2019 March/April Tex-O-Key

Volume 7 | Issue 6 | 2019 March & April | Texas Oklahoma

TEX-O-KEY TEX-O-KEY

"WHATEVER IT TAKES" Reviewing the year and anticipating what lies ahead for T-O.

REFLECTION MEMORY NOSTALGIA

Working T-Ogether to make the world a better place.

Table of Contents 2) Editor's Note 3) District Updates- DCON Promotion 6)WINBO 7) Governor's Message 9) Featured Articles 15) Partners and Sponsors 17) District Staff Contact Information 18) Social Media

Riddle What runs, but never walks, often murmurs – never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?

Email me the answer with the email subject line:

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School Division Month Riddle of the Month Ex: Awesome D55 June Riddle of the Month

Connect Email: editor@tokeyclub.com or kyratburke@gmail.com Remind: @toeditor to 81010 Facebook: T-O District Key Club Editors

Editor's Note Hello, T-O! It is bittersweet for me to note that this is the final issue of the Tex-O-Key for the 2018-2019 term. I am so proud of our district for making this year such a great one! I am also deeply grateful for the unforgettable experiences and memories that being District Editor has given me. Everyone, thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart. Moreover, I hope you enjoy this edition of the Tex-O-Key! Yours in service, Kyra Burke Letter to the Editor: November/December Edition From: Madelinh Vo, Cinco Ranch High School- When you choose articles to feature in your district newsletter, what do you look for in them? Like, does it seem better if it's a narrative/story-like article or a formal, informative article?

To answer your question, it depends! Both narrative and formal articles have the potential to score high as long as they fulfill the article criteria. Besides the basic criteria, I mainly score on effort, correct grammar, and writing ability. If the article has all of these aspects, then it will receive a perfect score.

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DISTRICT UPDATES

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Hello!

Aina here, your District Tech Producer! I’m so excited for y’all to experience what we have in store for this year’s Texas-Oklahoma DCON. This year’s DCON will be jam-packed with fun events, starting from the welcoming activity to the closing ceremony on the last day, so be sure to keep up! We have so many fun things planned to welcome y’all, so make sure to get there early in order to have enough time to do everything! Forums are being held throughout the convention by our board members and key clubbers from every T-O division, so be sure to attend as many as you can. I look forward to meeting all of you and celebrating all of your volunteering accomplishments from this year! See you soon!!

Yours in service, Aina Sebastian

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"

Don't be dismayed by good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.

-Richard Bach

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"

DISTRICT UPDATES

WINBO 2019 WINBO 2019 We are thrilled to announce our 2019-2020 board! Let's give them a warm welcome!

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Governor's Message

MESSAGE FROM YOUR

DISTRICT GOVERNOR

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Hey, T-O! We’re finally coming to the end of this amazing year together. It’s been a year of firsts for all of us. We had our first Fall Rally in many years. We had our first ever all female District Staff, and we had the first ever Governor’s Tour. As we approach that time of electing next year’s leadership, I encourage you to reflect back on the work you’ve done throughout your time as a Key Clubber. Figure out what you excelled in and where you may have fallen short. Use these personal strengths and weaknesses to help guide you in choosing those who will lead your club and district into the future. I hope to see you all at District Convention later this month, and I cannot thank each of you enough for this amazing year. I’m so incredibly thankful to have served the best district in all of International, and I’m incredibly excited to see where the future of our district is going.

Yours in Service, Addi Duerksen, District Governor

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HUMANS OF TEXAS OKLAHOMA Andrew Tran, Mansfield High School My Key Club experience is something very unique in that I never really liked Key Club when I first joined. My experience is very different in that only through serving my community on a daily basis did I come to love this organization. Initially my sister had dragged me into this club as a freshman simply because she was my ride home, but the more and more meetings I went to, the more and more I invested my time into this club.

Slowly not only did I gain more friends, but I managed to get my own friends to join as well and this is significant in that it only made me love this club even more. Every service event I attended was a new “journey” in the sense that I never knew what would happen whether it was me meeting someone new or tackling a different task I have never been presented with before.

