Potter's Papers: July 2014 by Linh Nguyen

JUNE 2014

POTTER’S PAPERS Garland High School Division 2C Key Club

Volume 1 Issue 3

Caring—Our Way of Life.. Leadership, Character Building,.. Caring, and Inclusiveness..

QUOTE OF THE MONTH “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” -Rabindranath Tagore

EDITOR’S NOTE Hey Key Clubbers! The first month of summer has gone by so quickly, and it was a much needed break from the turmoil of exams and wrapping up loose ends at school. Although the school year is over, Key Club’s mission to provide service to the community is never over; it’s a yearlong mission that we must attend to January through December. Again, the new theme for the coming school year, “The Magic of Service”, is quite anticipated and has a lot of potential for our club. Full participation in the theme will help to make it as successful as it can be, so I urge all of our members to be active in our new activities. Also, please, please, please send me articles for the newsletter as well as for submittal to possibly appear in the district newsletter! We need all the points that we can get, and it’ll help to get our club in the Top 25 at DCON. This is a really big honor, and every point counts! Thank you for your continual support of our newsletter. A lot of time and effort goes into creating one monthly, and the praise and compliments are really appreciated and help a lot in motivating me to try my very best in making sure that you enjoy each newsletter that you read. I hope that everyone continues to have a great summer! Yours in service, Linh Nguyen

CONTENTS Letter from the LTG

President’s Corner

Stories with Tiffany

Service Projects

Goose, the Twerk Twerk Pup 12 Adjusting to New Positions 13 GHS Key Club Board

Upcoming Events

Galaviz Goes Away

Update from Sec. of Hours 18 FUNdraisers Please!

T-O District Staff

COVER PHOTO: Sophie Le QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS?: Contact me by emailing linhnguyen3412@gmail.com or message me at https://www.facebook.com/ linh.nguyen.3241 for a more timely response.

For more information about the 2014 Key Club International Convention, visit the official website: http://www.keyclub.org/events/convention.aspx

A LETTER FROM Hey Division 2C and 2S! I know some of you have only met me about once or twice, so here is a little bit about me. My name is Tien Thi My Huynh, the Lt. Governor for Division 2C and 2S under the mighty Texas - Oklahoma District. You might say I'm kind of cheesy or that I make corny puns, but Tien out of Tien my puns are fantastic! I'm definitely in love with Marvel comics and I'm a total overachiever. I'm Orchestra President, Academic Decathlon President, P.A.L. Mentor, Rank 3 in Tennis and of course in one of the best clubs ever, Key Club! I hope to get to know everyone real well this year and to help all of my clubs reach the top 25 clubs this year. Aside from my school life, you can probably see me at a local coffee shop or mall chillin like a villain. I usually play video games such as L.A. Noire, or Final Fantasy, Fable, and Kingdom Hearts, so I guess you can say that I'm a total nerd! But hey~ at least I'm CUTE! I can definitely say that one of the best experiences I've ever had was traveling to Italy and I'd love to visit every summer if I could and fall in love with an adorable Italian man and eat gelato every day, but the world is not a wish granting factory. YES I JUST WENT THERE #TFIOS. Anyways! There is more to me than just a dorky little bio that I wrote, so as awkward as I may be, come up to me and let's talk! Anyways, now onto some strict business, I am so grateful to have seen many of you at the previous two training conferences. I’m looking forward to all of the things you have in store and to all of the lives you will touch. As of right now, I am working on sending you all the things you will need before I’m off to California, but I will be gone for a month and won’t be back until August 1 st. Although I will be back, I will also be attending a board meeting, so if you need anything feel free to email me or contact me via phone and I will arrange a Skype session or whatever I can in order to help you with whatever necessary. Make sure to do me proud kiddoes! I hope to see all of your reports and articles before the 5th of each month that way if there are any corrections that need to be made, I can help you fix them, so please work with me, I am here to help you! Also, don’t be scared of me! I don’t bite, or maybe I do, but I know that some of you need ideas for summer service, I WILL HELP YOU! There is a long year ahead of you. Be prepared to work hard if you hope to achieve your goals. I believe in each and every one of you, so make me proud kiddoes! Don’t forget to fulfill the divisional project of suicide awareness and governor’s project for Children’s Miracle Network. And don’t forget to have a lovely, wonderful summer. Your lovely Lt. Governor in service,

