Viking Newsletter | Lamar High School | Volume II Issue V | December 2020 by Lamar HS Key Club

VIKING

N E W S L E T T E R

REGION 7 DIVISION 39N LAMAR HIGH SCHOOL

DECEMBER 2020 | VOLUME II ISSUE V

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

HEY EVERYBODY! Doing a newsletter is super stressful, especially in the midst of everything. The tactic I usually use is templates provided to me by Canva. As a celebration of the end of 2020, I reused many designs and templates from the previous monthly newsletters. Can you spot which ones are which? For the new year, I really hope that we'll have more support from members to write the HOTOs, it is extremely interesting to read about your experiences with Key Club. As the last semester of high school begins, I increasingly feel that high school is to be treasured, although most of the time it is confusing, tiring, sleep-depriving, and stressful.

It is my most sincere hope that everyone will be able to enjoy our spring semester, come to more socials, whether socially distanced or on Zoom. I think that being online has only made interaction that much more precious; I know that it will become a force that connects us all together. I hope you'll enjoy the last newsletter of the commonly-hated year of 2020.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Editor's Letter

Table of Contents

Get 2 Know your Sophomore Rep

December Calendar

Fall 2020 Review

January Calendar

'Tis the Season - article by Jade Ha

2020- article by Joshua Chang

2021 - article by Patrick Chang

Winter Break Volunteering - article by Daz McGinnis

Holiday Spirits - article by Razan Shakoor

Humans of Texas Oklahoma - Moi Tungung

Get to Know your Vice President

Club Officers

District Officers

KC International's Partners

District News

GET

KNOW

YOUR

SOPHOMORE REP MY FAVORITES COLOR: White FRUIT: Strawberries SEMESTER GOALS: My goal for this semester is to be able to have an inperson social with key clubbers soon! Something important to me is family time. Over quarantine, I’ve grown to cherish and enjoy a lot more time with my family because I had never realized how absorbed I had been in school life prior to quarantine.

EXTRACURRICULARS Varsity Tennis LHS Orchestra

Academic Decathlon

SARA LIM Hi, I’m Sara, the sophomore representative! This is my second year in key club and my first year being a part of the officer team. Key club has been such a fun experience for me last year as a clubber, and this year too as an officer (even with covid). Hope to see y’all soon! One semester down, another one to go!

MY DUTIES

Plan socials with my fellow representatives Make the PowerPoint for the monthly meetings Assist my fellow Sophomores in anything they need!

CALENDAR

SUN

MON

TUE

WED

THU

FRI

SAT

9th 5th SALVATION BELL

DECEMBER

ARMY

GENRAL

RINGING

MEETING

17th 18th

LAST

DAY

SCHOOL!!

ARLINGTON LIBRARY

PUBLIC

SURVEYS

DUE

WINTER

BREAK

SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES ADOPT A NURSING HOME JOHNSON&JOHNSON MEMBERSHIP REFERRAL UNWFP FREE RICE HUMANS OF TEXAS OKLAHOMA ARTICLE CHARITY MILES WIMBISH ELEMENTARY SPOOKTACULAR LAMAR PANTRY FOOD DRIVE SALVATION ARMY BELL RINGING ARLINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARY SURVEY

WE DONATED 123,610 GRAINS OF RICE THIS SEMESTER THROUGH FREE RICE! CONGRATS TO ADA WHO ACHIEVED RANK 1 BY DONATING 32500 GRAINS OF RICE!

CKSHL#

7.5

OVER

1335

PHOTOS DONATED!

CLASS HOURS AVGS FOR FALL 2020

2.5

CONGRATS TO THE SENIORS WHO HAVE THE HIGHEST AVERAGE OF HOURS! KEEP GOING, DON'T STOP NOW. SENIORITIS WON'T GET THE BEST OF YOU.

s ro i n e S

s ro i n u J

s e ro m o h p o S

n e m h s e rF

LHSKC MEMBER, CORD, & STOLE REQUIREMENTS MEMBER REQUIREMENTS CHECKLIST O

ATTEND

VOLUNTEER

SIGN FORM

MEETINGS 25

DURING

AND

THE

THROUGHOUT

HOURS

EVERY

MEETINGS

HOUR

YEAR

AND

THE

YEAR

MINIMUM,

LOG

YOUR

INCLUDING

HOURS

BOTH

15 ON

SPONSORED.

