The Locksmith, December 2017 by Stuyvesant High School Key Club

THE LOCKSMITH New York District / Division 11 Volume 5 Issue 8

Stuyvesant High School Key Club December Issue

About Us What does Key Club mean to you? Featured writer: Tyrone Lin My experience with Key Club has been quite enjoyable. Key Club is a place where students can help out with events while having fun. Key Club allows students to participate in helping out their community by working with other groups of people to organize fundraisers. When I go to each event, I know that what I am doing will help others and that makes me happy. Going to each event gives me the experience of going somewhere new instead of staying home all the time. At each event, I get to meet new people and make new friends. This is what I think Key Club is all about.

Give Us a Shout!

Cabinet Michelle Yang, President librasapphire2000@gmail.com Yuki Lau, Vice President stuyyuki@gmail.com

Contacts Gilbert Papagayo, Faculty Advisor g.papagayo@gmail.com Stuyvesant High School 345 Chambers St. New York, NY 10282

Jenna Foo, Secretary jfoo@stuy.edu Justin Chan, Treasurer jchan15@stuy.edu Tiffany Chen, Editor tchen8@stuy.edu Jason Lam, Webmaster jlam6@stuy.edu

Table of Contents Letters from Tiffany and Sammi Announcements from Stuyvesant Key Club Announcements from Division 11 Announcements from New York District Key Club Announcements from Key Club International Timeline of Past Events Timeline of Upcoming Events New Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Resolutions! Featured Key Club: Edward R. Murrow Photos and Articles

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Letters from Tiffany and Sammi Tiffany Chen, Editor

Sammi Lin, Locksmith Committee Director

Hey y’all! Thank you for reading this issue of the Locksmith! It’s the first issue of 2018, so I’m really excited! Here’s to an amazing year of volunteering and Locksmiths. :) I would like to thank everyone who has submitted articles and photos; this issue reached over 100 pages again due to your submissions. I am also really proud of all the seniors who finished their college applications; wishing you guys the best of luck! I hope your break (and snow day) was relaxing and fun. Hope you enjoy this issue!

Hey everyone! Happy New Year! I A big thank you to everyone who helped start off 2018 with a bang, putting together another 100+ page issue of the Locksmith! A huge shout out to the Locksmith Committee especially for putting in their time over winter break when I know all anyone wants to do is sleep their troubles away. Also, I can’t believe this is already my 7th issue of the Locksmith as your director! Here’s to another great year of volunteering, Key Clubbing, and looking forward to all the future publications!

Announcements from Stuyvesant Key Club Thank you to everyone who went to the Coco movie fundraiser at Alpine Cinemas on December 3! We were able to raise $700! Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m so proud of our Key Club, and I hope you had loads of fun watching the movie and playing pool and ping pong.

Thank you to everyone who went to the pool fundraiser at Prince Billiards on December 28! We were able to raise $563 with Millennium Key Club to help them get started. I hope you had loads of fun playing pool with your friends and competing in the pool tournament.

Announcements from Division 11 LaGuardia Key Club held a movie fundraiser on December 10! They watched Wonder at AMC Loews 34th Street. Congrats to them for a successful fundraiser!

Bronx Science Key Club held a movie fundraiser on December 23! They watched Pitch Perfect 3 at AMC Harlem and were able to raise $120.34. Congrats to them! This holiday season, several Key Clubbers were featured by our division’s Social Media Committee. These are some of the most dedicated and loving volunteers in the division. Check out their spotlights! ● December 23: Alan Guo and Freya Zhu (from Stuyvesant) ● December 24: Kevin Chan and Wesley Mui (from Bronx Science) ● December 25: Fahad Nabi and Kimberly Nee (from Bronx Science and LaGuardia, respectively) ● December 26: Vanessa Fang, Matthew He, and Cara Leung (from Bronx Science) ● December 28: Justin Chan (from Stuyvesant) ● December 30: Mara Yella (from HSMSE) ● December 31: Flora Lei, Vicki Xiao, and Lydia Yang (from Bronx Science, Millennium, and LaGuardia, respectively) ● January 1: Eric Zhao (from HSMSE)

Announcements from New York District Key Club NYDKC finally released their awards booklet! There, you can read about the awards dedicated Key Clubbers, cabinet members, clubs, and leaders can receive for their hard work. You can access it here.

Congrats to Bronx Science Key Club for being a recipient of a Kiwanis Youth Opportunity Fund grant and Baker High School Key Club for being selected as a 2017 Fall HALO finalist!

Announcements from Key Club International Everyone knows that going to college is very expensive. But did you know that the Kiwanis Children’s Fund offers college scholarships to dedicated Key Clubbers? Learn more about these amazing scholarships here. Check out an update from the International Board here. Kiwanian’s light display and fundraising event, which was held with the help of Key Clubbers, was shown on national television! Read more here! Kiwanis Gives Online is a cool way to raise money. Learn more here. The HALO Movement contest winners have been announced! Check them out here! Check out some of Key Club’s biggest highlights in 2017 here. Join us for the kickoff of 2018’s Thirsty 30 campaign! Learn more here. K Corps is Kiwanis International’s youth exchange program for Kiwanis-family teens, including Key Club members. It’s a great opportunity for Key Clubbers to experience a unique culture, provide service, make lifelong friends and see spectacular sights half a world away! Learn more here. On January 1, a California Key Club member will reign over a century-old tradition, the Tournament of Roses. Isabella “Bella” Marez, a senior at La Salle High School in Pasadena, is the 2018 Rose Queen, the 100th young woman to hold the title. Learn more here.

Timeline of Past Events ●

December 2:

December Hunger No More Time: 12:00pm to 2:00pm Location: 29th St and 11th Ave Project Captain: None Description: The Hunger No More project is a homeless outreach project that NYSoM does on a monthly basis. Volunteers distributed simple lunch packages to the homeless on the streets of NYC.

