VIKING NEWSLETTER featuring Sophia Ma as the author for this month's HOTO reviews our events for January 2021 and introduces a new service opportunity granted to us by the Youth Opportunities Fund Grant
JANUARY 2021 LAMAR HIGH SCHOOL REGION 7 DIVISION 39N VOLUME II ISSUE VI
LETT FRO
THE EDITOR
Hey Guys! Happy 1 month after New Years! Everyone is hoping that 2021 will be a better year because it is not 2020. But to me, the numbers don't matter as much as our actions. In this issue, you can see our January Recap, February outlook, and some fun stories and inspiring articles written by our officers. As the editor, making these Newsletters every month has helped me see how far we have come. It's the last semester of high school for me, and what I would tell the underclassmen is to just be themselves. We are the leaders of the future; how our next year will be is dependent on our actions. 2021, 2022, 2023... We will not stop serving our community, because that's what makes tomorrow better. 1 Letter from the Editor
TERS OM
THE PRESIDENT
Welcome to 2021, a fresh new year. For those of us who know the Chinese Zodiac, it also happens to be the year of the Ox. Realistically, this year will perfectly reflect the year of the Ox because this is the year for sweat, hard work, and grit. Rest assured that Lamar’s Officer team is working incredibly hard to make sure that all of y’all have fun and exciting events to volunteer at, and I know that our members will always be working hard to represent themselves and their love for helping others through their volunteering. We have exciting events such as Lifting up Lamar, partnerships with our local public library, and River legacy, so be sure to stay tuned for more information on these events! Stay safe, and keep on volunteering! 2 Letter from the President
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 2 LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 FUN FACTS ABOUT YOUR OFFICERS 5 HUMANS OF TX OKLAHOMA 7 JANUARY REVIEW 9 FEBRUARY OUTLOOK 11 STARTING THE NEW YEAR - EMILY WILSON 13 MEMORABLE SERVICE - HALEY WEHR 15 WHY KEY CLUB - CLEO CHIU 17 CLUB OFFICERS 19 WHETHER WEATHER - SARA LIM 21 NEW YEAR RESOS - MADISON HARRIS 23 DISTRICT NEWS & OFFICERS 25 KEY CLUB INTERNATIONAL'S COLLABORATIVE AND SERVICE PARTNERS
3 Table of Contents
GET
TO
KNOW
YOUR
EDITOR
MY FAVORITES COLOR: Green FRUIT: Guavas STARBUCKS DRINK: Nitro Cold Brew w/ Sweet Cream Something important to me is being happy. My family has always tried to teach me that happiness is the most important thing in life. I think I'm very lucky to have grown up with this mindset, and I think it brings me out of ruts. I think that happiness or at least being calm and unaffected by small things is important to staying sane.
EXTRACURRICULARS Tennis FBLA National Honor Society
Key Club (Ofc)
CLEO CHIU Hi Guys! If you want more than this mini paragraph then check out the first page (LOL). It's finally my turn to introduce myself and it is certainly my honor to be able to serve in Key Club and our community. I am so glad that there are still so many people willing to volunteer this year.
MY DUTIES Make monthly newsletters Gather monthly articles and HOTOs Help recruit members by sharing our club's story Gather photos of service and monthly meetings and socials 4 |Fun facts about your officers
HUMANS OF TEXAS OKLAHOMA BY SOPHIA MA
5 HOTO
Hey there! My name is Sophia Ma. I was born and raised in Arlington, Texas, and am currently a senior at Lamar High School. As a senior, I am looking forward to pursuing engineering or architecture as my college major. Growing up, I have always loved to travel and design; being
aid, whether it be packing Operation Christmas Child boxes or volunteering at River Legacy.
able to create pieces and sharing them with others makes me happy, which
the pandemic caused us to miss the following year, it was a super fun
ultimately cultivated my passion to be an active participant in the design world. During my time at Lamar High school, I have been given the opportunity to join a
experience. I have been helping with Operation Christmas Child since freshman year through my church; it’s an event that I look forward to every year and getting to do it twice in one year was
variety of clubs and extracurriculars including Key Club, Future Business Leaders of America, orchestra, and art among others. I like being able to explore
fun. Filling boxes with goodies and items and then packing all those boxes into shipping boxes for kids all over the world is exhilarating, especially knowing that I
all the different opportunities and gain exposure to different areas (i.e. business, arts, volunteering).
was able to help out kids across the globe.