 According to National  According to the Violent Suicide Prevention Death Reporting System, Lifeline, purple and in 2004 73% of suicides turquoise are the ofalso tested positive for ficial colors symbolat least one subizing suicide prestance (alcohol, covention and caine, heroin, etc.). awareness.  Many who attempt suicide nev Suicide takes the lives of er seek professionnearly 30,000 al care. Americans eve There are twice ry year. as many deaths due to suicide than  Between 1952 HIV/AIDS. and 1995, suicide in young  Over half of all suicides occur in adults nearly triadult men, ages 25 pled. -65.  Substance abuse is a risk  The strongest risk factor for factor for suicide. suicide is depression.  Over half of all suicides  15% of those who are clinicalare completly depressed die ed with a fireby suicide. arm.  80% of people that seek treatment for depression are treated successfully. To learn more about suicide in teens and adults, go to www.save.org.

Hey fellow Key Clubbers!

PRESIDENT

I hope you’re all enjoying summer vacation, I know I am! Hopefully you aren’t too busy and can still attend some events this summer. As you all know, the Key Club year actually runs from April to April, so it’s very important that you all try to stay up to date and participate in events this summer. We are going to sell concessions as the Cotton Bowl on the 27th of June and hopefully we can draw in a good sum of money like last time. If you are interested in participating in this fundraiser, we also have another one on the 29th of July for the Real Madrid vs AS Roma game (YAAAAY!) Even if you are not a soccer fan, this will be a really fun event that will give our club some money so please participate!

I’ve been trying to get everyone’s email so I can personally send you updates and reminders. If haven’t already, be sure to put your information on the membership update page I posted on Facebook to make it easier for our secretaries and I to contact and keep track of you! I cannot stress enough that communication is key! Ever get bored this summer? You can try writing an article about anything Key Club related with 400 words and send it into our editor. It could get published in our newsletter or the District Tex-o-Key! I would really like to know what you all are expecting to get out of Key Club this year so feel free to send me some feedback on your experience this year and what you hope to expect this upcoming year. I’ve got all summer to read what you have to say so feel free to shoot me an email because I would love to know what you have to say. Be sure to stay involved this summer, the world needs servicemen and women like you! Yours in service, Theo

Hello all! As everyone probably doesn't know (because most of you aren't stalkers) I am in Austin for a majority of the summer! This entails walking up and down hilly terrain of Austin during the Texas heat, grocery shopping with my mom at H.E.B. (yes, there are other places to shop aside from Walmart), and really just watching a lot of Food Network. So, pretty much the same thing I would do if I was in Garland.

VICE-PRESIDENT

There is one big difference between these two cities and that is the number of homeless individuals. If anyone has been to the Central Library in downtown Garland there is a homeless man that frequents the building. In Austin there are homeless men and women that frequent every single corner of most highways. It is shocking, to say the least. As I am from a 21st century suburban household I would say that I am fairly sheltered, except for the fact that I go to Garland High School. Kidding guys, I actually like our high school despite its lack of soap in bathrooms, random scattering of dead cockroaches, and strange fire alarms ringing during the last five minutes of school. Anyway, my first instinct is to subtly move my hand in the direction of the car lock and double check that it is, in fact, is, in fact, locked, avert my eyes, and pray for the light to turn green. However, the common factor between all of these people is the fact that on their drooping cardboard signs the words "Anything will help" were always penned in Sharpie. Righto, onto the facts. From the Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress of 2013, Texas accounted for 5 percent or 20,758 homeless people in the nation. In short, we have enough homeless people to fill up a little over a fourth of Cowboy's Stadium. According to the American Cancer Society about 43,000 people are diagnosed with Leukemia every year. Children's Medical Center has 487 beds for sick kids. Now the stadium is about 3/4's full. The efforts that we make at the food bank or the toys donated to hospitals are not tremendous strides on our part, but it is something. And that something could be the anything that some people ask for. We help at the Food Bank to feed the 1.8 million Texas Children that suffer from food insecurity and we bake cupcakes and brownies for the 58,000 newborns to died of neonatal tetanus to help support the Unicef campaign. Every time you volunteer try to imagine that one of the people sitting in Cowboy's stadium waiting for aid has been plucked out. You are the god-like claw from Toy Story. *insert little green aliens saying "The Clawwwww" in awe* People are people. And regardless of if they are holding a cardboard sign asking for donations, realize that we do the same when asking for individuals to donate money for any one of our fundraisers, we just happen to have a home to go back to. So, don't avert your eyes. When someone asks for money simply nod your head no if you can't afford to give. From selling numerous baked goods this year and being ignored I can say that it sort of hurts when people don't acknowledge your existence. Let's work to change that. Signing off, Ashley Tsao

