2015 December/ 2016 January Tex-O-Key

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

FUN STUFF FUN FACTS

1. Table of Contents 2. Messages 5. Key Leader 7. Fall Rally 11. Holiday Spirit 23. Giving Back 33. A New Beginning 39. Letters to the Editor 41. Contact Information

- Chionophobia is the

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fear of snow; fear of being buried / trapped of snow.

The Germans made the first artificial Christmas tree out of dyed goose feathers Christmas trees usually grow for 15 years before being sold.

Where does Frosty the Snowman Keep his money?

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FIND OUT ON PAGE 13

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What do Snowman do on the weekends?

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FIND OUT ON PAGE 40

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JOKES

EDITOR’S CORNER Check out the suggested article prompts for the month of october on the District Website! www.tokeyclub.com Text “@1516editor” to 81010 to receive reminders of upcoming events and deadlines from the District Editor!

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Be sure to like “Texas-Oklahoma Key Club District” on Facebook to join in on all of the fun!

EDITOR’S ENTRY ! Seasons Greetings, Key Clubbers! !

I hope you guys have had a great holiday season so far! Some of you may have noticed, but for those who have not, last month the Task of the Month was to send me one of your favorite service projects with the difficulty level, time needed to plan, costs or resources need, and a description of this project. I plan on taking all submissions and putting them into a project booklet to share with the District that way new clubs, or clubs who just need project ideas, have something to refer to that can give them ideas and inspiration. If you would like to submit project ideas to be featured in the project booklet I am always taking them! I plan on having the project booklet published either late December or early to mid January, so be on the lookout!

I also hope you guys are ready for DCON because the time is flying by! Begin raising and collecting money for DCON now! You don’t want to time to get away from you and owe your club $200 that you don’t have. If you need fundraising ideas there are all kinds of them online!

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As always, if you guys have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask! And if you are potentially interested in applying for the position of District Editor and would like to set up a phone call or text conversation for you to ask questions I would be happy to do that as well! I wouldn’t want you to apply for a position you don’t know everything about! I can’t wait to hear from you guys! Stay warm!

GOVERNOR’S GREETINGS ! Happy Holidays, Key Clubbers! !

I bet you're all looking forward to this Winter Break as much as I am! Even though we're getting closer to the end of semester, make sure to be keeping your eyes set ahead to the future. The Key Club year is over halfway over and there are amazing things on the horizon.

As we finish out the year, please keep in mind that Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF money needs to be sent in to International by December 31st, 2015. The gift form used to send in money can be found at the Eliminate Project's website. There also updates for our District Project and information about our Governor's Project on the website. If your club has not already been working towards completing those projects, now is the perfect time to start planning for the spring semester. Not only that, but you club can also start planning out fundraising projects for DCON in April. This year is going to be an unforgettable experience that you're definitely not going to want to miss out on! For more information, be sure to check back in early January when we release all the information about registration and about our themes contest.

One of the most important parts of this time of the year is that process of become a future District officer begins now. Candidacy forms for all positions are available on our website and your division's local Divisional Election Conference is well into being planned. Please check the website on with your Lt. Governor for more information.

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Thank you all for what your do through Key Club!

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TRUSTEE UPDATE FROM IAN MACDONALD

Hello T-O District, !

This past November the International Board convened in Indianapolis for a board meeting at Kiwanis International Headquarters. In Indy, we broke out into our committees, for me I was responsible for evaluating the Youth Opportunities Fund (YOF) applications for club service projects. Although this was a very long task, I was delighted in seeing some of the incredible service projects students are creating all over the world. If your club applied please check your mailboxes January 1, for hopefully, an approval letter. This year we had over 150 applications, more than ever before, so if you did not not receive the grant please understand we could not fund every project and tried to allocated funds the best we could.

The other two committees, committee of Growth & Outreach and committee of Internal Development, had a busy weekend as well. The Committee of Internal Development has been working with Kiwanis Staff to update and remodel the current Key Club Website, analyze data from their last webinar, and ways to improve the international magazine. The Committee of Growth & Outreach planned a future webinar and discussed on how to improve the current resources for districts outside North America.

Collectively at our official board meeting Saturday afternoon, the board approved changes to the Annual Achievement Report, this is the guideline for what qualifies a club to be distinguished and at international - diamond level. These changes will go into effect next school year.

We also had a round table discussion about the current Key Leader curriculum and how we can update it to fit our generation. Our next international board meeting will be in January as we prepare for ICON!Â

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As the holiday season approaches, I would just like to say Happy Holidays to you and your family!

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Yours in Service, Ian MacDonald

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Key Leader was an unforgettable experience. Throughout this weekend, I learned that there are various aspects in being an effective leader. Leaders are not simply the boss or the individual in By: Mitchell Merbach, West Brook charge. They are part of the team and need to work cohesively with their teammates and put forth as much effort as their teammates.

When I arrived to Pineywoods Camp on November 13th, I expected there to be a huge group but came to realize it was actually quite small. As such, I was able to quickly bond with those in this group, all of whom came from different backgrounds and had different skills. During our first night, after filling our stomachs with amazing food, we were broken up into smaller groups called “neighborhoods.” My group came to be known as the Greasy Geese, a small group made up of Port Neches Groves, Nederland, West Brook, and Mansfield high school students. In our free time, my group and I would talk and engage in fun games and activities.

The next morning, we sat for several hours listening to Chris Niles, the lead student facilitator, discuss the values of respect, community, and excellence. “Leaders make good listeners. Listeners make good leaders,” Chris Niles would proclaim. He helped us realize that being an effective leader means contributing just as much towards an issue or dilemma as one’s teammates.

However, Key Leader wasn't just about sitting in long forums all day. Later that afternoon after lunch, we took our group photos and went off to the skill-building courses. Our team was quick to finish the first set of activities, with each of us presenting our own ideas on how to properly execute them. The last task was the hardest one for our team. Our goal was to get everyone through a 6 feet high window, all the while trusting yourself as well as your teammates to ensure that no one sustains an injury in the process. Like a balancing act, we sent one after another through the window. The one that could scale the wall without need of any assistance was the last to go through.

Later that day, we went back to the main cabin to hear more about Larry the Collector of Bedford Street and how his leadership affected his community as well as what specific traits made him such a great leader.

Then, we attended a small s’more party, roasting soft marshmallows and talking and laughing alongside some newly-made friends.

The last day was the quickest day, as we absolutely did not want the weekend to end. They presented us with a slideshow of the weekend and later dismissed us to sign a large poster, which would later come to display the signatures of everyone who attended Key Leader that weekend.

