VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1
SAMPLE TEX-O-KEY
april THE OFFICIAL T-O KEY DISTRICT NEWSLETTER
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A c t i o n !
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Hey there, T-O Key! Happy April, Key Clubbers! Guess what is coming right around the corner! DCON!!! I hope you are all excited to have a groovy time at the 70th Annual TexasOklahoma District Convention! Since we are about ready to welcome a new chapter, make sure to set some new goals. One goal that I have for the upcoming chapter as an editor is to have 100% participation in monthly newsletters. It is important to remind yourself, club, and district about new changes that will be taking place in order to foster a productive year. How can we make this year better than the last? Another factor to consider is communication. With a new board ahead, we must effectively communicate our goals to each other and to all members to get them done. All in all, I am ecstatic to make memories TOgether at DCON with you all. District Editor, signing off. Yours in Service,
Vivian Thai vivianthai@outlook.com
Ethan Vu Division 39S Lake Ridge High School
A Deeper Meaning To Key Club
This year’s my second year in Key Club and I can say that it’s been pretty great. Many people always ask me, “What is Key Club?” or “What do you guys even do in that club?” and the answer’s pretty simple, we help people. I started Key Club the beginning of my freshman year and it’s been a pretty great journey. Through it, I’ve met some pretty amazing people. Whether it be the new members that I’ve met or the people I had the wonderful opportunity to help, it’s really uplifting and humbling knowing I got to do so. Throughout the few years I’ve been in Key Club, we’ve had the chance to do some pretty amazing things such as helping struggling kids in other districts like when Hurricane Harvey hit, or making care packages for not as fortunate kids in Europe. Although not all of the volunteering events we’ve completed weren’t so large-scale on the time, it’s the thought that counts and knowing that we’ve made someone else’s life better. It could be small things like helping at Oliver Nature Park or helping during social nights at neighboring schools. It’s still pretty rewarding as you get this feeling of, “Hey! I made someone’s life a little bit better today!” The point I’m trying to get at here is that, no amount is ever too small. Any time you’re willing to help someone out it is an improvement on you and makes you even better as a person. I didn’t learn this at first but after a few volunteering events, I’ve learned that I became a more selfless and caring person towards those around me.
Alongside becoming a better individual, I’ve also got to meet some pretty amazing people. Almost every single time I volunteer, I have the opportunity to meet new people and make new everlasting connections that I’ll cherish forever. Through Key Club, I’ve got to make new friends while helping the community and making it fun instead of making it seem like a chore. It’s never really a chore or burden whenever you’re enjoying yourself while doing so! Even if none of my friends were going to the same event I was going to, it didn’t matter as I made new friends along the way! Through this, I’ve made some new friends and met some pretty incredible people; and for that, I’m thankful to be a member of Key Club International.
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It’s 7:45am, and I’ve just finished bulldozing through my Spanish homework and inhaling my breakfast. I dash upstairs, taking two steps at a time, washing up, changing, throwing my lanyard over my head. As I scramble out the door, I holler, “Bye Mom, love you!” before locking the door. This is, essentially, my daily routine, with the exception of Thursday morning general meetings. It looks much better than it sounds, I promise you. Though hectic for many people, mornings, to me, are soothing. I have my routine polished down to the bone, one task merging right with the next. It’s the part of my day where I don’t have to worry about what I’m doing, because everything seems to come instinctively. On this particular day, I happen to be wearing my go-to outfit: the 2017 Key Club shirt and my Race Crew jacket that I received after volunteering at the Houston Chevron Marathon earlier this year. It’s comfortable and, more importantly, comforting. I like wearing Key Club apparel to school, because I know that I’ll bump into at least one member that day wearing the same thing as me. These clothes— they’re not difficult to spot in the hallways or even in the cafeteria. When I do see someone else with the same shirt or jacket on, oftentimes we’ll share a smile, overjoyed at the fact that the other person also woke up at 4:30am one January morning to help volunteer for a good cause.
In the past, the Key Club shirt was a means for me to match the names of new members to faces, a tool that helped me significantly in establishing an immediate bond with others in our club. Now, after 6 months as president, it’s become more of a symbol—a sign of my family. I know society tends to revere individuality and bash conformity, but I can’t help but take pride in matching with other Cinco Key Clubbers. After all, we act as one in nearly everything we do together, be it collecting cans for the Houston food bank, donning purple ribbons in support of Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, writing thank-you cards for our school staff, or tying scraps of fleece together for the dogs at CAP. I don’t care what others might think of it; these two pieces of clothing will always hold more value than the majority of items in my closet. They’re emblems of all the hard work my club has put into shaping the community over the past 4 years of my life, a collection of the memories we’ve made together as Cinco Key Club.
