ISSUE MAY 2022
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IN THIS ISSUE
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CINDY ZOU
CONTENTS Table of Contents
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EDITORS NOTE
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DISTRICT BOARD
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TRUSTEE'S UPDATE
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Introduction and Update
Learn about our district and governors project! Opportunities with Global Leadership Program and Schoolhouse
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EXECUTIVE UPDATES
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SERVICE SPOTLIGHTS
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FUNDRAISING AND SERVICE HOUR GOAL
Meet the 2022-2023 Board Officers!
Hear from our International Trustee, Emily Leonard
DISTRICT UPDATES
Our district executive board gives us updates on their work!
A showcase of events across the district, along with a spotlight from Circle-K!
See our goals for this service year!
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Hey Key Clubbies!
This is simply the beginning of my Key Club career! This year, I'd like to help Key Club your
members learn more outside of their home
Bulletin Editor for the service year 2022-
club and showcase how big the Key Club
2023! Thank you for taking the time to
family is. From Key Club International to our
My
name
is
Cindy
Zou,
and
I'll
be
read my first issue of The Empire Key; I hope you enjoy it! Before I begin, I'd like to mention that The Empire Key will now be
available
month,
as
keep
a
an
monthly eye
out
issue. for
sister organizations Circle K and Kiwanis, I want
Key
Clubbers
to
be
proud
of
the
growth and impact of our club.
Every
a
new
newsletter!
I'd like to remind everyone that we're still living in a pandemic. Covid should not be taken lightly, so be sure you're taking the appropriate precautions and measures to
I am a freshman at Townsend Harris High School, in Division 8! The first club I joined was
Key
Club,
outside
of
my
hearing
about
which
was
comfort Key
Club
a
major
zone. from
I a
step
recall
keep
yourself
protected.
and
Make
people
sure
you're
around
you
wearing
a
mask if you're going to an event! We want everyone in this community to feel safe.
friend,
and I had no idea when I joined I'd be the
Feel
NYDKC Editor in a matter of months. I've
editor@nydkc.org if you have any questions
learned a lot over the last few months,
or concerns, or to chat about Key Club in
from attending events every weekend to
general! I look forward to being of service
leading them! I've seen the joy Key Club
to everyone.
free
to
reach
out
to
me
at
brings to people's faces firsthand, and I'm proud to be a part of a community that gives
back.
Meeting
key
club
members
from other schools, presidents, and even district-level
officials
has
been
a
Yours in Care and Service, Cindy Zou NYDKC Bulletin Editor 2022-2023
novel
and fascinating experience. The success of the key club can be attributed to these ties.
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caring, our way of life. 5
MEET OUR 2022-2023 D
Gabriella Slootsky
Jena Kim
Governor
Internal Executive Assistant
Sophia Segal
Janice Cao
External Executive Assistant
Treasurer
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DISTRICT BOARD
Laura Fan
Cindy Zou
Secretary
Bulletin Editor
David Chen Webmaster
Emily Leonard International Trustee
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MAY TRUSTEE'S UPDATE
EMILY LEONARD CONTACT EMILY:
HAPPY MAY KEY CLUBBERS! May mayyy just be one of my favorite months as
I
am
able
to
celebrate
my
accomplishments and high points of my academic year as we close out in reflection! Recently,
I
have
been
working
on
ICON
workshop prep, filming promotional videos for our newest partners, connecting with new district boards, hosting gov. calls, navigating new means of communication, and attending committee and board calls as per usual. On a more personal note, as a high school senior my amazing journey has begun wrapping up. Although bittersweet, I am looking forward to
Email: emily.leonard@keyclub.org Instagram: @emilyleyla SISTRIC insta: @pacifahmaork Linktree: linktr.ee/EmilyIT
the many fun festivities that come in the GRADUATION
package!