Greetings, members and board members of Key Club! (Including anyone else who reads these nifty newsletters) I hope your summer is going well so far. By the way, just because it’s summer does not mean that you guys should slack on participation! Make sure you guys make an effort to volunteer for upcoming events (like a possible car wash coming up and an event at the Cotton Bowl!!!!?! [ooh ahh]). The board members aren’t anticipating to grant leniency to any member who fails to at least attempt to acquire his or her hours for the rest of the school year. Heed my warning, because there is a scary (a horrible story actually) based on a lazy member who didn’t want to participate in our beloved Key Club. This young general member is the person who inspired the story of the ugly barnacle. The haunting tale (derived from a familiar show called ‘Spongebob Squarepants’) told by the wise Patrick Star reads:

Once there was an ugly barnacle; he was so ugly that everyone died. The end. Contrary to the bone rattling, spine tingling tale recreated above, the general member wasn’t that ugly. She was decent, and on a scale of 1-10 she was a 3; however, that isn’t the case. The evil girl decided that she didn’t need to get her hours because having paid her dues, she assumed that she wouldn’t be put on probation or even (gasp) be kicked out of Key Club. She didn’t bother to attend events, socials, and even general meetings for many, many months. The glorious president, Wheo Tinter finally had enough. Using her leadership skills and presidential powers, she and the other board members agreed to remove the girl from the club. After being removed from the club, she swore to avenge herself by making really ugly faces and not volunteering ever again. Soon after, she was referred to as an ugly barnacle because her face became stuck from making ugly expressions and accumulated weird crusty things, similar to what accumulates on a barnacle.

Given the story, I hope that this makes anyone, and everyone, want to not follow in the footsteps of that one girl, who decided to never fundraise for ELIMINATE and UNICEF (among many other fundraising projects), volunteer for events, and participate in various projects. Key Club is all about serving and becoming a family, which are two great things that help shape better

As summer progresses, your fearless vice-leader of Key Club has braved the enemy (procrastination) and started to plan service projects for the upcoming year. While they are not currently fully fleshed out, I wanted everyone to get an idea of what we will be doing. Also, this is an opportunity to make suggestions and help revise any of my ideas! They will be warmly welcomed (unless they are bad) and you will win favor with me (which isn't really worth anything). Here we go! September As I was perusing a timeline of disasters in the world, I noticed that there were some in September. For example, in 1737 a cyclone hit the Bay of Bengal. In 1900 6,000 to 8,000 people were killed by a hurricane. And of course the unforgettable tragedy of 9/11. To help with the disaster relief, I was thinking that we could donate to the American Red Cross by collecting money in a variety of ways (selling baked goods, setting up a "pie a teacher in the face" booth, cake walks, etc.). During the week that we do this we could wear lil' red bandanas Rosie the Riveter style and look cute while helping people.

October Surprisingly, America is in fact not the center of the world. The international community has actually banded together to create some world holidays. One of them is World Teacher's Day on the fifth. This year, it's on a Sunday but I doubt the teachers would complain if we celebrated it a bit earlier. On October 3rd Key Club could host a little luncheon donation where Key Clubbers brought food and dessert to fill the lounge of each department in school (English, Fine Arts, Science, etc.). Because who doesn't like food?

November November means Turkey Month. This means stuffing our faces on the day of Thanksgiving after going to Turkey Trot. Unfortunately, some individuals do not have the resources to be able to buy large turkeys and pounds of stuffing. It would be fantastic if we could go door to door in different neighborhoods to collect food for the North Texas Food Bank.