@vfndkey1

https://keyclublamar.wixsite.com/lhskey Log your Hours: https://tinyurl.com/lhskcloghours Free Rice APP: https://freerice.com/

Donate a Photo APP: www.donateaphoto.com Pay your Dues: https://tinyurl.com/lhskcdues

OUR SPONSORS Ms. Robbins erobbins @aisd.net

Ms. Chamberlain echamber @aisd.net 8

BY JADE HA

TIS THE SEASON To be GIVING

Photo Caption: Jade with her siblings and cousins on Christmas morning preparing to exchange gifts

REVIEW OF 2019 - 2020 SCHOOL YEAR - A YEAR OF NEW THINGS

One of the core values that binds all Key Club

Starting to figure out more KC duties

do something meaningful for my community.

members is our desire to give back. Our greatest purpose is to volunteer our time, effort, and skills in order to give back to our community. My time in Key Club has certainly led to fulfillment like no other. Whether it be folding origami turtles with eager children at River Legacy, flipping pancakes to raise money, or ringing the Salvation Army Bells in the bitter cold, Key Club has given me the chance to

Although Key Club has given me a greater sense of selflessness and what it means to give back, long before I joined Key Club, I was able to foster a spirit for giving through none other than Christmas. Of course, no other time of the year best embodies the spirit of giving than the holiday season.

As much as I liked to receive presents just like any other child, there was a different joy that came about from the satisfaction of seeing others enjoy what you specifically made for them or picked out for them. Especially as a generally broke and unemployed teenager, I’m particularly fond of handmade gifts. As early as I remembered, I would craft Christmas cards with my medicare drawings and terrible 8-year-old scribble for my family and even my entirely too large extended family. Though I look back and cringe at my efforts, the impression they left on my family really goes to show that the gesture means so much more than the actual gift themselves. My family isn’t too festive, and only a handful of us bother to give gifts. Therefore, my poorly made cards were one of the only things some of them would receive for Christmas and served as a small way to brighten their holidays. Eventually, I acquired random skills, never mastering any, in order to continue giving handmade gifts. I would knit coasters, make magnets, paint pictures, make collages, or put together scrapbooks, with each year’s efforts becoming more polished and pristine as time passed and I improved. Somewhere along the lines I even upgraded from my unruly scribble to calligraphy and hand lettered cards. Despite many of my gifts being quite lackluster in functionality or perhaps a bit too homemade, the joy it brought to my family members when they saw the effort I put into their gifts made it well worth it. Most of them keep these small gifts to this day solely for the sentiment. Once I began building up sufficient savings from birthdays (luckily, my birthday falls in December before Christmas) and tet, the

It admittedly gets expensive since I have such a large immediate and extended family, and it is quite stressful to scramble in the time between finals and Christmas to find gifts for everyone. However, like I mentioned earlier, everything immediately becomes worth it and I feel a satisfaction like no other when I can tell that someone really liked and appreciated my gift, even if it was small. As deceiving as the photo above may be, my family is not all that festive most years and not many of us choose to exchange gifts. So, it makes it all the more important that my small presents spread a little joy and give all the kids something to open and the adults something to treasure.

Paralleling what I’ve learned through Key Club and volunteering around my community, giving my small and sometimes handmade gifts around the holidays is a way to spread joy and give a little token of appreciation to family while also finding my own self-fulfillment by seeing the happiness that I was somehow able to spark in others.

Vietnamese New Year, in which adults traditionally pass out money in red envelopes to children, I began shelling out for candles, socks, makeup, and other small presents tailored to suit each person’s taste.

2020

2020 has been the year of unimaginable. Who

Since the declaration of the pandemic, food

wouldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve thought that we would never be able

banks and non-profits have run dry and shelves

to see friends for almost nine months, and have

have become empty. In response, my church

school online until further notice? With the

has performed twenty six food drives and

unprecedented in the midst of a pandemic,

counting. During these food drives, it is

there is one thing that we have gained:

amazing how people can curb fears of getting

opportunity to give back.

sick to come together safely to deliver for the community. As one of the core values of Key

If you have tuned into national and local news,

Club, giving back to the community is a must,

there has been a lot of need within the

especially in a time like now. For people like

community lately.

me, the least I can do is serve others.

Volunteering brings out the joy in people. A day

At the end of the food drive is a time of

at the food drive starts with a temperature

reflection. As I started helping put flattened

check and packaging and assembling

boxes and pallets into the dumpster that was

packages very early in the morning. With the

already full from the first round of the dumpster

amount of food that is delivered from the

trip, I could not help but realize how much food

Tarrant Area Food Bank and other government

that we gave away, and how many families'

organizations, we strive to package north of

lives were changed. From the hundreds of

three hundred boxes. Starting at nine oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;clock,

smiles, I know that I have done my part. While

the lines of cars start to move. Smiles and

there may be language barriers, there are

thank youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s are exchanged as gratitude fills the

senses and cues of gratitude, like the smile that

air.

peeks out of the masks. Saying that I enjoyed

Seeing joy and fulfillment through the faces of the individuals that come to the food drives allows me to see the good that has been happening in the community. Little actions and small acts of kindness not only will make your day but will make the days for others.

volunteering at this food drive is an understatement because there are no words that can describe the satisfaction and joy from the food drive. There is no better feeling than being a Key Clubber and an avid volunteer changing the community one event at a time.