This
is
only
my
second update for my new boards, so HELLO AGAIN! A friendly reminder that ICON is just around the corner, so be sure to conduct your research
surrounding
scholarship
opportunities, and REGISTER NOW! As always, thank you all for being you, and do not hesitate in reaching out to me with any questions,
concerns,
or
just
to
further
connect. OFFICE HOURS THIS SUNDAY! 10-11am MST (Zoom link in sistrict insta. bio :) Your trusty trustee, EMILY LEONARD
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U T P D C I A R TES T S I D Global Leadership Certificate and Schoolhouse Key Club International introduced the Global LeadershipCertificate program to all members, which offers up to 20 courses (soon to be 39) on ranging topics to help you develop your leadership skills! Are you interested in becoming a tutor? Key Club International's newest partner is with Schoolhouse, a free math peer-tutoring platform over Zoom.
PENCILS OF PROMISE
SOLES 4 SOULS
Pencils of Promise has the mission to
Soles 4 Souls collects new shoes and
ensure that every child has access to
clothing to distribute to people in
quality education. This organization
need across the U.S. and around the
builds classrooms, provides teachers
world. Instead of shoes and clothes
with training and innovative resources,
going to waste, they are put to good
and provides children with access to
use by providing relief, creating jobs,
clean water, private bathrooms, and
and empowering people to break the
good hygiene practices.
cycle of poverty.
Though registration for in-person International Convention has closed, you can still make it to the online one! Join us for a once in a lifetime experience as you participate in workshops, meet your peers from across the country, and learn about Key Club! ICON will be taking place from July 4-July 10th.
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SPRING BOARD MEETING Your weekly newsletter about our classroom!
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GOVERNOR'S UPDATE HEY HEY NYDKC! I am so excited about this first issue of The Empire Key. My name is Gabriella Slootsky, I am a junior at Tottenville High School in Staten Island, and I proudly serve as your District Governor. I previously served my home club as Treasurer and then the District as an Executive Assistant. Since I first joined Key Club in 2019, this organization has given me the opportunity to help others, make memories, and meet my closest friends. I am so amazed at how much impact we are capable of making as high school students, and I cannot wait to watch as we conquer another year of service together! I would like to begin by congratulating you all on completing another school year. You all have worked diligently and have a well-deserved summer break coming up (filled with service, of course). To all the graduating Seniors, thank you for your contribution to Key Club. We wish you luck as you embark on your next big chapter. Remember to join your college’s Circle K club if it has one, and please come back to visit us at our Key Club events! The District Board held its first board meeting of the service year on May 21st. We set our Fundraising and Service Hour Goals, and I announced my Governor’s Project, Soles4Souls. This charity turns shoes into opportunity by distributing footwear to people in need across the United States and around the world. By supplying shoes to those in need, we are fighting the barriers of poverty; we are helping children feel more confident to attend school and we are giving a homeless parent the opportunity to go buy his or her family basic needs for the day. You can support my Governor’s Project by hosting a fundraiser or a shoe drive. Let’s all take a “step” forward and support Soles4Souls!
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As we finish the school year, remember that service does not stop in the summer! This is a perfect opportunity to host a fundraiser at a park or walk as a group for Charity Miles. You can learn what the clubs in other divisions are up to by reading your Lieutenant Governor’s monthly newsletters. Additionally, look out for new opportunities, such as the application to serve on a District Committee as a Member Representative. It has been an absolute joy to watch as clubs held fundraisers at bowling alleys, honored fallen American soldiers by placing flags on veterans’ graves, and saved lives by hosting blood drives. Keep up the great work, NYDKC! Your leadership and passion for making a positive impact on the world continue to inspire me every single day.
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EXTERNAL EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Hello everyone! I hope that you are all doing well and getting excited for summer vacation. :) My name is Sophia Segal and I will be serving as your External Executive Assistant for the 2022-2023 service year.
As External EA, I track all weekly updates sent by LTGs, help with District Committees and plan large scale events like Fall Rallies and LTC! Recently, I attended an amazing in person board meeting where I had the opportunity to hear about the progress with every Division and set our new goals for the service year. I am super excited to have an incredible year and please feel o
free to reach out if you ever need anything!
