FEBRUARY - JUNE NEWSLETTER MHS KEY CLUB - ISSUE NO.4
FEBRUARY Chinese New Year Event MARCH NYC Half Marathon Color Wars Easter Egg Hunt Event LTC
Table of Contents
APRIL Vision Walk Walk For Babies MAY Japan Day Taste of Tribeca JUNE Night Nation Run Incredibles 2 Fundraiser DTC
FEBRUARY
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! To: Everyone From: Key Clubbers
19th Lunar New Year Firecracker Festival
Karen's Story
Kelly's Story
One specific memory there was when I watched the magician doing magic tricks. Many kids were surrounding him as he took money, folded the money, and then poured water on it! It was shocking to see that the money was not wet, Additionally he gave back 2 times the amount to the owner of the money! It was also amusing how after the show, the kids jumped towards the magician wanting him to continue the show.
There were hundreds of people surrounding the park (Sara D. Roosevelt) as the Chinese New Year parade began. I remember hearing firecrackers everywhere as the dragon circled around the park and while the lions were dancing. Everyone there was all dressed in traditional Chinese clothing while dancing and making announcements. Overall, it was a really fun experience, getting to meet new people, helping out with handing mementos (flags and flyers), and just being there.
MARCH
Are you ready for some luck this month?
Volunteering at the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon The marathon started early in the morning. I also met some new people from Bronx Science's Key Club. All the volunteers received some goodies such as a volunteer hat, a multi purpose scarf, and two hand warmers. Then we all met up with our assigned teams. I was positioned at the finish line baggage claim.
There were multiple truck loads of the runner's personal items and our jobs were to give it back to them in a orderly fashion. Things were going smoothly at first but as more runners came, things got a little hectic. The process took a couple of hours but we were able to clear out our area.
It was a very cold couple of hours but overall it was a enjoyable experience and there is this special feeling you get when you are able to source through 2,000 bags to find the one a runner standing in the freezing cold is waiting for. I joined the event because it was a new experience to be in a marathon and I personally do enjoy running. It made me happy to be able to help the exhausted runners in any way possible. I would join this event again not only for the free apparel but to share the same happiness. -Valerie Wong
Color Wars
Elaine's experience: There were lots of new people to meet and different activities that were really funny. Overall, I had a very good time plus the food was great.
Ziying's experience: Color wars was fun because you got to meet and talk to new people. The activities were pretty fun. Although, it was cold, the overall experience was good
Emily's experience: Color wars was a lot of fun and we met some really nice people. It was very cold but I had a pretty good time with my friends
Carl Schurz ParkÂ
Easter Egg Hunt Event
Theresa's Experience: My experience at the Easter egg hunt event was really different than I had imagined because I thought it would be quite a warm weather and I kinda expected younger kids but many of the kids who went to the event were like the same age as me. The parents would keep taking Easter eggs from the lawn which was kinda annoying. The highlight of the event was most likely throwing easter egg on the lawn for the kids to get.
Vicki's Experience: When I heard about this event, I was really excited since I love egg hunts. However, when I got there, I soon realized it was more of a Easter Egg grab as much as you can. Even though it was not what I expected, I had lots of fun being able to spread nearly 30,000 eggs onto the lawn. It was colorful and quite pretty. I was able to witness loving parents take pictures of their children having fun collecting eggs. I was even able to wear the a bunny head and assist with Easter Bunny with photos. It was nice to see the kids get so excited to meet the Easter Bunny. It may have been one chilly day, but I was able to have lots of fun volunteering with my very own key clubbers. I even met new friends from Bronx Sci kc so overall I'm very glad I went
Garrick's experience: I was the field guard to help guide lost parents to the correct entrance. During my time as the “guard” I looked at both incoming parents and the rest of the Key Club members as they were happily enjoying their time on helping each other scatter a total of 8 waves of colorful plastic eggs on the field, giving eggs to kids who didn’t manage to grab much, and relaxing on the park’s trees and benches. Around one hour before the event ended, I helped collect eggs that were either cracked, missing the other half, or were empty. Although it was tiring to state “Ten eggs per person,” repeatedly, it was a great experience to see everyone who was in the event enjoy their cold, partly cloudy Sunday morning and afternoon. Even though I may have just joined the club, I didn’t do it just for the community services hours, nor just spending time away from my games, I, or should I say the Key Club, did it for the event and kids. I would definitely suggest that in the future, any Key Club members should go to that event or any other events that need help, because Key Club’s purpose to say is, “To reach out to different organization and charities and work with them.”
Bonnie's experience It was alright, it wasn't the best but it wasn't terrible because the kids were annoying and wouldn't listen at times but other than that it was fine. There was free food. Yum.