December Ahh, December. Month of panic and torture as I try to get my grades up before the semester ends. In the spirit of giving, Key Club will adopt four angels from the Salvation Army to raise money and purchase presents for. If anyone hasn't participated in this event before, you basically sign up for an angel (a child) whose family does not have enough money to buy presents for Christmas. We raise money, look at their wish list, and purchase the items that they want/need. Each house will receive their own angel. -Ashley Tsao

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GOOSE, THE TWERK TWERK PUP Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, a little puppy was strutting down the edge of a creek by his house. While walking through the shallows at the edge, a glinting from in between the rocks caught his eye. He bent down, lowering his head and spotted a wedged penny! Excited out of his mind he yelled, “Oh cool! I found a penny.” Then out of pure excitement started violently wagging his tail. Unfortunately, this puppy lacked one thing that all the other puppies had: a tail. He had a little stub for a tail, so when he’s excited and wants to wag his tail, he shakes his entire bottom to compensate for what he lacks… And so his reputation began. Turns out when he had his mini celebration, another little puppy saw and told all the other puppies what happened, but with an interesting twist. The following day, the penny-finding puppy was strutting down the middle of town going home and heard a small chanting from the other puppies around. To the puppy it sounded like little whispers, but he could make out a single word “twerk”. A year went by and a label settled upon this poor puppy. Goose. Within a year, the puppies mocked him for his single gyrating celebration, he would retort, but his defense sounded more like croaky honking similar to a goose’s and since he waggled his bottom like a big booty fowl, Goose seemed the best way to mock him. The Twerking Goose. That named followed him wherever he went around the town. Their usual whispers consisted of “Guess what he would do for a penny….” followed by cackles from the crowd. That is how he lost many friends and then his real name so he was forever known as Goose. Goose, he did not mind new name, he learned to deal with it. Although, what he could not deal with were the enemies. And the snickers. And the jokes. And

the constant penny tossing at his stub for a tail. He would waddle his poor self around the town. One day, with sorrow drooping his head, he could have never even came across a glance of the upcoming thorn bush at the middle of the town. He got so entangled in the sharp embrace of the bush, but no one in the town would help him and only chant “twerk” before leaving him. He would honk and wiggle trying to get someone to help him, but every pup knew that anyone associated with Goose would also be mocked for befriending the ultimate Twerk Machine. Then along came a yellow and blue kitten, Kacie. She quickly scampered toward the honking of Goose. Kacie knew the consequence of helping Goose, but she did not care. She may have been the newcomer and embraced warmly by the puppies of the town so certainly heard the rumors about Goose, but she could no longer handle the injustice against the notorious Goose. She scratched at the bush until Goose could finally come free. The other puppies saw this and were at first aghast, then expectedly, they mocked Kacie along with Goose. Kacie did not care though. She did the right thing, even if it cost her own reputation. Goose and Kacie became good friends despite the teasing. Key Club has never been about getting a good image. It is meant to help anyone no matter who he or she may be. Some people have the most unfortunate, uncontrollable accident, which become his or her official image to follow around them forever. They need the simple help of support from anyone, not to reprimand them for actions but to remind them that they are human as well. Even if the person is the twerk master and being around them would totes be social suicide, a true Key Clubber would befriend them. -Raquel Palma

On Sunday, June 1, we had our officer inductions at the Chili's in Firewheel with our LTG, Tien Huynh. There, we enjoyed a meal with each other, and Tien ran a short meeting introducing us as new officers for the Garland High School Key Club. This experience was a bit more nerve wracking than I had expected; the responsibility of the roles had already been placed on us about a month ago, but the formality of the entire experience made me feel a lot more anxious about the coming school year.

fall into a large conflict. Anger and frustration do nothing to help the club progress, and each dispute should be handled with calmness and critical thinking.

However, my familiarity with the board members is helping me a lot to maintain my composure. It's always important to have a closely knit board; if the officers aren't comfortable with one another, very little progress will occur. I'm so thankful that I have the opportunity to work with my friends to create a great Key Club at our high school.

By trying to maintain order during disputes and being mindful of each of the involved parties, Leadership is demonstrated. Character Building comes from staying calm, cool, and collected throughout any problems with other board members. Caring is shown when one is empathetic and kind to the board members even during disagreements. Lastly, by allowing each board member to have a voice in how to handle situations, Inclusiveness becomes an active aspect in the club.