Key Leader was a special weekend that reminded me of why Key Club means so much to me. I realize the benefits on not only being a leader but also a friend and individual who cares for and makes a positive impact on the community. I hope to one day inspire others, specifically youth, to be proactive in service and to do what is right in the community.

A Key Experience

Key Leader

By: Sophia Torres, Mansfield

Every year the Texas-Oklahoma Kiwanians host a leadership retreat called Key Leader. Even though this may initially seem like any other leadership retreat, it is vastly different than anything leadership related I have been to in recent years.

Key Leader allows students from all over, not just Key Clubbers, to experience a weekend where they are able to grow closer to other individuals in their age group while strengthening their own individual leadership skills. What leadership. I had never really thought about this way of leadership before this point, it had pretty much been striving to be the one in charge. However, after this retreat, I realized the importance of putting the needs of who you are serving before your own.

After undergoing a full year of service on my club’s board and attending Key Leader again, I didn’t expect to gain much more just because it had really made an impact the first time I had experienced it. I thought maybe the impact would be a little different because this year I was going as a student facilitator. When I arrived, the student facilitators met up with our lead facilitator to talk about what we expected to gain from that weekend and also what we had learned from prior Key Leaders we had attended. After this moment, I knew my experience would be so much more than I had initially expected. As we went through the weekend, I had the opportunity to watch people grow from being shy and timid to being able to open up to the entire group by the end of the weekend. To see the bonds that people were forming in such a short time span was amazing. Even more so this year, I got to see firsthand the impacts that Key Leader made on people.

I hope that my board and I are able to incorporate some of the ideas of Key Leader into our own club functions. It is so important that they are all able to understand that no matter their position, they are all still leaders because they are taking the initiative to put the needs of others in the community before their own.

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Frightfully Fun Fall Rally By: Reena Gannon, Cypress Ranch

Pale ghosts, zombies, and skeletons galore greeted me at Six Flags, but more importantly, Fall Rally! Being my first time, I was unsure what to expect.

But by the end of the day, all of my curiosity was answered with a great big smile!

The drive to Arlington proved the biggest obstacle, seeing that it takes four hours to reach the destination. Rachel was more than happy to offer me a ride. She did not have to, but thanks to her, I had the ability to go. With caffeine in our mugs and bags under our eyes, we talked for mere minutes before snoozing down the highway. Good thing Mr. Iselin was there to drive! Regardless, I enjoyed spending time with an amazing governor and friend. Rachel’s excitement hyped me up for what was to come later on in the day.

When we actually got to Six Flags, I began to get scared. I was not sure if I was able to meet new people. I noticed that schools came in groups, and I was alone. The thought was quickly shot down once Fall Rally actually began. The fun games of rock, paper, scissors, and kahoot really livened up the room and gave people a chance to meet someone from around our entire district.

During the event, clues to District Convention were hinted through every activity. I was so pleased to discover that the theme for DCON 2016 is based off Mission Impossible. Service Mission is definitely accepted! The theme is fun and appealing to every member. I have attended District Convention for the past two years, so I have an idea of how life-changing the event is. Now that I know the theme, I can already see the amazing set for the stage, sneaky spies and huge service! I really hope that the district board goes up to random members and “acts” like they’re the target. However awesome the theme is this year, I am most excited about meeting even more incredible people who are as passionate about volunteering and service as I am. The amount of enthusiasm for Key Club really inspires you to do more.

To conclude the day, I got to enjoy a sunny day and thrilling rides with the amazing officers on the district board, as well as two other members from Bullard High School. I was thankful that they let me join and showed me what Fall Rally was all about. I could not have gotten through all the creepers who lurched at seven sharp without them! I cannot wait to see them again at District Convention. Let’s see you top Fall Rally!

It was October 3rd and I had arrived at the Six Flags in Arlington’s parking lot to meet up with the rest of the North Garland Key Club members. We walked through the entrance and waited patiently in line By: Vivian Tran, North Garland to go in. Right when the parked opened, we looked for the “Southern Palace”. When we entered, I noticed many familiar faces from DCON which made me feel less nervous because I already knew their chill and fun personalities.

The lights dimmed and it finally started. Governor Rachel Iselin greeted the audience, introduced herself, and then began her infamous jellyfish icebreaker. Afterwords, one by one, many other district officers and LTG’s began to introduce themselves. Before starting the games, the convention liaison Megan Reynosa explained after every 15 minutes, an alarm will ring and a puzzle piece of a picture of the 2016 DCON theme will be revealed, and then, she revealed the first puzzle piece. No one could tell what it was yet, so we began our first interactive icebreaker which was an intense competition of rock, paper, scissors. Everyone played rock, paper, scissors one-on-one until there was only two people left, our current Key Club president, Sophia Tran, and a member from a different school’s club. They had many ties before Sophia finally lost. Right after the winner claimed his prize and sat back down, the alarm rang and a puzzle piece was revealed. It was very vague and no one could tell what it was.

After the rock, paper, scissors competition, we got moved to the left group of seats to make the three sections of the auditorium even. We then got paired off with someone we didn’t know and began playing the body part to body part game. I was paired off with a really cool and fun guy and began playing. At first, it was VERY awkward but soon after, we began to have fun and became less nervous. At the end, everyone laughed, said their goodbyes, and went back to their seats. When we sat down and waited for the next game, we were reminded of when our VP E’noch William asked Rachel to prom. We then prompted E’noch to ask her once again and he did! The entire audience laughed when Rachel refused again for the second time. Afterwards, the alarm rang once again and the third puzzle piece was revealed. Right then, a discussion began to take place and our club guessed that it was Mission Impossible outloud. The district board and Lt.G’s shrugged and said they didn’t know.

Then, our next game began! The game kahoot was explained and everyone got out their smartphones and entered the classroom. When we began, I became very confused because I knew almost none of the answers and guessed most of the time, but then my friend Sheeba got very rowdy and exclaimed that she was 17th place and climbing!! We then directed most of our attention towards her phone and tried the answers right, but all else failed and in the end, we lost.

Finally it was time for the whole theme to be revealed and my heart started to beat fast. They revealed the picture and announced the DCON theme as….. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE!! Everyone applauded and our club was shocked and jovial we guessed the theme right. Then, the LtG’s began to pass out tattoos, pins, sunglasses, and many more goodies!

We exited the Southern Palaces and split our ways into our groups. The rest of the day I had lots of fun riding rides and hanging out with my friends. In the end, I was thankful for Key Club creating this unforgettable memory and ended the night.

A Rally to Remember

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A Rally Recap By: Karina G., Everman

This year was the first time that our club has been able to attend Fall Rally since we were not chartered until last March. This made it the first time for any of our members including myself to be a part of this fun-filled day! We really did not know what to expect from Fall Rally.

