May 2015
The official newsletter of the Cypress Woods High School Key Club.
KEY FACTS
Summer Servin’, Havin a Blast
IN THIS ISSUE
6
Success Starts Small Our Vice President explains the path to success in Key Club.
8
Being a Part of Something A newer member describes how Key Club gained importance to her.
9
Key (To My Heart) Club A Freshman Rep explains how Key Club made its way into her heart. Volume 4, Issue 2 June 5, 2015
Contributions Articles Abhinav Ashar Ebakoliane Obiomon Meghana Jupudy Emily Morris Felicia Hernandez
President’s Letter Leia George Photos Cara Lucker Jordan Miller Gabrielle Welch Emily Morris Trevor Rogers Anushua Mantrala
IN THIS ISSUE...
3 Contact Information 4 President’s Letter 5 June at a Glance 6 Success Starts Small 7 How Key Club Changed Me 8 Being a Part of Something 9 Key (To My Heart) Club 10 Dancing in the Mirror, 11 Serving in the Summer
2
Contact Information Cy Woods Key Club Officers PRESIDENT
HISTORIAN
REPRESENTATIVE COORDINATOR
Leia George leiageorge10@gmail. com 832-515-6928
Gina Zhang gina_zhang2008@ hotmail.com 832-773-3228
Kishan Solanki kishan.sol99@gmail. com 281-904-8652
TREASURER VICE PRESIDENT Abhinav Ashar abhinav.ashar@ hotmail.com 713474-3494
BUILDER’S CLUB REPRESENTATIVE James Keiser jamesdkeiser@ gmail.com 832-622-7413
SECRETARY
JUNIOR SECRETARY
Sharon Zhou happysharonzh@ yahoo.com 281-346-9218
Jocelyn Yao
EDITOR
Jordan Miller jmiller290@gmail. com 281-733-7616
Ashley Kawakubo akawakubo98@ hotmail.com 281-733-0959
WEBMASTER
Joshua Goodwin 713-252-9943 joshua.goodwin98@ gmail.com
Texas Oklahoma District Governor Rachel Iselin Rachel Iselin from Cypress Ranch High School in District 3W has been elected as ou new District Governor for th 2015-2016 year. She has introduced a new governor’s project called K-Family Connections, which focuses on connections between clubs and their local Kiwanis families, while also making emergency backpacks for children.
Texas-Oklahoma District Staff Governor Secretary Treasurer Editor Convention Liason Trustee
Rachel Iselin Crystal Loh Emily Zhao Matthew Riley To Be Determined
Governor@tokeyclub.com Secretary@tokeyclub.com Treasurer@tokeyclub.com Editor@tokeyclub.com To Be Determined
To Be Determined
To Be Determined
3
A letter from your
Club President D
ear fellow Key Clubbers, Wow, it’s already the end of the school year. I am so psyched for summer! We will have so many volunteer opportunities this summer. These events will most likely be double hours, but make sure to bring your hours forms at the beginning of next year so we can count the hours for the next semester. This is a great way to get ahead and not be stressed at the end of summer. Also, take lots of pictures and send them to the Gmail account, they may even be worth a prize. We will also have fundraisers and socials throughout the summer, this way we can be a more cohesive club and have funds to have more fun events. I am so excited to see all of you at these events, so be sure to sign up for them. This summer will be an exciting time for all of us, whether it is chilling out by the pool and eating ice cream or flying halfway across the world. I just want to encourage you to serve your community this summer, even just for a couple hours because the impact will be Photo by Jordan Miller huge. This may be a small act of kindness to open the door, or it could be working the Tech Conference at Cy-Woods for a few days in July. Whatever it may be, remember to give back to your community. That is all I have to say; make sure to wear sunscreen and keep track of your volunteer hours forms. Have a great summer! Yours in Service,
Leia George Cy-Woods Key Club President
Leia’s Laughs A Joke of the Month from our Key Club President.
Community Service: It’s not just for celebrity criminals.
