The Locksmith
As the school year draws to a halt, we keep volunteering! On this issue‌ Japan Day, The Color Run, DTC, Induction, and more!
Summer Edition
Table of Contents Japan Day The Color Run Great Strides Walk May Library Tutoring Divisional Training Conference Yuda Band Fundraiser Chinatown BID Gala CityArts Alice Wall Mural Restoration Seth Low Park Cleanup (x2!) Summer Pictures Spotlight Events: Induction Introducing the new committee Heads! Reflecting on Key Club
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“What does the small key mean?” Simply put, they are the Editor’s favorite articles of the issue. If you don’t have the time to read every article, definitely take a look at the Keyed ones—it really immerses you in the experience of Key Club.
Japan Day by Ming Mai I had the pleasure of setting up at Japan Day, which meant that it was important to arrive early. Sadly, with weekend train mishaps, I arrived a couple minutes late. Despite that little set back, all us Key Club volunteers were able to help. At the calligraphy tent, we helped wonderful old ladies with hanging up their works and other little setup things. During the shift, my fellow Key Clubbers at the tent handed out papers and counted the number of people who visited the tent; I held up the sign indicating the end of the line. At some moments, we employed Sissi’s advertisement shout tactic— but the tent garnered enough of its own attention. Even though holding up the sign wasn’t very exciting, I got to work on my people skills and enjoy the performances on stage. I was fortunate enough to have someone switch with me every 15 or so minutes so my arms didn’t tire out, and so I could walk around Japan Day. The crowd consisted of runners from a previous marathon type event, some friends from various parts of
of the city, people who knew about the event, park goers, and tourists. People at Central Park seemed very interested in the event and I’m glad I could help facilitate the spread of culture. When the morning shift ended, the volunteers were rewarded with a delicious bento.
The Color Run by Sarah Rim Stadium in Queens. I was able to meet Key Clubbers from different schools and also got to reunite with another fellow Key Clubber! The morning itself was so exciting and had a chilly breeze throughout the duration of the marathon. For preparation, Stuyvesant Key Club, along with Key Clubbers from NEST+M, was assigned to the blue station, which meant we all looked like blueberries at the end.
The Color Run in Queens was by far the most fun event I did for Key Club. When I first signed up for the event, I was actually a bit bummed because I realized I had to wake up early and I was hoping I wouldn’t be late because it took me a good hour or so to get there. But, I actually ended up having an awesome time, getting to see the smiles on enthusiastic runners, meeting new Key Clubbers, and overall having this new experience. All kinds of organizations met up with one another to help the Color Run organization hold its popular marathon at the Citifield
With the help of the natural chilly breeze, powder just got everywhere on everyone. However, we all played games and just enjoyed the Color Run along with the cheerful runners. I think the best part of this experience was being able to exercise my upper body strength when it comes to throwing blue powder on a great crowd of people coming my way. I’m just kidding. It was so much fun just being able to hang out with friends, while doing something amazing and positive to your communities and organizations such as the one holding the Color Run Marathon. Looking like a Smurf really gets your day started!
The Great Strides Walk by Bingyi Zeng
As a Key Clubber, I've volunteered at many different events. The Great Strides event was one of those events. It was an amazing event, dedicated to raising funds for cystic fibrosis research and drug development. I remember waking up early to arrive in time for the event. When I arrived at the park, there were lots of people already volunteering and gladly helping out. Stuyvesant Key Club helped to set up the event area and also helped man the water tent. I had a very positive experience at this event. I met new fellow Key Clubbers all the way from Bronx Science! Additionally, I bonded with two of my friends who also volunteered at this event. Even though spending seven hours in the sun wasn't really what I would usually consider fun, I enjoyed the time I spent helping out at the Great Strides event. I was happy that I did something for my community.