Holiday Party Time: 1:00pm to 5:00pm Location: Hudson Guild Project Captain: Tiffany Chen Description: We helped out at Hudson Guild's Holiday Party! We guided people on and off Access-a-Ride and served food to the attendees.

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December 3:

Coco Movie Fundraiser Time: 11:30am to 5:00pm Location: Alpine Cinemas and Hall of Fame Billiards Project Captain: N/A Description: We raised money by watching the movie “Coco”! We then played pool and ping pong together.

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December 9:

Downtown Math Invitational Time: 8:30am to 3:30pm Location: Stuy! Project Captain: Amit Narang Description: We helped out at the first annual Downtown Mathematics Invitational hosted by the Stuyvesant Math Team! We helped the teams from other schools find their way around the building, assisted with the distribution/collection of testing materials, and more.

Holiday Hoopla Time: 2:00pm to 6:00pm Location: 566 Nostrand Ave (2nd floor, Studio 10) Project Captain: Justin Chan and Yuki Lau Description: We helped out at one of NYSoM's holiday events, Holiday Hoopla! We assisted with setup and breakdown, wrapped and distributed gifts, and managed holiday activities.

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December 10:

Big Apple Half Marathon Time: 6:30am to 12:00pm Location: Central Park Project Captain: Justin Chan Description: We helped cheer on runners as they pass, assist in cleaning and breakdown, assist in the setup and breakdown of the water and Gatorade stations along the course, and work at Bag Check, Registration, Food Table, Water station, or any other area that was in need.

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December 15:

The Bit Awards Time: 5:00pm to 10:00pm Location: Tishman Auditorium Project Captain: Vincent Huang Description: We helped out at the Bit Awards hosted by Playcrafting NYC! We assisted with setup and breakdown, manned game stations, and assisted with wayfinding and general front-of-the-house responsibilities.

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December 16:

Cocoa Classic 5K & 10K Time: 7:00am to 12:00pm Location: Roosevelt Island Project Captain: Justin Chan Description: We helped cheer on runners as they pass, assist in cleaning and breakdown, assist in the setup and breakdown of the water and Gatorade stations along the course, and work at Bag Check, Registration, Food Table, Water station, or any other area that was in need.

Winter Wonderland Time: 12:00pm to 6:00pm Location: Jackie Robinson Educational Complex Project Captain: Vincent Huang and Evan Zou Description: We helped out at one of NYSoM's holiday events, Winter Wonderland! We assisted with setup and breakdown, wrapped and distributed gifts, and managed holiday activities.

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December 19:

December Divisional Time: 5:00pm to 7:00pm Location: Bronx Science Project Captain: N/A Description: We attended the December Divisional at Bronx Science! We learned more about the happenings of other Key Clubs in Division 11 and participated in a Secret Santa.

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December 22:

Indicator Flower Sale Time: 9:30am to 10:15am Location: Room 350 (Ceramics room) Project Captain: Evan Zou Description: We helped out at the flower sale hosted by the Indicator! We took buckets of flowers to their respective floors and homerooms.

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December 28:

Pool Fundraiser Time: 11:00am - 2:00pm Location: Prince Billiards Project Captain: N/A Description: We hosted a fundraiser with Millennium Key Club! We raised money by playing pool for two hours and playing against each other in a pool tournament.

Timeline of Upcoming Events ●

January 4:

Sell All My Sons STC Tickets Time: 1st-10th period Location: 2nd floor by the scanners Project Captain: *needed* Description: Help STC sell tickets on the 2nd floor! Further Information will be given upon signup! Sign up here!

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January 5: January 6:

Sell All My Sons STC Tickets NYRR Joe Kleinerman 10k Time: 6:30am to 10:30am Location: Central Park, North Meadow Ballfield #8 (East Drive at 102nd Street) Project Captain: *needed* Description: Sign up for post-race amenities. We will be helping with the distribution of food and fluids to runners. Sign up here and here!

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January 7:

NYCRuns Central Park Cocoa Classic 5tfy Miler Time: 7:00am to 12:00pm Location: Central Park Project Captain: *needed* Description: We will be helping out cheering on runners as they pass, assist in cleaning and breakdown, assist in the setup and breakdown of the water and Gatorade stations along the course, help out with Bag Check, Registration, Food Table, Water station or any other area that is in need. Sign up here!

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January 13:

Seeds in the Middle Time: 9:00am to 3:00pm Location: Brownsville Collaborative Middle School and P.S. 298 Project Captain: *needed* Description: We will be helping set up a market! Tasks include helping out at a pretend market, making posters, and building a storefront. Sign up here and here!

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January 21:

NYRR Fred Lebow Manhattan Half Time: 6:00am to 12:00pm Location: Central Park, North Meadow Ballfield #8 (East Drive at 102nd Street). Project Captain: *needed* Description: Sign up for post-race amenities. We will be helping with the distribution of food and fluids to runners. Sign up here and here!

New Year’s Resolutions! With every New Year’s comes New Year’s resolutions. Here are Key Clubber’s New Year’s resolutions.

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Our awesome Stuy kids: Michelle Dong, freshman: I would like to stop procrastinating as much. Sonia Lee, sophomore: I would like to have a more balanced life. Jason Xiong, freshman: I want to exercise more and have a more healthy diet (gotta stop going to McDonald’s after school). Karen Lin, sophomore: I would like to improve my concentration and mental skills. Tina Lu, freshman: I would like to procrastinate less and sleep more. Penny Wang, sophomore: I want to be more hard-working and motivated as a person. Steven Ke, sophomore: I want to be a better person and stop procrastinating. Kelly Zhou, freshman: My New Year’s Resolution is to manage my time more efficiently and to become more productive with both schoolwork and extracurriculars. Samia Islam, freshman: I hope to study more and procrastinate less this year. Nicole Zheng, sophomore: I want to be healthier and more successful with my academics. Vicky Zhu, senior: I want to try my best to keep my journal up to date Freya Zhu, freshman: I would like to be able to manage my time better and be better at dividing up my time between academics, Key Club, and health. Dell Zheng, senior: I want to get into college. Alan Guo, freshman: I want to turn the B's I have in three of my classes to A's. I'd also like to be more fit.