LTC
Leadership Training Conference
Kelsey's experience: It was a very new experience that was filled with laughter, crying and excitement. Everyone laughed and had so much fun at all the ice breakers and activities. It was even up to the point that a handful of people even lost their voice at an event called PLAYFAIR. Playfair was like a big party that consists of multiple icebreakers. Not only that, but a lot of people cried for the heartwarming story of Saul Flores and of course 2017- 2018 Governor Gaven's speech for his final words as governor. It was an amazing experience especially since all the people I met and being exposed to so many passionate people. Overall, I really enjoyed this event and in a blink of an eye I would join this again.
APRIL
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month!
A bit of Frisbee playing
BY: Garrick Tseng
April 14, 2018: I realized that I was the only Millennium High School Key Clubber volunteering in this event, which I didn’t mind at all. I was assigned to work with Stuyvesant’s Key Club in the Fun Booth. The favorite part of the event is when us, volunteers, play tested the play equipment that was provided to the booth already, such as ball and Frisbee tossing games. VisionWalk is a much different community service event then the other events that I’ve been through so far because (many) speeches were given before the event officially started. These speech were given by the director of the event, Katie Van Benschoten, and survivors, a child and adults, to motivate and encourage other people to take part of this important event to fight against blindness. By teaming up with (mainly) Stuyvesant, Bayside, Bronx Science, and Queens High School of Science high school Key Clubbers, I managed to make new friends, or in this case; teammates. A new experience that I’ve received in completing this event is socializing more with other people around me.
“HEY KEY CLUB, HOW DO YOU FEEL?!” ... “WE FEEL GOOD, OH I FEEL SO GOOD, AI!”
Just a little bit of fun before the walk starts!
BY: Garrick Tseng
GO SHARKS AND PANDAS! These animal mascots represent both District 9 and 11’s help in this event. Both groups walked the 3 mile walk, to raise awareness about fighting against premature birth defects. This event’s only difference, besides the ones I’ve been through already, is that it was the first time that I’ve ever been to a combined divisional event before. Even though it was a combined divisional group, I didn’t really had time to really meet any new friends, since everyone in D9 and 11 were already having fun and/or focusing on completing this walk. Besides what was just previously mention, I did manage to see previous friends/teammates that I’ve already worked with in earlier events. In general, I’ve learned that that are different ways to help a fundraiser grow, like even walking can help spread awareness, in any levels. And in conclusion, I’ve gained a new memory about being a Key Club member; their unique chant. When someone asks, “HEY KEY CLUB, HOW DO YOU FEEL?!” the reply goes, “WE FEEL GOOD, OH I FEEL SO GOOD, AI!”
MAY
Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month!
BY: VALERIE WONG
On April, 13th, despite the morning started with a rainy day, lunch kindly provided to us volunteers from the staff running the event. Soon after, we started our job to hand out flyers to people passing by which provided information of the event and locations of where to get free amenities such as rice balls, chips, and tea to name a few. My favorite part of this event was how unique it was in which a diverse group of people can all come together to share appreciation of Japanese culture representation even if they don't share any Japanese ties. Despite the trouble with the rain, the event went smoothly and I really liked how generous the staff and sponsors of the event were to give people free food and drinks. Because of this event, I was able to connect with a friend of a friend even more because she also went. I would definitely recommend people to come participate in the future years to truly understand and feel the relaxed yet lively atmosphere.
BY:Â KELLY JIANG
Cheese!
On May, 19th I went to the Taste of TriBeCa event in which we were assigned different roles. I had to work in the VIP area where I was assigned a table of people to serve. The most memorable part for me was going to the food stands, observing numerous people having fun and enjoying their food despite the pouring rain. This was definitely a first experience for me to serve food for others because in all the other community service opportunities I had done, it was always me helping set up and observing others. However in this one I got to just help everyone throughout the whole event. Another of my favorite parts during these community service opportunities was meeting new people and making friends. Instead of pairing myself with the people I know, I decided to partner up with other people and I’m proud that I did because I was able to make a really great friend. Overall, this was just a really fun experience and I’m glad to be a part of Key Club. I hope to join more community service events like this and have even more fun.
JUN E
national pride Month!
BY:Â Karen lu
It was an interesting experience when I volunteer to help out on the Unite for Bleeding Disorders Walk on June 3rd. I remember the weather cloudy and was said that it may rain. What I was amazed was that there is still a lot of people attending this walk because I didn't think people would like to walk when its raining. Your cloth will get wet and your shoes may become soggy. I was amazed by the people there; their sincere act of wanting to help for people whom are diagnosed with bleeding disorder, a disorder in which blood doesn't clot as quickly as it should, or it doesn't clot at all. Fortunately, it didn't rain. My brother and I was assigned as the route monitor. Our task was really easy. You hold a sign that has an arrow pointing to the direction where walkers should head. When they pass by, we cheer for them. Since we are place near the starting point, there are barely any people walking after 2 hours. Hence, my brother and I was released earlier than others from our task and we can enjoy the event.