All we knew was that is was going to be a blast and that important information about DCON 2016 was going to be released. We would be the first ones to know anything about DCON before anyone else found out. That October morning, I was really excited. I was going to Six Flags and to Fall Rally, so it was like getting two prizes in one.

Once I arrived at Six Flags, I headed towards the ticket booths and I that is when I first noticed that there was a ticket booth devoted that was only for Key Clubbers and I thought that was so cute. We got our own ticket booth and I felt special. I got my ticket and visited for a little while with Burleson Key Clubbers as I waited for my club to arrive. Once they came, a tad late I might add, we entered Six Flags! Since it was fifteen minutes until Fall Rally started, we headed over to the Paris Section of the park.

There was a huge crowd of Key Clubbers waiting to get into the building. I was really surprised by how many clubbers were there! As we went inside to sit down and wait for the program to begin, nearly all of the seats were already taken. The craziest part is that this venue was not a small place. I was already thinking that we were just going to sit there and information was going to be delivered in a very boring, formal matter but I was wrong, very wrong. It was so fun and interactive. We played tons of ice breakers in order to get comfortable around all of the strangers we were just meeting. We played a trivia game that tested our Key Club knowledge and I really surprised myself by getting close to winning.

Throughout the meeting, the 2016 DCON theme was being released. Every ten minutes they added pieces to the puzzle. Piece by piece we began to see the bigger picture of the puzzle. Guess what the theme turned out to be?

Service: Mission Accepted. The theme is based on the movie Mission Impossible.

How cool is that? I cannot wait till DCON!

FEATURED IN THIS SECTION 1. Nooah Ahmed 2. Hannah Felske 3. Carrigan Hudgins 4. Ushasee Ray 5. Kevin Nguyen 6. Veronica Ordonez 7. Kidus Negesse 8. Sharavya Satish

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HOLIDAY SPIRIT

13 Answer: A Snow Bank!

The Best Time of the Year!

By: Nooha Ahmed, Cypress Ranch

Cookies baking, leaves falling, smiles growing, and temperatures dropping. It must be time for the season of giving! As it gets colder and colder outside, The Cypress Ranch Key Club presents their members with many opportunities and events that

encourage them to get in the holiday spirit.

For example, our Key Club organizes a Pumpkin Smash every year. We call local grocery stores and ask them to lend us their leftover pumpkins. We then crush those pumpkins in front of our school - together as a club. It is an enjoyable way for everyone to get excited and look forward to the upcoming holidays. The Pumpkin Smash also enables our members to interact and build bonds with each other, which is a vital component to the success of our club.

Another aspect that our Key Club puts emphasis on during this wonderful time is the spirit of giving. The holiday season is a time for us to count our blessings and be thankful for everything that we have in life. The majority of us are blessed to wake up with a roof above our heads and food on our plates. Unfortunately, there are people all around the world - and in our own community - that are not as fortunate as us. There are kids who wake up on Christmas morning with no presents underneath their Christmas tree. There are adults who are forced to go to work on Christmas day in order to provide for their families. The Cypress Ranch Key Club does its best to ensure that every woman, man, and child will have an awesome holiday season regardless of their circumstances. We hold donation drives, events, and socials to help raise money for those in need.

Last year, the Cypress Ranch Key Club made a jar filled with positive thoughts such as, "have a good day" or "hardships make you stronger" and gave them to cancer patients at The Texas Children's Hospital as a Christmas present. You could just see their faces light up whenever they read a paper with a few encouraging words on it. That is what our Key Club here at Cypress Ranch tries to put our focus on during the holiday season. The real meaning of this time is not to get presents, rather it is to lend a hand out to those in need. The best way to get into the holiday spirit is to be compassionate and grateful for everything that you have!

That Time of Year

By: Hannah Felske, Cypress Creek

It is that time of year again. Where we spend quality time with our friends, family, constantly giving more than you get.

Sometimes, it is okay to be concerned about yourself before others. In Key Club, we are constantly giving and receiving smiles and plenty of thanks. Without fundraisers, many clubs

wouldn’t exist, including Key Club.

In public schools, religion is a controversial topic. Many students today are still Christian, and celebrate Christmas, but many are not. I was raised saying “Merry Christmas,” but since I have grown up and awoke socially to other people’s beliefs. One very unbiased fundraiser that is holiday related, is selling candy grams. The week before finals week officers from Key Club set up a table at lunch, and sell candy canes. The customer has the opportunity to write a short message for the receiving student or teacher. While purchasing the candy cane, the customer must write down the seventh period class so the officers can deliver the fun holiday candy! The best part of this fundraiser is the excitement that you have leading up to Friday to see if anyone bought one for you. I feel like the candy grams fundraiser is a very effective way to raise some money for our Texas- Oklahoma District Convention. The candy canes are a good way to get everyone in the mood for Christmas break. They are easy to handle and a very simple idea for high school students to grasp in their mind.

One fundraiser I suggested was present wrapping. Depending on the size of the gift, customers would donate a certain amount of money. Many people have no idea on how to wrap a present, or if they do, it usually is not crisp, neat and appealing to the eye. We could even make it a multi club deal so it can get more publicity. If we introduced this fundraiser, students and faculty could bring in any amount of gifts and presents to get wrapped, labeled and returned to them in a two to four day period. This for sure could be a big hit or miss, especially since quite a few student do not celebrate Christmas. Holiday fundraisers are always a good bonding experience for board members and members themselves. Key Club is a fully student ran club, that means selecting officers, designing t shirts, planning events and socials, and raising money ourselves. Fundraisers are not only a lot of fun but they are beneficial to everyone. Happy Holidays!

The Spirit of Giving By: Carrigan Hudgins, Mansfield

The holiday season is an incredible time for Key Club. This season promotes a spirit of giving, and Key Club is all about giving back to the community. Our club participates in many fundraisers and events during the holiday season to support our community and touch hundreds of lives.

In November, our club raised money for a custodian Thanksgiving dinner. Custodians play a crucial role in our school functioning smoothly, yet they get very little recognition. Every year for Thanksgiving our school likes to show our custodians just how much they are appreciated. Key Club teams with National Honor Society and Student Council to raise enough money to provide a Thanksgiving dinner for all of our custodians at the high school. This year, just Key Club raised 55 dollars for the event. It is an awesome feeling to be able to reach out to an important group that is too often forgotten and taken for granted.