Library Tutoring by Edison Lei On June 6th, it was the last math tutoring session of the year for kids ranging kindergarten to eighth grade in Seward Park, but it still contained the rowdiness and fun that any other session may contain. There were two sessions: kindergarten to third grade and fourth grade to eighth grade. These two sessions were an hour each: 2 o’clock to 3 o’clock and 3 o’ clock to 4 o’clock respectively. Tutors are assigned usually 2-5 children, depending on who arrived and on the amount of people in the waiting list. Tutors teach the math appropriate to the grade level. Students usually learn the operations first, fractions or geometry, variables, and then the harder stuff. Unlike most tutoring sessions where there is no talking and work is rapidly given to the tutored, the Seward Park session allows some talking. We tutors give bits of encouragement to the children to work harder and learn more about math and make jokes along the way. When people think “tutoring”, they think “boring” and “too much work”. “Tutor volunteers” are equivalent to “just
getting hours.” Tutoring at Seward Park takes a different approach: we have fun while tutoring. The children will gossip about solutions to math problems and tease tutors. Tutors can meet the bubbly Jessica who can turn a frown into a smile with her “artistic gifts.” There is also the picky but cute Sophia who acts confused about math but actually knows more than she thinks. In addition, there is the smart Samuel; even though he is in third grade, he knows most of the math that a middle-schooler knows. I like tutoring math at Seward Park, because everybody is very kind. Tutoring is like a small party with a bit of math involved. There are learning aspects as well as the experience of being at home. Other tutoring sessions make me feel awkward with the tutored, but at Seward Park, a bond is formed with the community there. When I am there, I think “Home sweet home” because I do not feel out of place; I feel needed and I feel the urge to do my best to aid the tutored who are asking for my help.
Divisional Training Conference by Sally Leung Despite being set in an area foreign to any Brooklynites (and resulted to my being late there!), the Divisional Training Conference (DTC) proved to be worth the trouble. I arrived at the end of the opening speech, sweating and struggling to see which workshops I wanted to attend. Thanks to the aid of some friendly Key Clubbers, I knew where to go next. I chose to go to a class that reflected one of the questions I had: would I continue my Key Club career in college? The workshop leaders explained that Circle K was the college equivalent of Key Club. They also told their class that it was much smaller than Key Club. I was unsure of how to wrap my mind around the idea of a smaller Key Club, but they convinced me that this would mean a closer-knit community. I went to a handful of other classes, but my favorite event at DTC was the closing ceremony. The entire Key Club crowded into the gymnasium, which was at first
off-putting (there was no AC on this hot summer day!). However, the fun games and ensuing bonding experiences made the heat endurable, and even ignorable. My personal favorite game (of the many enjoyed!) was the one where all the Key Clubbers had to “sit� on each other, and basically, formed a ring of awkwardly squatting. It was funny to see every squirm and yet support each other. Unfortunately, someone fell down, which caused a comedic dominoes effect for the entire circle!
Photographed by Nicole Ng
Yuda Band Fundraiser by Bryan Kay
Photographed by James Chin YUDA Bands are now gone until next year at Stuyvesant High School! Stuyvesant Key Club held a fundraiser selling these YUDA Bands to support Guatemalan children break the poverty cycle and graduate school. For this specific event, it took a hundred seventy five bands to pay for a single year of school but with the help of the Key Club community at DTC as well as the general Stuyvesant Community we went well above that mark, selling nearly two hundred bands! This year we sponsored a young boy named Wilian Tan, a 9th grader in Guatemala who had to leave school to help his family put bread on the table. We gave him a chance to finish high school! These bands, all hand-made, (made from coconut shells and leather) are quite common now in Key Club. They were sold in DTC, in many schools by each school's Key Club, and even at LTC. Hopefully, more schools will join in on the cause and make the YUDA Band one of Key Club’s essential merchandise, just behind the beaver plush of course! Most importantly of all, this shows that Key Club cares and caring is our way of life.