By Joshua Chang

2 0 2 1 - By Patrick Chang In the upcoming year, I’m sure I can say for most of us that 2020 was one of our worst years yet. I can’t wait to start the upcoming year, because, for me, it's just one step closer to the next step in my life. However, I still have one last semester here at Lamar, and I want to do my best to keep a continuation of the long-lasting legacy of great volunteers from Lamar High School. As president, one of the things that the team and I have to hold are officer meetings, and in these meetings, we get together and discuss things that we have to change and do better.

One of the things that we wanted to work on is communication, both internally and externally to the club, and so we will definitely work on it. Another goal that we want to work on is transparency, among the team and the members. We’re all brought together by the love for service, and so the more engagement we have with our members, the better.

PAGE FOUR| JOURNEY 13

This next semester, I want to be able to show more engagement and a wider variety of volunteer activities for our members. Online activities were great, but it wasn’t common to see the complete picture. We weren’t able to see the immediate impact as we usually could with our in person events, but it is still important to remember that all of our work and volunteer hours don’t go unnoticed. After finishing Q2, or Quarter 2, we saw an increase in our hour counts by 320%, which is incredible and a huge blessing to see. We went from 130 hours to 420 hours, which is something I did not expect. Originally, we were only hoping for 250 hours, but with the power of group volunteering, this is surely a sight to see. With this incredible increase, I’m sure that our next semester’s volunteering will be just as successful, if not more. Lastly, I want to help our team get to LEDCON. While more difficult under the circumstances of COVID-19, I’m still very hopeful that our team can work with our local AISD partners and TO to ensure our team’s safety all while being able to enjoy our time there to learn about what leadership and volunteering has to offer. Our team has already started to plan on how we could take action to stay safe, and so if we go this year, it would be our first time going in all of Lamar’s history. 2021 offers a new year where we have lots of new opportunities and activities, and so I hope that each and every one of us would take each event in stride and make the best of it. Moving forwards, let’s be grateful that this long year is over, and that we can accomplish new goals with the new year in place.

PHOTO CAPTION: OUR REQUEST FOR THE YOF GRANT WAS GRANTED!!

WINTER BREAK VOLUNTEERING By Daz McGinnis

Winter break, for many of us, is a time to relax from the restlessness of deadline after deadline, the continuity of catching up on textbook reading, and for many others it’s the period of writing and reviewing college essays. Aside from the productivity of the break, it’s also a time to spend with family, eat and drink festive delights, and celebrate the various holidays that bring us closer with our loved ones. 15

However, in the midst of all these events, we sometimes get a little tunnel vision and forget about those who aren’t as fortunate and privileged as we are. During break, although it's harder to look away from the duties and festivities we might have, we’re still surrounded by a world that isn't afforded the same luxurious.

We see this whenever we’re at a stop light and there’s someone hoping that you could spare console change, or when you visit your local grocery store only to find someone ringing for a Salvation Army donation. We must continue to give and support our community in a time like this, especially with the effects of the pandemic taking place. In the past breaks, my family would always get out our winter clothes, and pick and choose what we’re ready to give away and donate. By doing this, we would bless a number of people who probably don’t have the same opportunities that we do, and give them a better chance of surviving in the Texas’ cold. While a huge hangout activity to do as a teenager is thrifting, I feel as though we don’t make it a conversion that it is detrimental to low-income families who depend on thrift shopping in their day to day lives. Those same individuals are being robbed of socially-acceptable/ trendy items of clothing which are being snatched up from more well off teens who come into their neighbors looking for better deals. To ensure that our clothes get to the homeless first, we would go down to the largest hub of homelessness, Dallas, and hand out clothes by the bridges.

detrimental to low-income families who depend on thrift shopping in their day to day lives. Those same individuals are being robbed of socially-acceptable/ trendy items of clothing which are being snatched up from more well-off teens who come into their neighbors looking for better deals. To ensure that our clothes get to the homeless first, we would go down to the largest hub of homelessness, Dallas, and hand out clothes by the bridges.

