Owl Orations October 2020 Volume 2 Issue 3

GARLAND HIGH SCHOOL KEY CLUB

OWL ORATIONS Texas-Oklahoma

Voume 2 issue 3

region 9 division 2S

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3- message from the president 5- monthly recap 7- upcoming events 9- key club info 10- articles 12- major emphasis 15- contact info 16- district officers 17- club officers

a message from the president

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Hey Key Clubbers!

It has been nearly three months since the school year started, and I’d like to say that the club is progressing along well. We are at around 70 members, and roughly 45 are actively attending the general meetings. So far, the volunteering opportunities that Key Club has provided for its members are; Neighbors Helping Neighbors, Walnut Glen Recess Painting, Watson MST Gardening, Kiwanis Coloring Book Contest, and other smaller and larger hour opportunities. We’ve even collaborated with other organizations- like NHS and HOSA for a couple events. All of which were successful considering the fact that these were all hosted during a global pandemic. Safety precautions were taken, members all wore masks and did their best not to physically interact with each other.

One of the biggest events that we’ve participated in was the Halloween Trash Bash, where 69 members of Key Club, NHS, and HOSA all came together to clean up lakes and parks around the Garland area. I was one of 20 who volunteered to clean up at the Windsurf Bay. I’d say it was relatively fun and the weather was honestly perfect. I’d also argue that my group had the best location, especially due to being directly next to the lake's clear waters and the fact that there was nobody else there (except for the volunteers), so we could enjoy the view.

There are going to be a decent amount of Key Club only events as well as collaboration events in the future, and I look forward to participating in them! I’m glad the Key Clubbers are heavily involved in the club. We tend to surpass the initial set capacity due to the influx of members who want to volunteer, and have to set a new capacity that the event organizers are able to accomodate. I hope that the future events are as successful as the past ones.

Yours in Service,

Christine Nguyen

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riddle of the month What can you hold in your left hand but not in your right? your right elbow

TUE

VENTS: NOV GENERAL MEETINGS Join us at 3:15 after school to learn about upcoming events and Key Club!

BOARD MEETINGS All officers must attend the two board meetings every month.

UPCOMING VOLUNTEERING EVENTS 11/7: Heather Glen- Come help teachers clean up and fix their rooms at Heather Glen Elementary 11/21: Trusted World- Come help sort clothes at the Trusted World Clothing Center.

11/22: Kids Against Hunger- Come help the Richardson Kiwanis Club package food for children and elders at the U.S.-Mexico Border.

ET O N

All meetings will occur online.

Calendars only include events planned at the start of the month and are subject to change. Events can be added or canceled.

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Mission Statement Key Club is an international, student-led organization that provides its members with opportunities to provide service, build character and develop leadership.

We Are Global Key Club is a growing organization with global reach. With 1000s of clubs in more than 38 countries, the impact of Key Club members can be felt all over the world.

We Learn Through Action High school student members of Key Club perform acts of service in their communities, such as cleaning up parks, collecting clothing and organizing food drives. They also learn leadership skills by running meetings, planning projects and holding elected leadership positions at the club, district and international levels.

Core Values - Leadership » Leadership is grounded in humility and service to others.

A true leader listens, recognizes, and empowers.

- Character building » Character is built by everyday acts of kindness, integrity and teamwork to grow stronger relationships and communities.

- Caring » Compassion for others is a cornerstone of the Key Club experience, inspiring action and service to one’s community.

- Inclusiveness » We welcome people of all backgrounds and ethnicities to join in serving and making a positive difference in our world

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KEY CLUB AND ME

By Christine Nguyen, President

Intrinsically regarding Garland High School’s Key Club, I’ve found that everyone is extremely kind and they do out of their way to help someone in needregardless of whether or not they are close to one another. Being a part of a community that values such warmth is what makes the club meaningful to me. I am rarely scared to approach another board member or even a district board member when I have inquiries. This year, I’m an upperclassman, so my perspective has changed quite a bit in comparison to my freshman mentality. It is interesting to watch how the underclassmen interact with other students and the club.

Unlike upperclassmen, they tend to participate more in events and general meetings overall. Not only that, but they are the ones who contact me the most often when they have questions. I joined Key Club when I was a freshman at GHS and am still currently an active member, so I basically watched the club grow- both in member size and a stronger relationship between the board and the members.

Members are also starting to interact outside of their friend groups ever since the club started doing Icebreakers- which is astonishing considering how awkward we all are. As a result, I was able to make new friends and solidify a relationship with people who I was just schoolmates with a couple months prior. There is still a noticeable distinction (or rift) amongst the different grade levels, however, it isn’t as noticeable as it was when I first joined.

It's interesting to see how these two member groups- the 14-15 year old freshmen and 17-18 year old seniors don’t interact, but there are in between groups, like the sophomores and juniors that “tie” them together. In events, the rift is a bit visible, but with online general meetings, I forget about the age disparity.

The friends and acquaintances I’ve gathered isn’t the only thing that makes Key Club memorable to me, but also the overall volunteering experience. Without the club, I would have not participated in the community as much as I am notor playing a significant role in it at all. I knew that there was an importance to community involvement, however, it was Key Club that solidified the idea of community service and having fun while doing so. Terms like “fun” and “service” don’t tend to be associated with each other, but the club has definitely defeated the unfounded stereotype of work being boring and requires one to overexert themselves. I’d say that the experience of doing something like helping others on a mass scale has definitely played a large part in shaping me as a person, as well as helped me understand those around me better.

