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The
Keynote
Volume 3 I Parsippany High School I June 2016
“Keep all special thought and memories for lifetimes to come. Share these keepsakes with others to inspire hope and build from the past, which can bridge into the future.” –Mattie Stepanek
Redstock
Relay for Life
Junior Class Project Trivia Night KSG
Welcome! Last issue was centered on the love and devotion to service, as the service year was just starting. In the month of June alone, we, as key clubbers, more than lived up to this standard. Through the astounding attendance to Redstock and Relay for Life and the inspiring dedication to the class projects, I could feel the surge of enthusiasm in all of us. For that, we should applaud and high five each other. Although the service year has just shifted into full gear, I want to dedicate this issue to creating and preserving memories. Every event is an opportunity to make memories, and every parting is a reminder to keep them.
The summer has arrived, and school is out; we’ve all survived, so let’s cheer and shout! With the school year over, it is time to bid our senior key clubbers farewell, as they move on to college. We have all created precious experiences with them, and now it is time to treasure them. Several seniors will be featured throughout the issue for their contributions, so please keep an eye out for these quotes. Finally, a big thank you to all key clubbers of all grades for the successful year. Let us continue to create more valuable memories to preserve and treasure forever.
Yours truly, Ellie Xu Editor
Key Club is something more than just service. It changes you—and others—forever.” -Yang Fu
Redstock Recap Redstock? By Stephanie Shen President
Redstock is an annual end-of-the-year event where all the PHS clubs, as well as local businesses, come together and showcase certain activities that describe the club. For example, this year, the Asian American Club made a Chinese astrology sign scavenger hunt; UNICEF set up a booth where you can plant your own flower in a paper cup. These activities play a great role in the success of the event since people from all over the town come to Par High on this day for a little fun. It gets students involved in giving back to the community! Redstock Recollection By Ellen Xu Editor
The sun was beaming glorious waves of heat upon the hapless high schoolers frantically setting up stations below. The large beckoning posters of UNICEF teetered in the breeze, the billowing white tent of Science Olympiad sheltered its toiling high schoolers from the sun, the members of Asian American Club concentrated on the last minute details of their scavenger hunt‌and then there was the Sponge and Bucket Race. The beautifully
illustrated poster was clinging to the table desperately with one piece of tape, and that was it. We, as the first shift key clubbers, were rather lost at first. However, with the help of last year’s members, we were able to set the station up: four buckets were arranged in a square, the two closest filled with water and a sponge, the other two left empty. Everything was ready, the only thing left was to attract visitors. Being all the way in the back of the fair, it was a bit difficult to garner attention.
After the first few kids stumbled upon our station, we became much more popular. By then we had already established a system: two key clubbers held down the empty buckets while avoiding a face full of soapy water, another two key clubbers hovered over the full buckets to judge which competitor emptied the bucket first. The whole crew of key clubbers also doubled as cheerleaders, shouting encouragements and handing out high fives to anyone in sight.
Asian American Club to the rescue! By placing one of the stamps from their Scavenger Hunt at our station, AAC guaranteed that many children would soon pass by our station in search for the elusive dragon stamp.
After the first shift had left, the second shift was left with the monumental task of learning about the system while keeping up with the steady trickle of visitors. Pretty easy. Luckily some of the first shift stayed overtime in order to assist the second shift in their first few runs.
By the second shift, I had realized that people were no longer coming to the Sponge and Bucket Race because of the dragon stamp, but rather because they thought it looked like a lot of fun. We saw plenty of people come again and again for rematches against their friends or even to challenge strangers. Even teachers and some wandering high schoolers had fun racing at our station! It was especially heartwarming to see little toddlers join in the fun; even though they did not necessarily understand the rules, they still giggled as they toddled back and forth with the sponge.
We dumped out the water, wrung out the sponges, and stacked the buckets. Taking bits and pieces of the station with them, key clubbers going to Relay for Life headed up to the school and so I trailed behind.
Glancing around at the bustling high schoolers cleaning up their stations, I knew Redstock was officially over when the bouncy house wilted pitifully, the great billowing white tents collapsed on the ground, and the squat figured ice cream truck had melted away into the distance. Only the sun remained constant from before, merrily scorching the now mostly barren grounds. When I think about Redstock now, I remember two days. The first is from when I The shift between the second and last group was much younger, as one of the screaming of key clubbers was imperceptible, and the kids that drifted from station to station, and station continued to run smoothly. I left the left one goldfish richer. The second is June 4th, station at this transition in order to fully 2016, when I was on the other side, managing experience Redstock. one of the fun activities for the kids visiting I meandered my way through the stalls, Redstock. stopping to make some slime, plant a That day everyone made a memory like mine, sunflower, answer trivia, toss bean bags, ect. the visitors and the Parsippany high schoolers, My progress was momentarily stalled by the and so I share mine today in hope that those sound of the jazz band, and I stopped there for a while to appreciate the good weather and not in attendance can experience what I felt, and those that were there can recall such good music. Lapping away at my ice cream, I slowly made memories. my way back to the key club station to aid in cleaning up.
“It would be an understatement to state that Key Club has shaped the way I think - through the best of successes and the occasional failures, I've been fortunate enough to learn to compromise, to cooperate, and to persevere. The most valuable lesson I've learned,
however, was to put others before myself, and I have confidence that countless others in years to come will benefit from and continue to build upon the amazing experiences Key Club offers its members."
