The Official Alameda High Key Club Newsletter VOLUME 1 ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 2013
Alameda High | Division 2 | Region 9 Cal-Nev-Ha 1
Inside This Issue Historian Says What? ………..…..….….…. page 3 A Word From Our Members ….………...………. 4 January Movie Night DCM …...……....……….. 7 OMCA MLK Jr. Day ……..……………..……….... 8 Food Fair ………………...………….……....…....… 10 Kiwanis Chili Cook Off ……………..…...…..……. 11 February DCM & Conclave ……….…...……...... 13 KC’s Major Emphasis ……………………..……..... 15 Credits ………..…………..…….…………...…….... 16
CREWNECKS! 2
Historian Says What? What’s up, Kiwis? I Hope everyone is enjoying their four day weekend. I apologize for publishing the February issue so late— I’m not sure if you guys know this, but I have actually entered our newsletter into the district newsletter contest. There are two levels of recognition: outstanding (level 1) and distinguished (level 2). I couldn’t apply Jennifer and I with Kelly Chan. :) for distinguished because I started the newsletter too late in my term, but I DID apply for outstanding. :) We’ll see how that goes at DCON. So. Excited. So basically, I spent the first week in February doing the application for that. As always, enjoy this month’s newsletter! It was super frustrating because I was almost done putting it together and then somehow I couldn’t open the file and I lost most of everything. It’s all good though because it’s here now, right? (: I would like to emphasize the importance of taking pictures and writing articles about events. I send these to Kelly Chan, our division editor, and she is the one who puts together the Division 2 Newsletter. It’s always great to see something from our club. Alameda Key Club represent Also, the club newsletter is a nice tool to let our Kiwanis club know what’s going on with our club. Enjoy the newsletter and keep up the great work, fellow Kiwis. I’ll see you guys at the meetings! Remember to bring in your spare change to our meetings to raise money for PTP. Let’s try to win this In service, division contest, shall we?
Danica Liang (Historian)
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Members!
A Word From Our Officers Key Club is not just community service By Jennifer He
I joined Key Club during my freshman year simply as an extracurricular activity to supplement my college applications. I went to my first meeting during my freshman year not knowing what to expect. I thought it would be just volunteering. However, my experience in Key Club has ended up becoming quite memorable. The friends I met, the events I volunteered at, the spirit at DCON 2010 all contributed to my love for Key Club. Even though I did not pursue an officer position and my dedication faded with the stress of AP classes, I continued to go to the meetings. I still cared. My love for Key Club increased after viewing the spirit and dedication of the candidates for the position of Lieutenant Governor for Division 2 at Conclave. All three candidates were very dedicated and spent way more time than I had ever did for Key Club even though they were all a year younger than me. They are among the people who made me realize Key 4
Club’s importance to me. Key Club wasn’t just an extracurricular activity on my resumes. It was also the friends I met and the adults and children I helped. I won’t forget my Key Club experiences though. I have met many people who have demonstrated qualities I wished I had when I first met them. I don’t actually remember exactly the day I first met a junior from Castro Valley High School, but when I talked to her at the November DCM at Dublin Iceland, I noticed that she was super outgoing and nice. I thought to myself when I got home, “I am basically the complete opposite.”
Members!
A Word From Our Officers After this encounter, I tried to be more confident at school, no matter how hard it was. Another girl I met through Key Club, a senior from San Leandro High School, is confident, outgoing, and nice. Seeing her at DCMs the past year has been really amazing. There are more people I have met who have made me feel included at DCMs, but in a nutshell, the people in Key Club at other schools have inspired me to try to be more outgoing at school. I will have times where I am shy and reclusive, but those times are becoming rarer. I have also admired our division Lieutenant Governor, Charles Chu. He serves and represents our division in addition to his daily academic commitments.
