Aging has found that those who volunteered, even when considering factors like the health of the participants, had a lower mortality rate than those who did not. Volunteering in nonprofit organizations like Key Club has also been shown to lower many symptoms of heart disease and chronic pain. Volunteering can lead to the “Happiness Effect,” which is demonstrated by many studies over recent years. Researchers at the London School of Economics recently examined the relationship between volunteering and measures of happiness. According to their findings, they discovered that the more people volunteered the happier they were. Compared with people who never volunteered the odds of being “very happy” rose seven percent among those who volunteered monthly, and twelve percent for people who volunteered every two to four weeks. By volunteering you are not only benefiting all those you help, but it has been proven to be a truly rewarding two-way street. Volunteers can reap many rewards including potentially increased health, happiness, and a longer and more fruitful life. It is a service well worth including as part of one’s life.
Building a New Path. Learning the keys to success in Builders Club. Grace Teoh
K-Family Board
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couple of months ago, I applied for an officer position as a Builders Club Representative. Before that, I didn’t know anything about Builders Club. I didn’t know what I would be doing, the responsibilities I would be holding, or the amount of time I would be spending due to this position. I originally wanted to be a Builders Club Representative because it is an officer position (and in high school, officer positions are sought after), but I also wanted to be more active in Key Club. I nervously waited for the day of the interviews and the day that I would find out whether or not I got the position. I didn’t realize how much I truly wanted the position until those long days of waiting. When I found out I was one of the six people who got the position, I was elated about the position and the people I would be working with. After attending several Builders Club meetings at Goodson Middle School, I quickly learned the duties of a Builders Club Representative. In addition to the responsibilities that I will hold next year, I have also learned many other qualities that will be needed in order to succeed in the future. I have learned that I need to step up and be responsible in order to be a good leader. I need to manage my time more efficiently in order to run things smoothly, and I need to work with everyone well in order to cooperate efficiently. Creativity is
Builders Club strives to create leaders in middle school clubs
key when trying to keep members entertained. Being a Builders Club Representative has already taught me many traits that will help me, not just next year but in the future. I hope that next year Builders Club will be just as successful as this year, if not even more. I want to provide service projects that the members will enjoy and activities that they will love. Growth and expansion of the club is another thing I want to strive to achieve; I want more members to join and be more active in their community. I would like Builders Club to be a club that members will tell their friends about and encourage them to join. I hope that the members in Builders Club will want to join Key Club once they reach their high school years and continue in the Kiwanis Family.
Builders Club is going to be one of my top priorities next year. It will be a new path in my life that I look forward to devoting time to. I want to strive for success and make sure that the members do genuinely enjoy being a part of the club. I am looking forward to next year and where this position will lead me. I have learned so much from this year’s Builders Club Representatives, who have done an amazing job of leading me and my fellow new officers. I realize that I have big shoes to fill, but I am confident in my abilities to succeed in this position. Being a Builders Club Representative will teach me many things and lead a new path in my life, one that I am glad I chose to take.
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CONTRIBUTIONS COVER PHOTO
AMY JIANG
ARTICLES
NICK NGUYEN NIKITA DHAR GINA ZHANG JACQUE CHAN SEAN O’LEARY GRACE TEOH
PRESIDENT’S LETTER
NATASHA SOLANKI
KEY FACTS CYPRESS WOODS HIGH SCHOOL KEY CLUB JUNE 2014