To create a good environment with the board, everyone has to be on friendly terms. The group can't stay strangers the entire year and expect results; only through effective communication and an amiable attitude toward everyone can a club be successful. Occasionally, board members will have disagreements about certain actions of one another; this is bound to happen, no matter who the board consists of. However, this shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t cause the board to

As shown, a mindfulness of the emotions of the board as a whole help to create peace and effectiveness for the entire club. The four main values of Key Club are incredibly important in maintaining good relations throughout the year within the board:

All in all, in order for a club to be successful, comfort and the good moral values of Key Club are essential. By having each member equally represented in the board and each having an equal amount of opportunity to present opinions, the club will progress well past any conflicts. -Linh Nguyen

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ASHLEY TSAO VICE-PRESIDENT ash.tsao@gmail.com

JESSIE DOAN SECRETARY OF HOURS jtdoan100@yahoo.com

THEO W PRESID theoforawinte

TIFFANY YANG SECRETARY OF MINUTES tiffany.r.yang@gmail.com

JACKIE SANDOVAL WEBMASTER strawberry4772@gmail.com

JOSH M SERGEANT mrjoshmathew

WINTER DENT er@gmail.com

RAQUEL PALMA TREASURER raquelpalma2015@gmail.com

ANGELIJA ECHIVERRI HISTORIAN ljyypt@gmail.com

MATHEW T-AT-ARMS w@gmail.com

HOGAN NGUYEN HISTORIAN hoganth3@yahoo.com

LINH NGUYEN BULLETIN EDITOR linhnguyen3412@gmail.com

UPCOMING EVENTS

TUESDAY29JULY AS ROMA VS. REAL MADRID FRIDAY8AUGUST CAR WASH @ SONIC (NORTH GARLAND AVE.) MONDAY11AUGUST Pre-FISH CAMP Meeting @ ghs WEDNESDAY13AUGUST FISH CAMP @ GHS (FRESHMAN ORIENTATION) MONDAY25AUGUST FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

For the past few years, I was part of the great Key Club. Now, it is time for me to move onto greater things - Circle K! This past year, I had the honor of serving as the senior representative for the Garland High School Key Club. I’ll definitely miss being a part of Key Club - from the 5ks to short meetings to fundraisers and spreading Key Club around the school and community. Being a Key Clubber led me to great memories. I gained volunteer experience and talked to people that I never would have during school hours. Key Club definitely made me feel like a model because I kept getting my picture taken. One piece of advice GO TO DCON. District Convention was definitely one of my most favorite memories of my entire Key Club experience. I regret waiting until senior year to finally go to DCON. The money was worth it. The chicken that they elegantly cooked for us was just magnificent. And don’t even get me started on the cheesecake. Not only did they feed us well, but I got to become closer to other Key Clubbers. I had to share a bed with someone who I will be living with in college (#shoutout to Peter Pham). Hopefully, we will both continue to serve our community even as college students. Hogan was another guy that I shared a room with at DCON. I have always liked Hogan’s suave,

mysterious personality, but I never really got the chance to get close to him. DCON gave me the opportunity to bond with him. Lucky for both guys that I went because neither of them bought any clothes to wear so they had to borrow all my fancy schtuff. Close friendships, good memories, and cute Asian girls at the Sheraton Hotel. I highly recommend you guys to go. Well, now is the time for me officially sign off. I hope you guys have an amazing year next year. Good luck on your future endeavors, make new friends, go to more Key Club events, encourage people to join your favorite club, volunteer as much as you can, and thank your officers for all the hard work they put into Key Club to show them your appreciation. Thank you to everyone that encouraged me to join in the first place and everyone that helped make my Key Club experience phenomenal. I hope you guys continue to better Key Club and have an experience like mine. Peace out. Visit Peter and I at Texas A&M. Gig ‘em (Aggies, this time). 2013-14 Key Club Senior Rep. David Galaviz

