2022 July/August Tex-O-Key by Texas Oklahoma

1 ISSUE 2 1 E M U L O

K O E Y X E T J u ly - A u g u s t '2 2

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE TEXAS-OKLAHOMA DISTRICT OF KEY CLUB INTERNATIONAL

06 | DISTRICT STAFF UPDATES | CL & TP

HOWDY T-O KEY-UTIES! I hope you are all having an amazing Summer, and I hope you are all looking forward to LEDCON this year as much as me! So far, I have created multiple resources and materials for Lieutenant Governors to use when raising their $600 sponsorships that go towards funding LEDCON. I have also completed calls with a vast majority of LTGs to give them ideas, direction, and to get them started on sponsorships. For our Summer district board meeting, I have prepared a presentation to further help LTGs understand the process and the best ways they can go about raising money. Overall, I will continue to assist LTGs with regard to sponsorships while also starting to plan and organize in the near future various aspects of the conventions such as theme and forums. This year is going to be a good one, and I can't wait to see all of you at LEDCON! Yours in Friendship and Service,

Lendell Andal

CONVENTION LIAISON LENDELL ANDAL WHAT'S UP T-O NATION! Jusstt kidding, I know you guys aren't a diehard Minori-loving vlog community (although you definitely could be). This summer had been pretty uneventful for me, so I hope that you've had a more exciting one! I've been working on our new website (tokeyclub.com), which has now been redesigned to match our T-O brand. It should hopefully have all of the resources you all need, but if you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to contact me! Please take note of the "District Clubs" page- I would love to be able to add your club onto this list if it has a website, so please fill out the Google Form (in the tab) if your club isn't on there already. I'm excited to see them! Besides this, I have been working with my video editing skills! Editing is so much more work than I thought. Every time I watch a video now I am appalled by how much work goes into the small details I usually barely take note of. That being said, I'm excited for you to see my future video projects, and I hope you all are as well. Don't forget to join my remind! I will be posting when my office hours are (every first Sunday of the month from 1-2 PM) as well as some Post and Website Suggestion Forms on there in case emailing me is a little too daunting. Webmasters are always welcome to come ask me about Outstanding Webmasters and Distinguished Website Awards, and I'll be happy to help you in any way I can.

Yours in Friendship and Service,

MinoriKikuchi

TECH PRODUCER MINORI KIKUCHI

STAR RECAP | 07

CANO EING ! t our check ou eo! recap vid

STAFF

PH OTO

T IM E !

MUSTANG RANCH

This summer the TO District Staff atte nded training at Mustang Ranch on Lake Fork in Alba, Texas. The Staff ha d a great weekend ge tting to know each othe r, learning more ab ou t th eir roles and responsib ilities, and planning for DCON; all for the purpose of learning ho w to better serve our am azing District!

STAFF TRAINING AND RETREAT

RECAP

08 | MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

Harini Senthil

CHAIR | DIVISION 19 LT. GOVERNOR

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE HEY T-O!

FAVORITE QUOTE “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” ~ John Quincy Adams

My name is Harini Senthil and I'm honored to serve as your 2022-2023 Membership Committee chairwoman. I am a rising sophomore at Jenks High School in Oklahoma.

First off, I would like to thank my amazing committee members, Kailey Patterson, Emily Seo, Fariba Hossain, Harsh Agrawal, Jennifer Ramirez, as well as District Treasurer Emily Zhang, District Governor Jonathan Perez, and our regional advisor Rafael Santos. The Membership Committee promotes membership growth, drafts ideas to increase membership, deals with collecting club dues, and works to improve key club member engagement and retention. As a district, our membership target this year is 21,000 members and 10 new chartered clubs. In order to achieve these goals, our committee is working diligently to share membership recruitment tips with club officers/faculty advisors through social media and update the membership recruitment packages on the T-O Key Club website. We are planning to organize two virtual District Wide Socials this year to connect Key Clubbers from across the T-O District, present helpful information about membership recruitment and retention, explain the process of paying club dues, and promote future committee projects and LEDCON 2023. Keep an eye out for the updated membership package on the T-O Key Club website with customizable Key Club Instagram post templates, informational flyers, graphics, the Key Club Brand Guide, and more! As a committee, we hope to accomplish our membership goals and help all of the Key Clubs in our district thrive this year. I'm looking forward to LEDCON 2023 and getting to know Key Clubbers across the T-O District!