One of my favorite service events is Operation Christmas Child. Although we were only able to do it one year, in which
I have been a member of the Lamar Key Club ever since freshman year. What
This year, especially, has definitely given me a different experience in providing service. With the pandemic in play, many
motivated me to join? Well, to be frank, it was a club that everyone joined, so I joined as well. Not the best reason, I know. However, shortly after joining, I didn’t have any regrets in my decision. Becoming a member of Key Club has given me a lesson and allowed me to see how fortunate my life is and how blessed
in-person service events are limited. However, the Lamar Key Club was able to adapt to this obstacle, offering ways to provide service opportunities through means that can be done at home such as J&J Donate a Photo, Free Rice, and Charity Miles. It’s cool to see that even though I’m stuck at home, I can still help
I am that I have access to the things that I have. In addition, being a member has given me opportunities to give back to the community and help those who need
people. Being in Key Club has allowed me to give back to the community and even get to help those around the world. I am happy to be able to give a hand and proud to be a part of the Lamar Key Club.
6 HOTO
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7 January Review
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Our January 15th social was a success! Here are our screenshots from scribbl.io it was lots of fun and super hilarious, we hope that you guys will join our next social in February! We spent more than an hour finding different ways to draw the words that we were given, and it was super hard trying to draw with a mouse.
The rice we've donated through FreeRice has grown by 2000 grains! That's the equivalent of 8 hours of service. Thank you to those who continue to use their time to help others, and congratulations to Ada and Allyson, our reigning champs! We've also accumulated 800.18 total miles on Charity Miles even though we only have 11 participating members! We are very honored to have these great volunteering opportunities so be sure to participate!
8 January Review
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10 February Outlook
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Arlington Public Library Crafts - 1st Monday of each month 3:30-5:30 pm Please be there for at least 30 min We will be putting together crafts for seniors who partake in Books on Wheels, APL’s outreach service for seniors. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F4DADAF2CA7FD0-feb1st River Legacy Privet Removal Patrol Feb 13th 1 pm - 3 pm Our 2nd in-Person event of the year! Sign up here: https://riverlegacy.volunteerhub.com/events/index select Privet Removal patrol Please wear a mask, bring water, and gardening gloves CONTINUING
EVENTS
Charity Miles https://miles.app.link/8H4Q6ZnAKab 10 miles/hr - it's not hard! Just take your phone on walks. Make sure you’re in our group! We’re supporting March of Dimes, a Kiwanis Partnership Free Rice (UN World Food Program) Group Code 29JTX24F Maximum 5 hours, so 2500 grains of rice Download the app or use the website: freerice.org Humans of Texas Oklahoma (Due Feb 25th) Become our featured HOTO member of the month! Write 450-500 words about your key club experience, and include a picture of yourself. IMPORTANT
LINKS
Lamar Key Club Website https://keyclublamar.wixsite.com/lhskey Find all the important information here including opportunities, meeting presentations, cord and stole requirements. Log Your Hours! https://tinyurl.com/lhskcloghours
Email Us! keyclub.lamar@gmail.com
Follow Us: @lamarkeyclub
Get Newest Information @vfndkey1
We also have a discord! Message us on Remind to get the link! 10 February Outlook
JANUARY 2021
Starting the New Year NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS FROM THE VP
by Emily Wilson
In this article: YOF GRANT LEDCON NON-TRADITIONAL SCRAPBOOK
It’s a new year, and I’m sure no one is disappointed by that. Everyone I’ve talked to can agree that 2020 was a time to leave in the past and hopefully stay there. But as they say: endings are just new beginnings, and I believe this the beginning of some exciting innovations for our Key Club. Starting this New Year, our club will be focusing our effort on our first time YOF grant-funded project, Lifting Up Lamar, along with preparing fundraising and the nontraditional scrapbook for DCON. This is the first time Lamar High School Key Club has been given the YOF grant by Kiwanis. We told Kiwanis this grant would be used to provide funding to our school’s Families in Transition program, and we’ve decided to label this project Lifting Up Lamar.
11 Starting the New Year
Families in Transition or FIT, is a program designed to support kids and families who don’t have a permanent housing situation with affordable housing and services. We discussed with the leader of the program earlier in January and decided we will have Key Club members donate products such as shampoo, toothpaste, and deodorant which can be given to families through FIT. We also plan on using the grant money directly, by having our officers collaborate on a day to buy bulk amounts of these products at a store. This is certainly a project we will be emphasizing this month and one we will want to steward our resources well in.
