June 2014 | Volume VI | Issue 2
Narwhal News Division
42
East’s
Official
Newsletter
Cali-Nev-Ha District | Region 10 | D42E Moorpark | Newbury Park | Oak Park | Royal Santa Susana | Simi Valley | Thousand Oaks | Westlake
Table of Contents Message from your LTG 3 Past Events Simi Valley 4 Oak Park 4 Moorpark 5 Santa Susana 6 Thousand Oaks 7 Newbury Park 7
Club Points 8 Upcoming Events 8 Contact Information 9
Hello Narwhals! Phew! AP’s are finally over and DONE with! Now I get to look forward to Subject Tests! Just kidding. On a brighter note... Can you believe it’s already June? It’s almost summertime! Now, just because the school year ends does not mean that us dedicated Key Clubbers sit around doing nothing! Keep up the service throughout the summer and there will definitely be awesome Division Events and exciting DCMs! Also, I’m already so impressed with submissions from last month, and I can’t wait to see what the upcoming year has in store! Swimming in Service,
Sally Deng
Editor’s Note
A Message from your LTG Hello, Narwhals! Over the course of this month, we’ve saved over 400 lives... Think about how fast this month is going by. Think of all the great things we’ll be accomplishing this year! I believed, survived, and thrived through this horrible testing month, and I know you have too. During this period, it may seem like you’ve been thrown into a whole new world; however, don’t worry! I’m here with you. Members will be trained, and we’ll have a completely organized Division Leadership Team and Club Boards work together and do amazing things. This is only a preview of what lies ahead. Together, as a narwhal ohana, we’re able to enjoy the time we have together and do amazing things. Thank you all for attending the May DCM! You missed out on an amazing pie event! I hope to inspire you all to work hard and be happy! I hope that you will have a lot to look forward for the upcoming months ahead. Key Club doesn’t end when school does! Keep an eye for a Narwhal Beach Day and BBQ Social! We’re going to be making more memories with the time we have. One month down. Many more to go! Swimming in service,
Joseph Ko
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Simi Valley PRIDE DAY by Donna Rahgoshay Recently, I had the opportunity to volunteer at my school to help clean up with the leadership class, basketball team, and interact club. We truly bonded over the picking up of trash and raking and sweeping of leaves that we did together. I had the chance to bond with a group of non-key clubbers who also do community service, which was a great sight to see. It’s truly amazing to see a great group of people changing the world one step at a time. Before we began to clean up the school campus, we could see that it had an incredible amount of trash and leaves covering the beauty. After we had finished, the school looked more beautiful than ever. Just as a small group, we helped out with the school so much. Imagine if we had the entire school’s population. However, even a small group can make a difference, which reminds me why I serve every day.
Oak Park SUNDAY CIRCLE by Jessica Ji This Sunday Circle was another fun experience! We were first paired off to hang out with a special needs child, playing with blocks, arts and crafts, and music. We also visited the playground, where they could have fun on the slides and play tetherball. This Sunday, I volunteered with a boy named Ely. He really loved swinging on those three diagonal wheel swingers and would grab ahold of one side and swing over and over again. I’ve learned through volunteering that communication doesn’t always require words; in their case, words became barriers instead of bonds. Yet, their thoughts and feelings can be communicated with a smile or a laugh. Working with special needs children isn’t always easy (it was tough keeping Ely from always going to the bathroom so he could play with the automatic hand dryers) but I find it is always a rewarding experience.
GRADUATION FLOWER FUNDRAISER by Tyler Smith This year, the Oak Park Key Club will be having a graduation flower fundraiser, the first one ever. Graduation is a really big event, and therefore the fundraiser takes a lot of planning. This month our club has put a focus on this fundraiser. We are creating advertisements and information snippets online. Our club historian, who for our club, works on advertising and getting the word out will be creating colorful signs for the event. Then, it comes down to ordering flowers, picking them up, and setting up volunteering times for our members for the actual event. My club and I are really excited for this event. Flowers are such a lovely thing to receive, and, for a graduate, they can mean so much. Equally great is the cause the money is going towards. We are donating all profits to the Eliminate Project for UNICEF. We have already done a lot for this project, but we are hoping the end the school year with a bang. I really hope this fundraiser is a success so we can make it an Oaks Park tradition.
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FOOD PANTRY by Reshmika Ramesh
RELAY FOR LIFE by Joshua Helms Moorpark Relay for Life was a great success this year. On Saturday, May 3rd, we came together to honor those who have been affected by cancer, and we fought back by fundraising over $100,000 as a community. Our team was comprised of Key Clubbers and other friends; we raised a total of $1,855 in only three weeks, which was almost double our initial goal. Each and every member contributed to the cause in some way or another. Many members of our team of 23 even stayed all day and night to show their dedication to their cause. Evidently, we have contributed to the great success of this amazing event.
Moorpark
At the food pantry, I worked with 6 others for three hours, sorting donated jewelry, such as earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, for the upcoming mother’s day holiday, and had brunch afterwards. We all had a great time as we talked and laughed all while appreciating the hard work of mothers in our community. I would love to work at the food pantry again because it truly made me feel like a made a big difference in my community.