Regardless of all that, I’ve been in Key Club since my freshman year and my love for key club has only been growing. Although I was not an officer my freshman or sophomore year, watching the officer before me carry out their job and do it with such passion and fun only made me more determined to become an officer. Officially as of now I am the current webmaster or Mansfield High School and although this position may seem like nothing to some people simply because I’m not a president or anything, I chose this position because it best suited me and what I do best. Key Club is something I hold very dearly to my heart and I want to only benefit in the best ways possible with my current abilities.

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My Key Club experience has led me to attain a close family whom I can have fun and mess around with but also has given me a group of people who can meet the same passion I have in having the best club as possible. It’s funny because I would’ve never thought I would be so dedicated to a club yet now I strive to attend weekly service events because I truly want to make change within my community, and this is all thanks to Key Club.

Key Club to me is something more than just a club that looks on a college resume. To me Key Club is a family that seeks only to help others in the best way possible. To me Key Cub is a safe place where one can make lifelong friends. To me Key Club was the place where my high school career truly began. Key Club is something that people don’t always recognize but, in the end, always has positive impacts.

//Mansfield

//Mansfield//Mansfield Summit

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LOVE NOT AT FIRST SIGHT

Abigail Nguyen, Lake Ridge High School My experience in Key Club has been somewhat of a journey—a love story, almost. As a freshman, I found myself lost in the grueling routine of academics and band practice. I only managed to find some time to participate in a few events before the school year ended. Admittedly, I was ashamed of this and spent time away from Key Club during my sophomore year. I volunteered through my own events and learned how to balance my schedule at my own pace. I returned to the organization my junior year with an open mind, where I learned to love service again.

It was this past year that I learned that service is not only something that you devote time towards, but integrate within your daily life. Key Club has promoted numerous volunteer opportunities each week, and with the many that I’ve taken, I have grown increasingly grateful to be able to leave a positive impact on others around me. I even stopped making excuses for the smaller, 30-minute volunteer opportunities like I had freshman year. Volunteering has even become an escape from homework at times—oh, how the tables have turned. I also realized that I wasn’t in this alone, and began to appreciate the aspect of a community in which this club has created. The best experiences, personally, are the ones that I’ve shared with my closest friends. Even better are the ones where I was able to meet new people. The memories created as we test our diverse abilities is not only for us to keep forever, but to leave with our community as we make a difference.

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//Lake Ridge

As my last year of high school approaches, I sought a form of service that would allow me to reach out to more people through Key Club. With the courage developed from the past three years of volunteering, I decided to run for Senior Representative for the 2019-2020 school year. Speaking to a large audience felt more comfortable than ever because I felt like I was speaking to my family. //Lake Ridge I was excited to share what I had in store for next year, such as the opportunity gain insight on possible future career paths by volunteering at hospitals. Fortunately, I was elected and blessed with the chance to lead and inspire others and be accountable for logging senior volunteer hours. I wish to leave the organization in better conditions than before for future members.

My time in Key Club thus far has overall been a positive experience full of growth. This growth is not only evident within my devout passion for service, but within the sturdy structure of the organization. More so, Key Club is the passion of service manifested within an organization. It has shown me the beauty in helping others while building worthwhile relationships. I have developed the courage to step up and volunteer in every chance that I get, get my hands dirty, and to spread this love to others. Key Club has created a foundation for my life in which I aspire to continue serving others, and will forever hold value in my heart.

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CONCESSIONS Amy Zhang, Mustang High School //Mustang

Although concession has been a thing for a while now, it for sure became more prominent in February.

Concessions for most people should be something they look forward to. It gives you a chance to help out WHILE being able to look at the tournaments!

Prominently, focusing on helping the concessions should be the main task that you’re planning on to do.

Although concessions may not seem as fun as watching the tournaments, there’s still many fun things to do during the concessions.