4
June at a Glance Event Schedule FRIDAY, june 5th: Cypress Woods Graduation Ceremony at the Berry Center, from 10 AM to 1:30 PM. You will recieve a name badge and pass out programs. SATURDAY, JUNE 6TH: Wortham Whitesharks concessions in Wortham neighborhood, shifts from 6 AM to 11:30 AM, and also from 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM. SATURDAY, JUNE 13TH: Wortham Whitesharks Concessions again in Wortham neighborhood, shifts from 6 AM to 11:30 AM, and also from 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM. MONDAY, JUNE 8TH: Cub Scout Day Camp at the Cy-Fair Exhibition Center, from 8:30 AM to 8:30 PM, shifts from 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM, from 11:30 Am to 2:30 PM, from 2:30 PM to 5:30 PM, and also from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM. For more details, check the signupgenius at signupgenius.com.
JUNE REMINDERS
Reps and Officers- Remember, articles are due on the 24th at 10PM to the gmail (cywoodskeyclub@gmail. com). Members- If you have not recieved your 25 hours this semester, some events during the summer may count towards this semester. Check the Facebook page to see which events qualify.
5
Success Starts Small Our Vice President Talks Tips for Next Year. One way to improve a Key Club is to address a fundamental issue: Membership Attendance. Abhinav Ashar To increase Vice President membership at different events, clubs should make sure event registration is easy, and they can include additional information to make the instructions or event locations clear. If a member is unclear or uninformed about a certain event, they may be reluctant on attending it. One way to do this is to keep reminding the members to attend the events they signed up for. Also, sending messages through Facebook, or some other way to contact members, helps remind the members and can possibly answer any remaining questions the members have about the event. Another way to increase membership is to make the members at the event feel involved and needed. They should not think of an event as a tedious, boring job, but rather as an exciting experience to do something different. If a member feels involved, they like to attend more of the events they signed up for, knowing they will enjoy what they do. Lastly, a way clubs can increase membership attendance is to provide incentive for those who show up at the event and be stricter on attendance. In the beginning of the school year, Key Clubs can start a point system for their members where they keep track of how many
6
events a member shows up for and how many events a member misses. Either at the end of the semester or at end of the year, the officers can tally up the attendance records and determine what percentage of the events, out of all they signed up for, they attended. (For example, say a member signed up for a total of 20 events throughout the year, and showed up for 18 of them. That would be a ninety percent attendance rate.) Using the member’s attendance rate, the clubs determine whether the member’s rate surpassed the pre-determined club rate needed
Ebakoliane Obiomon works concessions at Dyess Park. Photo by Cara Lucker.
to earn the incentive. (So, if the required attendance was eighty five percent, a member who attended ninety percent of their events qualifies for the incentive). Doing this type of method will not only increase membership attendance, but it will also increase sign-ups for events, because some members may miss events but could still qualify for the incentive by attending additional events throughout the year. In the end, it benefits the club, its members, and most importantly, it helps the community.
How Key Club Changed Me A Representative’s Life-Changing Experience with Service. Junior year was a struggle. But that’s common knowledge, right? Every ambitious student has been warned Ebakoliane Obiomon against the Senior Representative ills of junior year; the appalling amount of sleep lost to AP classes, the pressure to get everything together before the college application process begins, the slow decline of your social life (and sanity). There is no escaping it. And, like an idiot, in order to prove my legitimacy to myself, last year I decided to enroll myself into 5 AP classes. Can you blame me, though? I had just taken WHAP. I felt invincible. Anyway, I don’t want to get into specifics, but I’ll leave you with this: if there are any among you with even an ounce of common sense and self respect,
Members of Cy Woods Key Club at a paintball social. Photo by Gabrielle Welch.