ELIMINATE WEEK by Samantha Nesheiwat When the Eliminate week project had begun, I didn’t know what the cause was for. I grew awareness by watching the Kiwanis video that showed all the affected mothers and children, who were suffering. It made me realize how important this project is. Who knew that by buying bracelets and donating just $2 could have such a great impact on the world. It felt good knowing that I can help those people live a better life through my small actions. In the end, our club did quite well for our second year participating in this project; we have raised exactly $150 from our friends and Kiwanians. This really made me delighted, especially knowing that all the money was going to a good cause.
FOOD PACKAGING & DELIVERY by Kevin Nguyen In the midst of AP Testing week, I have volunteered with the Kiwanians on their project of organizing collected food sent in from the community and helped with packaging them in crates and delivering them off to the food pantry. Working in the food pantry is one thing, but seeing all of these food items being brought in makes me feel a sense of enlightenment because people are giving back to the community, and that we’re a part of this great process. Thanks to the huge amounts of volunteers who showed up from around the community, we have conquered waves of mail delivery trucks, and successfully sent over 1300 pounds worth of food to the local pantry.
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Santa Susana
ROUND UP by Justine Balster This year’s round up was my second time volunteering at the event. It was really, really fun to hang out with my fellow Key Clubbers, meet new people, and listen to country music. While at round up we were given two shifts; work in the children’s area, and work in the food truck. Unfortunately. I only got to do the children’s area, but that was loads of fun. We had about 5-6 different games where kids earned tickets to spend at the prize booth, and we had a temporary tattoo station. It was awesome to make kids’ days by putting little pictures up and down their arms and having fun little conversations with them. I will definitely be doing this again next year.
MEMBER RECRUITMENT by Ravindu Ranawaka Member recruitment was really fun, the incoming freshies were really awkward and antisocial so we asked them to ask us how we felt and they did....I honestly think they thought we were crazy. We got a large amount of signatures though due to our current member’s winning personality, charisma, and good looks. All in all it was really great and really fun. Key Club, be prepared for a diverse and exceptional batch of freshman next year.
KEY LEADER by Carly Balster Key Leader to me was an amazing experience. I never knew you could learn and obtain so much information while running on the little sleep you could get. Rooming with eight other girls was also something that was new to me. Who knew you could sleep through music, rain, and screeching? Key Leader taught me the values of being a leader and how to support others. Key Leader also helped me discover new parts of me that I didn’t know and taught me one of the true meanings of “teamwork”. Key Leader is something I would love to do again.
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Thousand Oaks SIMI VALLEY LANDFILL by Spencer Flynn We went to a landfill to work for Habitat for Humanity. There was a major recycling project going on in which poeple could bring their recyclables (like green waste, furniture, mattresses) and recycle them for free. They also turned in reusable furniture for Habitat for Humanity houses. We worked directing cards where to put their recyclables, breaking apart unusable furniture, moving the reusable furniture on to Habitat for Humanity trucks, and repainting a Habitat for Humanity sign.
WHEELS TO THE SEA by Sara Wilson Wheels to the Sea was something I’ve wanted to do since freshman year. It was awesome because of how many community members were involved, including some Kiwanians who I became close with. The participants were so enthusiastic to have an afternoon immersed in nature... it was truly a product of enthusiasm on both sides, not to mention a great work out! I love events such as these where my work directly impacts the community.
Newbury Park STUD PAGEANT by Justin Kawaguchi Our NPHS key club team hosted our annual stud pageant on May 3, 2014. All proceeds went towards Project Eliminate and we fundraised over $400. We had a great turnout and 9 participants. One of which including Division Secretary, Justin Kawaguchi. The stud pageant was an amazing event and we look forward to continue to host again next year. by Diana Tai The Stud Pageant was the first school wide event that I had planned, and we raised $412 for the Eliminate Project! It was such a fun and rewarding experience, and I personally learned so much about planning a larger event. Now that it’s over, I have lots of great ideas on how to imporve this event and make it even better for next year! Thank you so much to everyone in the division who dropped by to support NP!
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Club Points Many of you may remember the Club Points system from last year, and we WILL be continuing with that tradition this year! LTG Joseph Ko and I have not yet come up with a definite guidline, but points will be based on DCM attendance, service event attendance, number of article/visual submissions, and more! Club Points will begin (and a definite guideline will be finished) on June 1st.
Upcoming Events Division Council Meeting June 21
More info to come!
Steven’s Eagle Scout Service Project (Day 2) June 7 10:30am-6:30pm
Stop by any time for however long you can! The sign up sheet is linked in the Facebook group.
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Contact Information Lieutenant Governer Joseph Ko d42e.cnhkc.ltg@gmail.com
Executive Assistant
Katie Dizon d42e.cnhkc.ea@gmail.com
Secretary
Justin Kawaguchi d42e.cnhkc.exec@gmail.com
News Editor
Sally Deng d42e.cnhkc.tech@gmail.com
Director of Finance Jessica Ji jessicaji123@gmail.com
Fundraising Coordinator Reshmika Ramesh music7390@gmail.com
Fundraising Coordinator Juliana Nghiem xjulie10x@gmail.com
Fundraising Coordinator Chris Lee christopherlee23@gmail.com
Spirit Coordinator
Brenda Zhao ihatechinesebathrooms@gmail.com
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Thanks for reading!