CONNECT KEY
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President's Letter
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Fall Rally Information
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Calendar
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Word Search
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Service Activities
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Featured Article
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Reminders
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Mission Arlington
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Featured Article
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Contact Information
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Stay Connected
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Editor's Note
VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 8
2DIVISION 39S | REGION 7
MANSFIELD LAKE RIDGE HS
DECEMBER 2019
TABLE OF contents 4
Key Club Pledge
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T Shirt Design
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Calendar
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Featured Article
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UNICEF Flyer
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Service Partners
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Featured HOTO
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Featured HOTO
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Contact Information
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More Contact Info
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Stay Connected
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Key Club Pledge I pledge, on my honor, to uphold the objects of Key Club International; to build my home, school and community; to serve my nation and God; and to combat all forces which tend to undermine these institutions!
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T-SHIRT DESIGN winner
FRONT
BACK
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VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES DONATION DRIVES UNTIL DECEMBER 6TH: Common Ground Christmas Program Info: Info: We will be sponsoring 2 girls this year for Christmas. You can contribute to the gifts they'll wake up to on Christmas morning! Donate: Please bring new clothes, shoes, or gifts to Mrs. San Miguel’s room in A-337 by Friday, December 6th. Read the picture for more information!
UNTIL DECEMBER 20TH: Service Dog Shoe Drive There is a student in MISD in need of a service dog. She will be trading in shoes to raise money to be able to purchase a service dog. Please bring any size shoes, new or used, to Mrs. McKay in the library at any time.
ONE TIME EVENTS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7TH, 14TH, AND/OR 21ST: Totally Free Gift Wrapping 12 PM - 6 PM at 2950 W Interstate 20, Grand Prairie, TX 75052 Make someone's Christmas Day by helping to wrap gifts from a local church! Sign up through the Google Form on our remind. Saturday, December 7th: Kiwanis Falalala 5K Run/Walk 7:30 AM - 11 AM at Katherine Rose Park 303 N Walnut Creek Dr, Mansfield, TX 76063 Help participants check-in, pass out water to runners, and support them as they go through the track! To sign up, fill the Google Form in our remind messages. To register, click the link to sign up on our remind!
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12TH: ESE Cookies With Santa 5 - 9 PM at Elizabeth Smith Elementary School 701 S Holland Rd, Mansfield, TX 76063 Help kids bake and decorate cookies for Santa! To sign up, fill out the Google Form through the link on our remind. Sign ups will close Monday, December 9th at 3 PM. Wednesday, December 18th: December Divisional Council Meeting/Divisional Election Conference 7 - 9 PM at the Mansfield Activities Center (MAC) 106 S. Wisteria St. We will be making holiday cards for first responders. You will receive service hours for attending. There will be a cookie contest and a prize for the winner! It is hosted by our district’s Lieutenant Governor, Sharlene Garcia (sharlenegarcia.kci@gmail.com). You will get the chance to meet tons of other key clubbers in the district. POTLUCK STYLE! We will also be electing our new LTG for next year! To sign up, fill out the Google form above so that Sharlene knows you are attending.
ONE TIME EVENTS SUNDAYS: *Excluding the first Sunday of every month 2 - 4 PM at 1315 FM1187 Suite 107, Mansfield, TX 76063 Help pack boxes to send to orphans in Eastern Europe and organizing donations, such as clothing, toys, etc Sign up: Fill out the Google form above, sign in at the warehouse and have your hours log signed (look for Margie or Frederick). FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9TH: Star Center Fundraiser 12:45 PM - 2:45 PM at 1715 E Broad Street, Mansfield, TX Come support our club as we raise funds for the Children's Miracle Network. There will be skating and concessions, so bring extra money!
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Dressing up for Fall F E A T U R E D
BY ETHAN VU With Halloween coming to an end and everyone being stuffed full of candy, many other holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up for our members to sit back and take a break from work and other extracurricular activities. Although this may seem like a great idea for many of our members, it’s still important to stay sharp and keep on top of service opportunities as many people are still in need during these times. As many people may not realize, along with the holidays comes a time of need for those who may not be as fortunate as us during these times. This is why it’s important to remember those in need of assistance around your community. These acts of kindness can range from visiting nursing homes around the holidays to simply helping out donate canned food to families who don’t have enough during the cold
A R T I C L E
season. While many individuals are unsure of where to help donate their time and service to those in need, these opportunities may seem more prevalent than one may think.
Due to the distraction of Thanksgiving foods and Christmas gifts, many people tend to look the other way when it comes to helping the less fortunate or simply forgetting that there are those families out there. Many of our members may know of helping out at Feed the Kids or Allies in Youth Development, and that’s one of the great ways to help out during this holiday season. Just giving up your time to packing supplies and making food trays is one of the ways our members find time to help out and give back to
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our community. Another volunteering opportunity Key Club provides for our members to serve our community is our Nursing Home Bingo. This is another way to give back during the holidays as some elders often times don’t have their family coming back to visit them every holiday season. This is why it’s great for our club to get out there and just give up time to spend with these elders. A recent event our club just held to give back to our community is our annual Veteran’s Day Breakfast. On this day, Key Clubbers can be seen bringing and setting up food for our various veterans around our community and within our school.
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With this comes an end to our Thanksgiving holiday events but it’s still important to stay tuned for the various events to come during Christmas time. Until then, we hope our members enjoy their Thanksgiving break and be ready for the weeks to come!
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THE THIRST PROJECT The Thirst Project actively works with Key Club to bring awareness to the water crisis and promote alternative solutions to the ongoing issue.
CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK Children's Miracle Network treats 62 kids every minute — that's more than 10 million kids a year. Their mission is to generate funds and awareness programs for their 170 member hospitals.