LEDCON
At a recent officer meeting, we considered different fundraising opportunities such as a carwash or a “bingo board” where people would pay to see our officers do silly stunts. We decided one event we’ll use to fundraise, is a collaboration with one of our local restaurants. At one of these “spirit nights,” Key Club members can tell friends or family to eat at a restaurant, and a portion of the proceeds from their payments will be donated to Key Club.
Non-Traditional Scrapbook Another thing we'll be looking at is our non-traditional scrapbook entry. We’ve already talked about designating a team of officers to start brainstorming and be willing to volunteer more time outside of school.
The last year had a lot of expected and unexpected challenges, but I’m very impressed at how our officers and members of our Key Club handled it. Last year was also our first year to be involved in a lot of larger Kiwanis opportunities, and this year is our year to make our mark within the district. I firmly believe that this year will be a fantastic one full of growth really a culmination from the last two as our club has done things we’ve never even considered before. I also believe the start to this year with our new projects is just a foreshadowing of the greatness to come.
Our club is also beginning to focus heavily on our preparation for DCON with fundraising, and the nontraditional scrapbook. To get our interested officers to DCON, we have to raise the money to pay for transportation, hotel, etc. which is not already being covered by Kiwanis.
12 Starting the New Year
MY MOST MEMORABLE SERVICE MOMENT OF 2020
BY HALEY WEHR
Looking back on the year 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic opened my eyes quite a bit. For some, the virus brought out the best in them, and for others, the worst. For example, people across the nation came together to provide for their neighbors and demonstrated love by upholding protective measures in order to keep each other safe. As a whole, my year of service during the pandemic brought about several opportunities, but the most memorable for me occurred while on a Saturday afternoon hiking trip throughout Fossil Ridge in Glen Rose, Texas. Waking up that morning, I expected the trails to be barren and sparsely occupied due to the current COVID-19 circumstances. However, within minutes of arriving, my suspicion was proved entirely false as I was quickly surrounded by people. Without hesitation, I dodged my way out of the masses and set onto the hiking path, creating a safe social distance between myself and the pair of hikers just beyond me. As I approached different intersections of the trail, I was shocked by the apparent absence of masks, clumping in large groups, and lack of concern in general. 13 Most Memorable Service
Continuing on my trek, I was met by a horrifying sight: a multitude of facial coverings had been carelessly thrown onto the ground, into bushes, and even hung from the low-hanging branches of trees. Suddenly, it was painfully clear to me why almost none of the other hikers were wearing masks. Many had likely discarded them due to the unbearable inconvenience of having a piece of material across their face while walking. I immediately set down my bag, rifled for a pair of gloves and managed to find a wadded up plastic bag before facing the giant task in front of me. I set to work, never once stopping to reconsider my actions or complain. Having collected over thirty masks and a handful of half-empty plastic water bottles from the depths of the thicket, I set myself back on course and continued to pick up trash as I proceeded along the trail. Throughout my hike, I encountered several other people- some masked, some not. However, almost all of them took a quick glance at the bag I had filled with junk along the way. Although I might have never crossed their minds again after that brief interaction, I hope they walked away with the compulsion to do better. Seeing the trails in such awful condition and inhabited by people who prioritized their own comfort over the wellbeing of others was heartbreaking, but I know that through my service, I became an example of how we should act toward both nature and each other. Moreover, cleaning up the trails left them looking much better and showed me that any act of service, no matter where, when, or how small, can make a difference. 2020 was a year that allowed the goodness in many people to shine through, and I’m so thankful that service allowed me to be a part of that number. Although I might have never crossed their minds again after that brief interaction, I hope they walked away with the compulsion to do better. 14 Most Memorable Service
WHY KEY CLUB
2017
2018
BY CLEO CHIU In all honesty, I joined Key Club because it basically had the longest line at Viking Fest - an event at Lamar that has all the clubs come out and recruit. I was a freshman who had just moved here from Taiwan, so everything was unfamiliar to me. I had gone to this event with my cousin who was a senior to see what clubs there would be. My Aunt suggested Key Club to me, and so I got in line. Another thing I must admit is that Key Club was horrifying my first year, with so many people crammed into one small space, the request to put our phones away, and the confusion that always consumed me when I wanted to volunteer. I think I did not volunteer a lot that year, because I was always confused and lacked means of transportation. 15 Why Key Club
2019
But I would say that Key Club has changed a lot. Sadly we do not have as many members as we had my freshman year, but we spend a lot more time making sure everyone has a good experience. However, I might be biased because I am on the officer team. I saw one of my friends as an officer at the end of freshman year, as I was totally shocked - I had no idea it was a thing. So the next year when they began looking for representatives, I signed up. Being part of the officer team meant that I was receiving a lot more information on what must be done and how things can be done. Enjoying Key Club meant that I had to have the courage to stuff myself in the middle of it. But once I did, I saw miracles happen around me. I saw so many people willing to help others, I saw that the community needed us, and it was inspiring to see what we could achieve when every one of us contributed. I suppose that’s the spirit of Key Club.
