The Longhorn Letters: October

DOBIE HIGH SCHOOL

h o g r n n o L Letters

DIVISION 28 REGION 13 VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4

Table Of

3. Humans of TexasOklahoma 4. Riddle Of the Month 5. Scary Hunt: Word Search 6. Key Experience: VSCA 7. Key Experience: Filipino Fest 8. Key Experience: Tweens Read 9. Major Emphasis 10. Class Representatives 11. Upcoming Events 12. District Board 13. Club Board 14. Thank you 2

HUMANS OF TEXAS OKLAHOMA

Joining Key Club has been one of Walking into the first freshman meeting unaware of the value the best choices I have made of Key Club. Volunteering? throughout high school. Key Club Hours? In all honesty, I wasn’t is more than just volunteering and service hours, but developing sure about joining and felt that it was not worth the time, but relationships and growing as impulsively deciding on joining individuals through service. anyways has changed my outlook towards my high There are no words I can use to school years. Key Club isn’t just express how much Key Club another school organization, means to me. I owe Key Club for but a place that you can rely the many friendships and on. I’m grateful for the experiences that I have gained opportunities I’ve had and the throughout my first two years in memories I experienced high school. With the safe joining this club. There are no environment surrounding the regrets to this day about club, I’ve been able to grow as a taking part in Key Club and leader and express my individuality. From volunteering that is what Key Club means to me. at my former schools, carpooling with friends, participating in socials, and even the free shirts, I have been allowed to get out of my shell and actively take part in helping the community.

By

-Jabez Palma 3

O E f l t d h d i R Month e I HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO ONCE CARRY PEOPLE, I CAN BE EATEN AND BE A FORM OF LIGHT, WHAT AM I? 4

H y u r n a t c !: S Word Search

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My Key Experience: VCSA Mid-Autumn Fest!

My favorite service event so far this year is definitely the Mid-Autumn festival at the Houston Children's Museum! It was in collaboration with the Vietnamese Culture and Science Association and has been one of our biggest events this year so far with over 40 members attending! The Key Club members and I went around various activity stations to help kids and taught them about the Vietnamese holiday being celebrated. The Mid-Autumn Festival, known as Tế t Trung Thu in Vietnamese, is a holiday where people show their gratitude for the harvest and wish for luck and prosperity for the upcoming year. It was a really festive and lively event. The members had lots of fun interacting with the kids. Some of the activities were making red lanterns, face painting, helping a Vietnamese author read her book, and some members even dressed up as characters from Vietnamese folklore to take pictures with the children. It's also a warm memory for me to see nonVietnamese children participating and eager to learn more about my culture. I know as a child, I would've loved an event like this to show some of my friends a piece of my culture and history.

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An additional perk of volunteering with VCSA was that they provided yummy banh mi for all the volunteers so some members got to try banh mi for the first time and loved it! There were also amazing lion dance performances that showcased how vibrant and energetic Vietnamese culture is. It felt rewarding to work alongside a Vietnamese organization because it gave me a sense of pride in my own culture and although it may not be much, I can feel good about doing something positive for my community. I'm looking forward to partnering with VCSA again but would also love to volunteer and learn more about other cultures as well!

president,

-Eric Huynh

My Key Experience: Filipino Festival!

My favorite Key Club event by far has to be the Filipino festival. I have volunteered at quite a couple of festivals this year, but the Filipino festival in particular made me feel instantly welcomed and optimistic. When I first got there, I could already tell how exciting it was going to be from the loud music and the lines of food trucks and vendors. Because I was able to volunteer for a festival of people with a different background from me, it made it way more memorable that I got to learn a bit more about their cultures and ways of life. I was able to connect with a hard-working woman at one of the food vendors who specializes in her traditional food, I was able to witness a community join in all together through music and dance, and I was able to observe all the hard working Filipino volunteers that came to support their community. This really amazed me how such an amazing culture is so close-knit to one another as if they had always been family. As I would offer to provide help during the day, the people at the vendors would always be grateful and treat me and the Key Club members as if we were their own children. All of this combined made the experience very enjoyable for not just me, but for the members who were there volunteering as well.

Sincerely,

Evelyn Tran,

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My Key Experience: Tweens Read Back in October, I volunteered for Tweens Read as an Author Guide for the whole day.

Interestingly enough, I had initially signed up to be a general volunteer all day, but a few days prior to the volunteer date I had been switched to be an Author Guide. At first, I was a bit apprehensive of being assigned a role that I had shied away from when signing up to be a volunteer, but it proved to be a much better experience than I had predicted it to be.

The morning of Tweens Read, I was introduced to the author I was assigned to and we began our schedule for the day. As an author guide, I was directed to lead my designated author from room to room and to stay them the entire day. I assumed that this would be incredibly uneventful, but it was really interesting to be able to observe the middle schoolers reactions throughout the day.

Seeing all of the middle schoolers have so much excitement for reading and interacting with their favorite authors was really fascinating to observe, because it made me realize how much passion and innocence they had..

To these kids, this event was the highlight of their week, in fact, most of them had even traveled from cities hours away just to go to this event. Their ability to bond with others over reading was really touching to see, and I enjoyed being able to experience this with them.

In service,

Carol Tran

Major Emphasis As the first association-based sponsor of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, Kiwanis International has been a partner since 1983.

Various Key Clubs around TO support by participating in fundraising events and service projects

March of Dimes leads the fight for the health of all moms and babies. They research, lead programs and provide education and advocacy so that every family can have the best possible start.

The Thirst Project is a non-profit organization whose aim is to bring safe drinking water to communities around the world where it is not immediately available. Key Club proudly partners to bring an end to this global problem.

UNICEF works in the world’s toughest places to reach the most disadvantaged children and adolescents – and to protect the rights of every child, everywhere. Across more than 190 countries and territories, they do whatever it takes to help children survive, thrive and fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

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Introducing: Class Reps!

Freshman:

Suheylee Belman Sophomore:

Uriel Polito Junior:

Evelyn Tran Senior:

Natalie Vo 10

Upcoming Events!

11/5

Armand Bayou 11/5

REI Outdoors For All 11/10

Atkinson Fun Run 11/15

Laura Bush Math Night 11/20

Toughest 10K: La Porte 11

District Board

District Governor

Jonathan Perez

District Secretary

Dylan Dam

District Treasurer

Emily Zhang District Editor

Bethany Tran Convention Liaison

Lendell Andal Tech Producer

Minori Kikuchi 12

Club Officers President

Eric Huynh Vice President

Diana Dang

Vice President

Haley Nguyen Secretary

An Tran Secretary

Jessica Ngo Treasurer

Taylor Nguyen Editor

Amalia Reyes Web Master

Elexy Lyn-Nguyen

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K YOU N A H T

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