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David Shi, freshman: I want to focus more on my studies and less on letting loose and having fun. Fun is definitely necessary and essential to unwinding, especially in Stuy with the huge workload. My grades aren't looking that good and my parents pester me, and I realize that I procrastinate a lot and I can't really change who I am. I just want to improve some habits and try to hand in more quality work instead of rushing last minute for all of my work and being stressed. Stephanie Raza, sophomore: My 2018 resolution would be to be more involved. More involved with Key Club. More involved with my friends and to be able to spend more time with then and my family. I hope I can get closer with certain people and make amends and possibly make new relations through Key Club. I hope I have a successful sophomore year and begin junior year with a nice start. I'd love to get healthier and be more happier with myself and love myself for who I am. Yume Igarashi, freshman: My New Year’s resolution is to be able to stay optimistic throughout hard times in both my social and academic aspects of my life. At the end of this year, I have come to realize that I shouldn’t just smile because something good happened, since good things may come to those who manage to always smile. Yaru Luo, sophomore: I want to be happier by treating people with kindness and smiling more! I just wanna make people laugh. :) Emily Chen, freshman: I want to manage my time better so I can do more extracurriculars. Michael Nath, freshman: For the year of 2018, I honestly just want to accomplish 2 things. I want to first do really well in school, have good averages, and improve my understanding of certain subjects. The second thing I want to do is make memories like I did this year, but even more. I missed out on a lot of things, but I want to make new memories with both my old and new friends. Michael Hu, freshman: I want to get more sleep and stop procrastinating. Suraia Ali, freshman: I want to get good grades on all my finals! Fei Wang, sophomore: I want to get more sleep.

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Richard Kim, sophomore: I want to get more sleep, not force myself to do things I don't want to do, and spend more time with family. Lucy Lin, junior: I want to volunteer more. Stacey Xue, junior: This year, I want to read and enjoy more books during my free time. High school has created such a busy schedule for me, and I find that it is not the same when an English class requires you to read a set number of pages every day than when you can relax and enjoy a book at your own reading pace. Jeffrey Huang, freshman: I want to become more accepting of myself and others. Benson Goldman, junior: I want to do better in school and be more active in this club. Nehemiah Yu and Emma Tong, freshmen: I want to get better grades. Rachel Joh, freshman: I want to earn at least $5 from Badgley’s Friday questions, to procrastinate less, and to sleep around twice as much than I did in 2017. Max Huang, freshman: My New Year's resolution is to try to squeeze some free time into my schedule to do other things like volunteering. Sandy Tan, freshman: In the upcoming year, I want to be more productive and to stop cramming for tests. I also want to plan my time efficiently so I can get more sleep during the weekdays. Hong Wei Chen, sophomore: I want to stop procrastinating, get good grades, and go to more Key Club events. Vincent Huang, sophomore: I want to be more active in Key Club. And some special non-Stuy peeps… Eric Zhao, HSMSE: I want to be a better LTG. Anthony Annunziato, CCNY: I want to support Key Club more by going to more events as a Circle K'er so we can continue to build relations between Key Club and Circle K. I also want to make more friends in Circle K while maintaining the amazing friends I have in Key Club level and helping them out when they need the help (e.g. fundraisers, LTC).

Featured Key Club: Murrow In each Locksmith, we feature a different high school’s Key Club to spread awareness of our interclub activities and emphasize the large community Key Club fosters. This issue, we are focusing on Edward R. Murrow Key Club of Division 9. Aile Cheng, President: The Edward R. Murrow High School Key Club or more simply referred to as just Murrow Key Club had an amazing and super productive month full of service and holiday spirit! December was particularly special because the three M’s of Brooklyn, Madison, Midwood, and Murrow High School, collaborated on almost all events as part of the Make Your Magical Mark Month. This was a perfect way to unite Key Club members from the three schools and create fun events for them to participate in. We started the month off with an event called Santa in the Park on December 2nd. We volunteered with the Marine Park Alliance, helping children create holiday decorations and other arts & crafts. We also brought joy and spread holiday cheer by face painting. The next event we participated in was a division event called the Ft. Hamilton Children’s Holiday Party on December 8th. Every year, the Fort Hamilton MWR organizes a festive Children's Holiday Party for all Military branches including Active, Reserve, and National Guard, retirees and their families, at no cost! Families received food, enjoyed entertainment, and all of the children received one gift from Santa and Mrs. Clause. Volunteers were asked to help in serving the food, throwing out trash, cleaning up and other tasks needed during the night. Although it was chilly and quite cold, it was worth seeing the happiness we brought to military families. Another event we did was the St. Nicholas Shopping Day on December 9th. At this annual event, we shopped at a Kmart located in Manhattan for fhgjk

low-income families with funds provided by the organization. Key Clubbers broke up into small groups and shopped according to the description of the family they were assigned. Many of these items included blankets and warm clothing. We then bagged these items and it was nice to know that we helped to improve a family's holiday season. The following weekend, we volunteered for the NYCRUNS Cocoa Classic 5K & 10K at Roosevelt Island on December 16th. We helped with directing the runners, distributing drinks at a water table, and cheering them on. This event was full of excitement and high spirits. On that same day, together with our Division, we volunteered for another holiday-themed event called Operation Christmas Smiles. This event consisted of a meet and greet with characters, arcade games, face painting, a meet with Santa, prizes, refreshments and so much more. Brooklyn Key Clubbers worked together to put smiles on over 600 children that attended this event. To end off a great month (and year), we volunteered at the Bowery Mission Soup Kitchen on New Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eve, December 31st. Members worked together to cook and distribute meals to the less fortunate. Overall, December was an action-packed month where the members of Murrow Key Club went beyond the call of service and had a great time giving back to the community. This month has inspired us to do more collaborations with different Key Clubs for future events. As of right now, one of our biggest goals is to fundraise for the 2018 LTC. We are hoping to send more members than we did last year and we cannot wait for the 70th Annual Leadership Training Conference!