Chinatown BID Gala by Caleb Sooknanan On Thursday, June 18th, ten members of Stuyvesant Key Club, including yours truly, volunteered the 8th CPLDC Annual Fundraising Gala in Chinatown. CPLDC stands for Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corporation, an organization whose primary goals include bringing the area’s residents, business owners, and community groups together to rebuild Chinatown and thereby preserve the neighborhood’s distinct culture. Stuyvesant Key Club often works with the Chinatown BID, or Business Improvement District, to keep the neighborhood alive, and to our delight, this event was no exception. From decorating the walls to blanketing the tables with utensils and information booklets, we responsibly and effectively represented our volunteering spirit by giving back to a community that has surely impacted the rest of New York City. As Key Club members, we always have to persevere and work hard to make our future worthwhile, even when we embrace celebration for our
achievements as individuals. During the event, we also sold raffle tickets to the gala’s attendees in their attempt to claim the various prizes available, such as umbrellas and even a signed football! This served as a great way for us to interact with the attendees and familiarize ourselves with them. Personally, I enjoy these kinds of experiences, but the true meaning of the gala, the betterment and success of the Chinatown community, was the part I enjoyed the most. Knowing that our service benefited the community was far more important to me than the myriad of prizes, or even the various food entrées provided throughout the night. That made the gala more than simply a volunteer event, as it reflected our love of service and, as everyone should know, our way of life.
CityArts Mural Restoration by Carmen Wu
Called “The Wall” by fellow Stuyvesant students, Alice in Wall Street Land was designed to not only express people’s abilities to dream but also to believe in peace no matter the times, as the project was done post 9/11. Alice from Alice in Wonderland time skips and enters modern-day New York City, in which she travels and explores familiar sights such as the Charging Bull in Wall Street. CITYarts came back in 2012 to restore the mural as parts of it began to chip off, but Hurricane Sandy had hit before it could be completed. Since then, volunteers, CITYarts staff, and students from Stuyvesant have been restoring and recreating the mural.
Photographed by Caleb Sooknanan
Seth Low Park Cleanup by Nancy Cao
Today, on Friday, August 21, members of Stuyvesant Key Club hit the streets for Assembly William Colton's Neighborhood Clean-Up campaign. Key Club was assigned to pick up trash in the Bath Avenue area from 18 Avenue to 24 Avenue. Key Club split up into two groups to tackle the task. Some Key Clubbers were assigned to pick up the trash and others were responsible for distributing flyers to local store owners in order to spread awareness about keeping the Bensonhurst streets in front of their own establishments clean. Although I personally live in Bensonhurst, I never realized how much litter and trash there was in the very place I walk around daily! We picked up numerous amounts of cigarette butts, bottles, and pieces of paper. It was hard work, but in the end, it was ultimately worthwhile—personally, because walking along clean streets gave me a small sense of accomplishment. I was also energized by those who thanked our efforts as we cleaned the streets. It was a tiring experience but Assemblyman William Colton thanked us with free pizza and a fancy service letter after our hard work, which made this volunteer experience even better.
Seth Low Park Cleanup by Michelle Chan
Photographed by Nancy Cao At the Seth Low Park Cleanup event on August 21st, 2015, we cleaned up the streets in areas around 18th Avenue and 86th street in Bensonhurst. Other schools that participated along with Stuyvesant included Brooklyn Tech, Midwood, Murrow, and Coney Island Prep. This cleanup was sponsored by William Colton in his "Speak-Up & Clean-Up" campaign. The purpose of this event was for the community to be aware of the benefits in keeping the neighborhood clean. Such benefits included better business and an influence on the younger generations to keep the streets clean. Stuyvesant Key Club was assigned to clean Bath Avenue from 18th Avenue to 24th Avenue. We split up into groups of eight and each group was given gloves, brooms, and garbage bags. We also handed out flyers about the cleanup benefits. During this event, many people walking around were interested in our cleanup and thanked us. This was a very memorable experience for me because I learned that keeping the neighborhood clean not only makes the community feel great, but it also impacts the community to properly dispose trash. All the volunteers returned to the office at 12:30 and were given free pizza.
