The Locksmith

THE LOCKSMITH March-April

Table of Contents Editor’s Note This is my first newsletter as your new 2015-2016 editor! It’s a pretty scary task, and I hope that this first attempt of a newsletter does not disappoint. Get ready for an awesome service year, everyone! I hope you guys are as ready to serve as I am.

Yours in Service, Sally Leung 2015-2016 Stuyvesant High School Bulletin Editor

March and April Events List

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LTC: Beyond Bright Leaders

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LTC: A picture recap

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April events picture recap

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Introducing the new Cabinet!

President: Wenxi Sissi Zheng

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Vice President: Nicole Ng

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Secretary: Chuan Lin

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Treasurer: Bryan Kay

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Webmaster: Caleb Sooknanan

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Editor: Sally Leung

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A list of March and April events MS Climb to the Top Date: Sun, March 1, 2015 (5:30AM - 10:30AM) Location: Rockefeller Center Key Clubbers volunteered with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at this climb up 66 flights of stairs to the Top of the Rock Observation Deck in Rockefeller Center. They set up the tables, chairs, and materials to prepare for registration. They also supported and cheered on the climbers as they raced up 66 flights of stairs.

March Divisional Date: Fri, March 13, 2015 (5:45PM - 7:00PM) Location: NEST+m High School Key Clubbers from NY District 11 will meet and discuss past, current, and future events within the division. This divisional was the last divisional before LTC. We bid a good farewell to our LTG (Lieutenant Governor) Aaron Cheung!

P.S. 124 Parent Teacher Conferences Date: Thu, March 19, 2015 (4:30PM - 7:30PM) Location: The Yung Wing School, 40 Division St, New York, NY 10002 Key Clubbers helped translate for teachers and parents during P.S 124’s Spring Parent-Teacher Conference, and sharpened their Mandarin or Cantonese skills!

The Twelfth Annual Colon Cancer Challenge Date: Sun, March 22, 2015 (7:45AM - 2PM) Location: Citi Field, Queens We helped the Colon Cancer Challenge Foundation with The Twelfth Annual Colon Cancer Challenge.

We did a variety of jobs: distributing T-Shirts, giving out refreshments, and marshaling the course.

March for the Earth Date: Sun, March 22, 2015 (10AM - 1PM) Location: Queens Botanical Garden Key Clubbers celebrated the historical Earth Day with Queens Botanical Garden!

Taste of Fifth Avenue Date: Wed, April 1, 2015 (4:00PM - 9:00PM) Location: Grand Prospect Hall in Park Slope We’ll be helping out Puppetry Arts with Taste of 5th Avenue! Taste of 5th Avenue is sponsored by local restaurants and bars and benefits various local charities. We will be helping by preparing gift bags and setting up.

Easter Extravaganza 2015 Date: Sat, April 4, 2015 (10:00AM - 3:30PM) Location: Target East Harlem Garden NYSoM is hosting its third annual Easter event in East Harlem. The event will have lots of fun activities (Egg Hunt, Relay Race, Painting Contest, and more), so come help out! We’ll be helping with set up and clean up, as well as participating during the event!

Serving Dinner at Ronald McDonald House Date: Fri, April 10, 2015 (5:30PM - 9:00PM) Location: Ronald McDonald House (405 East 73rd Street, New York, NY 10021) Ronald McDonald House provides safe and affordable living space for children cancer patients and their families who are visiting NYC for treatment. Join Mapleton Brooklyn Kiwanis and Columbia Circle K to serve dinner to the families staying at Ronald McDonald House.

Concern Spring Run Date: Sat, April 11, 2015 (7:00AM - 12:00PM) Location: Central Park, 102nd and East Drive, NYC Concern will be having its 17th Annual Concern Spring Run in Central Park! In this 4 miles run, runners supporting Concern’s fight against extreme poverty will be providing disadvantaged families with food, water, health care, and other resources. Come help out in this amazing cause, where we’ll be cheering on runners, handing out water, and doing whatever other jobs the coordinator asks of us.