2020
I saw miracles happen around me.
If I am ever asked, “Why did you join Key Club?” I would definitely have to tell them that I joined Key Club because I wanted to be part of a club in high school. I had already joined Robotics and was committed to it my freshman year, but in the end, I stayed with Key Club and not Robotics. Why I stayed in Key Club? Because it is so rewarding. Not just in volunteering hours or resume events, it is rewarding because it has given me hope for the future. To watch our hours as a club and as individuals stack up and to see the people who continuously give to our community, it gives me hope that we will make a better world.
16 Why Key Club
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18 Club Officers
WHETHER WEATHER
19 Whether Weather
BY SARA LIM Depending on whether it is a bright and sunny day or a gloomy and rainy day, I can assume that all our moods change. For me, weather plays a significant part in my day-today mood. On rainy days, I mak not want to be outside, but on sunny days, I won’t want to be inside! This goes for volunteering as well. Last year, we had the opportunity to volunteer at the after dark in the park at River Legacy for Halloween. When we had arrived, the sun was still out and it was looking like a very nice day to volunteer. I was so excited and ready to help out my community. But as the day went on and the sun started to set, I found myself enjoying it less and less. I was thinking more about the weather and how cold and windy it was, than volunteering and keeping a good attitude. It’s definitely more challenging to find the willingness inside of you to volunteer when the weather isn’t going your way. On the other hand, I had signed up to volunteer for key club at a church carnival event. The weather that day was in the mid 70s, practically beautiful weather. Looking back on that day, I had so much fun. Making caramel apples to running a booth to petting goats, it was all so much fun. A factor that played apart in my overly happy mood was the weather.
Since it was perfect, it lightened up my mood and everyone's mood that day as well. Weather also affected my mood for school. We can all relate that trying to find motivation to do school work can be somewhat difficult at times. But doing it on a rainy and muggy day is even harder. Trying to focus on the optimistic points of view is much harder when the weather is pulling you in the opposite way. Whereas on a sunny and clear day, I find my mood significantly better and find myself being more productive throughout the day. To cope with bad weather days, I have found myself listening to uplifting music instead of sad and depressing music. This has helped my accomplish more school work whenever I don’t have the motivation to do so and when the weather isn’t ideal. As for finding solutions to keep up the motivation to volunteer, I find it the easiest to go with a group of friends so they can “distract you from the weather”. This helps me not focus on the weather and have my full attention on volunteering happily!
"It’s definitely more challenging to find the willingness inside of you to volunteer when the weather isn’t going your way."
20 Whether Weather
New Year Resolutions
BY MADISON HARRIS Everyone has a New Year's resolution and ends up breaking it when the time comes. The Lamar KeyClub is not one of those. Our new year resolutions are very important that we don't even think twice about quitting. Our new year's resolution is to finally go to LEDCON. We are working as a team to get there and doing anything we have to do to show our creative skills. Lamar Keyclub hasn't yet succeeded in experiencing LEDCON, but we feel and know this year is our year. LEDCON is to see our skills as a team to work together and make things better as for everyone. Another of our New Year's resolutions is to have more successful socials. Many of our socials last year were successful, but we would like more of our team to come to the socials. We have to get the word out more for our team and people to go out and have fun and support us. 21 New Year Resolutions
Our social ideas include; Skribble.io, Among Us, and plenty more to come this year. This final last New Year's resolution is to come closer as a team and to get comfortable with each other. This resolution is important because, as a team, you should be close as possible and have some type of bond with your club. This is also important because I have not grown close or comfortable with a person just yet in The Key Club. It's also essential to have a bond with your team, so y'all can work together properly and talk to each other right about the ideas you have. You should get to know your team, and the most important thing is to respect them and their decisions. If you do not get to know your team or get any type of bond with any of them, things will start going wrong, and you will just give up and not respect the people in your team. Getting closer to my team will benefit us to go to LEDCON and also have more successful socials. If I have a bond with my team, more ideas will come up for socials and make us get the word out even more because we know how to communicate without having an awkward conversation. Also, we will make the socials more fun, and that will make people show up. Getting closer to my team will benefit us going to LEDCON by sparking up ideas and adding on to our ideas. Talking about it together and having a successful LEDCON. Our New Year's resolution will be complete, and we have successfully done it and accomplished something as a team.