I will always remember the people who served Key Club more than I ever did. I went to volunteer events, but I was never more than a member. I am a graduating senior, but that doesn’t mean my commitment to the Key Club family is going to end soon. I plan to join Circle K in college. For those not familiar with Circle K, it is basically the college version of Key Club. I anticipate meeting new friends and contributing to my community as a college student.
- Jennifer He Graduating senior, 4th year in Key Club
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Members!
A Word From Our Officers
The key experience By Avery Kuang
Looking back, I’d have to say that joining Key Club was one of my best decisions this year. Initially skeptical of clubs, I was eventually persuaded into checking it out by some friends. I didn’t think much of it at first, just seemed like a good opportunity to get some hours, hang out with friends, and maybe even ogle at cute girls. However after working in events and befriending some strangers also in Key Club, I truly learned to appreciate Key Club much more. For me, Key Club has really encapsulated the essence of community and opportunity. I keep hearing the slogan “We Don’t Make Keys, We Open Doors” thrown around, and the longer I stay in Key Club, the more I find myself appreciating this simple truth. I myself feel like I have been given many more opportunities to pursue, and also the motivation to do so. Several people I’ve met have had their high school lives shaped and molded towards a different course through joining this simple community, and I’m glad to have been able to enjoy the experience that is Key Club with them.
- Avery Kuang Junior, 1st year in Key Club
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January Movie Night DCM By Danny Wong
Jan. 19
So, January DCM. Well, I’ll start off by saying that LILO & STITCH IS A MUCH BETTER MOVIE THAN DESPICABLE ME. Now, let’s continue. This DCM was the first one where I had to be the representing officer, which meant that I had to give an overview of what we had done the last month, give our member attendance count, all of that fancy shnazz. It gave me a new opportunity to experience what I would have to do during the DCM’s as next year’s president. I mean, it wasn’t a big deal or anything, but it was something I needed to experience and I’m glad that I got to. Oh! We also got this coin drive box for PTP (Pediatric Trauma Program), a program that earns money and develops projects to reduce the number of children who are killed or injured by trauma. Every meeting, we’ll have the box out. Feel free to donate your spare change . I hope to see more of you coming to the DCMs— they’re really fun and you get to learn more about our division. We’re a family, Ohana, as Lilo and Stitch say, a family where nobody gets left behind or forgotten.
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OMCA Martin Luther King Jr. Day An interview with Juliana Yee and Karen Duong Jan. 20
1. What did you do at the event? the visitors. In fact, that was the only JY: I created dream bottles for the Mar- thing we did —make dream bottles. There were special paint markers to tin Luther King Jr. weekend. write and draw on the bottles and I KD: We helped the visitors of OMCA thought that was really neat. make their dream bottles in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. The dream bot3. What was the atmosphere tles were little glass bottles that had a little rolled up scroll inside, where you like? wrote down your dreams. Apparently, JY: Relaxed and fun because the people there was a poetry reading event, but we there had fun with the activity. did not get to hear it. KD: The atmosphere was really relaxed. 2. What was your favorite/most fun thing you did and why? JY: I enjoyed helping younger kids make their bottles. KD: The most fun thing we did was making the dream bottles along with 8
There were not that many people who attended the event. There were a few times where the dream bottle making table was full and all of the chairs were taken; I even had to give up my own chair, but it was cool. The kids at the event were really creative when decorating their bottles. Jealous.
OMCA Martin Luther King Jr. Day 4. Describe something interesting/funny that happened.
5. Reflect. How did the event KD: After sitting around for awhile, we make you feel? What did you took a break and explored the museum. dislike or like about it? Did you have fun? We came across an exhibition called “we/customize.� There was a sound JY: I enjoyed the event and working mixing board that someone had made with other volunteers as well as the parand you could basically make music ticipants. with it. Juliana and I played around KD: The event was really fun even with that for awhile. Then, we decorat- though we barely did anything but ed a stool which was really fun. There make dream bottles. My favorite part was a lot of duct tape that we could use was decorating the stool even though to decorate the stool. We ended up just the whole point we were there was to taping the whole stool with duct tape volunteer. Making dream bottles also and tagged it with our names. That was refreshed my memory of Martin Luther really fun. King Jr.