Murrow Key Club at Operation Christmas Smiles

Murrow Key Club at Santa in the Park

Pho & Artic

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Holiday Party By Freya Zhu As my friend and I arrived at the location that was stated in the email, we found out that the location was wrong and we had to walk a few more blocks. When we walked into the room that the event was taking place, there was an adorable black dog. He was so cute. He was a service dog and very well trained. I spent about ten minutes just petting him. We then sat down and listened to the instructions to find out what we were doing for the day. Our first task was to escort the disabled people up to the room. We did this exercise where someone would close their eyes and another person would lead them to the elevator and when they came back, we would switch. The point of this was to show how difficult it can be and give us some sort of experience before walking the disabled. A group of us went down and waited for the buses to arrive. After some time, a bus came and in it was one of the guests. Some of else held the door while one of us lead her into the elevator and into the room. After some time, we escorted them all into the room and waited out in the hallways until we receive further instructions. We then were told to ask the guests what type of dressing they want. After that was done, we helped give out lasagna and spaghetti. We were allowed to have some, too, and it tasted pretty good. After lunch, they were given cake, and Aaron got a slice of cake that he shared with us. I ate the strawberry. We then escorted them out and waited for the buses with them. When most of them left, we were allowed to leave. This event in particular made me feel very happy and proud that I helped someone's day become better today.

By Vincent Huang When this event first showed up on the spreadsheet, I remember definitely wanting to go because who doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like parties? Although it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t turn out like I imagined, I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have asked for more. The day started off with me wandering around aimlessly along the buildings marking 26th Street, only to come across a friend and realize that the address put on the email was incorrect and that we were three streets away. However, we still managed to get there in time, and I was proud to arrive early, something that rarely happens. Once our project captain, Tiffany (the Locksmith editor!), corrected this mistake and the confusion was alleviated, Key Clubbers began to arrive promptly. We all shuffled into a room the floor above and were introduced to the coordinator of the event, Alice, who was actually the founder of Helping Hands for the Disabled of NYC. As someone who was blind herself, she gave us all the tips in working with the handicapped to guide people on and off Access a Ride and serve food. I was really nervous since this was my first time working with handicapped people, but Alice helped ease us in by encouraging the volunteers to participate in a hands-on activity. With a partner, we were instructed to walk across the hall with our eyes closed while holding onto them, a little taste of what we would be doing later on. It was a surreal experience, and even though it was a simple task, I actually felt scared for my life while I was stumbling across the hall (it may have just been my partner though). From this experience, I definitely grew more appreciative of the little things, even something like walking, which we take for granted. Eventually, people started arriving, and we guided them in through the doors, linking arms and making conversation. Although it was a cold and gloomy day, it was nice to help provide service for those who needed us. Once all were seated in the room, food was distributed and there was salad, lasagna, meatballs and pasta, and even dessert in the form of cheesecake and strawberry shortcake. After serving the food, the volunteers sat outside tracy13tracy13tracy13

and we had fun talking and getting in on some of the food. The day ended after we walked the handicapped out, and it was amazing to see how upbeat they were, joking around with each other and making jokes. This event was definitely a highlight of my week and I encourage others to attend it in the future. By Tiffany Chen As I got out of the subway station, I immediately got a call from Benson, one of the volunteers, telling me that he didn’t know which building to go into. Alarmed (especially since the address was in the confirmation email), I told him not to worry and that I would be there as soon as possible. When I arrived at the scene, I realized what he was talking about: we were standing in front of residential buildings that definitely did not seem like the place we were supposed to volunteer at. As Key Clubbers continued to approach me, I knew that I needed to quickly think of a solution, and then it hit me: I should check the Stuyvesant Key Club and New Projects emails for information on where to go for this event (perks of being a Cab member!). After digging through the New Projects email, I found Alice’s number, and she told us that we were five blocks away. It was okay, though, because we were able to talk to each other while walking to the new location. Once we got there, we met up with some other Key Clubbers and walked upstairs to meet Alice. She had a really adorable service dog, and I pet it for a while. She then discussed what we should do to help disabled people at this event. I was really intimidated—this was the first time I led blind people up a flight of stairs to a party. However, I was also really humbled to be able to help them. As they came out of their Access a Rides with smiles, looking forward to the party and singing with their friends, I was amazed. Most of the way I analyze the world is through sight, and to see them so gleeful reminded me that sight isn’t everything. I talked to them as I led them upstairs to the party, and they were all really nice and funny. tracy13tracy13tracy13

We then talked to each other as we passed out food to the disabled. We were also able to get the leftovers, and I was happy about that. We even got to have a slice of cake! (We shared, of course.) I enjoyed getting closer to the volunteers; they helped me relax a bit more, especially since the November issue of the Locksmith needed to be published that night. When the party settled down, we helped the blind walk down the stairs and waited with them for their Access a Ride. I was cold because I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wear my jacket, but luckily Freya brought it to me. Once they left, we took a group photo before going our separate ways. I loved volunteering at this event; it was very different than the events I had volunteered at before, which was really nice.