Let’s start on the customer’s left side. On the left side, there are drinks you can help out with. Once you memorize all the drinks and what side they are on, you can even compete with your friends that is doing the drinks on the other side. It’s about making the small moments memorable rather than complaining about the bad sides. In the middle, you can be handling the candies, pretzels, pickles, etc. To me, the middle section is definitely the funnest part about volunteering at the concessions! On the right sides are the popcorn, nachos, drinks, etc. The left side is probably the most diverse one. If you’re feeling salty, go for popcorn. If you are feeling hot and cheesy, go for nachos. If you are having a sweet tooth, definitely grab yourself some sodas or candies.. Needless to say, the concession has many things for you to choose from.

However, along with helping out, you can also watch the tournaments if it is not busy.

The people in charge of the concessions are very kind. They would allow you to go out and watch the game for free. If our team is losing, you can always cheer them on while you watch the game. There were a lot of major, important games this month, so it would be very important to have enough people to help out. If there was a break between the rush, you can always go watch the game or just hang out right there.

The concessions are very beneficial towards the game. Imagine if you got thirsty while cheering on for your team. If there are no concessions, how else would get rid of your thirst? Imagine the game is very long; suddenly, you got hungry. If concessions don’t exist, there would be no way to cure the hunger. As you can tell, having enough people to help out the concession is very important, and there are for sure more pros than cons about helping out the concessions.

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DEBATE TOURNAMENT Kelly Lam, Cypress Creek High School

//Cypress Creek

As the bell struck for our meeting to be adjourned, Key Clubbers were headed to one of two destinations: either home or to our sponsor’s, Mr. Lally’s, room to sign up to volunteer for the debate tournament taking place after school that day. As the tournament is the National ualifiers, students from various different schools gather at Cypress Creek for their events, and given the weird layout of our school, we volunteers are tasked with guiding people to their respective rooms. After leaving our backpacks in our sponsor’s room, my friends and I split up to help.

There were two methods that a volunteer can use to guide people: one was to pick a busy intersection where many people cross so they can ask for directions, and the other is to make rounds around the school to find people who look lost. My friend, Olivia, and I chose the latter while our other friends, Sandy and Connor, chose the former. Even though standing in one place would’ve meant less physical activity (which is always welcome), given my less-thanideal sense of direction, I have time to refer to the map as I walk and personally guide people to their destinations…. Which is admittedly the main reason why I chose the more strenuous route.

Although the task of guiding students around can be mundane, there was one particular incident that stood out in my mind. As my shift was ending, I made one more round around the school, and on the second floor, there was a girl who looked absolutely lost as she walked barefoot across the floor with her heels held in one hand. When I approached her asking if she need help, she answered with a resounding “Yes!” and continuing with “How do I get out of here?!” in a very distressed voice. Half-holding back my laughter, I asked for a specific location before leading her “out of there.”

Despite the simplicity of my task as a volunteer, when faced with instances like the one described above, I feel that my help is both needed and appreciated. Objectively, my service didn’t have much impact – the girl most likely would’ve been able to find a way out if she persisted, but in offering help, I can save someone from a lot of unnecessary worry and stress. Sometimes, it’s not about how big of an impact you can make, but whether you made an impact at all – if you were able to be of use or reassure someone when they need it. That too, can be service.

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SUPPORTED CHARITIES

Co-Sponsors:

SERVICE PARTNER

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G . r i e v t e a w life .

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CONTACT US

DISTRICT STAFF CONTACT INFORMATION GOVERNOR: Addi Duerksen governor@tokeyclub.com SECRETARY: Bunsri Patel secretary@tokeyclub.com TREASURER: Addie Flores treasurer@tokeyclub.com EDITOR: Kyra Burke editor@tokeyclub.com TECHNOLOGY PRODUCER: Aina Sebastian techassistant@tokeyclub.com CONVENTION LIAISON: Nadia Rodriguez CL@tokeyclub.com

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ASK US ANYTHING

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FACEBOOK: Texas-Oklahoma Key Club District

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-Thank you for reading-