Pictures from the Summer!
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Spotlight Events!
Induction by Kalvin Chi
Photographed by Danny Qiu Stuyvesant Key Club’s annual induction was held at the Ran Tea House in Brooklyn on Monday, June 22, 2015. Having taken the Chemistry regents on the same day, this was a very good way of relaxing after a long, stressful week of regents examinations. Although Ran Tea House looked kind of suspicious from the outside, having only a sign on a black door that said “Ran Tea House”, once the doors opened and we actually stepped in, we were all astounded. It was a small and very nice place and was like one of those cafes where people could just hang out and relax.
Once the induction began, we went through awards and people began to line up for food, which was an incredible, buffet-style lunch. Everyone sat with their fellow Key Clubbers, conversed with one another, and even played some games such as Chinese Poker and Mafia. After people were done eating, the new board members were inducted. Our new president, Sissi Zheng, then gave an amazing speech, followed by our very own Lieutenant Governor Emily Li who also gave a speech. Once the speeches were over, the induction was adjourned and people continued to eat and hang out. Overall, induction was really fun this year; I was able to meet new people in my club and also get to know the Key Clubbers in my club better. This is definitely an event that I will be looking forward to attending again next year!
New Committee Heads! The new head of the Art Committee is:
Jia Qi Gao! Hello Stuy Key Club! I am Jiaqi Gao, and I'm excited to be your Art Committee Head for this service year. Being in Key Club has opened me up to lots of new activities and allowed me to meet new people. I plan on growing this club by working with my committee to create beautiful posters, decorate the bulletin board, and design the picture scrapbook that will be submitted to the New York District LTC conference. I have lots of experience on creating art from various other extracurricular activities I am a part of, and I plan on using it to complete great art projects for Key Club.
The new head of the Web/Video Committee is:
Alvin Zhu!
Hey, Key Club!!! I am Alvin Zhu and I am so excited to be the next committee head for Web/Video. I will do all I can to make our website (stuykc.org) as reliable, informative, and up-to-date as can be. Since Freshman year, Key Club has truly helped me become more open and social. With warm open arms, Key Club lets anyone be a part of their tight-knit community. In the free time that I have, I enjoy watching TV (I love Once Upon a Time, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, and Game of Thrones!), playing video games, and of course, volunteering for Key Club.
More Committee Heads! The new head of the Fundraising Committee is:
Sarah Rim! Hello Stuyvesant Key Clubbers! I’m Sarah and I am so excited to be the Head of the Fundraising Committee for the 2015-2016 year and I expect a lot of potential and unique experiences from everyone as a whole club. My growing involvement in Key Club adds more fire to the burning passion I have for volunteering overall. Additionally, my hobbies are to paint, to play bass guitar, and to debate! Once again, I look forward to meeting and working with all of you and I wish you all good luck and a very successful year!
The new head of the Locksmith Committee is:
Sijia Ma! Hi guys! My name is Sijia and I'm looking forward to being your Locksmith Committee Head this service year. Key Club has been a really fun experience for me, and I've made a lot of new friends while volunteering at different events. In my free time, I like to read and occasionally draw, but like your typical Stuy student, I also really like to sleep. Fun fact: I've been to more places in China than in America. I spend almost every summer in China with family, and every year we would go and visit a different part of the country. Each time has been a completely different experience that is nonetheless really amazing.
Even More!! The new co-head of the New Projects Committee is:
David Lee! Hi! My name is David Lee and I'm the new New Projects co-head. In addition to emailing the different coordinators to events that Stuyvesant Key Club already does annually, I plan to find new and fun events for everyone to enjoy! For the most part, I want to create a fun experience for both current and new members. I encourage people to show up to events even if none of their friends show up because these events are a great opportunity to make new friends! I really love dogs especially golden retrievers and the first thing I'm doing when I'm legal enough is to adopt one!