Photos taken by Freya Zhu

Photo taken by Julie Zheng

Photos taken by Julie Zheng

Photos taken by Vincent Huang

Photos taken by Freya Zhu

Photos taken by Vincent Huang

Photos taken by Alan Guo

Photo taken by Alan Guo

Photos taken by Annie Huang

Photos taken by Benson Goldman

Coco Movie Fundraiser By Freya Zhu I was asked previously to show up early to the theater so we would know what we were expected to do. When I did get there, only one of my friends was there while Justin was nowhere in sight. We greeted some Stuyvesant students and waited for Justin and the others together. When they arrived, I paid and was in charge of the raffle tickets. I sent my friend to Dunkin Donuts to get us two bags we could put the raffle tickets and the money in. Justin returned with a chocolate donut that I took a little bite of. Then, I started advertising the raffle tickets. After around 30 minutes, we decided that it was time to go in, as the movie was starting soon. I found a seat next to my cousin and her friends and stole some of their popcorn. After eating about a quarter of the bag, they went off to try to refill it and I went with Vicky to get some donuts. When we returned, I found my cousin looking disappointed. Turns out there was no free refills. For the next two hours, we just sat and watched the movie. At every plot twist, the whole room would start screaming and shoutingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;it was hilarious. Near the end, I started to cry. Coco was way better than what I expected, and I'm sure everyone that came agreed. We all gathered outside the theater to take a group photo. Eric had to walk into the streets to take it. After many fails, we finally got one. After the movie, we walked down the block to the billiards place, and that's where I found out that I absolutely suck at pool. To be fair, I never played before. We ended up trying to play ping pong instead. Every time a ball came towards me, my badminton reflexes kicked in as I smacked the ball with the paddle. Needless to say, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m bad at ping pong too. However, I'm proud to say that I improved. I can actually hit the billiards ball with the cue stick.

At around 5:00pm, we cleaned up and walked out of the building. We sold some more raffle tickets and started the raffle. I bought 15. Vincent bought the mostâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;25 tickets. Sadly, neither of us won, and the guy that did didn't even pay for his tickets.

Photos taken by Freya Zhu

Photos taken by Jason Xiong

Holiday Hoopla By Emerald Zheng The day of the Holiday Hoopla event was the day of the first snow in the year. It was certainly cold outside, but when I went up a flight of stairs and into the event, there was Christmas and R&B music playing and a warmth surrounded the cold air, leaving me unbothered by the weather outside. I was to assist in cutting out printed Hanukkah menorahs and Santas for the children to play with. The lights were turned off, and what illuminated the event in their stead were disco lights, which provided the mood for the attendees to get down and dance. There was a choir of young children who performed wonderfully and another choir of middle aged women who sang just as beautifully and soulfully. There was even a Santa who rang a bell every so often, and games were held at times, such as musical chairs. I enjoyed the experience, as I got to meet many outgoing people and dance to groovy music. I returned home very satisfied that day.

Photos taken by Kelly Guo

Photos taken by Irene Chen

Photos taken by Julie Zheng

Photos taken by Jason Xiong

Photos taken by Vincent Huang

Photo taken by Vincent Huang

Photos taken by Yume Igarashi

Photos taken by Emerald Zheng

Photo taken by Yume Igarashi

Photo taken by Emerald Zheng

Photos taken by Freya Zhu

Downtown Math Invitational By Jason Xiong December 9th was full of paper cuts and colored papers. It was the Downtown Mathematics Invitational 2017, where math teams from different high schools competed against each other. There were math teams from many high schools all over New York City, as well as two teams from Stuyvesant. Everyone gathered early in the morning in the first floor lobby as the teams and volunteers sign in. The teams were then escorted to the theater, where a brief presentation was given. After the presentation, volunteers were assigned to take a team into their assigned room to proctor the test. I was not one of those volunteers. Instead, I helped with getting food for volunteers and teachers with two other volunteers. After getting food, we were assigned to prepare the test by trimming, cutting, and organizing them and putting them in folders for each team. There are team rounds, power rounds, individual rounds, and even tiebreaker questions if needed. There were many paper cuts involved as well as mistakes made with trimming. In the end, we were able to get all the tests done in time and even got to sneak a peek of the final rounds where the top individuals compete against each other in a tiebreaker round. The event was definitely really fun. It was one of the few times where you can see kids from all over the city come together. Even though Stuyvesant didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do great, it must have been a great learning experience for everyone on the math teams. Honestly, looking at these questions made me feel bad for the people on the math team, but also for myself because I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what half of them meant. By Freya Zhu I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what to expect for this event and I was pretty confused at dfghj

the beginning. After we got our assigned rooms, we were to go into the theater and meet our team. I was to be the volunteer for Alternate 1. I brought them to 235 which was close to my friend’s room. We introduced ourselves to each other and awaited for further instructions. I visited my friend’s team which is Alternate 2 and found each of them sitting far away from each other. Shortly after telling them to sit closer together, I received the tests from the other volunteers and gave them out to the contestants. When that was done, there was the second round. I received the wrong copies and I started to panic. Luckily, the test didn’t start yet so I ran down the hallways and found one of the volunteers that were handing out the tests. They then ran to the offices and returned with the right tests. I returned to my room huffing and puffing. After the test started, I wrote the time and time left on the board. Every five minutes or so, I would change it so that the test takers will know when they should write down the answers. One of my friends came and gave me a donut. It was really good. My friend would occasionally come in to check the time left because she didn’t keep track of it. Thank goodness I kept track of the time because the announcements didn’t say the time until there was only one minute left. Later on, I heard complaints from my other proctor friends on how they didn’t keep track of the time. I was pretty proud at my proctoring skills. I was asked if I could sharpen their pencils and after running up and down the floors, I borrowed someone’s pencil sharpener and then ran back to my room. After bringing my team to the theater I realized that two of my friends were missing. I ran up to their floor and told them we were supposed to be at the theater. They obviously did not look at the schedule. After some individual rounds, I brought them to one of the atriums for pizza. The pizza tasted so good as I was so hungry. They then returned to the theater where they had a team relay. It was confusing at first but we eventually got through it. After the rewards were given out, we were free to leave.