—Marine-Ayan Ibrahim Aibo
Relay for
Life Relay Recap
By Stephanie Shen President
On Saturday, June 4th, seventeen dedicated Key Club members took part in American Cancer Society’s annual Relay for Life event at the County College of Morris. A 24-hour long tribute dedicated to celebrating the lives of those affected by cancer, as well as remembering the lost loved ones, the ultimate mission of the event is to raise money and awareness to improve cancer survival, decrease the occurrence of cancer, and improve the quality of life for cancer patients and their caretakers. Though the Key Clubbers did not stay for the full 24-hours, we still played a great role in making the Closing Ceremony a huge success, where we decorated, as well as set up Luminarias around a walking path that all of the participants walked around when night fell as a way of honoring those affected by cancer. A few extra helpful Key Clubbers (Rohan Khajuria, Nina Chen and Likitha Mamillapalli) even volunteered to serve food in the beginning of the event when our event coordinator, Mrs. DeChristopher, needed some help. Along with some great music and some great food, it was a great opportunity for our members to bond over such a heartwarming event.
Luminaria In order to prep for the event, the Key Club was given a box full of Luminaria supplies towards the middle of May by the lead coordinator of Relay for Life, Mrs. DeChristopher. After a general meeting one fine Tuesday afternoon, several Key Clubbers volunteered to help put these Luminarias together, white paper bags, personalized with name/photo/message in memory of someone affected by cancer.
“Key Club has undoubtedly been a vital and rewarding part of my high school experience. Through it, I learned not only the importance
of giving back to the community, but also other crucial life skills, such as organization and leadership. I strongly encourage high schoolers to get involved with service, particularly through this wonderful, global
organization. Always remember that you have the potential to change a life for the better.” – Anne Cheng
Junior Class Project
Kiss a Senior Goodbye
Grandma’s Cookies
Sweet Kisses
By Michelle Inn Junior Class Project Director
The Jr. class project involved giving back to our seniors, not the high school graduating class, but the senior citizens of our community. We wrapped up cookies and attached hand written notes I had them delivered to Baldwin Oaks, where Sue (service coordinator) distributed them to any senior citizen. This idea goes along with the idea that grandma's cookies are the best. As a kid, many grow up with this saying, and I thought that we, the grandchildren, should give back to our seniors, the grandparents.
By Miki Hansen Vice President
This year marked our third year of Kiss a Senior Goodbye Sales! Kiss a Senior Goodbye Sales is a heartwarming candy gram fundraiser. To give the seniors a proper send-off, we prepared and sold little goodie bags of Hershey Kisses with a cute little messages attached. With this "sweet" gesture we "kiss" the seniors goodbye and wish them the best of luck on their future endeavors.
“In my freshman year I didn't participate in many clubs but most of my friends were in it and I kept hearing about it every Tuesday. In my junior year, when I finally decided to join, I realized that there was something much better I could be doing with my time other than staying at home and being lazy. Whether it was reading to children, painting at Care One, or playing with the children at the daycare, if I could see one smile on their faces it would mean the world to me. Looking back, I'm so glad that I decided to join and I'm also proud of what our Key Club has accomplished.”
—Akshata Rao
Trivia Night By Nicholas Lim Recording Secretary/ Freshman Class Project Director
By Samantha Lee Webmaster/ Sophomore Class Project Director
This year's Trivia Night was a huge success! With the addition of the Minute to Win it games by the freshmen, the competition only grew bigger. The night was full of games, laughter, wits, and of course, snacks! From the looks of it, Trivia Night may soon become an annual event for our Key Club!
Trivia/Minute to Win It Night proved to be a success, filled with competition, challenges, and quizzes. Courtesy of the freshman and sophomore classes, two fun activities were combined to create an evening of excitement! Thanks to all who participated! By Udhay Khullar Treasurer/ Sophomore Class Project Director
The second annual Key Club Trivia Night was another success. Through the combined efforts of the Key Club Freshman and Sophomores over $100 dollars were raised for the federation of food banks. Through the innovative Minute to Win it challenges and the fresh new score keeping method, Trivia Night was a step up in every way from previous years. We would especially like to thank Mrs. Barry, Mrs. Record and Mr. Gilgur for making everything possible! Also special thanks to Sam lee and Nick Lim, the other class project directors.
“Service should be treasured because it
gives you a taste of what other people experience. Often times the people we serve come from different backgrounds, and service is a way to express that kindness is unbounded by societal differences.” —Amanda Chen
Contact Information President Stephanie Shen
Vice President Miki Hansen
sshen18@pthsd.net
mohansen17@pthsd.net Recording Secretary Nicholas Lim
Vice President Spencer Huang
sphuang17@pthsd.net
njlim19@pthsd.net
Corresponding Secretary Jennifer Huang
Treasurer Udhay Khullar
jhuang17@pthsd.net
ukhullar18@pthsd.net
Webmaster Samantha Lee
Historian Alice Limanova
sllee18@pthsd.net
ajlimanova18@pthsd.net
Editor Ellen Xu
exu18@pthsd.net Other Newsletters https://issuu.com/parsippanyhskc
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