The new co-head of the New Projects Committee is:
Yuki Lau! Hi, my name is Yuki and I'll be one of the New Projects committee heads for the '15-'16 school year. I'm excited about finding new events and projects for Key Club, as well as being able to take on a more important role in this club! Outside of Key Club, I also enjoy doing many things such as swimming and watching soccer.
Last page of Committee Heads J The new co-head of the Public Relations Committee is:
Jennifer Hong! Hey everyone! My name is Jennifer. My goals are to increase the number of Key Club members, and have more people involved in various committees (especially Public Relations, of course). I’ve been involved in the Kiwanis family since middle school, when I joined Builder’s Club (or the Key Club of middle school). Some facts about me are I enjoy playing volleyball, and I often go to the park after school to play with my friends. I’m also a huge fan of Phineas and Ferb and Scooby Doo (I know, don’t judge me). Now that I’ve shared my embarrassing secret, you all should join Public Relations! I look forward to working with everyone :)
The new co-head of the Public Relations Committee is:
Bingyi Zeng! Hi! I am Bingyi aka Bing! My job is to promote Key Club! This year I'm planning to promote Key Club more within our school by social media. In addition to that I want to form a positive image of Key Club. I am looking forward to work with you guys this coming year! Here are some fun facts about me! I LOVE to watch anime and read manga! Yes, I'm an Otaku! Anime isn’t solely geared towards children. When it comes to watching anime, I have to watch it with subs instead of dubs. I know it's annoying that you have to read the subtitle but it's so much better than listening to bad English dubbing. I also like to read books!
Reflecting on Key Club, as told by ExCab Members Each person was asked to respond to this prompt: “Now that you’ve graduated from Stuy, how does it feel looking back on Key Club? Please share your Key Club journey.”
Stanley Lok’s (Webmaster ’14 – ‘15) Response What is Key Club? This question was commonly asked by friends and family who didn’t know about my club. And honestly, it’s a hard question to answer. In simplest terms, Key Club is a high school service organization that helps out our communities and neighbors.
However, I don’t believe that this description will serve Key Club justice. After all, we are all members who are extremely caring and hardworking and we go above and beyond the call of service. As for me, I enjoyed my time as a member and as a member of the cabinet because I was able to see the good that we created at Transfiguration Library, the amazing accomplishments that were achieved at Chinatown Partnership. For me personally I preferred being a member as I was able to just volunteer and help out rather than deal with bureaucracy and other nonsensical red tape both in the school and outside of school. This increased workload of managing a club was juxtaposed with the whole college ordeal, which made it difficult to balance. Looking back, there are times where I wish I did a better job. At the end of the day though, I believe being the Webmaster was a meaningful experience as I was able to gain the perspective of both sides of the club and really appreciate the amount of work that past leaders have put in.
I believe Key Club is a place where kids like us are able to grow, create bonds, help and serve our communities while we have some fun, some sad, and some stressful moments. We start of as kids and leave as adults. It’s been an honor serving Stuyvesant Key Club.
Jane Chen’s (Editor ’14 – ‘15) Response Throughout my years as a Stuy student, a few of my friends had asked me, “Why did you join Key Club? You could’ve just chosen Red Cross. It’s the same thing anyway, but free.” In response, I said, “No, it’s not the same.” It was thanks to Key Club that I was able to step out of my shell and discover my interests. During my junior year, I had my first taste of being a leader as a co-committee head of The Locksmith. Although it was only a minor position in terms of the Key Club International hierarchy, I enjoyed working behind the scenes to put newsletters together, one page at a time. It was a struggle to find people who were willing to write articles, but once the issues were pieced together, I felt really proud of myself and grateful to those who contributed. With the skills I honed as a committee head, I took yet another step forward and became Stuyvesant Key Club’s bulletin editor. During my last year, I discovered a lot about myself and noticed some habits I had when working with others. I noticed that I did not have the courage to make solid decisions and that I was much too lenient when assigning deadlines. However, it wasn’t until that
moment that I learned it was fine for me to depend on those around me to help get the job done. I was not alone, for my fellow cabinet members and Key Clubbers supported me and gave me a helping hand.