Another project our club participates in for the holiday season is Adopt-a-Child. At our school, various classes and organizations “adopt” children to purchase Christmas presents for kids who might not otherwise get any. So many of us have amazing Christmases and don’t realize that not all kids are so blessed and lucky to have a family that can buy them everything they want for Christmas. Our club raises money to buy clothes and toys for two children to make their Christmas a little better and to relieve some stress off of their parents.

Being able to improve lives of young kids in the community is a heartwarming opportunity that our club is proud to be a part of.

In addition to the custodian dinner and Adopt-aChild, our club also participates in Toys for Tots. Toys for Tots is a huge community event that multiple schools participate in. All the different schools collect new, donated toys to be given to less fortunate kids in the community. Every year thousands of toys are donated.

The whole community comes together at the Mansfield Center for Performing Arts, and the thousands toys are collected. A huge event is held where organizations from all the different schools set up fun booths, and other fun things, such as reindeer and hot chocolate, are brought for everyone to enjoy. Choirs, dance groups, and cheerleaders also perform Christmasthemed routines. People of all ages come to be a part of the event, making it one of my favorite events of the whole year. Nothing can compare to seeing the whole community come together to support a great cause.

The holiday season is simply a time with many great things in store for Key Club. The season restores the spirit of giving and reminds clubbers what this organization is all about.

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At Mansfield High School, during the holiday season, especially around Christmas time, our energetic Key By: Ushasee Roy, Mansfield Clubbers are the most active, trying our best to make a difference in the families and children of our community’s lives. Most of our key clubbers realize how fortunate we are and we do our best to make the lives of others who are less fortunate in our community as fun and festive as possible. Our club likes to participate in many projects in throughout our school and in our community. The is one where we collect donations from members of the club in order to buy Christmas presents for children whose families cannot afford Christmas presents. Another one known as Toys for Tots, is a project where we collect children’s toys, so children who would not get toys otherwise for Christmas get presents. On top of that our key club works with the Salvation Army, which around Christmas time, raises money for the Angel Tree, also in order to raise money for families who do not have the means to have a luxurious Christmas. All in all our key club likes to participate in many different projects around the holidays, because we enjoy putting a smile on the families in our community and making sure everybody has the opportunity to have a blessed Christmas and holiday season, Around Christmas time our Key Club also tries to do everything Christmas themed, just to get into the holiday spirit and have a little fun along with all the service we do. We will be having a social soon where we will be wrapping all the gifts we buy with all the money the key clubbers donate and watching the famous Christmas movie: Elf. On top of that we will be decorating and donating children’s’ socks to a local hospital. This is a fun way for all the key clubbers bond and still help the community at the same time.

A couple days after Thanksgiving our club volunteered at a place we frequently volunteer at, mission Arlington. This is a place in our community where a completely denotation based organization gives food, clothes, and other necessities to people who cannot afford it. After Thanksgiving Mission Arlington was depleted of food and they were in need of volunteers to unload boxes of newly donated canned foods. So many Mansfield Key Clubbers joined in the weekend after Thanksgiving to sort food before the holidays and Christmas arrives and families are in need of more food again.

The Holiday Season

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As November comes to a close, we are greeted with the cold weather that is December!

By: Kevin Nguyen, Cypress Falls December is the pumpkin spice season of course, and the time to unpack those ornaments, finally decorate the house with lights that can be seen from outer space, raise the electric bill to an all-time high, and bring out those ugly sweaters that you get from your relatives! Although these times can be extremely fun and a good time with your family, there are always less fortunate families out there that just need a little helping hand. Here are some ideas to help get you started.

A Merry Key Club Christmas

- Help the homeless; make little baskets full of food, a card and other things like a scarf, socks, blankets etc. & every time you stop at a stoplight where someone is standing, climb out and give them the goodie basket. I guarantee this will just “WARM” their hearts.

- Write thank you letters; sometimes when people are caught up with the festivities along with work or school they forget to remember and appreciate the people around them so, to show the ones you care about maybe write a little letter to people and just express how thankful you are for what they do. It can be to anyone; your mailman, family, teachers, or what I recommend, is to write to a soldier. I can assure you that these letters will truly “DRAW” a smile on the face of the recipients.

- Donate what you don’t need; you can make a difference in the life a child who may not be receiving gifts for whatever circumstance by just donating any toys you may have that are just laying around collecting dust! There’s no doubt in my mind that just by giving toys away that you will be the hero of their day.

I definitely hope you found this helpful to you and, hope I’ve answered any questions you’ve had about how to help out during the holidays! Hopefully these ideas have inspired you to go out help and maybe even do something bigger of your own! Just remember that even the smallest deeds, can in result create the largest impact in someone’s life.

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Holiday Jingles

By: Veronica Ordonez, Cypress Ranch

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It’s so hard to believe that the Fall Semester is halfway over and it’s already winter!

As the year begins to wind down and the holiday season starts filling the air, Key Club enjoys a busy season full of the spirit of giving back to the community.

I’m very much looking forward to many of activities, events, and projects my school’s Key Club will be doing in the coming months.

Set to begin soon, one of our next service projects my club will be completing is a fleece-drive in order to make knotted blankets. Even though it won’t take place precisely in December, we plan to donate these blankets to those less fortunate in our community in the hopes of providing some warmth as the chilly air sets in. This project is easy and inexpensive, yet very effective.

In addition, our club always holds a Christmas Social during the last week of school before Winter Break. Our members come to mingle, enjoy some cookies, and donate a children’s toy that we will donate to Toys for Tots or a similar charity. At the end, we gather up all the toys and make one massive donation to those children in our community who don’t necessarily have the possibility of writing a letter to Santa. These toys help bring joy to kids from families with few resources, as well as children that find themselves in the hospital for the holidays. We hope that the generous donations on the part of our members can bring a smile to their faces brighten their season.

Not much of our holiday endeavors set and planned yet, but there are many options on the table and a few that I would like to suggest to our president as well. My club’s last service project, which was completed about two weeks ago in partnership with my school’s Mustangs for the Military Club, was for each of our members to create a card of gratitude for our brave men and women who are currently serving our countries overseas. I would very much like to bring that back and make some holiday greeting cards in December for our troops who find themselves away from home during this special season. Shout out to Mustangs for the Military who have been doing a great job of delivering our cards to our soldiers!

In conclusion, my school is well on its way with preparations for the holiday season, and I hope that we can set a good example of the giving and service that lingers in the cheerful air of this time of year. I am very proud to be involved in such an amazing organization, and I’m excited to, like our blankets, help spread some warmth to our community as the temperature begins to drop lower and lower.

A Tree for Angles By: Kidus Negesse,, North Garland

Christmas - it's a holiday people remember as being sources of pure excitement and great gifts.