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INTERNAL EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Hey NYDKC! To introduce myself, my name is Jena Kim and I’m from Francis Lewis in Division 8. I have the honor of serving as your Internal Executive Assistant for the 2022-2023 year! I served as President of my home club this past service term, and by utilizing this experience I hope to work on many of the responsibilities of the Internal Executive Assistant.
As Internal EA, I’ve been managing and grading several paperwork! It’s been great to see how much communication goes on within Divisions, so keep up the great work.
Needless to say, the first two months of our service term have been amazing and I anticipate we will continue to provide ways of service to our home, school and community. On May 20th-22nd, the NYDKC Board had a meeting in Albany! We discussed anything and everything, from service goals to our District Project. I’m more than glad to see that there are so many volunteer and fundraisers and service events all across New York, so let’s make sure that they’re recognized by the district!
Lastly, make sure to keep a constant eye out for Weekly Updates from your LTG! There is a LOT of information that can be found in these updates, from the Global Leadership Certificate to School House Tutoring and upcoming Divisionals. Please make sure you are on those lists, and if you aren’t: make sure to get in contact with your LTG. If you ever need assistance in finding out who is your LTG, or anything else feel free to email me at jenakim.ea@nydkc.org.
I cannot wait to see what NYDKC has in store!
serving with care,
Jena Kim
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DISTRICT SECRETARY Hey NYDKC! My name is Laura Fan, a junior at Brooklyn Technical High School (in Division 9!) and I’mproudly service as your District Secretary for the 22-23 service year!
As District Secretary, I manage all of our district’s important paperwork such as the Monthly Report Form and Election Report Form as well as keeping track of each club’s service hours so we can meet our District Service Hour goal, which has been set at 175,000 hours for this service year!
While this may seem like a massive increase from last service year’s goal of 100,000, we were able to surpass our service hour goal last year by over 50,000 hours! Despite the ongoing pandemic, Key Clubbers never fail amaze me with their dedication and passion for service and giving back to the community. For the first month of our service year, April, we served over 15,600 hours of service and currently are at over 17,000!
Currently, I am in the process of creating resources of club secretaries to help them ease into their roles. I am also working on gathering club secretaries’ contact information, so all the club secretaries reading this, you should be hearing from me soon!
As we transition into summer and in-person activities begin opening up again, I hope clubs can host more in-person volunteer events and fundraisers reminiscent of the pre-pandemic service years. And remember, service does not end when school ends! I’ll be trying to attend as many events around the NYC area this summer, so I hope to see some of you there!
If you have any questions regarding paperwork or anything in general, feel free to reach out! I’m so excited for what the rest of the service year has in store for all of us! And with that, happy Key Clubbing everyone :)
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DISTRICT TREASURER Hi NYDKC! I’m Janice Cao, your District Treasurer for the 2022-2023 service year! My home club is Brooklyn Tech Key Club in Division 9. Last weekend, the District Board set our District Fundraising Goal to $185,000, and so far, we have already raised over $10,000 for various charities, so as long as we keep up the fundraising, I know we’ll be able to reach our goal together! If any club Treasurer wants any guidance on how to start the fundraising process or anything else in general, don’t worry. I’d love to help you and your club out, so always feel free to reach out to me at treasurer@nydkc.org. Also, if your club is hosting a fundraiser you’re especially excited for, please share the news with your LTG and me! Although I’m from Brooklyn, I will do my best to attend fundraisers outside of the city as well. Stay safe and well, New York District!
serving with care,
Janice Cao
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DISTRICT WEBMASTER Greetings NYDKC! Hey everyone! I am David, and words cannot describe how honored I am to serve as your District Webmaster for the 2022-2023 service year. A quick introduction about myself: I am currently a junior at Stuyvesant High School in Division 11. I was also a webmaster in my home Key Club before joining the district board. I like to play sports, read, code, and just watch TV series in my free time!