In the past breaks, my family would always get out our winter clothes, and pick and choose what we’re ready to give away and donate. By doing this, we would bless a number of people who probably don’t have the same opportunities that we do, and give them a better chance of surviving in the Texas’ cold. While a huge hangout activity to do as a teenager is thrifting, I feel as though we don’t make it a conversion that it is 16

HOLIDAY SPIRITS

This year, all over the world the holiday spirit is

outside and singing songs until someone donates

slight. We have been struck with rough times

to the red box is a great way to get into the

over the past year and continue to brace

holiday spirit. During this event, we, at least at

ourselves for what is to come. For that reason,

Lamar, sing our hearts out until someone donates

holidays seem to have been forgotten. Though

money and then we celebrate and ring the bells

our Key Club organization at Lamar High School

vigorously to celebrate the amazing acts of

has chosen to prevent this effect. In order to

kindness. All of the volunteers immediately

achieve our goal, we as a team have chosen to

create a wonderful bond and don’t hesitate at

partake in socials such as watching a Christmas

all to embarrass ourselves in front of complete

movie and volunteer for the Salvation Army in

strangers by singing either. We even went as far

their annual Christmas time bell ringing.

as to create a whole dance routine in order to gain more donations one year. Overall, the

We all spent some time tediously picking the

Salvation Army bell ringing event really helped in

perfect movie. After going back and forth for a

our efforts to spread holiday cheer.

while between Home Alone or Home Alone 2 and The Grinch we came to a decision. But sadly

This year is very different for all of us during the

after spending so much time on choosing a

holiday season. It's hard on us all but though

movie, we had to cancel. Though canceling was

doing work with an amazing organization such

not something any of us wanted we had to due

as Key Club our minds are put at ease. And

to scheduling conflicts. Partaking in a movie

through events such as the bell ringing for the

night would have been an amazing opportunity

Salvation Army holiday cheer is spread and a

for all of us Key Clubbers to bond and get to

good cause is helped.

know each other while enjoying an amazing movie from an amazing genre. But alas this was

by Razan Shakoor

not possible for this year but we hope to have another social in the future similar to this.

Although one of our plans for spreading the holiday spirit didn’t work out this year, we still managed to accomplish our goal by partaking in the annual Salvation Army bell ringing. If this event is something that you, the reader, has not ever participated in then I’m so sorry for your loss. The Salvation Army is one of the best events to partake in during the year. Though it may be a little chilly outside depending on Texas’s extremely fluctuating weather patterns, something about standing

HUMANS OF TEXASOKLAHOMA BY MOI TUNGUNG

MOI IS A 16 YROLD WHO LIKES SOCCER, WAS IN ORCHESTRA, AND LOVES EXERCISING

My name is Moi Tungung and I am a 16 year old junior in highschool. I was born and raised in India and moved to America at the age of nine. My first experience at an American school was at Butler Elementary school where I started in the fourth grade. Later, I went to Shackleford and I am currently attending Lamar High School. I used to be very involved in extracurriculars such as orchestra and athletics but quit at the beginning of highschool to focus on my academics and events outside of school. However, despite leaving the athletics program at school, I still enjoy sports (specifically soccer) and love being active. I often go on runs or walks when time allows and

workout at home to maintain a schedule for myself. Currently, I am a part of AVID and Academic Decathlon. AVID is a class that also emphasizes volunteer work and I have been in that program since middle school. This year I joined the Academic Decathlon in order to give myself a challenge and an extra GPA boost. I have been a part of Key Club since the beginning of my freshman year. The club was recommended to me by my sister and friends in grades above me. Since I had experience with doing volunteer work, I thought why not join and widen my

from the comfort of our home with no risks.

horizons in service opportunities.

This year I have been able to earn hours

Later, I also found out that the club

through apps such as Free Rice, Donating a

would be a very good addition to

photo each day through the Johnson &

college applications. I learned the

Johnson app and donating candy during

many benefits of Key Club such as

Halloween. Sadly, it is very hard for me to

the opportunity to serve my

keep a streak of donating a photo daily so I

community, learn how to lead,

have rarely gotten the chance to earn hours

strengthen my college application

from that. But many who are able to have

and so much more. Because of

earned many from such opportunities and I

these advantages, I have continued

am glad they are available to us.

to join this club every year. Key Club is a club that helps students learn Due to the pandemic, it has

how to serve others and their community.

become very hard to find service

Through the club, one can learn so many

opportunities this year. And when

different skills for life including leadership,

they are brought forward, it's hard

humility and socialization skills. As a result of

to make a decision due to concerns

being in this club for so long, I have made

of my own safety and for others

many friends and learned how to willingly

around me. However, Key Club was

and happily help others around me. You can

able to work around this obstacle

only benefit from being in a club like this and

and give the members service

thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why I plan to stay in it all throughout

opportunities that can be done

highschool. 20

GET

KNOW

YOUR

VICE-PREZ MY FAVORITES COLOR: Teal FRUIT: Oranges SEMESTER GOALS: Determine what colleges Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m interested in and do well on my SAT