Unfortunately, many kids around the world and even in our own community miss out on this essential component of a classic American childhood. Helping the Salvation Army connect disadvantaged kids with generous donors, Key Club contributed to the likelihood of a joyful Christmas for many children all throughout Dallas.

Every year, the Salvation Army constructs a large tree with pictures of Angels - children who hoped to receive their desired gifts from donors - plastered up onto the tree. To ensure that responsible and honest parents were proper delegates for their children, the Salvation Army assigned volunteers to interview the parents who hoped to obtain presents for their kids by Christmas. The room, at first vacant of people, soon buzzed with the intermingled sounds of Spanish and English as Key Club members consulted hopeful parents. After finishing documentation of the parents and their angels, Key Club members then worked with parents to choose two presents, one of which was a necessity and the other a wish. Although the Salvation Army had instructed the exact definitions and limitations of both necessities and wishes, all of the parents that volunteers served knew what items constituted needs and wishes and avoided terribly expensive gifts.

What volunteers especially enjoyed in this event was the incredible human aspect of it. Unlike many other Key Club events, where volunteers lie on the outskirts of the main scene, working with the Salvation Army allowed us to actually interact with people in one-on-one situations. Volunteers also encountered Hispanic people when consulting parents, which initially presented a language barrier. By the end of the day, however, Key Club members were speaking Spanish as if they had gone to school in Mexico. The greetings and basic expressions that were on the fringes of their minds readily came, but the more complex language required for some legal aspects of this event had to be honed. At the end of the day though, communication between volunteers and the people they serviced remained excellent.

The Salvation Army stands as one of the most kindhearted organizations that Key Club has ever encountered. With the passion and fervor of our members, we helped the Salvation Army reach a record of servicing over 500 people in one day. More importantly, however, is the knowledge that our contributions and communication skills have enriched the lives of hundreds of children in the Dallas Fort-Worth metroplex.

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December is a jolly time of year, with the celebration of Christmas and the upcoming New Year! In today’s day and age, society forgets about its abundance of By: Sharavya Satish, Cypress Ranch luxuries and takes it for granted, however Key Club’s goal is to give back to the people that are not so lucky.

The winter season is a great time to engage in wonderful volunteering opportunities and give back to the community. Volunteering is done to help the community around, and for the self-satisfaction and sense of accomplishment that comes with it. The key ideal is to spread happiness to all people and this can be achieved through the various volunteering opportunities coming in the month of December.

The Joy of the Holidays

One of the widely celebrated holidays during the winter season is Christmas! What better way to give back than spreading smiles on the faces of kids and families in this gift-giving season? Key Club is hosting toy drive, and it calls for all key club members to get involved and reel in toys! Key Club requests all members to bring in at least one individual toy for the toy drive which will later be given to the toys for tots’ organization. This organization distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them. There is also an amazing opportunity in the upcoming orange leaf social. If members bring in a toy, they will be given a discount on their order of frozen yogurt. Key Club is excited to be involved in such a great cause!

The toy drive mentioned above is a great way to get in the holiday spirit, but Key Club has more to offer! Currently, Key Club is having a donation drive that is accepting 1 yard of fleece or 1 lightly used shirt for 1 donation hour. Shirts must be purely cotton and key words as mentioned before: lightly used!

As always, there is an opportunity to gain donation hours through the purchase of a $5 Walmart gift card or with a Ziploc bag filled with tabs.

Winter Season is the time of year that every person is filled with joy. It is important to always give back to the community in some way or the other whether the task be big or small. Key Club provides for a great host of events that all members can participate in especially the great range of holiday drives mentioned above. It’s always important to keep volunteering and most importantly to enjoy the upcoming holiday season!

FEATURED IN THIS SECTION 1. Stephanie Tran 2. Shawna Chen 3. Kidus Negesse 4. Crystal Tirawan 5. Kidus Negesse 6. Harini Maheswaran 7. Joseph Santana 8. Sharavya Satish

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GIVING BACK

25 I sat uncomfortably in a car surrounded by friends, most dressed in some sort of costume despite the drizzling rain and By: Stephanie Tran, Jersey Village humidity that fell upon Houston that night. In my hands, I cradled an empty pumpkin basket close to me. In my pocket was the source of my hesitation. My half full box of change for UNICEF sat in my pocket. I had run out of change around my house and felt unsatisfied and disappointed in myself with the emptiness that still occupied the orange box. I couldn’t decide whether I should actually go to door to door asking for change.

Spare Change?

My group arrived at the newer, richer neighborhood, and we all stumbled out of the cramped truck. I felt the moist air bleeding in through my charmander onesie and stuck a hand into the pocket with the box, feeling, testing the weight of it. I strolled along like that, with a hand on the basket, another on the box, and finally pulled it out after a couple of houses. On a whim, I blurted out to my friends, “Hey, it’s okay if I ask for change too right?”. Naturally, they nodded and encouraged me. Feeling a little more confident, I squeezed up before the door of the next house after my friends had gotten there candy. ‘Do you have any spare change for UNICEF instead of candy?’, I chirped out with a smile. As expected, the lady giving out candy looked at me in surprise, but quickly turned me away with no change, filling up my pumpkin basket instead. I sighed and moved to where my friends waited, ready to move onto the next house. It wasn’t until maybe the third house in where a lady actually went into her house and found some change to contribute into the box.

Most houses were able to add in maybe a dime or some quarters lying near their door along with filling up my pumpkin basket of sweets, and I followed my friends along with a skip in my step despite the extra weight of change. I held the UNICEF box in my hands and jiggled it a bit. Mostly full, feeling as heavy as a brick by the end of the night, I felt satisfied. At the end of the night, I stuffed the box into my backpack, slightly in awe of the way the spare change of many people could fill up a box in a few hours, and in wonder of how my little box of spare change will contribute in an even bigger picture.

Miracles Made

By: Shawna Chen, James Taylor my backpack.

Nervously, I dance around the entrance of the 9 grade center.

Will anyone allow this worn traveler in? An escaping student allows me the perfect opening and I am bursting into the building, flying up the stairs, and huffing as I enter the meeting room. No one notices as I make my way to the center of the room and unload th

Show time. “Thank you all for coming today. As many of you know, it’s Key Club week!” The room cheers and applauds. “… so in honor of it, we’ve prepared a special event: Miracle Minute.” I inform them that that all donations will benefit Children’s Miracle Network and briefly explain how the minute will work.