Next, onto some updates on the fronts of social media and our organization's website. As far as I could see when I first got access to the website, the website was a little out of date. However, I have taken steps to mitigate the performance and security issues that were present. One goal that I will be working on this year is to decrease the amount of time visitors have to wait by staring at that incessant loading spinner. I’ll also be updating the website so that Key Clubbers all over the world can witness how great the mighty New York District truly is.
We have also rolled tons of successful Instagram posts about the International Convention. By the time this publication is published, we would already have tons of exciting Key Clubbers signed up for the convention. For those of you who are going, have fun learning and touring our capital! For those of you who aren’t going, stay tuned for more opportunities by our District!
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me through any means even if you have the slightest concerns or questions. Cheers to a successful service year! Thanks again for reading through my update.
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L T C
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EDITOR'S CHOICE AWARD To be considered for the award, simply submit an article (200-400 words) together with highresolution photos of the event. Any key club member is welcome to submit an article, and club editors are encouraged to do so.
For review,
several submissions are accepted.
The awardee will get a certificate and a personal note from the Bulletin Editor if they are chosen. The Empire Key and our social platforms will publish their article and photo(s). Only one excellent nominee per issue will be picked for the Editor's Choice Award from hundreds of submissions. There is no Editor's Choice Award for this issue . However stay tuned for an application next month!
TREASURER OF THE MONTH
Every month, there will be an application to be chosen as the treasurer of the month. District treasurer Janice Cao will send out information for applications, so be sure to look out for that every month!
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CIRCLE K On the morning of April 10th, UB CKI and RIT CKI had their first interclub of the service year! They went to Cracker Box Palace, where they helped take boxes out of one of their main barns and help clean up the area. Sweeping, dusting, wiping down windows, as well as laughing and making memories. Once everything was done, they were all able to go into the other barns where we were able to pet and feed the animals (horses, goats, bunnies! etc). It’s not a surprise for UB CKI and RIT CKI to interclub, but this was probably one of the more chill and fun events we’ve been to; and let’s just say, this is only the beginning! ☺️
LIFE IS A COLLECTION OF MOMENTS
Memories
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May, 2022 DIVISION 11 BXSCI KEY CLUB
SERVICE SPOTLIGHT
I went to the Japan Day Parade on May 14th and got to march in the parade as part of the first group. We walked with a group of kid taiko drummers who ranged from ages 6 to 18. We wore happi, which are kimono jackets, while moving umbrellas to the beat of the taiko. As the first group, it hadn’t started raining yet, and we marched next to central park in beautiful weather. It was honestly one of the most picturesque moments of my life. My happi was also special, as they ran out of all blue and all red happis, mine was a mix of black, purple, and gold. While we had to return the happis at the end, they let us keep the umbrellas we waved and spun around during the parade. After marching in the parade our group of volunteers was meant to run back to the start and become banner carriers. One of the most memorable parts of the event was running through side streets to try and make it back to the starting tent, only to learn that they had more volunteers than expected and that we were actually free to have fun at the street fair. At the street fair we saw our fellow Key Clubbers frantically working the tea tent and were dragged in to help out. There were so many people who wanted tea that the line had to be split into two, both of which did not die down even when it started raining. At the end we were given free bentos. Even as a self described picky eater, they were delicious. It was a very chaotic, fun, and overall amazing event. I got to see Key Clubbers from Millennium, Laguardia, Brooklyn Tech, and so many more. Even the past LTG Melanie was there!This event was a huge reminder of how big Key Club really is, as well as how many connections I have made because of it. Also, as someone who already loved Japanese culture, I had no idea that this parade was happening until I saw it as a Key Club event. So it really renewed my appreciation for how much more Key Club can teach me about the city I live in and my personal interests. Even as a self described picky eater, they were delicious. It was a very chaotic, fun, and overall amazing event. I got to see Key Clubbers from Millennium, Laguardia, Brooklyn Tech, and so many more. Even the past LTG Melanie was there!This event was a huge reminder of how big Key Club really is, as well as how many connections I have made because of it. Also, as someone who already loved Japanese culture, I had no idea that this parade was happening until I saw it as a Key Club event. So it really renewed my appreciation for how much more Key Club can teach me about the city I live in and my personal interests.