distance yourself from Physics AP unless you were born with a desire for self-torture. But this is not a tale of woe or self pity. I am not here to gripe about my junior year, how hard it was surviving on 4 hours of sleep, or how sad I was when my eyelashes gradually fell out. Because though I lost the innocence and child-like carefreeness associated with adolescence, this past year I also gained an appreciation for the importance of helping others. Because this year, I made the decision to become a part of Key Club. To let you believe I joined Key Club out of the goodness of my heart would be a lie. My reasons were far less than pure. I had been left behind my first two years in high school, refusing to join any clubs or extracurricular activities. But junior year crept upon me, and the college application process was fast approaching, so I figured that if I were to get into any respectable
institution, I had better get off my butt and get involved. So yes, I will admit to having less-than-altruistic intentions when I walked into the first Key Club meeting of the year. But then I went to my first event. I know that working at a concession stand probably doesn’t exactly sound like an eye-opening experience, but serving others, interacting and networking with my fellow Key Clubbers, feeling the satisfaction that comes with doing things for other people, was a truly transformative experience for me. I found that sometimes, although you will not be physically rewarded, it pays off to help other people. No, I wasn’t finding a cure for cancer, or building hospitals in war-torn countries, but I was helping my community. Yes, I learned A LOT in the five AP classes I put myself through this school year. But I learned the most- about life, about kindness, about selflessness- from Key Club.
7
Being a Part of Something A New Member’s First Year in Key Club. Key Club has been an amazing experience for me this year. I have made Megana Jupudy so Freshman Representative many new friends and I love helping out our community and the people within it. Key Club helps you grow, become more independent, and cause remarkable changes within the community that might have never been possible without a group effort. I’ve gained an abundance of qualities due to this organization and Key Club has given me so many great opportunities to help our community. In the previous years, I held a craft drive in order to help
8
children with cancer. I made bags of different crafts and sent them to an organization called Caitlin Smiles so children who had cancer could have a form of entertainment. I did this individually, but now I can to help our community as a team, and am allowed to have my ideas put to use in the upcoming years. I feel like this club allows you to directly help others, and have fun while doing it. Events like DCON and the lock-in were experiences that I could never forget. Going to forums and figuring out what we actually wanted to achieve made me more determined to make a change in our club. DCON gave me more insight to the reasons we were doing specific events or socials. This club is not only a club to help our community, but it also allows you to make a new family. By volunteering you learn a lot of new things
as well. Tasks that you are given at a volunteer event may be something you’ve never been able to do before, but with experience you get better and learn new things. I have kept score for a karate competition, and I definitely learned a lot through working that event. At times, I would definitely freak out and shriek feeling like the competitors would fall on the score table but it was so much fun. During the whole experience my heart was pounding extremely fast, since I was so into the competition and it was actually fun. Overall, the experiences I have had through Key Club were lasting memories and were definitely learning experiences. I am looking forward to participating in other great events that Key Club provides us; and I am extremely ecstatic for the year ahead.
Key (To My Heart) Club
A Freshman Rep Realizes the True Purpose of Service. In the previous school semester, my first semester as a member Emily Morris of Key Freshman Representative Club, I had the opportunity to participate in an event that was certainly life-changing. Most people, unfortunately, just join Key Club to get volunteer hours or to get stuff to put on job/college applications. I admit that before this specific event, I was a part of my Key Club for primarily the same reasons. However, this particular event opened my eyes to see what Key Club is really all about, and how much of a difference it can make upon people’s lives and upon our community as a whole. The first few events I did as a member were just the typical concession stand type events. However, when I was able to volunteer at the annual picnic for disabled people at Bethesda Lutheran Church, it was the first time I was able to see for myself how much our club and clubs similar to ours can help our society and individuals in need. At this event, I got to supervise and really just hang out with/take care of adults who have mental disabilities. In other words, I got to make friends with incredible and kindhearted people for volunteer hours (I would do it again for nothing!). The man I was chosen to take care of was named James and I could
see, plain as day, just how happy he was because of all the things his friends and I did. He looked around at all the volunteers, from the face painters to the snow cone makers to the DJ, with such adoration and appreciation. All of the people we were taking care of looked so incredibly happy to be there that day, and it made me prideful to know that the club I am so lucky to be a part of was the reason behind all of this joy. James and all of the other kind souls I got to serve that day have made a difference in not only my heart, but also in my original motives to be in Key Club. Just that one specific event has made me look forward to working and serving in
my community so that I, and other volunteers, can hopefully make people smile just like James at all the good deeds we take such pride in doing. I no longer seek to gain volunteer hours just for a resume that amounts to a lot less than the everlasting joy we can bring to others. That one specific event has also motivated me to want to become even more involved in Key Club than to be just one of the approximately 310 members we have at Cy-Woods alone. It’s what truly inspired me to want to become a representative of my Key Club, and it feels surreal to be a part of something so incredible and so important to so many people.