BY:Â Valerie Wong
My friend and I worked the VIP tent where we had to hand out personalized goodie bags to the VIP customers. In the bag consisted of glowing glasses, wristband, and glowing foam stick. When the customers came up, we had to also give them their desired article of clothing and this continued all the way to 9:30 non stop. We did this with one other guy from Francis Lewis HS and while we were handing out the goods, a big flying cockroach or moth crawled into one of the boxes. We ended up having an adult taking it out and my friend ended up getting teary eyed. Despite the fact that we are all different people consisting of different ages, we all agreed that it was quite a grueling experience but it was well paid off; the volunteers got to take some of the leftover goodies like the T-shirts and tank tops, plus being able to party for a short while in cool breeze of Brooklyn. I learned to work on my patience and become more attentive because our job required us to multi-task. This event has inspired me to meet more people from Key Club and experienced me to meet people a generation or two older than I.
Laisum Chong's experience
Some of the characters are relatable. After watching the Incredibles 2, I went back and reflexes on how much fun I had. First of all, friends. I brought some friends to the theater to enjoy the movie and was able to talk to them. Unfortunately, I was separated from some of my best friends by a rude family that didn’t know how to read the movie theatre seats because key club booked the ENTIRE D row. But nonetheless, the movie was wonderful and the staff was great! They were super nice and let us use the bathroom even before we got the tickets. The movie itself was incredible and super funny! It showed how Violet become more mature and less shy. In addition to that, it showed some things regular family would struggle with too, like teaching your child how to math properly. Overall, the movie was freakin amazing and definitely a great sequel to incredibles. I hope they make an Incredible 3.
Xin Huang's experience While watching the Incredibles, I learned a lot from the movie. One thing I learned is that family is the most important thing. Even though there are certain grudges or tension held within the family, eventually everyone will come back together as one unit. Whenever there’s a problem, you won’t be left alone and there will always be a person that is there to help you. Another thing I learned is that even the most powerful people, even superheroes have things they can’t do or accomplish. In the movie, the super family struggles to maintain their “good” reputation within the community while also carrying out their job to protect and defend the people from ongoing threats. This goes to show that even the most perfect people have things they fail at. Overall, it was a great experience watching the movie, other than being kicked out of your seats by some old lady who obviously didn’t graduate from grade school as displayed when she failed to understand her alphabet.
How KC made me grow - Garrick Tseng As the end of our 2018 term in Millennium comes to an end, that was unexpectedly fast, I would like to talk about the time I had in Key Club. Yes I had joined the club officially around the end of quarter 3 and although I’ve been a short timed member in the Key Club, I’ve experienced a whole lot to discuss about my time here. In return for spending time in the club, not only you’ll earn some community service but you’ll improve on some important skills that you may have been struggling with throughout your life. When I managed to take part of the Carl Schurz Egg Hunt, I struggled to speak with others, but because of how I managed to take part of the event along with everyone else, it overall became very successful, got the hours, and managed to improve upon my social skills. This may have been just a school club, but it’s also part of a huge community here in the city. One can see that this club does have a purpose, a special purpose for it to stand now and hopefully in the future. Don’t take my word for it, look at the other member’s newsletter contribution because if they haven’t been able to be in the club or at the event, then they couldn’t have share and written about their experience in the event for us to hear. It would be nice to know that this club will still run when we graduate out of high school. Remember, no helping hand is either too big or small, and is not mandatory to join but is much appreciated. Heck it would also make your college transcript look good if you're working on extra curricular activities, it would be in actual shame that this club wouldn’t be able to stay in our memories or the school’s history. This is Garrick Tseng of 10G, class of 2020, signing off.
CONTACT INFO Presidents Vicki Xiao (vickixiao999@gmail.com) | Henry Huang Henryh22201@gmail.com)
Secretary Wenjing Lin (wenjingL0311@gmail.com)
Fundraising and Project Committee Leader Kelsey Wong (kelseycwong@gmail.com)
Webster Vitoria Poejo (vitoriapoejo29@gmail.com)
Leader of Newsletter Committee Theresa Zheng (ttezheng@gmail.com)
Bulletin Editor Valerie Wong (wongvalerie45@gmail.com)
Treasurer Din Kastrat (thebigboss.din@gmail.com)
Thank you for reading!