By Vincent Huang The first annual Downtown Math Invitational was being hosted in our own school and you would think that being a Stuy student, I would arrive punctually but that’s where you would be completely wrong. I came waltzing in almost two hours late but let’s just say it was due to train delays. Once I arrived, I signed in with the project captain Amit and after meeting up with some friends, we were put to the task of distributing testing materials, while other volunteers served as proctors to the math teams visiting from other schools. Racing through the halls, we handed out all the envelopes at top speed. After the distribution, we hung out in the volunteer room and even ventured to the teacher’s lounge, where there were donuts and muffins and cookies, which we could not resist the urge to eat. Once the feasting was done, we were each assigned to separate tasks and that’s where I learned of my talent for slicing papers. We worked long and hard in assembling the papers for the relay and even though it was exhausting going through piles upon piles of math problems, it felt very satisfying once our work was done. We then headed to the second floor, where lunch was taking place, and I handed out water bottles and napkins. The students participating in the invitational then went back to the auditorium, where the day finally ended in the relay. When the timer was finally on its last legs, a sigh of relief could be heard resonating through the auditorium, as the tense atmosphere lightened up. Even though I’m not the biggest fan of math, it was still fun to see students from other schools coming together to compete and we even got to see prizes being distributed to the top competitors towards the end.

Photos taken by Jason Xiong

Photos taken by Freya Zhu

Photos taken by Vincent Huang

Photos taken by Annie Huang

Big Apple Half Marathon By Emerald Zheng It was extremely chilly outside, and I arrived at the Big Apple Half Marathon dressed in multiple layers of clothing to keep from getting pneumonia. As I trembled in the cold, topless runners passed by like the weather was of no concern to their biological health. Needless to say, I watched astounded as they ran with shorts and no jackets, much less a shirt. We got hot warmers to warm our semi-frozen hands, and our project captain, Justin, blasted music out of a portable speaker to keep the spirit going. When the event began, many runners thanked us for volunteering as they ran past us. Their kind gestures made me appreciate attending the event. There were also horse carriages present in Central Park, which was certainly a sight to see. Runners ran in Santa hats to amp up holiday spirit, and people of every demographic and race gathered for the marathon. It was truly an enjoyable experience, despite the chilly weather. By Freya Zhu I remember being particularly nervous about this event. It had snowed the day before, so a lot of other Key Clubs cancelled the event. It was unknown whether the marathon would happen. The website said that they would inform us at 6:00am, but in order for me to arrive on time, I would have to leave an hour earlier, so I decided to take the risk. Fortunately, the marathon was on. We had to make some Gatorade using concentrate and water. We were to add three jugs of water to every jug of concentrate, but we then figured out that adding another â&#x2026;&#x201D; jugs of water makes it taste a lot better, according to Justin. Mixing the Gatorade made me feel like a witch stirring a cauldron. tracy13tracy13tracy

When the race started, there was a competition to see which Key Club could give out the most beverages; Bronx Science or Stuyvesant. When giving the Gatorade to the runners, half of it would end up on us as they would try to grab it while running. Eventually, we started to run out of Gatorade, so we were told to only use less concentrate and more water. The result was Gatorade flavored water. Nonetheless, this event was a fun experience, even though snow from the tree branches kept on falling on us. By Jason Xiong December 10th was very chilly but not cold enough to stop runners from around the city to participate in the annual Big Apple Half Marathon in Central Park. Volunteers from many schools had gathered to help the marathon, and we were assigned at a fluid station to hand out the Gatorade. We started by making Gatorade by mixing it with some water so it was not super concentrated. Rows and rows of cups were set up on the tables at the fluid station. Next to us, Bronx Science set up the water for the runners. The race started a while later, and soon, there were more and more runners passing by. The half marathon had three loops, and during the first loop, they were just starting, so not many people needed something to drink. However, the second loop soon came, and everyone lined out in front of the tables to hand out the drinks while some people stayed behind to do refills. What we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t expect was us running low on Gatorade since most people tend to prefer water over Gatorade. After the second loop, we had a shortage of Gatorade. However, more Gatorade arrived before the third loop arrived, so we were able to make more in time. The race soon came to an end as the runners finished their third loop. Following the end of the race was the cleanup. The Gatorade was poured back into the container we used to make the Gatorade. When we were done with cleanup, everyone gathered around to take a group picture. The group picture marked the end of another volunteering event as everyone then went their own ways home.

By Vincent Huang December 10th was a cold and brisk day, perfect for volunteering and coming late to events. As soon as I exited from the 72nd Street subway station, I was taken aback by how beautiful Central Park looked during the winter and also the fact that I had no idea where I was supposed to go. After wandering around for a good fifteen minutes, I finally realized that I had actually went the wrong way and upon arriving, I saw a group of Key Clubbers from both Stuy and Bronx Science. Each key club was in charge of separate beverage stations. We were assigned to Gatorade and since all the cups of Gatorade were already poured when I arrived, there was nothing left to do but toss snow around and listen to music using a speaker someone had brought in, while waiting for the runners to arrive. Once the marathon did begin, it became a frantic struggle to see who could hand the Gatorade cups to the runners the fastest. I wooed to the best of my abilities and discovered that the best feeling in the world was when the runners would smoothly scoop the cup out of your hand without splashing Gatorade all over you. Nonetheless, I still got covered in Gatorade but it was definitely worth it, seeing how much the runners would appreciate the drink, though some definitely made it clear that they favored water more. Overall, through the chanting of Gatorade and the constant refilling, this event was definitely fun and I hope to volunteer again next year.

Photo taken by Jason Xiong

Photos taken by Jason Xiong

Photos taken by Kelly Chen

Photos taken by Vincent Huang

Photos taken by Freya Zhu

The Bit Awards By Freya Zhu Trying to get to the event site was quite a difficult journey. It was a friday and it had been a long week. I left practice early so that I could go to this event. It was still snowing and the snow on the floor turned into gray mush. After some walking, we arrived at the location. We were told to wait in the cafe where the other volunteers later showed up. One of the coordinators asked for three of us to go with him to carry back some pizza. I volunteered and we began the journey there. I accidentally step in a puddle of water which made my shoes wet. When we arrived at the pizza place, turns out the pizza wasn’t ready yet so we had to stay there and wait for a while. My friends and I talked about some random stuff and kept ourselves entertained. Often, we would have to tell the customers that we weren’t on the line. When the pizza was ready, we formed an assembly line to carry the thirty boxes of pizza to the car. Luckily, we were also driven back in the car. After assembling the pizza onto the tables, we were rewarded with some free slices. It was my dinner so it naturally tasted very good. We were then allowed to enjoy the event. We wandered around and played some of the games. One of them was a game that involved a hat wearing blob jumping on other blobs. It was kind of fun and one of my friends became addicted to it. Another game was made for the creator’s girlfriend and it involved a ghost that flies around collecting cats. I watched one of my friends play it and then beat it before I started to play it. As I played, some of my friends had a workout session. They did some pushups and curl ups on the floor. We then went to our other friends that were helping with the signups. After one of the coordinators returned, we were free to leave and even though this event was fun, I was glad we could leave cause I had another event tomorrow that I would have to wake up at 5:00am for.