C O M M I T T E E

Emily Seo LtG. 40W

Fariba Hossain LtG. 3W

M E M B E R S

Kailey Patterson LtG. 12/22/35

Jennifer Ramirez LtG. 14

Harsh Agrawal LtG. 28

K-FAMILY & INTL RELATIONS COMMITTEE | 09

We have a lot goals for this upcoming year. We want to strongly focus on getting information out about other branches to Key Clubs. We plan on holding several information sessions about Circle K and Kiwanis throughout the 2022-2023 Key Club year. Some other goals we have include: - Increasing interaction between other K-Family branches through socials and information sessions. - Identify and make Key Clubs aware of neighboring clubs from other branches. - Regularly come up with new project ideas for Key Clubs to do with other branches (focusing on younger branches, like K Kids Clubs and Builder’s Clubs). - Increase the number of Builders Clubs and K Kids Clubs. - Increase the number of Kiwanis Clubs to ensure each Key Club has a Kiwanis advisor. - Collaborate with the Membership Committee to charter new Key Clubs. I am so excited to get information out to people about all the branches of the KFamily branches they can interact with. There are so many opportunities to build and serve your community and I hope our committee can help everyone seize them!

M E M B E R S

My name is Siler Wooster and I’m the Kiwanis Family and International Relations Committee Chairwoman! I am from Cedars International Next Generation High School in Austin, TX. I’ve been a club officer for two years and now I’m so excited to be serving T-O as an LTG. I would like to give a special thank you to the other committee members: Sankalp Srinatha, Hattie Berend, Natalia Asturias, our committee secretary Fariba Hossain, our regional advisor Jaime Miranda, and our district staff members (Governor Jonathan Perez and our International Trustee)! The purpose of our committee is to promote growth within the K-Family branches. Our goal is to bridge the gap and foster connectivity between the Kiwanis community and Key Club International. This becomes especially important as we recover from COVID. A main problem we continue to see is the inactivity of clubs across all branches - as a result of the pandemic.

FAVORITE QUOTE

Sankalp Srinatha LtG. 3C

Fariba Hossain LtG. 3W

C O M M I T T E E

HEY T-O!

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity" ~ Albert Einstein

Hattie Berend LtG. 18S

Natalia Asturias LtG. 38

Siler Wooster

CHAIR | DIVISION 24S LT. GOVERNOR

KIWANIS FAMILY & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE

10 | GOVERNOR'S PROJECT COMMITTEE

Olivia Scott

CHAIR | DIVISION 30 LT. GOVERNOR

My name is Olivia Scott, and I will be your Governor’s Project committee chair for the 22-23 term! A few things about me are that I am a rising Sophomore, I love to read and learn about language, and when I’m not finishing something school or Key Club related, you can find me working as a wedding caterer, which is actually a lot of fun.

Now, for those who aren’t completely sure or need a refresher on what the Governor’s Project is, this project is given a theme every year by the district’s new governor, this year being “Empower the People” .This year’s theme focuses on increasing morale and mental health within our communities in efforts to build back from Covid-19. From here, the Governor’s Project Committee works to encourage our district to participate in this project by creating monthly challenges, offering service ideas, sending out promotional flyers, and more. All of these then feed back into the rubric that we create to determine which clubs are the winners of the Governor’s Project award, an award earned on a basis of completion rather than competition. Our committee's goal for this term is to make the Governor’s Project known and accessible. We want as many clubs participating to create the strong T-O bond that we all know. From completing our monthly challenges to just letting club members know that this project is here, we hope to create strong engagement with clubs that they will use to serve their communities and truly Empower the People.

C O M M I T T E E

Why hello, T-O! <3

M E M B E R S

GOVERNOR'S PROJECT COMMITTEE Hanna Cole LtG. 40E

Eloisa Avila LtG. 3N

Siya Patel LtG. 1

Oluwafisolami Lawal

Favorite Quote! "Put in that work Devin" ~ DJ Khaled

LtG. 3S

DISTRICT PROJECT COMMITTEE | 11

Mustafa Haque

CHAIR | DIVISION 4/6 LT. GOVERNOR

DISTRICT PROJECT COMMITTEE HELLO TEXAS-OKLAHOMA KEY CLUB DISTRICT!