SERVICE SPOTLIGHT
“The event was amazing, and I am so happy to be going into this presidency with such a great start!” - co president Dea Pulatani
DIVISION 7 LYNBROOK KEY CLUB
On April 6th, Lynbrook High School’s Key Club held its third and final blood drive of the year, and its success was astonishing. LHS partnered with the New York Blood Center (nybc.org), which has been distributing blood to those who need it since 1964. 88 pints of blood were collected and a total of 264 lives were saved! Key Club is so grateful for this accomplishment and would like to thank all the generous donors.
BLOOD DRIVE Student volunteers helped make this day a success by taking on many jobs and responsibilities, including setting up equipment and materials for the gymnasium, checking in donors, and escorting them to places where they could enjoy a snack before giving their blood. Many students also donated blood including Junior Giulia Lubrano. “I chose to donate because an hour of discomfort is worth the lives I was able to save,” she says.
The two other blood drives were held on November 30th and February 7th, and both
LYNBROOK KEY CLUB DIVISION 7
brought in huge success, saving over 250 831 lives through blood drive this year! “This year's blood drive truly focused on saving as many lives as possible, says co-president of the club Hailey Samelson. “We really feel that giving blood is so important throughout many perspectives. It shows selflessness, bravery, and most of all it shows the true
nybc.org
APRIL 6TH, 2022
lives each. The club saved a grand total of
kindhearted person you are. On behalf of the entire Key Club, we really loved seeing people step forward and save lives!! Thank you!”
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EVENT IDEAS EVENTS Honey Bee Workshops Painting Murals Planting at Botanical Gardens Going to a Pride March
FUNDRAISERS Esports Contest Café Fundraiser Talent Show Bumper Cars Fundraiser
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FUNDRAISING & SERVICE HOUR GOAL
$185,000 fundraising goal
175,000 service hour goal
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D R O W LE Come play a game of Key Club Wordle!
Y DOUBLE CLICK TO PLA
g S TO editor@nydkc.or LT U ES R R U YO L AI EM THE NEXT ARTICLE! AND BE FEATURED IN
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1925
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 World; and combat all forces that tend to undermine these institutions. 29
COVID DISCLAIMER Make sure you are frequently cleansing your hands! Make sure your hands are clean before you touch your face, and especially when you are around your peers!
Get tested consistently! Symptoms might not show even if you have Covid, so please get tested, especially if you are unvaccinated.
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Gabriella Slootsky
Janice Cao
Laura Fan
Jena Kim
Sophia Segal
David Chen
Cindy Zou
New York District Board Directory Lieutenant Governors
Division 1
Connor Moos division1@nydkc.org
Division 2
Ohm Patel division2@nydkc.org
Division 5
Sophia Cadolino division3@nydkc.org
Vacant
Ivy Lian division5@nydkc.org
Division 8
Division 3
Division 8A
Melody Song division4n@nydkc.org
Division 7 Steven Huang division7@nydkc.org
Division 9
Yifei Wang division8@nydkc.org
Ariba Azad division8a@nydkc.org
Amy Wu division9@nydkc.org
Division 11
Division 12
Division 13
Abigail Choi division11@nydkc.org
Division 4
Andrew Hines Tiffany Ortiz division12@nydkc.org division13@nydkc.org
Division 10
Guseyn Zarbaliyev division10@nydkc.org
Division 14
Eliza Strum division14@nydkc.org
New York District Board Directory Lieutenant Governors
Vacant
Division 19
Jackie Thrailkill division19@nydkc.org
Division 23
Yanisa Chaisomboonpan division23@nydkc.org
Division 16
Vacant
Vacant
Division 21
Kelly Nhan division16@nydkc.org
Division 24
Ava Eastman division18@nydkc.org
James Fudesco division21@nydkc.org
Division 25
Auggie Kempf Kyle Earle division24@nydkc.org division25@nydkc.org
Division 18
Vacant
THE
EMPIRE KEY MAY ISSUE #1
THANK YOU FOR READING