By Vincent Huang The Bit Awards, hosted by Playcrafting NYC, is an annual award show honoring developers in the gaming world, showcasing a wide array of games, ranging from apps to even board games. Conveniently located not even an hour away from Stuy, we headed there as a group, managing not to get lost in the process. The event itself was held in the Tishman Auditorium at The New School University Center, where there were musicians rehearsing in preparation for the show. Upon arrival, the volunteers were instructed to wait downstairs, where we were given individual tasks. My job was to guide people into a more obscure room downstairs that people were not generally aware of, despite it featuring developers, and best of all, food. But first, I was assigned by Dave, the coordinator, to retrieve a board game from an apartment complex five blocks away and though I got slightly lost on the way, it felt nice to help out. Upon re-entering the premises, I passed the board game off to one of the attendees and entered the room, where pizza, donuts, chips, and even Monster energy drinks were offered. After enjoying a full course meal, we went around and played some of the games on display. They were definitely interesting to say the least. One of the games was a present for the developerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s girlfriend and involved saving cats. When the award ceremony was starting, the volunteers took over the stands and I was put in charge of a two-player game, one that used a PC while the other was VR. It was fun explaining the game to others who wanted to try it out, and seeing their reactions to the VR console. From this event, I definitely came out with a greater appreciation for the gaming community and it was a great way to end the week.

Photos taken by Alan Guo

Photos taken by Freya Zhu

Photos taken by Vincent Huang

Photos taken by Annie Huang

Photos taken by Tasnuba Sukanna

Cocoa Classic 5K & 10K By Penny Wang Cocoa Classic was an event that I had anticipated for weeks because it was the perfect event to go to during the winter. It was a tradition for my friend and me to go. Even though it was cold out, it was very sunny. When I got to Firefighter's Field, I was assigned to the food station. I was giving out hot chocolate with Aliceana, and we noticed other volunteers giving out hot chocolate, so we wanted to be the ones to give out the most hot chocolate. It felt good to greet cold runners with hot chocolate and a smile. Other volunteers were giving out t-shirts and serving bagels. Many volunteers also played around in the snow and hung out when it was not busy. However, one of the hardest jobs was course marshalling. My friends stood in the cold for three hours, directing the runners along the course. I really admired their perseverance throughout the race because even though their feet were cold and numb and they were bored, they did not fail to fulfill their tasks. After the event ended, we helped out with packing everything up. There were cool mugs available for us to take as well as hot chocolate and food after we were done. Even though it was very cold, the event was a very rewarding experience. Every Key Club member should make their winter complete by going to this event. Plus, who doesn't want delicious hot chocolate? By Freya Zhu The sun was still not yet up when my friend and I arrived at Roosevelt Island. There was only one other Key Club member there. When I arrived, I was asked to become the project captain. It was sudden, but I still accepted the role. Eventually, more and more volunteers showed up and we finished our fghjkcgvhbjnkmnmbvgvhbjnbhvg

preparations for the race. Three of us were assigned the job of giving out shirts to the runners that pre-ordered them. The job was generally simple, but there were times when the runners were upset about the fact that they didn't get one; however, we tried to the best of our abilities to help them understand that the number of shirts we have are limited and that if we were to have extra, they could buy it after the race. I stood in a box the entire time, and when I needed to move, the box would come with me. Eventually, my friends destroyed the box, so I had to part with it. I decided to take a break, so I grabbed some hot chocolate. It tasted so good and it made the cold a little easier to handle. When most of the runners left, we were told to help put away the equipment. I had a hard time trying to gather everyone so that I could take a group picture. Everyone was still cleaning up and I ended up carrying boxes to the truck. When we were done, I was finally able to get everyone together and take a group picture. I was glad that we finally got a decent group picture with every volunteer. The coordinator gave us each mugs and told us to go home. However, instead of going home, I was preparing to go to my next event: Winter Wonderland.