S E R V I C E
P A R T N E R S
UNICEF UNICEF works to help children all around the world and is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of their rights.
MARCH OF DIMES March of Dimes works to improve the health of mothers and babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
PROJECT HAPPINESS
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Together with Key Club, Project Happiness aims to combat the issue of bullying in and out of the classroom. Through raising awareness and promoting positivity, they continue to minimize its impact.
Stepping Stone to Service F E A T U R E D
BY MICHELLE NGUYEN My foot lifted off of the rock and I suddenly felt myself falling, falling, falling; the impact of my feet slamming against the edge sent a shock throughout my body, further emphasized by the splash of brown creek water that left a multitude of specks on my glasses. Needless to say, I did not land that jump. Just two hours ago I had been sitting on a ledge, picking at the concrete cracks while waiting for my friends to show up to our volunteer shift. It was the Thanksgiving break of sophomore year, a notably slow point of the semester, and I opted to change my monotonous schedule by signing up for a park clean-up. Oliver Nature Park was a sight, painted in various shades of red, orange, and yellow by the fluttering leaves slipping off the branches. However, the picturesque scenery was marred by the various water bottles and plastic bags that were scattered throughout the park, interrupting its natural ambiance. As volunteers began to slowly trickle into the foyer, the volunteer coordinator began handing out trash bags and picks, assigning us as either garbage hunters or gatherers. In following the various park trails, we had quickly exhausted the
H O T O
supply of trash within the first hour. With this development, the volunteer coordinator encouraged us to go off trail and explore the park, picking up trash wherever we could find it. After a couple minutes of aimless wandering, my friends and I noticed a faint, white silhouette nestling deep in the bushes, guarded by a wall of branches and thorns.
Not one to shy away from a challenge, I pulled my hoodie over my head and tightened the drawstrings, envisioning the soft fabric as a sort of armor. Ducking my head, I pushed myself through the biggest gap in the thorns that I could find, coming to a halt once I had broken past the thick barrier between the trail and the hollow area of the woods. Wielding my trash pick, I carefully extracted the plastic bag from the tree’s clutches, once again bracing myself to break past the wall of
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thorns. I emerged on the other side, triumphantly holding up the bundle of plastic; the bag was secured. After venturing off a little more, the whole group came together, deciding to clean up as much of the creek as possible. We ducked under the bridge and stared in awe at the long, winding body of water that lay before us, marked by the large rocks that assembled a path for us to travel on. And there we went, hopping from rock to rock to reach the abandoned trash floating atop the water’s surface. On one occasion, we had come across a cluster of ping pong balls, in which we extracted them one by one with our trash picks before chucking it across the water into the trash bags. Despite independently traveling to collect trash, our group never broke too far apart, lingering in an area until the last person was ready to travel on. Then came the rock, practically our Everest. This one was suspended in the middle of the creek, a large distance away from two nearby rocks. The leap seemed doable, nonetheless, if we were to gain enough momentum and confidence to make the jump. The first person to attempt it was a senior; he took a breath before walking back as far as the rock’s surface area would allow before leaping off the ledge. The group collectively exhaled when he landed firmly on the second rock, motivating everyone else to give it a try. Watching nearly everyone stick the landing, it only made sense for me to try as well, right?
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Not quite. My feet landed on the dip of the rock that was slightly underwater, creating a splash that sprayed both me and the volunteers who’d believed they had jumped safely. My body tipped and I crashed into the first jumper. There was a brief moment of silence before we all erupted with laughter. The creek expedition marked the end of the park clean-up, as we all trudged up the steep sides of the surrounding area to escape back into the main foyer. This event was exhausting, but I couldn’t deny how exhilarating the thrill of exploring the hidden depths of the park was. Key Club has been an outlet for me to be able to lend myself to the community, carrying unique memories of each event with me. Two years later, I can still say that Oliver Nature Park is the most vivid volunteer experience that comes to mind when I think of the club; the experience was a near flawless balance of responsibility and freedom to enjoy myself, showing me that service truly is the root of unity, whether it be with others or simply creating a connection with our surroundings. As my time in Key Club is coming to a close, I hope to motivate others to take on the challenges that service may present, and to overcome any obstacles (creek rocks included) together!
OFFICER CONTACT INFORMATION PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT
Christeen Nguyen Alan Phan lrhskcpresident@gmail.com lrhskcvicepresident@gmail.com
SECRETARY
EDITOR
Michelle Nguyen lrhskcsecretary@gmail.com
Gilliana Tawaran lrhskceditor@gmail.com
TREASURER
SENIOR REP
Kwame Morrison lrhskctreasurer@gmail.com
Abigail Nguyen lrhskcseniorrep@gmail.com
JUNIOR REP
SOPHOMORE REP
Ethan Vu lrhskcjuniorrep@gmail.com
Ethan Clark lrhskcsophrep@gmail.com
FRESHMAN REP Neva Khan lrhskcfreshmanrep@gmail.com
WEBSITE Visit our site for more!: See page 18.
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MORE CONTACT INFORMATION DISTRICT GOVERNOR
DISTRICT SECRETARY
Ashna Patel Kareena Patel governor@tokeyclub.com secretary@tokeyclub.com
DISTRICT EDITOR
DISTRICT TREASURER
Katherine Chao treasurer@tokeyclub.com
Vivian Thai editor@tokeyclub.com
REGION 7 ADVISOR
DIVISION 39S LTG
FACULTY ADVISOR
TOKEY WEBSITE
Gretchen S. Wamer docgretchen@gmail.com
Sharlene Garcia ltg39s@tokeyclub.com
Kandice San Miguel kandicesanmiguel@misdmail.com
TWITTER Follow us on Twitter for the latest updates! @LRKeyClub
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tokeyclub.com
KIWANIS ADVISOR
Todd Simmons todd.simmons@lpl.com
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