Pointing at our officers wielding containers, I say, “Alright now, get your cash ready! 3… 2… 1…” I can see the stress on members’ faces as they’re frantically ripping open their backpacks and stuffing their hands into their pockets for a stray coin. “GO!” The countdown on the Smart Board begins and the room goes into a frenzy. I don’t want to let the energy of the room plunge, so I cheer. “Woo, go go go!” I turn and see the slightly amused faces of my fellow officers as they observe the members, and I too chuckle at the odd sight of people deliberately stuffing their coins into the baskets. “30 seconds!” I crow. More organized chaos ensues. The time begins to wind down, and once again I count down: “3… 2… 1… done!” The room claps and a few officers leave the room to count the Miracle Minute donations.

The rest of the meeting goes swimmingly, and I go through the PowerPoint pretty swiftly, though I make sure to be thorough on the details of each upcoming event. “... and that concludes our meeting today!

Thanks again and have a happy Key Club week!” As usual, the members pour out of the room in their traditionally disorderly way (the room is so small!) and a few linger to ask the secretary some questions.

Jessica, one of our treasurers, approaches me. “We finished counting the money; weren’t we going to announce it at the end of the meeting?” Puzzled, I reply, “Ah sorry I didn’t know. We can announce it on Facebook and at the next meeting.” Jessica agrees.

In total, our club raised almost $70 in that minute. I’m very excited that the Children’s Miracle Network will receive such an amount. I had actually expected a lot less to be donated (perhaps 30 dollars), considering most people don’t carry change around and it was our club’s first ever miracle minute.

However, our club continued to astound me with the profit share later that day at Panera Bread, where our club received over $150 (I had expected around $70). I guess miracles really are made in Key Club.

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27 One of the most joyful moments for a child falls on the 31st of October. On that night, clowns, werewolves, goblins, you name it, ransack people's homes and pillage them for candy. On By: Kidus Negesse, North Garland that fateful night this year, however, Key Club crossed candy off of its wish list and instead placed the logo of those little orange boxes that we're all familiar with - UNICEF. North Garland's Key Club has chosen to give its utmost support for UNICEF in their quest to eradicate neonatal tetanus. Assigning its members the task of collecting money from any of their lives was not enough however. Going out to solicit donations on Halloween was the cherry on top in our mission to help out UNICEF and thousands of babies in developing nations.

After meeting up at our president's house, Key Club started on its excursion throughout the neighborhood with the strange little orange boxes. The look on many of the faces of people we encountered after they saw a clown, veterinarian, viking, Kim Possible, and a soccer player come pleading for money at their front doors was hysterical. When we slowly explained what our goal was on that fun night, people were very sympathetic to our cause and began searching their house for coins.

Through the fortunate frustration of some, coins were nowhere to be found and they gladly spared a whole dollar bill or two.

Traveling from house repeating the same exact message quickly got tiring, but remembering what our goal for that night lifted our spirits and motivated us to keep marketing. Luckily, almost everyone we encountered was generous enough to spare what they could instead of easily casting us off by telling us that they didn't have any money. As the night came to a close, we headed back to our president’s house to see what our trip had brought us. Counting close to $123 from simple trick-ortreating throughout the neighborhood, we finally concluded that maybe it wasn’t such a crazy idea to go around soliciting money for such a moral cause as UNICEF. A student from Sachse high school had actually come with us to experience what volunteering nights were like with North Garland’s Key Club, and needless to say, she wasn’t disappointed.

One of the best event ideas in clubs occur when leaders incorporate service for the community with genuinely fun activities. We couldn’t have thought of a better way to spend the 31st of October.

Trick-or-Treat

Me and You-NICEF By: Crystal Tirawan, West Brook

I arrived to West Brook High School at 5:00 PM in my fuzzy, green Oscar the Grouch pajamas. When I entered the cafeteria doors, Ms. Abel and the other volunteers had the orange UNICEF boxes ready to hand out. As I signed in, I waited for my other team members, Julia, Kevin, and Aaron, to join me. I initially thought I was overdressed but my worries quickly dissolved as more people came in. West Brook Key Club volunteers dressed up as a variety of characters from a cave man to the creepy Slender Man. After about 30 minutes, the sponsors told everyone participating to be safe and to arrive back to our meeting spot, Chick-fil-A, at 7:30 PM. A news camera man wanted footage of my group going door to door collecting donations for Trickor-Treat for UNICEF. We decided to go to West Circuit first. As the camera man set up his camera, I and Julia skipped to the porch in an excited manner, ready to receive our first donation. I rang the doorbell and awkwardly posed with my UNICEF box facing the door as we waited for an answer. There were lights inside, but nobody came to greet us. Unfortunately, we were ignored by many of the residents of West Circuit.

My team split into two groups to cover more houses. The search for donations finally paid off. As Aaron would hold the boxes, I would knock on the doors. I also made myself a small script so I wouldn’t seem unprepared or nervous when someone would answer the door. After I would give my speech, most people would graciously give us varying amount of cash. Besides being thankful for large sums of donations, I personally enjoyed receiving coins and loose change, as small amounts of change can quickly add up.

During my team’s endeavors, we crossed paths with another group of Key Clubbers and worked together with them as well. The group had 3 people: Lance, Cassidy, and Anne Kate. At one point, one of the more timid members of their group, Cassidy, gained enough courage to knock on a door and ask for donations. On her first and only attempt, she received $100 dollars for her group! During one encounter, I rang the doorbell and heard barking but no answer to the door. As we walked away, a quiet female voice asked, “Well, what are you scary monsters up to?” I quickly answered with my small, prepared speech, and she explained how she wouldn’t have noticed we were there had it not been for her dogs’ barking.

We arrived to Chick-fil-A at 7:40 PM. As we turned our boxes into Ms. Abel, we joined other groups to eat. Ms. Abel later informed us that we had collected over $100.08.

The Race to Cure Alzheimers By: Kidus Negesse, North Garland

One of the most painful and heartbreaking experiences in the world is to see the person who nurtured you since birth begin forgetting your face.

Alzheimer's plagues the mind and robs people of their dearest family members and friends. For that reason, North Garland's Key Club has chosen to be a huge contributor to the divisional project for Alzheimer's research.

Any medical center or nursing home will have people with this monstrosity - a disease that destroys memory and other pertinent memory functions. Not only does this horrid disease cause people to not recognize others that they've known for all their lives, but it also creates incredible mental and emotional burdens for all loved ones. The Alzheimer's Association works to provide care and support for people with Alzheimer's and fund the continuation of Alzheimer's research. To help ameliorate the situation of people affected by this disease, we worked with the rest of our division to raise money for the organization.

When our LTG suggested that our division work to raise money for Alzheimer's, Key Club was ecstatic to start fundraising to help our division reach its goal of $1000 by the end of the month. We immediately began informing many of the organizations that we had previously been in contact with to help us with our project. With how widespread Alzheimer's truly is, every organization we contacted had people who had their lives affected by Alzheimer's. Loving Garland Green was especially sympathetic to our cause and subsequently donated over a hundred dollars. What surprised was that individual contributions that we received were much larger than contributions given by organizations.