Miriam Ramirez LtG. 24N

LtG. 11

Matthew Spivey LtG. 8

Josliyn Bergara LtG. 26

M E M B E R S

Celina Delgado

My name is Mustafa Haque, and I'm going to be the District Project Committee chair for 2021-2022. I'm the Lieutenant Governor for Division 4/6 located in the Rio Grande Valley, and I go to Plano East Senior High School in North Dallas. Our Committee is responsible for helping our district make a big impact on our community together. We are responsible for figuring out what the district project and helping each club fulfill our district. Our overall goal is to address an unmet need in the Texas-Oklahoma community that fulfills the mission of the K Family.

FAVO Q U OR I T E TE

LtG. 5

C O M M I T T E E

Brooks Burrows

"Whoe ver do es an ato m's we ig ht of goo d will see it." - The H oly Qu r'an

12 | GPR COMMITTEE

EPR COMMITTEE | 13

14 | WELCOMING COMMITTEE COMMITTEE MEMBERS

HEY T-O!

My name is Trinh Luong, and I was given the honor of being chairwoman of the Welcoming Committee this year.

Natascha Ali Bocas LtG. 23

In order for y’all to get to know me a bit better, I am a junior from James Martin High School! In my free time, I love to hang out with my friends and play piano. As chairwoman, I am responsible for leading a team of people and delegating tasks in order to make the Welcoming Activity at LEDCON the best it can be. As a whole, we work towards selecting games based on a theme, creating a budget for said games, as well as making a floor plan to have an outline of the activities. To give you all an idea of what the Welcoming Activity is like, we had inflatables, cup games, snacks, and monetary prizes at the previous LEDCON. This year, we are hoping to up the ante and give attendees an experience they never had before! Some of our goals include bringing in more unique games as well as ensuring that the area itself represents the fun festivities. I am so excited to see how my committee will progress in the future! I know that each one of us will be working hard to make it a memorable moment in the upcoming convention. I hope to meet each and every one of y’all there!

Trinh Luong

GOT IDEAS ON WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE AT OUR NEXT LEDCON? CLICK HERE!

CHAIR | DIVISION 39N LT. GOVERNOR

WELCOMING ACTIVITY AT CONVENTION COMMITTEE

Harsh Agrawal LtG. 28

Kailey Patterson LtG. 12/22/35

“Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, I’m Possible!" ~Audrey Hepburn

FAVORITE QUOTE

C&A COMMITTEE | 15

Akshaya Chandra CHAIR | DIVISION 2S LT. GOVERNOR

CONTESTS & AWARDS COMMITTEE

LtG. 18N

Abraham Medina LtG. 39S

LtG. 3N

M E M B E R S

Eloisa Avilla

C O M M I T T E E

Vivian Lee

Rushil Sajjan LtG. 34

F a v o r i t e

I am Akshaya Chandrashekhar and I am so excited to serve as the chairwoman for the 2022-2023 Contests and Awards committee. Before I start my spiel, I would like to thank my amazing committee members, Abraham Medina, Rushil Sajjan, Vivian Lee, and Eloisa Avila! I would also like to thank our staff members Lendell Andal and Minori Kikuchi, as well as our Regional Advisors, Adrian Thompson, Kelly Poland, and Leticia Esparza. The purpose of the Contest and Awards committee is to ensure the Code of Contests and Awards is current and as easy to understand as possible. The Code details all of the entry requirements, rubrics, and judging for every contest and award that our district presents. We also run all of the contests that take place at LEDCON, including contest check-in, judging, and awards presentations. Whether it's the SuperSmash Bro tournament or the Single Service Award, our committee works hard to ensure that T-O'S efforts and talents and recognized and awarded! This year our committee plans to review and revise the Code of Contests and Awards, promote contests to the district through social media, and improve upon the check-in process at LEDCON. We are also hoping to increase overall participation in the contests and awards through these. Please be on the lookout for any updates and starting early is best when it comes to applying for some of our awards! If you ever have any questions or need some guidance, please don't hesitate out to our committee at any time!

