The Key Club D25W Newsletter April 2013| 2013- 2014 Year | Issue 1
A Message from the Lt. G and Division Leadership Team.....................................2 Upcoming Events.....................................3 In the News............................................4 In the News............................................4 Contact Information.................................7
April Edition
Message from the Lt.G. and the Division Leadership Team Hey Pufferfish! I look forward to a bright new term as 25 West’s 2013-2014 Lieutenant Governor. I can already tell this year is going to be full of hard work , service, and dedication. Following in the footsteps of an amazing leader such as Andrew Thai and his term is going to be a difficult, but today marks the beginning of a new term. Almost 4 years ago I first joined Key Club. Yes I thought Key Club was about making keys when I first joined. But I soon learned Key Club WAS about making keys...because we are the keys to the community we serve. You may not realize it but we unlock the potential for the people we serve. Whether it’s donating a dollar to PTP, helping an autistic child onto a horse, or passing out water at a marathon, we allow those people to achieve something great. This year, I want to make more of these Keys. This means holding more service projects, fundraising for PTP, and keeping everyone in the division informed about these events. Finally, I want to thank you all for giving me such an opportunity to serve the best division in Cali-Nev-Ha. With the help of my division team, I know D25 West will remain the top division out there. Our Ohana wishes you good luck on finals, AP's, and CST's
Hey Pufferfish! I’m Uyen Lam and I will be serving alongside Katarina Baltazar as your 2013-2014 Executive Assistants. I have been given a tremendous opportunity and responsibility and I couldn’t be happier to serve such a wonderful division. I have watched this division grow and I know that we can easily swim to new heights, whether it be big or small, we’ve all impacted someone’s life in a positive way. And that’s the greatest thing a human being could do for another. It’s nearly the end of the year; CSTs and AP exams are coming up soon, so keep up the hard work! Be kind to yourself, pufferfish, and keep swimming. Executive Assistant, Uyen Lam Hello to all my Spikey Babies! It's Katarina Baltazar your Executive Assistant for the 2013-2014 term and I'm so excited to serve you and with you, along with my partner Uyen Lam. It's almost the end of the school year and the usual California weather is coming back which means final exams are coming up as well. For those taking the CST's and AP exams, good luck! Don't procrastinate, study, snack plenty, and get your much-needed sleep. Have a good one! (:
Lt. Govenor Matthew Remmnick Hey fellow Pufferfishes! I’m Andrew Phan, division tech editor, and I’m glad to be serving for the 2013-2014 year. I’ve granted with an amazing opportunity to serve one of the best divisions in the Cali-Nev-Ha District! I plan to help keep everyone updated about every single event, from every school. I plan to also work with sthe lovely division team to create some amazing fundraisers for PTP. With CSTs, APs, SATs, and all the Ts testing, I give you my luck. Let’s make this year phan-tastic. (Yes, I used my own pun.) Division Technology Editor, Andrew Phan
Executive Assistant, Katarina Baltazar Hey P-Fish! As your newly elected Division Secretary, I believe I speak for the all the Division board members in that we are excited about serving the needs of the community and promoting Key Club. We have many exciting ideas planned for the upcoming school year (like a fundraiser —date TBA) so please, encourage your friends to join this amazing club and get involved! As you all know, it is a fantastic way to meet new people, make lifelong friends, and truly become part of the Key Club family. With the end of school year rapidly approaching, Division 25 hopes that your 2012-2013 school year has been one filled with laughs, memories and experiences you will never forget. Good luck to all of you on your various CSTs, APs, and SATs! Secretary, Allison Azarloza
The Official Division 25 West Newsletter
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THE DCON EXPERIENCE by Clare Smith|Reseda Hi, my name is Clare Smith and I am the former Vice President of Canoga Park Key Club. For me, DCON was amazing! I loved every minute of being there. Though it was a bit confusing for me, since it was my first year, it was still great fun and I learned a lot about Key Club and the service events available for us. The workshops were great and though it was my first year, it was also, unfortunately, my last, so I could only go to some workshops and miss out on others. I would really recommend DCON for Key Clubbers, especially underclassmen, and I would recommend going more than once before they graduate. It is beneficial for kids who want to learn more about Key Club and be more involved. It is a great opportunity to learn new cheers, show your spirit and ultimately, meet new people! I believe that the people were the best part of DCON! Key Clubbers are truly amazing people and there were thousands of them there! They gave us a number, roughly around 42,000+ Key Clubbers – all from California, Nevada and Hawaii – but it felt as if there were much