Something important to me is friendships Friendships are very important to me as I find the most joy in strong connections, laughter, and helping people out

EXTRACURRICULARS Varsity Tennis LHS Orchestra

National Honor Society

EMILY WILSON Hey KC members! This year has not been easy by any means, but I challenge you all to find moments of growth within the struggle. I have been so happy to be given the chance to represent you all this year and make continuous changes to better the KC family within our school and beyond. VFND 21

MY DUTIES the vice president has the unique opportunity to help the club by being flexible to meet the needs of their club and fellow officers. Assist President in running board meetings and all other events

PRESIDENT

Patrick Chang

kc.lamar.president @gmail.com

VICEPRESIDENT

Emily Wilson

kc.lamar.vicepresident @gmail.com

SECRETARY

Jade Ha

kc.lamar.secretary @gmail.com

TREASURER

Razan Shakoor kc.lamar.treasurer @gmail.com

kc.lamar.editor @gmail.com

SENIOR REPRESENTATIVE

WEBMASTER

kc.lamar.seniorrep @gmail.com

kc.lamar.president @gmail.com

Haley Wehr

Joshua Chang

JUNIOR REPRESENTATIVE

Daz McGinnis

kc.lamar.juniorrep @gmail.com

SOPHOMORE REPRESENTATIVE Sara Lim kc.lamar.sophrep @gmail.com

FRESHMAN REPRESENTATIVE

Madison Harris kc.lamar.freshrep @gmail.com

club officers

EDITOR

Cleo Chiu

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

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.

For 80 years, March of Dimes has helped millions of babies survive and thrive. Now they’re building on that legacy to level the playing field for all moms and babies, no matter their age, socio-economic background or demographics. They advocate for policies that prioritize their health. They support radical improvements to the care they receive. And they pioneer research to find solutions to the biggest health threats to moms and babies.

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF began 69 years ago as a way to help kids still affected by World War II. Since then, millions of children across the United States have gone door to door on Halloween with UNICEF collection boxes, calling out, “Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF!” Children's Miracle Network Hospitals raises Through The Eliminate Project, Kiwanis

funds and awareness for 170 member

International and UNICEF have joined

hospitals that provide 32 million

forces to eliminate maternal and neonatal

treatments each year to kids across the

tetanus—a deadly disease that steals the

U.S. and Canada.

lives of nearly 31,000 innocent babies and a significant number of women each year.

T N A T R IMPO LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS OF THE MONTH

The Texas-Oklahoma Key Club Pen-Pal Program! (Or the first o Club editor has heard of).

The district wants to increase c "creative innovation and sharin members may sign up with the Oklahoma Key Club Website (to members that sign up will be p many hardworking officers wh on the google form and find the member.

Key-Clubbers can choose to ei monthly, something that is dec sign-up form. Your pen-pal wi same rate-of-communication.

Don't worry about not having @topen-pals to 81010 or use th prompts from the district and

This is a great chance for y'all far away from you. You might them and perhaps even meet they will go to the same colleg

Disclaimer and Works Cited: ember December Tex-OInformation and Photos from the Nov Key not from Lamar Key Club. https://issuu.com/t20_tex-o-key odistrict/docs/november_december_20 25

THE DISTRI PEN-PAL PR

T NEWS

is introducing their first one that the Lamar Key

connections through ng ideas" Interested google form on the Texasokeyclub.com). The aired up by the district's ho will evaluate the answers e best match for each

ither write bi-weekly or cided when you fill out the ill also have chosen the .

stuff to talk about! Text he Remind app to get d never be bored!

11-12 2020 edition

2021 LEDCON THEME REVEALED!!

gZk_Y re: https://youtu.be/H8JdKR Watch the Theme Reveal he hip Educational District LEDCON stands for: Leaders ses, suits, and dresses ready Conference. Get your sunglas e carpet is waiting for you! Th because the Hollywood red t the ard is proud to announce tha Texas-Oklahoma District Bo only ll be Hollywood. We are not theme for LEDCON 2020 wi era.. are bringing you lights.. cam bringing you Hollywood, we ril 23rd-26th you will get the ACTION. The weekend of Ap acular year of service, learn chance to celebrate a spect ch y 1,500 Key Clubbers, and mu leadership skills, meet nearl more.

KEY CLUB PARTNERS

l to connect with people far t become great friends with them someday or find out ge as you! How cool is that?

CT HAS A ROGRAM!