Photo taken by Alan Guo

Photos taken by Alan Guo

Photos taken by Penny Wang

Photos taken by Irene Chen

Photos taken by Vincent Huang

Photos taken by Freya Zhu

Winter Wonderland By Freya Zhu I thought that I was going to be late for this event, but luckily, the Cocoa Classic event ended a little earlier than planned. I was prepared to be decorating, wrapping presents, decorating gingerbread houses, etc. When I arrived, I was told, along with the rest of my friends, to in a table by the entrance. Little did I know that for the next one to two hours, we would be copying the same things onto tons and tons of index cards, that I later find out will be used to hold the collected stickers which would then be exchanged for a gift. From time to time, I would stand up and stretch for a little for a few minutes. After some time past, we all slowly lost steam and stopped. We then helped put up the lights. It was kind of a dangerous job because we had to put it above all the posters and work around the balloons that lined the whole wall. I decided to take matters into my own hands and just step onto the little thin ledge. Even though I am pretty small in size, I still hand difficulty trying to balance on the little ledge. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m also quite short which makes it even harder. After lining the wall with the lights, I got off by jumping onto the tables and then onto the floor. Seeing the lights being lit up made me really proud. We were then told to hang up a banner outside. It was so cold and the wind was really making it hard to attach the banner on to the wall. After much struggle, we succeeded. Just a few moments before the event started, we set up the sign up table, donation box, and handouts. Before we knew it, kids with their parents started leaking through the door. In some cases, the parents would only know spanish and we would panic and attempted to utilize our limited knowledge of spanish to try to get across what we needed to say. I say about 25% of the time, it worked. Unfortunately, the index cards that were prepared ran out. I sat down and started writing as fast as I could. We were following very behind. We slowly shortened the writing to only the front then eventually, only the heading. I had thought that we prepared more than enough index cards.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure we had more than 150 cards. We finally caught up and I felt like I was about to collapse. The index cards started to run out again so we used the old flyers. Eventually everyone was signed in. My abs were really starting to kill me as I strained them a few days ago and after bending over for multiple hours, trying to straighten my back would send pain through my body. But seeing the happy smiles on the kids as they collect their prizes, decorating their gingerbread houses, and taking pictures with santa and his friends makes me not regret it. After cleaning everything up, we began the long journey home which took way longer than it was supposed to due to delays but I was very happy that I made the holidays more enjoyable for those families that attended today.

Photo taken by Freya Zhu

Photos taken by Freya Zhu

Photos taken by Alan Guo

Photos taken by Annie Huang

Photos taken by Vincent Huang

December Divisional

Photos taken by Vincent Huang

Photos taken by Penny Wang

Pool Fundraiser By Tiffany Chen I was super excited to go to Prince Billiards. I hadn’t played pool since Stuyvesant Key Club’s fundraiser with Bronx Science Key Club in September, and I was itching to play. While walking there, I only got more antsy, especially since it was such a cold day. When I got there, I quickly paid, bought a drink, and set up a pool game with Nikita, Kevin, and Aaron. Admittedly, Nikita and I lost our first couple games, so I wanted to take a break from playing pool for a game. I walked up to my friend, Brian, and watched his game. I then started playing a game with him, Nikita, and Ryan. I really started enjoying myself then because I was less tense. I remembered then that everything was just for fun as I laughed with my friends. After a few games, we had to clean up our table before the raffle tickets were called. Sadly, I did not win anything. The highlight of that, however, was Ryan yelling, “This is rigged!” every time a ticket was called. I found myself laughing at that every time. After the raffle, we took a group photo. I then had to leave. Overall, I had a blast at this fundraiser, and I realized how much I love pool fundraisers. By Freya Zhu I almost wasn’t going to go to this event as I live in Brooklyn and the commute to Queens could take two hours but my Key Club instinct wasn’t going to let me sit this one out. On the previous day, we were assigned tasks that we would be in charge of. I was to be in charge of raffles like I was during the CoCo fundraiser. I jokingly asked if I could wear my narwhal onesie and surprisingly, they approved, so I got my outfit planned for tomorrow. I recycled an old Louis Vuitton box and decorated it with a panda and a Key Club logo. I tried to meet up with my friend but that didn’t work out well, but we already told each other we would meet outside the pool place. When I got on the 7 xdfghjbgvyftcdrxs

train, I found out that Justin was on the same train as me and that he would try to run to the first car, where I was. After a few stops, I see him bursting through the door with my friends trailing behind them. They were just as surprised as I was and it really lit up my day. Justin gave me the raffle tickets and told me what I was going to do and what the prizes was going to be. Being Justin, he didn’t buy the winner’s present yet so we stopped at a store. It was going to be a $25 Amazon gift card which was going to be worth more than what he had anticipated but he had no other choice. After some walking in the freezing weather along with some yelling and screaming, we arrived at the pool place with red faces and ears. The door wasn’t open yet so we tried to hide in the entrance to the parking lot. Thankfully the doors were unlocked after a few minutes. My friends and I already paid so we just waited until more people showed up. Many of them were awed by my amazing outfit and I can’t blame them. I formed a group with my friends but I didn’t really play cause I know I sucked really bad at it. I spent most of the event running around and “politely asking” people to buy raffles. I persuaded one of my friends to buy 30 instead of 5, I’m just that good. As the tournament drew near, my box was basically completely filled up. As my luck goes, I didn’t win any of the prizes but I was okay with that. After the raffles, the tournament started. The beginning was sort of a mess because we ran out of tables as there were more contestants than anticipated but eventually, it went kind of smoothly. The winner was Harris and in the end, I feel like we all won because we raised a lot of money for Project Solution and to charter Millennium Key Club. By Penny Wang The pool fundraiser was a fundraiser I would never forget. On day of the fundraiser, the weather was extremely cold. However, as I entered Prince Billiards, I was greeted by the forgiving warmth. To start off, we were selling bracelets at the front of the pool hall. Everyone who arrived were assigned to tables in groups of four. The fundraiser started off with a blast and everyone enjoyed their pool games. The pool hall was tfyguhijghjkhgjnbjj

eventually filled with friends and people from many schools; the sound of sticks hitting balls and friendly chatter filled the place. There were also hard working key clubbers, like Freya, who convinced everyone to buy raffle tickets. At the end of the fundraiser, raffle numbers were called out for prizes such as AMC tickets and shake shack coupons. Luckily, I was able to score a shake shack gift card. Although the initial part of the fundraiser had ended, the best part had yet to come. People who paid $5 to join the pool tournament gathered together as other pool players left. The competitors were assigned in groups of two, each pair assigned to a table. The winners of each pairing were matched up against other winners in order to eventually determine an ultimate winner. The ultimate winner would win an Amazon gift card. Unfortunately, I lost epically during the very first round. Despite my terrible pool skills, I enjoyed this event because I was able to meet and talk to many people from other schools. I had a lot of fun socializing while being able to improve my pool skills. This was the perfect fundraiser to go to during winter break, especially for those who had nothing else to do.

Photo taken by Benson Goldman

Photos taken by Alan Guo

Photos taken by Freya Zhu

Photos taken by Penny Wang

Photos taken by Wentao Lin

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