WEBSITE UPDATES

By Jacob Wendling, Webmaster Hello Key Clubbers! The second cycle has

If you miss any more than two meetings or you will

begun! I hope you are all keeping up with your

be put on probation. Speaking of meeting

schoolwork. This year will be difficult due to

attendance, all of this year’s meetings will be on the

health and safety concerns, but we will make it

calendar once we finalize the schedule. We are

through together. The website content is

currently working to make this year as successful as

being updated for this year! The meeting

previous years, despite the current circumstances.

archive with powerpoints and minutes

Finding ways to contribute to the community while

(transcripts) is being updated now. Make sure

keeping our members safe is our priority right now,

you keep up to date with the archive if you

so feel free to message us if you have any ideas. Our

miss any meetings. Hours have also been

contact information is on the website on the

uploaded and are up to date, though we

Contact Us page. Thank you for listening to my

haven’t had many opportunities yet. Hours

update for this

will still need to be submitted in the google

month. Don’t forget to check the website

form along with the usual prompts that follow. The link to the google form is located on the hours page just above the spreadsheet.

Be sure to familiarize yourself with the hour submission form for this school year. Make sure you submit any events you volunteer at and pictures of yourself volunteering. If you don't submit a picture with the form you won't get credit for your hours. Some members forgot to do this last year and missed out on some hours that they earned. The attendance sheet is now uploaded as well, so make sure you check to make sure you haven’t missed too many meetings.

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A FAVORITE OF MINE

By Sheena Vahela, Historian One of my favorite service events so far this year was the Walnut Glen Recess Painting Event. Key Club members were asked to paint an open concrete area at an elementary school with fun activities for students to do during recess.One reason this event was one of my favorites was we got paint. I love to make art and I will easily take any opportunity to be creative so this event, where I get to do something creative and get service hours for it, was super cool. When I first signed up for this event, I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to be doing as we didn’t receive much information about it, but when I arrived and the teachers at the school told us, I instantly became very excited. We were asked to paint activities such as a maze, hopscotch, four squares, and twister on the concrete. My friend and I decided to paint Twister and it was honestly really fun, except for the fact it was quite hot outside and we were very dehydrated by the end of it.Another reason I really liked this event was the location itself. The place we volunteered at was actually the elementary school I attended when I was younger.

Through this event, I got a chance to visit my old school and relive a lot of old memories. The amount of changes the school has gone through made me realize ow much time has actually passed as well as how much can change in just the span of a few years.

This event also gave me the opportunity to see a lot of friends that I haven’t seen since before the start of quarantine which I really liked.It was nice to actually see and talk to them in person after so long though of course, we wore our masks and were socially distancing the entire time.

The Walnut Glen Recess Painting Event was a super fun event to volunteer at. Being asked to paint on concrete for the first time, visit my elementary school, and see my friends while getting hours was awesome and I would definitely volunteer at a similar event in the future.

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MAJOR By joining March for Babies Step Up! you are helping moms and babies across the country, during a time when it’s needed most. Thanks to you we are adding new programs and resources to help families during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.

More than 10 million kids enter a children’s hospital like Children's Health across North America every year. To provide the best care for kids, children’s hospitals rely on donations and community support, as Medicaid and insurance programs do not fully cover the cost of care.

Kiwanis International and UNICEF have joined forces to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus—a deadly disease that steals the lives of nearly 31,000 innocent babies and a significant number of women each year.

EMPHASIS

S

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The Thirst Project is a nonprofit organization that works with the support of young people to END the global water crisis by building freshwater wells in developing communities that need safe, clean drinking water.

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"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention" - Oscar Wilde

CONTACT US

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@garlandkeyclub

garlandhskeyclub@gmail.com

text @garlandkey to 81010

garlandhskeyclub.com

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'20-'21 district officers

DISTRICT GOVERNOR KAREENA

PATEL

governor@tokeyclub.com

DISTRICT EDITOR KAITLIN

TRAN

editor@tokeyclub.com

DISTRICT TREASURER RAJ

PATEL

treasurer@tokeyclub.com

TECH PRODUCER ALINA

DAM

techproducer@tokeyclub.com

DISTRICT SECRETARY VIVIAN

THAI

secretary@tokeyclub.com

CONVENTION LIAISON KAITLYN

ROEHR

cl@tokeyclub.com

REGION 8 ADVISOR DENNIS

HOGAN

region8@tokeyclub.com

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'20-'21 club officers

PRESIDENT CHRISTINE

NGUYEN

nguyechr010@students.garlandisd.net

VICE PRESIDENT YI

WONG

wongyi000@students.garlandisd.net

SECRETARY DYLAN

DAM

damdyl000@students.garlandisd.net

WEBMASTER JAKE

WENDLING

wendljak000@students.garlandisd.net

EDITOR AKSHAYA

CHANDRA

akshayachandra10@gmail.com

CLUB ADVISOR MORGAN

SHAEFFER

mshaeffer@garlandisd.net

TREASURER KEVIN

SECRETARY TONY

lamkev000@students.garlandisd.net

LE

leton000@students.garlandisd.net

HISTORIAN SHEENA

DIVISION 2S LTG TISHA

GAUTAM

tishagautamkci@gmail.com

LAM

VAGHELA

vagheshe000@students.garlandisd.net

Caring: Our Way of Life