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Food Fair
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January 25
Kiwanis Chili Cook Off By Jason Yu
Jan. 26
At the event, a lot of people come to attend the Chili Cook Off. Aside from the cook off part, you could also buy things such as drinks or go to auctions. People went around to try the chili of each team, and then decide which type of chili they liked best. The Chili Cook Off was a competition between teams and their chili. Visitors would try them all and then vote on the best one. There were also raffle tickets that people could buy in order to get a chance to win three prizes. After the Chili Cook Off was over, people went into the dining room and got served dinner. A lot of things happened, such as performances by people dancing and singing. After all of this, there was the raffle drawing. People started claiming their auction prizes and leaving. This event was a way for Alameda Kiwanis to fundraise. To help out at this Chili Cook Off, I had to supervise the auction area and the prizes. The other jobs were selling tickets for drinks and raffles, and selling soda. I enjoyed being there to help out the Kiwanis Club and to see how the Chili Cook Off worked. I loved trying out the Chili that the teams made. It was really good too! It was a very fun experience going around to sell raffle tickets for a good cause and just in general, seeing the efforts put into these events.
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Kiwanis Chili Cook Off
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D2 LTG candidates: (left to right) Cindy Weng, Kelly Chan and Jessica Huynh
D2 February DCM & Conclave Feb. 2
“On February 2, 2013, a conclave/DCM was held to elect the lieutenant governors for the 2013-2014 term. The three candidates for D2 were Cindy Weng, Jessica Huynh and Kelly Chan. During conclave, each candidate showed extreme enthusiasm and charisma on a thoughtful and well prepared speech. The speech was followed up by a question session from the audience. By the time they ended their speeches, the audience knew it was a really touch decision because all three candidates were all extremely qualified and capable of taking on the position. As one of the selected delegates, I had the responsibility of voting for the next Division 2 LTG and I definitely had a difficult time deciding. In the end, Cindy won. It was an awesome day and it was a great experience — I am confident in our new LTG.” - Jay Zhang 13
“At Conclave, I had the wonderful opportunity of being a delegate. My task was to help elect our D2 LTG for the next term. Throughout the event, I listened to the candidates speak and answer questions. This may sound boring, but it really wasn't! The candidates kept us entertained with their enthusiasm and spirit, rapping, singing, stories and jokes. It was not easy to vote; all of the candidates were qualified for the job. Hearing Kelly, Cindy and Jessica’s speeches made me feel proud. In our division, we have such cool and dedicated people who do amazing things — all three of them inspired me. There is no doubt in my mind that all three will end up doing many wonderful things for Key Club, whether or not they become LTG. Ultimately, it was Cindy Weng from Oakland Tech who won. She emphasized building stronger relationships with the Kiwanis and Circle K clubs as well as more division service events to further unite our clubs. Congratulations to Cindy! In general, conclave was a great event and I’m glad that we also got to see the LTG elects for Division 26 South and North.” - Danica Liang
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MAJOR EMPHASIS PROGRAM (MEP)
“Children: Their Future, Our Focus”
The MEP started in 1946 when Key Club International challenged each club to do service projects that would better the lives of children.
This has remained as Key Club International’s focus ever since.
How have WE (Alameda Key Club) been participating in the MEP?
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OMCA and MOCHA events—work with children
Treat-or-treat For UNICEF boxes—raise money to help children in third world countries.
DCM social events— raise money for Pediatric Trauma Program and make cards for PTP patients
Credits
A big thanks to everyone who helped contribute to make this newsletter happen! :) And thank you for reading this!
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Want to contribute next issue? Contact Danica Liang (Historian) at Danicat_dog@yahoo.com 16