Over the course of my term, I was able to produce several issues of The Locksmith. Though they were not perfect nor professional, they were the result of many people’s time and efforts, and I couldn’t help but be satisfied with what we all created. So no, Key Club and Red Cross are not the same at all, for I was able to discover my strengths and weaknesses due to the small, yet close, tight-knit community Key Club has to offer. I spent my freshman year
volunteering solely as a Red Cross member, and although I was thrilled to be giving back to the community, I felt as if I were simply one face among many. The time I spent as a Key Clubber was when I truly felt like I belonged to a community where my actions had an impact, no matter how little.
Danny Qiu’s (Webmaster ’13 – ‘14) Response I'm so glad that I made this decision to join Key Club during the beginning of my freshman year. The past four years that I've
spent with this club have been the most amazing years of my life and I wouldn't have spent it any other way. As cliche as that might sound, it's certainly true. Graduating from my high school has made me realize how much I'll miss this club and my only regret is that I did not get involved earlier. My Key Club journey began in my freshman year when I only got 15 hours of service to fulfill the basic requirement for getting a certificate. It was not until I was appointed to the position of club Webmaster at the end of my sophomore year that I began to truly get more involved with this organization. Upon some research and attending events, I realized that Key Club was much more than I had known it to be. Our club was a small branch that made us this global organization committed to service. Everything fascinated me, from what the ideology of key club was, to the people that were in it. Most notably were the Bronx Science Key Clubbers that I met at our first interclub event with them, Races for Faces. I remember the excitement that they had for volunteering and the passion they had for Key Club. To them, it wasn't about the number of hours they got or the obligation to go to an event. To them, volunteering was something they did out of their hearts. They served as my primary inspiration for everything I have done in my Key Club years.
In Key Club, volunteering is only a chore if you put it out to be one. But it doesn't have to be a chore. I've come to love volunteering so much that I think of it as a way for me to de-stress from the workload of one of the country's top magnet schools, Stuyvesant. From waking up in the early hours of the morning to going home in the late hours of the night, from the hours of subways rides to the hours of walking to get to an event, I've enjoyed every moment of it. Seeing the faces of the participants of the race or the faces of the people I've helped have given me an understanding of how amazing it is to give to the community. The time that I would normally be using to procrastinate on my work was now used for a better cause and it was an amazing feeling to have. It's something that I'll miss about the city life that allowed me to go to an event nearly every week. In the end, volunteering wasn't about the hours that I got. At one point, I even stopped logging my hours when I was the only one at an event. Part of it was that I got too lazy to track my hours, but the main reason was that hours were not what I volunteered for. Others may say that the reward for volunteering is the hours that you get, but in my mind the real reward is the satisfaction of knowing that I'm making a positive difference in this world. This satisfaction is something that I share with the thousands of Key Clubbers who volunteer, all around the world. I saw this when I attended my first International Convention, where I got to meet Key Clubbers from all over. We shared stories
of our volunteering experiences and a common goal of making this world a better place. It's this motive of Key Clubbers that makes me truly love this organization. Now Stuyvesant Key Club is only a single branch in this worldwide organization. But it does not mean that we can't make a huge difference.
Since my time as club Webmaster and later as district Webmaster, I've seen our club do so much, from our huge increase in active volunteering to our successful fundraisers for charity. This service year alone, the cabinet has planned the Yuda Bands fundraiser that raised thousands for kids in Guatemala to go to school.
And this is just the club's first step. I'm really excited for what your new cabinet has in store for you all in the coming year, and I hope for you to join them on this amazing journey ahead in Key Club. But keep one thing in mind: volunteering is not about the hours, but making a positive difference in this world.