Q u o t e

“You can’t go forward and backwards at the same time.” ~ Steve Harvey

My name is Elaine Gao. I am a junior at Jenks High School, Oklahoma, and the LTG of Division 25W. Just like many of you out there, I cram myself with AP classes, and I am engaged in multiple extracurricular activities aside from key club, such as speech and debate and mock trial. It’s pretty obvious that I have a variety of interests, but most of the time, I read, and then I write. Poetry, short stories, fan fictions, novels. All of these genres are my thing. This year, I am your Chairwoman for REC Committee (Regulations, Elections, and Credentials). It is my and my fellow members’ job to amend, incorporate and present the district’s governing documents in the most efficient way possible. This entails creating specific resources for different audiences, for example, a Bylaws Tutorial for incoming LTGs; ensuring the timeliness and clarity of word choice, like adding virtual policies; and educating the district in parliamentary procedure. It may sound like something your mom does for work; but once you get to the crux of it, you realize that it’s a riveting job that comes with great shoes to fill. For 202223, REC’s goal is to “dumb down” the documents. By no means are we going to omit crucial information, but we hope that through interesting interactions and creative manipulation, we can better reach everyone— current and future LTGs, club officers, and general members—and enhance your understanding of the district’s inner workings. Personally, I believe that nailing the bylaws and the policy codes pave the way for every level. LTGs experience less stress and become more confident in their work. Simultaneously, clubs learn inroads in which rules to follow and how to expand locally. Although I bragged about my writing skills, I’d hate to use frivolous words to sweet talk you. I have only one promise to make: I will give you my 100%. Was that too cliche? Anyways, I look forward to serving you all, and I hope to exceed the trust you’ve already given me! FAVORITE QUOTE

Elaine Gao

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. (Matthew 5:14-15)

CHAIR | DIVISION 25W LT. GOVERNOR

REGULATIONS ELECTIONS & CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE

C O M M I T T E E

HELLO T-O!

M E M B E R S

16 | REC COMMITTEE

Akhil Pinnapareddy LtG. 25S/31

Danielle Alvarado LtG. 13

Oluwafisolami Lawal LtG. 3S

Sheena Vaghela LtG. 7/33

Nidhi Rao LtG. 10

RECRUITMENT TIPS | 17

BACK TO SCHOOL Membership Recruitment Tips Publicize Key Club at your school through social media, posters, club fair, school announcements , etc. Be sure to highlight service projects your club partic ipates in! Encourage current Key Club members to bring a friend to the first member meeting Promote the benefits of joining Key Club (i.e service, meeting new people, scholarships . community opportunities, a sense of fulfillment, and fun, leadership !) Set up fun activities at meetings like icebre akers, board games, etc Create an online forum/group chat for all me share information about meetings, voluntee mbers to other projects. This is a great way for memb r events, and ers to socialize and get to know each other! Emphasize the importance of community service. Additionally, talk about the impact of ou r Major Emphasis Projects (i.e. March of Dimes, UNICEF, sch oolhouse, etc)

Click here to access the Membership Recruitment Package! Courtesy of Membership Committe e Chair, Harini Senthil

18 | ICON SUMMATION

ICON SUMMATION | 19

20 | SUMBO RECAP

D 29-30 R A O B R E M M U S JULY

es and fun tim g in k a -m n t decisio year! district this of importan ll ty fu h ig d n m e r k u r a wee re for o together fo have in sto e e w m t a a c h w rd a e ict Bo d to se The TO Distr r! Stay tune e th o n a e n now o getting to k

LTGS OF THE MONTH | 21

LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS

of the MONTH

Every month, Governor, Jonathan Perez, chooses a Lt. Governor to recognize their exemplary efforts! Special thanks to these LTGs for their service and hard work!

u J n e May

22 | CLUB SPOTLIGHT

k e d e Cre

Hig h S c

Lake

d i R

o l

M u a c A rt h

gh Sch

l o o

QUARTERLY CLUB SPOTLIGHT

gh S ho c

CHECK OUT THE GOVERNOR'S Q UARTER 1 NEWSLETTER!

l o

TOP 25 CLUBS | 23 uchi ch Producer, Minori Kik Designs courtesy of Te m Da lan trict Secretary, Dy Data courtesy of Dis

CLUBS

The top 25 clubs are calculated based on the secretary and editor submission points accumulated throughout each quarter. The following clubs are listed in alphabetical order.

24 | TECH PRO UPDATES Special thanks to TP, Minori Kikuchi and AA, Kelly Poland for putting it all together!

CHEC K OUR N OUT E REDES WLY IGNED WEBSI TE!