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Purple Strides Walk/Run Date: Sat, April 11, 2015 (6:00AM - 2:30PM) Location: Prospect Park Come volunteer at the Purple Strides Run/Walk for Pancreatic Cancer in Prospect Park! There are many positions available for this volunteering opportunity, so make sure you go to their website to check out all the options! A few of those options are Set Up Crew (6:00AM - 7:30AM), Registration/Check-In Crew (6:30AM - 1:00PM), and Crowd Control Crew (6:30AM - 1:00PM). Make sure to check out all the options for the positions in the link below. We recommend everyone to do Registration/Check-In Crew so we can all stay together!

Owls Head Park Restoration Date: Sat, April 18, 2015 Location: Owls Head Park, 68th Street and Colonial Road We will be fixing an erosion problem by placing logs at the edge of a hill. We will also be planting a garden, preparing a section of the park for planting, and cleaning out some tree pits, so come and help us save our environment!

Walk For Kids Growth Date: Sat, April 18, 2015 Location: Owls Head Park, 68th Street and Colonial Road Walk For Kids Growth is hosted by the Human Growth Foundation to help promote awareness of child growth disorders. We helped with, setup, cleanup, face-painting, and snack distribution.

Fourth Annual Good Earth Day Date: Sat, April 18, 2015 (9:00AM – 5:00PM) Location: Kimlau Square We will be assisting Chinatown BID with cleaning the streets and planting trees and flowers around Kimlau Square! This is a very important event since we work closely with Chinatown BID on many major events such as the Weekend Walks and we want to continue that collaboration in the future! Key Clubbers from Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn will also be coming, so you can make friends from other schools if you want!

March of Dimes – Walk for Babies Date: Sun, April 26, 2015 (8:30AM for Registration, 10:00AM for the Start of the Walk) Location: Lincoln Center Area, Columbus Avenue at 62nd Street Come walk at the March for Babies with us this year! Every day, thousands of babies are born prematurely and often very sick. We’re walking to raise money to support March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. Let’s all help give all babies a healthy start!

Puppetry Arts Family Festival Date: Sat, April 25, 2015 (8:00AM - 12:00PM, 12:00PM - 4:00PM) Location: J.J. Byrne Playground (Enter on 4th Street, 5th Avenue) We’ll be working with Puppetry Arts, who hosted one of our recent events, Taste of 5th Avenue. For this event we will be helping out with crafts, games, the bounce house, and more! They will also be feeding us, so look forward to that!

New York City Green Festival Date: Sat, April 25, 2015 (9:00AM - 1:15PM, 12:30PM - 4:30PM, 3:00PM - 7:00PM) Location: Jacob K. Javits Convention Center For this event we’ll be working with Stuyvesant Environmental Club! We’ll help by staffing resource recovery stations, educating attendees about recycling and composting, and maximizing compost and recycling efforts. Feel free to sign up for all three shifts!

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“I realized how truly special Key Club was— everyone was so incredibly caring.”

- James Chin

LTC: Beyond bright leaders

By James Chin

LTC stands for Leadership Training Conference. From the title, it seems as though it is simply an event created to talk and teach students about leadership. But it’s so much more than that.

LTC is an event created by the New York District of Key Club International in order to give future cabinet members the knowledge they need to effectively lead their respective Key Clubs. Through the use of various workshops, LTC does effectively teach these future leaders. But LTC isn’t just about leadership. It’s also about teamwork, friendship, and community.

Workshops weren’t the only things that happened at LTC. Social events were also a big part of it. Other than leadership, Key Club is also defined by its family-like community and the amazing friendships that come from it. During

PlayFair, a huge dance party event that occurred on the first night of LTC, members were given the opportunity to meet new people, make new friends, and have a lot of fun.

I was asked to go up to the stage during PlayFair to talk about the people who inspired me. As an aspiring engineer, I shared, with the entire New York Key Club community my mentors who had helped me root myself in my passion for engineering. I also listened to others share who inspired them and I realized how truly special Key Club was-everyone was so incredibly caring.