22 New Year Resolutions
DISTRICT NEWS Not only does our club have newsletters, but the district also has them too! Go to https://issuu.com/todistrict/docs/november_december_2020_t ex-o-key to read the most recent one! You can also find previous ones by clicking on their profile on issu.com
There is also a Texas-Oklahoma District Website available for anything you need! the website is tokeyclub.com
CONGRATU LATIONS TO How has been successfully re-elected Lieutenant Governor of Region 7 District 39N of the Texas-Oklahoma District of Key Club international! May she have a wonderful second year of governing and bring wonderful new surprises to our district. You can congratulate her by finding her email on the next page. 23 District News
DISTRICT GOVERNOR Kareena Patel
district officers
governor@tokeyclub.com
DISTRICT SECRETARY
Vivian Thai
secretary@tokeyclub.com
DISTRICT TREASURER
Raj Patel
treasurer@tokeyclub.com
DISTRICT EDITOR
Katelyn Tran
editor@tokeyclub.com
CONVENTION LIASON
Kaitlyn Roehr
cl@tokeyclub.com
TECHNOLOGY PRODUCER Alina Dam
techproducer @tokeyclub.com
INTERNATIONAL TRUSTEE Salma Eldeeb
salma.eldeeb @tokeyclub.com
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Valerie Hennessee
ltg39n@tokeyclub.com
REGION 7 ADVISOR
Melissa Greene
region7@tokeyclub.com
24 District Officers
WANT TO DO MORE?
HERE ARE KEY CLUB INTERNATION PARTNERS AND COLLABORATIVE P
Landscape Structures (LSI) has joined Kiwanis International as a vision partner to bring play to communities across the globe. LSI is proud to provide highquality commercial playground equipment and planning consultation services that reflect the high degree of integrity that Kiwanis clubs expect.
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. By providing a community with safe drinking water, disease rates can drop by up to 88% virtually overnight! Child mortality rates can drop up to 90%- overnight! Clean water also plays an incredibly critical role in effectively treating and managing HIV/AIDS in rural communities.
25 | Key Club International Collaborative Partners
Nickelodeon currently presents two major campaigns year round that encourage action in kids globally. Worldwide Day of Play reinforces Nickelodeon’s mission to make the world a more playful place by leading Play events across the country. Nickelodeon’s Get Dirty campaign seeks to educate kids, families, and teachers about what they can do to help protect the planet in a way that is mindful and fun.
TeleSquads provide Key Club members with affordable opportunities to complete community service hours while gaining hands-ons international experience implementing projects that improve health and education outcomes for in-need communities. Each TeleSquad is a customized 1-9 week online course for groups of 8 or more Key Club members to build knowledge through skill-based volunteering, build cultural competency through virtual immersion, and deliver real impact through our local team by participating in live community and professional exchanges.
NAL'S SERVICE PARTNERS The Army strives to strengthen local communities through service and to build character and leadership among youth such as Key Club members. Through the Kiwanis Speakers Army personnel can connect with Kiwanisfamily clubs at club meetings, raising awareness of what today’s Army can provide and offer access to local Army support and resources. The Army also gives exceptional opportunities in higher education that can help young people throughout their lives.
Since 2014, Up with People and Kiwanis International members have teamed up to serve our communities, inspire youth and expand our impact in the world. that’s what Kiwanis International and Up with People share. Up with People programs open a door to service and intercultural understanding—whether it’s through a local show, leadership, and cultural workshops or providing service and travel experiences for young adults. Both organizations strive to ‘serve the children of the world’ and ‘empower youth to take action’ through our partnership.
COLLABORATIVE PARTNERS
Register for one month of fitness, reach your health goals, and change lives. Join individually or create a team. Your involvement creates community, and it helps Project Happiness educate youth and people of all ages—by providing proven tools for greater happiness and well-being.
K Corps is Kiwanis International’s youth exchange program for Key Clubbers and Kiwanis-family teens. It’s a great opportunity for youth connected with Kiwanis—and for families and Kiwanis clubs as well.Through the program, clubs, families and youth develop strong global relationships and intercultural communication skills by —attending meetings, experiencing fellowship, raising funds for various causes and participating in service projects. 26 | Key Club International Collaborative Partners
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