REVAMP #tokeyservice

OFFICE HOURS | 25

OFFICE HOURS DISTRICT GOVERNOR JONATHAN PEREZ General Key Club Support

oov-gnsc-dgq

the first and third Thursday of every month 8PM-9PM

DISTRICT SECRETARY DYLAN DAM

Monthly Report & Secretary Support 1st of

kzb-pynr-ofw

every month 9PM-10PM

DISTRICT TREASURER EMILY ZHANG MUC, YOF, and Fundraing Support

dvk-hkky-rud

20th of every month 4PM-5PM

DISTRICT EDITOR BETHANY TRAN Newsletter & Editor Support

eih-hsbt-ian

third Sunday of every month 3PM-4PM

DISTRICT TECH PRODUCER MINORI KIKUCHI Website & Graphic Design Support first Sunday of every month 1PM-2PM ssc-keju-wwf

1 2 3

NOV

Early Bird Deadline (earns clubs additional points & a patch!)

DEC

Regular Submission Deadline

FEB

Club is suspended if not paid by this date

DUES SUBMISSION TIMELINE

26 | MUC

Paying Club Dues Courtesy of District Treasurer, Emily Zhang

All branches of the K-Family use the MUC, or Membership Update Center, to precisely record the status of its members. It assists us in determining whether clubs are qualified for prizes and patches, whether they may attend LEDCON, and contributes to our district budget. Make sure to update the MUC every year with new member information to remain active!

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE CENTER

PAYING DUES & UPDATING MEMBERSHIP

Courtesy of District Treasurer, Emily Zhang

YOF GRANT (Youth Opportunities Fund)

YOF | 27

The YOF is a Key Club International endowment fund housed under the Kiwanis Children's Fund. Individual clubs can apply for grants ranging from $250 to $2,000 to sponsor creative service initiatives that benefit health, education, or young leadership. The money is paid through reimbursements, which are distributed to clubs around the middle of January.

Who can apply?

CLUBS WHO HAVE PAID THEIR DUES

ACTIVE CLUBS

Where do I start? IDENTIFY

PLAN

BUDGET

FUNDRAISE

Identify a relevant community concern and be prepared to explain how and why the problem your club is tackling can be solved through YOF

Create an action plan that covers all parts of the project (date, time, supplies needed, etc.)

Determine expenditures and develop a precise budget! It can range from $200 to $2000)

YOF TIMELINE SEPT

First Cycle grant application opens

OCT

FEB

MAR

First Cycle Application due 10:59 PM CST

Second Cycle grant application opens

Second Cycle grant application due 10:59 PM CST

4 Begin collecting funds! You must first gather funds on your own, and then calculate how much money you require from YOF!

APPLY! 1. Go to keyclub.org/yof to find the application! 2. Log onto the "Foundant" Website and create an account. Click on "Apply" to start your application. 3. You will need to know your Key Club name, ID number, and District to begin the application. This information can be found on the Membership Update Center.

28 | GOVERNOR'S PROJECT

GOVERNOR'S PROJECT 2022-2023

EMPOWERING THE PEOPLE

Courtesy of District Governor, Jonathan Perez

WHAT IS IT? This year's Governor's project is "Empowering the People", which highlights the importance of building supportive and encouraging communities across the district. By uplifting our peers and even the many strangers we see around us daily, we can see an increase in morale and mental health. We hope to encourage T-O to serve their communities and increase the positivity within their schools. Don't forget to submit your partipation on the secretary report.

SERVICE IDEAS: Create and hang encouraging posters Raise donations for your local health care workers, teachers, first responders, etc. Host public speaking/confidence workshops for middle school students Write letters to your local elderly homes

GOVERNOR'S PROJECT | 29

MONTHLY CHALLENGES GOVERNOR'S PROJECT 2022-2023

Hang posters with kind affirmations in your schools hallway

Partner with Erika's Lighthouse and educate your school on resources available

Create wellness plan pamphlets for students in your school

Start a pen pal system with your local middle school and elementary school students

Post uplifiting messages on your Key Club social media

Organzie and maintain a local community garden

Host a public speaking workshop for middle school students

Hold a book drive for a public library

Hold a fundraiser to donate funds to local mental health awareness non-profit organizations

Read to children at elemantry schools or daycare centers

Hand out candy with uplifting notes attached

Make appreciation baskets for custodians, teachers, or first responders

Create bookmarks with kind messages for public libraries

Write cards to hospital patients

Courtesy of District Governor, Jonathan Perez

Write cards to your local elderly home

Create care packages for children in the foster care system

30 | EDITOR'S NOOK

EDITOR'S NOOK | 31

32 | SNAPSHOTS OF SERVICE

SNAPSHOTS OF SERVICE | 33

34 | FEATURED ARTICLES