So even though LTC was created with the purpose of teaching the future leaders of Key Club how to take on those roles, it is also based on the ideals of Key Club International; helping and caring for others, communicating and socializing with others, and having fun.

Our memories at LTC, told through pictures!

1) We arrive promptly at the Desmond hotel, keeping with the espionage theme by wearing our spy-esque sunglasses! We shared the bus with NEST+M Key Club, for those of you unfamiliar with the other people in the picture.

3) There were creative lessons that we learned too—we learned to make booboo bunnies! Two very special bunnies won the hearts of the entire LTC population.

Ah, how beautiful love is.

4) We then partied it up at LTC!

2) We then headed out to the conference area to begin our learning experience. It was really crowded, but it was awesome meeting Key Clubbers beyond the scope of Stuy. Who knew Key Club was this big of an organization? We learned a lot about leadership at LTC, and we were excited to bring these values back to Stuy.

5) Alas, good things must end. We left LTC, dreading that school was less than 24 hours away.

April Event Pictures!

Concern Spring Run was super fun!

Photographed by Chuan Lin

Setting up for Taste of Fifth Avenue!

Photographed by Chuan Lin

Introducing… our new cabinet!

The Cab went ahead and shared their personal statements with the Locksmith.

Our president, Sissi Zheng!

Hi Key Clubbers!

I am Wenxi (Sissi) Zheng, better known as just Sissi. I am very excited to serve you guys as your President this service year, and I hope I can lead us to greater accomplishments and new heights! This year I plan to implement changes, most notably: Reinvigorating the committee system • Sending out events earlier • Helping members apply for district awards more than previous years • Hosting at least one general meeting a month, one Committee Head meeting a month, and one Cabinet meeting a month • Planning more effective and engaging meetings • Promoting Key Club more within our school Hopefully, with these changes Key Club will have increased membership and participation in our volunteer events!

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Moving on from the serious stuff, here are some fun facts about me! Even though I am really underweight, all my friends know that I LOVE TO EAT, and I have a passion for snacking at any time when I get the munchies! I also love meeting new people and getting to know each and one of you all! So feel free to approach me and talk to me any time!! Another thing I love to do it take selfies, so make sure you get a selfie with me if you want to! I would be totally up for it. Last but not least, my hobbies are writing, drawing, singing, eating, cooking, dancing, and finding good EDM music to listen to!

Our Vice President, Nicole Ng! Hi Key Clubbers!!

I am Nicole Ng and I am so glad to be able to serve you all as vice president this year! When I first started Key Club as a freshman, I never would have imagined myself as an officer. Key Club has helped me develop as a person and a leader. Being in Key Club has also allowed me to help the community and make new friends. I hope to provide the same opportunities for all of you.

If you see me at meetings or events, don’t hesitate to talk to me! I’m very friendly and won’t bite! You can ask me about anything, whether it be about Key Club or life. When I have free time, I like doing art, especially painting. In the winter, I also really love ice skating! Even though Stuyvesant is a lot of work, never stop doing the things you love!

Did you know Nicole served as Key Club treasurer for the 2014-2015 school year? This is her second time in Key Club office!

Our secretary, Chuan Lin!

Hey Stuyvesant Key Club!~ My name is Chuan and I'll be your secretary for the 2015-2016 service year!~ I enjoy being a weeb, and doing weeb things like cosplaying and singing "Unravel" by Ling Tosite Sigure. Aside from that, I dig volunteering and recently I've been learning how to crochet (unsuccessfully, among many other things). Why crochet? To make cute stuff, duh.

Anyway, if you see me in real life, I'm almost always wearing a hoodie (or else I go through hoodie withdrawal like I did at LTC this year). I'm not much of a hard worker when it comes to school, but regarding Key Club, this year I plan on doing a ton of things!