To show our maximum appreciation for these charitable people, we represented them in an Alzheimer's march in Dallas.

Going to the Alzheimer's march gave us hope that there was growing awareness of this harmful disease in our society. Such a mass of people all gathering together for this single cause was a true delight to see. After representing North Garland's Key Club on stage, we collected shirts for our donors and began writing careful Thank You cards for the contribution they had made. With the $1000 we had raised, which was our LTG's exact goal, we promptly donated $999 as a small joke that magnified the charity North Garland.

Fighting a crippling disease isn't easy, but with enough effort and resources, researchers have hope of successfully finding a cure for Alzheimer's in the near future. Not only is it imperative that they do, but it is also crucial for the well being of our generation half a century down the line.

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As our school participated in the Trick or Treat for UNICEF service project, we worked hard to spread awareness By: Harini Maheswaran, Cypress Woods about the disastrous disease the project was going to combat: neonatal tetanus. Since this project was a big deal at our school, we made it necessary that everyone knew about the project and how to help in any way possible to contribute to cure kids with the dangerous disease. We encouraged each member of the Cypress Woods Key Club to take a UNICEF box to collect money for this beneficial cause, which turned out to be a great idea.

All of our representatives and officers took at least one UNICEF box to fill up, and many collected donations during lunch or by going door to door like I did. Once I explained the cause our Key Club was raising money for, many were more than willing to donate. My friend and I had went around our neighborhood, hoping to raise awareness and tell others about UNICEF. Just by explaining how easy it is to contribute to helping those who have tetanus, it was surprising to see so many people willing and wanting to make donations.

Our club even added some fun into this project by giving prizes to the top three winners who raised the most money in their Trick or Treat for UNICEF boxes. We felt that rewarding our members for working hard to contribute was a huge deal and is something that should be very much appreciated. But even before we announced that prizes would be given to the top three contributors, our members were still driven and motivated regardless of the prizes we were going to hand out. It was great to see many members engaging in this project where it was so easy to contribute.

As our members spread great awareness about what UNICEF is, our club raised over $300 to donate to combatting neonatal tetanus. We were more than happy with the results since the Trick or Treat for UNICEF boxes are something that members can do to directly interact with helping a greater cause. I enjoyed going door to door and talking to others about this amazing cause, and it brought me a large amount of joy to know that others are always willing to help out in any situation, and I was extremely grateful we encouraged each of our members to take a box in our previous meeting.

Treating Tetanus

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Mansfield High School is a school driven to capitalizing on our wealth and prosperity by helping the lessBy: Joseph Santana, Mansfield fortunate any chance we get. Whether it be our annual canned food drive, or participating in Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, the school works hard to help those who have very little. Our school’s club is very driven to these projects and always accept new opportunities with open arms. For example, each year our club participates in Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF throughout the month of October, raising money for the ELIMINATE Project which fights maternal and neonatal tetanus. We also support the Children’s Miracle Network, and last year we raised money by playing an annoying song over the intercom during passing periods.

Basically, the point is to find a song that is played out and repetitive, which in our case was “Baby” by Justin Bieber, and play it every passing period. Students are then asked to donate money, and when a certain monetary goal is reached, the song will finally cease to be played.

However, that is not the only way we collect the money, because during lunch we get people to walk around with a jar during lunch periods asking kids for their spare change. Collectively, we raise a boat load of money for CMN in a span of about 2 weeks. Another project we participate is Feed the Kids for Summer, a project coordinated by the Common Ground Network in Mansfield. To begin, we give all of our general members little boxes, much like the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF boxes, and have them collect change to purchase meals for children on the free and reduced lunch programs at their respective schools. Students a part of this program have troubles finding fed over the summer, since the schools cannot provide them meals. So, students raise money to buy food, then over the summer volunteers get together and unload trucks full of these foods, bag them together for each kid, and help load them back into the cars of volunteers who then take them to be given to the kids throughout the week. Projects like this are simple, fun, and abundant, available to many clubs and people in general everywhere. Thanks to these projects, volunteers find themselves getting a lot of their service hours, because they are fun events that happen often and do not require much effort at all.

MEP Projects

A NEW BEGINNING

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FEATURED IN THIS SECTION 1. Cheryl Li 2. Amir Khalili 3. Tiana Woodard

Eight Tips for Top 25 By: Cheryl Li, LTG 3W

1. SERVICE SERVICE SERVICE. What is Key Club all about?

SERVICE. So the very first tip, and the most important probably, is to do as much service as possible! Whether it is collecting trash around the school, or helping at marathons, or even hosting your own color run, it is important to do as much service as possible. There are plenty of service projects that you can do at school, such as creating dog toys, cards for the armed forces, or decorating teacher’s rooms.

2. CLUB OFFICER CONTACT INFORMATION. An easy way to get 30 points added to your total! If you haven’t updated your Club Officer Contact Information on the District Website, do so now! Simply log in, then go to “Members Only” and update your information. Take a screenshot of your updated information and mail it in with your monthly report.

3. REPORT RIGHT. Are you completing the monthly report correctly? Or are you unsure about how to fill out a certain part? There is a MONTHLY REPORTING TUTORIAL video on the District Website! It goes through the monthly report in detail and is extremely useful. Check it out here.

4. REPORT SMART. Don’t cram in the monthly report on the 1st of the month. Chances are, you might miss something! If you work on the monthly report throughout the month, it will be more detailed and accurate. Spending 15 minutes a day, or maybe an hour a week, will lower your stress level and make your reports greater!

5. TEAM UP. Work with the entire club to write articles, take pictures, and make your meetings more fun and interesting.

Maybe a club member has a great joke or riddle that goes with the theme of the Tex-O Key, or connections to a radio station. Ask club members to write articles about their experiences in Key Club. Don’t just limit these tasks to the officers!

6. SMART PLANNING. Include a service project, icebreaker, or food at your meetings! Then, you have service, social, and meeting rolled into one! Stay after meetings for an extra 10-20 minutes, and make cards or care packages for hospitals.

Include some cookies and icebreaker games at meetings to up the fun, and make it a social. These events don’t have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, service should always be fun and inclusive!

7. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT. This is a bit different from service.

Try and get involved with other areas of the community, like publicizing your club in the local newspaper or getting a guest appearance on a TV/Radio show.

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8. K-FAMILY CONNECTIONS. Attend your Kiwanis meetings, and encourage your Kiwanians to come to your meetings!