Cara Lucker, Megan Odom, Emily Morris, and Lina Spjut enjoying the photobooth and the company of one of the Bestheda Church Annual Picnic party-goers. Photo by Emily Morris.
9
2
1
3
Dancing in the Mirror, Serving in the Summer Key Tips for Summer Service from a Sophomore Rep.
School’s out. Most likely, the first thought that comes to your Felicia Hernandez mind Sophomore Representative is free time. “Finally I can do what I want and not follow the instructions of my annoying teachers”. All of your plans will revolve around your personal agenda and all the hours invested in Key Club during the school
10
year escape your thoughts. So that basically sums up the way an average summer goes, right? How about attempting something new (and beneficial) during your vacation time: enter summer 2015 with a new incentive in mind besides the perfect tan. Let the Key Club experiences flow into summer. Have the mindset of 60% me time and 40% service time. Don’t worry; it won’t cut into your tanning time too drastically. There is not always an abundance of service opportunities during the summer time but there are still plenty in
need even when school ends. Encourage your Key Club to take part in weekly visits to places in the community such as a nursing home or Boy and Girls country. Only one or two days a week for a couple of hours is all it takes to spread service, all summer long. Visiting a nursing home and having an elderly buddy you meet with weekly will barely feel like volunteering; the elderly can be quite interesting people to talk to and they are wonderful company, so long as you listen to them. It may feel like you are not doing much but to them it means the
world. Some nursing homes that have regular open visiting hours near clubs in Division 3N specifically are Grace Care 4 Center of Cypress, Ainsley Courte Assisted Living, and also Legend Oaks Health Care and Rehabilitation. If hanging with the elderly on a sunny summer afternoon is not quite your cup of tea, something that probably any member of Key Club would enjoy (except those
of course who desperately try to avoid children at all cost, having numerous younger siblings of their own). Go spend a day at Boys and Girls
Country. It is close to Cypress, being located in Hockley, Texas. For those not familiar with Boys and Girls Country, it is a temporarily home for children up to the age of 18 whose
parents cannot care for them. This summer, take a trip or two a month up to 5 Hockley with your Key Club and give a child summertime memories that will last a lifetime. Trust me, taking these days out of your summer to serve will be much more satisfying than any day spent lazily lounging by the pool. Photos from Left to Right:
1. Members of Cy Woods Key Club at an interclub social. Photo by Anushua Mantrala. 2. A member of Cy Woods Key Club picking up trash. Photo by Harini Mesashwaren. 3. Anushua Mantrala and Kishan Solanki at the May PCM. Photo by Anushua Mantrala. 4. Trevor Rogers at a volunteer event. Photo by Trevor Rogers. 5. Anushua Mantrala, Ashley Kawakubo, and Nikita Dhar at the May interclub social. Photo by Nikita Dhar.
A Member’s Summer Service Checklist 1. Be sure to volunteer over the summer. Yes, summer is a time for relaxation, but be sure to give back to your community during this time.
4. When signing up for events, read the description in the signupgenius. If the description says you’ll be outside, you may want to put on sunscreen!
2. When you do volunteer for events, be sure to wear your Key Club shirt so other volunteers are able to recognize you.
5. While at your event, always remember that you represent Cy Woods Key Club. Be sure you’re always attentive to the task at hand, and not texting.
3. Always bring an hours form when volunteering, so just in case an officer isn’t at your event, you can still recieve your hours.
6. Finally, be sure to have fun this summer, and bring your hours forms to an officer in the fall so we can log your hours into the database.
11
KEY FACTS
CYPRESS WOODS HIGH SCHOOL MAY 2015