Some things I've been working on are finding new events for you guys, like Japan Day (weeb hype!~), and making a more friendly-to-use Distinguished Key Clubber Guide for the Distinguished Key Clubber Award, which you all should be applying for next year, especially since it's non-competitive! I also plan on increasing our club's membership and work with Bryan (our treasurer) and the rest of the cabinet to hold more fundraisers.

I have nothing else to say about myself now so maybe I'll see you guys at an event or something.

Did you know Chuan is rarely spotted without his signature headphones.

Our treasurer, Bryan Kay! Beaver One, Beaver All! Hello fellow Key Clubbers, I’m Bryan Kay and I’ll serve you in the 2015 - 2016 service year as your club treasurer. My goal for this year is to revamp fundraising in Key Club. For the past few years, large scale fundraisers have been non-existent; however I plan to reverse that.

The benefits that come along with large-scale fundraisers are many, including but not limited to, increased recognition in the community, a greater sense of unity and more money to assist those in need.

My hobbies are swimming, binge watching House of Cards, and reading. During my free time, not that Stuyvesant students get a lot, I have a paid internship at a law firm and look up various fundraisers that Stuyvesant Key Club might be interested in. If you would like to help during fundraisers or have a good fundraising idea please contact me through social media or by email, bryankay123@gmail.com.

All in all, it is an honor to serve you during this coming year!

Did you know Bryan plans on majoring in business, so he knows a thing or two about maximizing profit.

Our webmaster, Caleb Sooknanan!

Hello fellow Key Clubbers, My name is Caleb Sooknanan, and I will be your 2015-2015 Club Webmaster. I am already excited for the possibilities and opportunities that I hope to share with you this year. For me, Key Club is one of the most special student-led organizations in the world, a global army fighting for the improvement of life and the components thereof.

At first, I joined Key Club to acquire community service credits for college, but it quickly became a cause for me to love performing service and, at the same time, be with friends working for the same cause.

Performing community service throughout New York City has, in many ways, made me a more well-mannered and disciplined person. First, I have realized that life is not about diversions or forms of constant entertainment; it's about working hard and with virtues to achieve a goal. The very idea of service can be daunting to people because it requires making compromises. Every event entails giving up time that a volunteer could otherwise spend playing with friends or relaxing at home on the living room couch. It can even be a struggle to wake up early to simply go to an event, but after hours of service, I can gladly say that waking up early is worth it. ey Club has given some of the best opportunities to smile and enjoy life, knowing that my hard work will benefit at least one person who is in need. In fact, Key Club altogether has been one of the most valuable aspects of my high school experience, and I hope to share this experience with new members. Aside from community service, I enjoy playing the piano, reading, performing in the Stuyvesant Concert Choir, doing scientific research and playing arcade video games.

Did you know Caleb has sung at Carnegie Hall before?

Our editor, Sally Leung!

Hey Key Clubbers, I am Sally Leung and I am glad to serve you guys this year as your bulletin editor.

I joined Key Club freshman year, but did not become active until the summer of my sophomore year. Prior to volunteering at Key Club events, I was often intimidated by how bubbly and dedicated Key Clubbers were—they always seemed so lively at volunteer events. However, once I joined in the fun, I realized that Key Club was more than just a community service club. It was truly an eye-opening experience, especially to your typical shy freshman.

Though I enjoy passing my time volunteering in the community, I also enjoy reading and writing, which is why I chose to become an editor. It is my privilege to read about your Key Club experiences, which I hope you find as enjoyable as I did. My favorite book is (at the moment) The Great Gatsby. If you have any book recommendations, do not hesitate to share it with me!

If you enjoy writing too, I highly recommend that you join the Locksmith Committee (by emailing locksmith@stuykc.org your name and ID)! The Locksmith Committee is responsible for writing articles and taking pictures for Key Club events. It is a great way to combine your passion for volunteering and your creativity! If you have any questions relevant to The Locksmith, feel free to talk to me.

Did you know Sally is the best cabinet member, in the editor’s opinion. J