more. Being around so many Key Clubbers was both exciting and overwhelming. What’s more, is that you could tell who was from which state by how they ended their “How Do You Feel” cheer. Californians ended with “Abooga”, Nevada Key Clubbers ended with “Ugga” and the Hawaiians ended with “Unga”. It was always cool to see some Key Clubbers from out-of-state. There were so many different kinds of mascots, though some I didn’t quite understand. But I just gotta say, pufferfish were the best! We are cute, but we’re also fierce! And though we didn’t win any spirit sticks, we were still spikin’ with pufferfish pride and spirit. The keynote speaker, Scott Greenberg, was awesome as well. He told us that e veryone has our own “cancer”, or something challenging we face (whether big or small) in our lives, and that to be a great leader, you have to, have to face those fears and just conquer! Key Club is all about leadership and in my experience at Canoga Park Key Club; I have seen a lot of these great, inspiring leaders. And to face a fear take great courage. There was a lot of courage floating around DCON, and love was in the air! There were many, many public prom proposals and even a marriage proposal between two Kiwanis advisors)! And even yours truly got asked to prom! Through all of this overwhelming happiness, there was also overwhelming sadness at the end of DCON. As we all know, everything must come to an end. The last day of DCON was also the end of the 2012-2013 term. And though it was heart-breaking to see all the old board members go, it was equally satisfying when they introduced the new board of officers.
PDS - Post DCON Syndrome by Anne Alamazora | El Camino Real What is PDS? PDS is known as Post DCON Syndrome. Over 2,000 Key Clubbers from the Cali-Nev-Ha (CNH) district join together and cheer their hearts out, celebrating the end of an amazing year of service and the start of a new term. PDS has the effect on key clubbers that they experience and inherit this the minute they leave the convention center. They keep their wristbands on as a memory. PDS does not only affect us mentally, but emotionally and physically as well. It makes key clubbers want to go back to the convention center and share numerous and countless memories with others sharing the same inspiration as them: service. Service is what makes key club happen; the amount of service we give is what makes the annual District Convention happen. Key clubbers tend to reminisce and miss the feeling of being part of a key club ohana. “Ohana” means family; family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten. DCON (short for District Convention) often gives key clubbers an emotional and happy feeling; otherwise, it gives off a sad feeling if you are a senior. As key clubbers exit the convention center, they start to remember all of the fun activities they shared with others, people they met and pinned, those hotel room memories, being away from family over the weekend, etc. In district convention, you learn more about Key Club, what it really is about, the different organizations we support, the main cause, and why we are all here in the first place. You learn how to be yourself around others without feeling awkward and staying positive. In addition, you meet new people (later becoming your best friends in life), cheer your hearts out, and have the best weekend of your life. This is why people miss District Convention. It makes people feel themselves without having to worry about being judged.
In my opinion, district convention is “indescribable.” I cannot explain how perfect it was. Do you know what’s crazy about key club? Feeling comfortable and confident around strangers from the Cali-Nev-Ha district when you don’t even know them personally or their inside stories, but all of us share a common inspiration: service. We serve as one district to help out programs such as PTP, Elimin8, March for Dimes, Unicef, etc. Not only do we serve as one, but we know But really, DCON was absolutely wonderful! Like I said, I loved every minute of it, how to serve with an extreme amount of fun. Including events such as Fall Rally and District and I really wish that I’d gone in previous years. And again, I so recommend other Convention, it makes you feel yourself, knowing you can be crazy with these strangers you have Key Clubbers to go to DCON, at least twice before they graduate. And if there are never met before. You can scream your heart out with the “How Do You Feel Cheer?” and have money issues, their club should help them fundraise the money needed to send them spirit battles against one division from another. I’ve never been in an organization or club that there! I love Key Club and it was purely awesome that I got to go to DCON, that has made me genuinely happy and where I can be myself around. After Fall Rally and DCON, they actually have that option for us. I’m really going to miss it next year! I fell in love with Key Club and most of all, it made me realize why I joined and why I’m here in the <3 PUFFERFISH! first place. I joined for service. Do you feel great after knowing you saved a life? That’s what Key Club is about. You don’t serve because you have to; you serve because you want to. This is what I learned from District Convention. Key Club has given me such a huge impact. I honestly do not know what I would do without it.