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update from the secretary of hours Hey there fellow key clubbers, your Secretary of Hours here! I hope you are all enjoying a fun filled summer. I cannot believe it is already the end of June and summer 2014 is surpassing so quickly. Although it is our time to relax and stay up all night watching endless seasons on Netflix, --trust me, I feel ya-- we cannot forget about those who need help in our community. Key Club is an organization about serving others so we have a few service projects coming up during this summer break. One that has already occurred was Urban Dash which took place in Fair Park. Those who attended received four hours and had lots of fun helping racers in the 5K marathon. Speaking of hours, the spreadsheet for May and June has been updated and published! Please take a look and check if you served the minimum six hours for the bimonthly hours report. Those who did not complete six hours have received their first strike and are now on probation!! Nearly thirty of you from the three classes (2015, 2016, 2017) did not complete the required six hours have received your first strike and are and are now on probation!! already have your first strike. I advise you all who are on probation to take the hours seriously next year for if you receive two more strikes, your membership from the Garland High School Key Club will be suspended. A few dates to save for future service projects this summer are the 29th of July and the 8th of August. On the July 29th, our chapterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s club will be volunteering at the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park for a sports game. We will be working concessions and commuting through the Dart Train so I hope many of you will be able to attend because this is a great opportunity to earn hours! A sign up sheet will be posted by our president, Theo, very soon. If you want to volunteer, make sure to wear a black shirt and a pair of black pants. On Friday, August 8th, we will be hosting a GHS Key Club Car Wash! Bring yourself to the Sonic Drive In on George Bush in front of Samâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club and help us fundraise with a summer Car Wash. -Jessie Doan

FUNdraisers Please! A month of summer has sadly passed, which means we need to consider ways to raise money for the upcoming school year. There’s tons of fun ways to fundraise in the summer, but we need your help to get one going! Raising money for Key Club could potentially lower annual membership dues, which would benefit everyone. Not only should we create fundraisers to get money for our club, but we should try to fundraise for organizations that need donations as well, like UNICEF. Since we won’t get an advertising committee head until mid-autumn, we as a group need to collaborate and come up with some creative, FUNdraisers. If we combine all of our great ideas together, we could potentially come up with something awesome. Rather than doing the ordinary car wash, why don’t we come up with something that people won’t forget? I want to hear some of your ideas!

raisers are easy and simple, but can be pretty impactful as well. Do it, before we have to watch the officers desperately beg for money. Fundraising can also be a very good way to get involved in your club. It shows your dedication and commitment to the the cause. The club can only grow with it’s members and when each member contributes a little, it will all add up to an enormous amount of money. Also, creating and hosting a fundraiser for a service project would be another great opportunity for you guys to get the hours that you guys need to be getting this summer. Get that creative juice going and give the club a great lead. Mo money, mo problems? Naaaah. -Hogan Nguyen

While you’re bumming out in your pajama pants all day, you could talk to your friends of ways you could contribute to Key Club. I know a lot of you guys can’t sleep at night, so instead of analyzing that one thing you did 3 years ago, think of a fundraiser idea. Think of a place. Think of an activity. Think of organization to help out. BRAINSTORM. Then, share your ideas to any of the officers! Honestly, any effort you put in would be appreciated. It would definitely show that you care about Key Club. Contribution is a key action. You know, we can turn almost anything simple into a fundraiser if we have the right mindset, people, and effort. Where will that all come from? From you guys our key clubbers! Please help out. Fund-

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TEXAS-OKLAHOMA

DENNIS HOGAN

COLIN GONZALES

REGION 8 ADVISOR

DISTRICT TREASURER

REGION8@TOKEYCLUB.COM

TREASURER@TOKEYCLUB.COM

ASHLYN SALVATO

EMILY ZHAO

CONVENTION LIAISON

DISTRICT EDITOR

ASHLYNOSALVATO@GMAIL.COM

EDITOR@TOKEYCLUB.COM

DISTRICT STAFF

KAITLYN WILSON

SAMUEL KINNIN

DISTRICT GOVERNOR

DISTRICT SECRETARY

GOVERNOR@TOKEYCLUB.COM

SECRETARY@TOKEYCLUB.COM

BOBBY THAKKAR

TIEN HUYNH

TECH/VIDEO PRODUCER

DIVISION 2C/2N LTG

BOBBYTHAKKAR99@GMAIL.COM

TIENTHIHUYNH97@GMAIL.COM

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JUNE 2014 VOLUME 1 // ISSUE 2 GARLAND HIGH SCHOOL