Strengthen your bond by interacting with Builder’s Clubs, Kiwanis Clubs, Aktion Clubs, Circle K’s, other Key Clubs, and Kiwanis Family in general. Show your members the different areas of the Kiwanis Family and host plenty of interclubs! These can also have a service project involved, or a day of fun

Key Club has over 1000 clubs in each corner of the world.

But, to make the great ones shine, there is an annual list of By: Amir Khalili, Jersey Village the top 25 clubs in each district. For many, making this list is very prestigious and gratifying. However, with so many club to compete with, making the top 25 is very difficult. But with 3 simples tips in helping your home school and community, you can make it there too! You can obtain these three qualities of dedication, passion and diligence by finding your inner connection with Key Club.

3 Qualities for Success

1. First off, dedication is the absolute most important. Having volunteering events, socials, fundraisers and everything that goes on with Key Club can be a real hand full, especially when your balancing school, your social lives and all the other clubs you may be in. But a dedicated officer, will stick on through thick and thin for their club and the community to grow as a whole.

2. Secondly, passion is also vital. Passion for Key Club allows you to build a connection with it in every aspect. From the general meetings, to the events, and all the way to the socials. If you have passion for it, you will want to do more and more to make your club active and committed to serving the community. I always recommend to try to have an event once a week to keep your members active and motivated. Also, keep the meeting light and fun. The club would be nothing without the members.

3. Lastly, diligence is most definitely an extremely important quality. This quality is incredibly vital to the success of you club. The life of a high school is very strenuous and can be very difficult. But with diligence and hard work, there is nothing you can't do. The journey may be difficult, with the "all-nighters" for the homework and finals, but in the end it is all worth. Seeing the smiles of your members and feeling that satisfaction from helping someone in need can make up for any kind of stress one may ever experience as an officer.

With these 3 qualities in an officer, a club can shoot for the stars and make it in the top 25!

The Top 25

By: Tiana Woodard, West Brook !

So let’s say you’ve just paid your necessary dues for having a shot to be in the Texas-Oklahoma District’s Top 25, and you’ve finally gotten the hang of turning in your reports to the District Secretary. The only thing you’re stuck with figuring out now is how to at get into the Top 25.

Serve, serve, and serve more! In order to be in the Top 25, you must “have collected the most points from service projects or other events.” In order words, get service hours! These service hours can be found anywhere, so always be open to service projects that happen to appear in your community. Encourage your club members to serve by providing incentives and benefits for staying active as well!

Recruit more members! Reaching the top 25 cannot be accomplished alone. Trying to make it to the top 25 requires having many members who are willing to work hard for the title just as much as you are. So, how do you get more members? Let your club’s name be known by advertising! Put up some flashy posters on the walls of your school.

Get some people to spread the word on social media outlets. Talk about it on the afternoon announcements until everyone’s sick and tired of you. There’s so much that you can do!

Give your members rewards for their hard work! It is an undeniable fact that everyone loves gifts.

And people have a tendency to keep coming back for more. For example, our club hosts multiple parties, and we also give members a cupcake during the month of their birthday.

Giving them such rewards will make them feel appreciated and allow them to know that their hard work is not taken for granted. It provides them with an incentive as well as the morale to gain more service hours.

You have to be patient! Many clubs in our district are able to boast about being in the Top 25, but accomplishing such a feat did not happen overnight. You have to patient with your fellow members and especially yourself! Such patience includes enduring months during which projects aren’t as available and service hours are harder to come by. Other problems will also arise that will test your patience. But as the saying goes, “Good always comes to those who wait.”

These tips won’t guarantee you immediate success, but they sure do provide a foundation. I wish you all the best of luck for reaching your

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LETTERS TO THE

DISTR

Q: As a senior, I'm worried about finding a successor to

keep my club's newsletter going after I graduate. Do you have any tips as to how to get members excited about potentially becoming an editor? - Lexi Cepak, North Crowley

A:

Hey Lexi! This varies from club to club. Besides from verbally hyping up the position you can possibly offer forums where you educate members on what exactly falls under the roles and duties of a club editor. You may also want to allow a few students shadow you, that way they can see if they really are ready for the position. Besides doing this you can always talk about the amazing opportunities that this position has brought to you throughout your years!

Q:

I love that you are providing feedback for the newsletters, it reassures me that the newsletter was sent, and that I am doing a good job with them. I also love the Tex-OKey. I didn't use to read it, but now I read every issue. I only have one question this month.

Our club's secretary and I have been trying to work together more to make sure that reporting is as accurate as can be. The past couple months we butt heads because I was stressing that the published articles and photos in the TexO-Key needed to be reported, and he didn't know where to put it because there was not a spot on the reporting sheet.

What do we need to do to report that there have been articles written by Randall Key Clubbers and photos of Randall Key Clubbers in the Tex-O-Key? - Brittany Tu, Randall

A:

No need to worry about that! I create a list of points people receive from being featured in the Tex-O-Key and send it to the District Secretary! And I'm glad you find the feedback useful!

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RICT EDITOR Q: How do you recommend getting the word

out about a newsletter at school? - Lexi Cepak, North Crowley

A:

Great question Lexi! You see I never had problems with this because when I was editor I we printed out copies (which wasn't very eco-friendly so I don't recommend that) and passed them out. Maybe you could create posters or have officers inform your members during meetings! You could also include challenges in your newsletters where people would have to read your newsletter and complete the challenge to get a prize. This will also create hype for your newsletters and people will eagerly be awaiting your publications.Â

Q:

I'm really curious about your position as District Editor.

About how many newsletters do you grade every month?

How many articles do you have to read? - Lexi Cepak, North Crowley

A:

Honestly, it depends on the month! Over the summer I received significantly less newsletters and articles than I do now. Over the Summer I only received about 40 newsletters per month per clubs, but now I receive about 80-90 newsletters from Lieutenant Governors and clubs that I check out! Now for the articles, there are too many to count! If every other club sends me 10 articles there are already a ton! If you have any other questions about the role as District Editor I would be happy to answer your questions!

Email your questions to EDITOR@tokeyclub.com!

Answer: Chill Out

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District Governor Rachel Iselin

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Email: governor@tokeyclub.com

District Treasurer Emily Zhao

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Email: treasurer@tokeyclub.com

District Secretary Lily Nguyen

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Email: secretary@tokeyclub.com

District Editor Matthew Riley

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Email: editor@tokeyclub.com

Convention Liaison Megan Reynosa

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Email: cl@tokeyclub.com

District Administrator Walt Roetter Email: administrator@tokey club.com

THE

THANKS FOR READING

DEC/JANUARY TEX-O-KEY