Fundraising Tips
Earth Day Fair
by Uyen Lam|SOCES
by Shobhan Kashyap|Reseda
Fundraisers can be hard things to be planned. One of the biggest problems it that there’s no NEW creative idea. Well, here’s a couple ideas on some of things that can be done! All fundraisers/business that involves money can only be conducted with a supervising adult/advisor. Fundraising Suggestions: -Awake-A-Thon -Officer auction -Walk-A-Thon -Car Wash -Asking for change around school -Good change/Sad change -Dare Week -FOOD -Hold a dance -Teacher torture (Teachers can volunteer to do a task assigned by you guys or whoever, and they each get a jar. Whichever teacher raises the most money has to do that task assigned to them!)
- Have officers or members have challenges: set a goal of how much you want to raise, if the goal is met, then the person has to do the challenge a. Make them wear a funny outfit b. Make them do a viral video Sort of thing (Harlem shake, gangnam style, Gwiyomi, etc...)
- Ask a restaurant to help with a fundraiser( ex: Applebee's) -Pie an Officer (Have members vote on which officers they would like to see get pied, then set up an amount it would cost in order to pie that officer or make an x amount of dollars to pie whomever instead of doing the whole voting process) -Dare Week (Key Clubber pays x amount of dollars for any dare they like and dares can be moderated)
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It was a cool chill morning when I arrived at the Tarzana community and Cultural center at 9:30am. Walking in, I saw Olivia setting up tables with Christian. I approached them, asked them where to sign in and they directed me to the proper place. I signed my name, got myself a nametag, and found myself setting up a tent for one of the tables. Suddenly, things started to pick up. I was running around getting tents, chairs, and setting up paper lanterns with Ethan, another volunteer. I thought we could relax and enjoy ourselves socializing and hanging out. I was about to find out that the festival was about to begin.There were so many beautiful things they sold ranging from African rain sticks to wooden carvings that imitated the sound of the animal they were carved. There were beautiful flowers and insects for sale at a booth. There was even a rock wall for the children to climb. Out of nowhere, I was assigned to the Salvation Army booth with Joanna where the one in charge had to leave on some urgent business.
We were told to tell those who came by to donate their used electronics toward their adult rehabilitation center they were running and to hand out the fliers. At 10, people became t o enter; first one by one but soon there were plenty walking around to each booth. Joanna and I started talking to those who came by, telling them about the cause and handing out fliers to everyone there. Talking to the people, I realized how much I would be helping those who are trying to get back on their own feet. As the day went on, I transitioned from booth to booth, enjoying the sound of nature and of the people around who cared for nature and honored mother Earth. As I stacked up the chairs, waiting f or my father, I felt accomplished inside, ready to head back into reality from this earthly festival.
Matthew Remmnick E-mail: d25w.cnhkc.ltg@gmail.com
Uyen Lam & Katarina Baltazar E-mail: d25w.cnhkc.db@gmail.com
Neema Sheshebor E-mail:
Sarah Wong E-mail: bellalaughter@gmail.com
Negin Fadaee & Hamoun Mojib E-mail: nfadaee7@gmail.com
Haven Kim E-mail: haven.kim@facebook.com
The Official Division 25 West Newsletter
Allison Azarloza E-mail: d25w.executive.assistant.02@gmail.com
Andrew Phan E-mail: d25w.tech.editor@gmail.com
Linh Vo E-mail: linhvo96@yahoo.com
Kathie Paniagua & Jessica Aquintey E-mail: chatsworth.cnhkc.copres@gmail.com chatsworth.cnhkc.pres@gmail.com
Freddy Chavez E-mail: f.chavez213@gmail.com
Olivia Villasana E-mail: oliviavillasana@gmail.com
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