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Key Club can benefit each and every member in many ways. From opening up new experiences to learning new things just from small actions like: boxing up meals, helping raise money, and sorting out clothes for the less fortunate, the ways and possibilities to help and contribute are never ending. Most students join for their own reasons; most commonly these reasons are, gaining volunteer hours to better their college transcripts, getting recognized for being a part of the largest and most active extracurricular activity on campus, or joining to spend more time with their friends outside of school. Personally, I fall under all three reasons. My current academic goal is to get into my desired college with ease, and for that I need to put in my best effort to create the best transcript that I can. Entering high school, you do not realize the importance of these factors until class ranks come out; that is when it sinks in that your best friends are also your best competition.
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Similarly the reason why I signed up and worked to earn the position of representing my class in such a lively group, was to experience the ‘behind the scenes’ of a club and actually be able to take part in what makes this club unique from every other club in this school. Lastly I cannot emphasize how much I appreciate the amount of time outside of school with my friends; always being stuck in the limited walls of my room on weekends definitely carried more negatives than positives, and it eventually became boring to the point where I just had to get out. Living my hermit life, my friends were always out and about and I was alwaysissing out on all the fun. Key Club strengthened my live in various aspects. Personally, Key is definitely more than just those three reasons to me. My career choice involves a huge part in the ability to be able to help and aid others. Some of the necessities as a health care provider regardless of what position or area you are involved with, consist of: being able to work and communicate with the people around whether you are familiar with them or not, working diligently to complete whatever task was given to you, once again, being able to help and provide care for others, and many more. So not only does Key Club expose me to experiences that I will need later in the future, but it also opens up the doors that prevented me from being socially involved without hesitation.
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Uplift Summit Key Club comes out to the annual Daddy-Daughter Dance hosted by Viridian at the Elzie Odom Recreation Center. Unlike most events, it occured on a weekday, thus, the officers were worried that many were not able to show up. However, the turn out was more than expected. The night was filled with service, jokes, and fun after as the members enjoyed themselves at the dance.
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The Viridian Daddy-Daughter Dance theme this year was movies so the decorations made every little girl seem like a superstar. At the entrance, a red carpet laid before them and posters lined the walls to recreate a screening. In the food and drinks area, the room was dim but the centerpieces of each table consisted of fairy lights and movie-themed decor to spruce up the place. It seemed as the food and drinks were endless as stacks of pizza boxes filled up the back wall and our drinks corner was crammed of any beverage imaginable!
At our booth, we also sold ring pops to the families attending the event. To our surprise, these sugary treats sold out before the night even ended. One family bought a whole box of ring pops during the dance, now that’s a sugary steal! The dance floor itself was a rink, but spotlights beamed along the walls with a DJ blasting songs for the little girls to dance to. One popular attraction was the lovely backdrop that looked similar to the Hollywood sign, where the stars gleamed in the dimly lit dance room.
Our members worked mainly as the cashier of food and drinks, however, we also took pictures of the events for the coordinators. Business was slow at first, but as the the night flew by, so did the drinks coming out of the coolers. At one point, we had to start burying cans under heaps of ice to just cool the drinks for a bit before it was sold! The ring pops also sold quickly that night as we started with six containers and left empty-handed. President Andy Huynh and Editor Lily Huynh took turns in photographing the event. Photos capturing little girls dancing their hearts out to the beat, fathers dancing along with their daughters, and toddlers running around the dance floor.
Not only was the dance enjoyable, but the jokes were cracked with one another and our customers to lighten the mood. Senior member David Dominguez brought a cheery mood as he joked with the little girls and fathers at the dance. Our laughter filled the food and drinks area as we spent our time there bonding with our club members and families there. Eyes turned to us, but they did not care as the night was full of bliss. The night ended around eight, families leaving with smiles on their faces and sometimes lips stained from the many ring pops they ate that night. We stayed behind to help clean up the event, but with that spare time, we also fooled around in the dance room after. As the coordinators packed up their things, we took memorable photos of each and posed sillily at the camera. The DJ also taught us tricks on packing lights and how told us that we were nice kids for coming out for such occasion.
We left the center with satisfied grins as we were able to serve our community but also have fun at the same time once again. The kind coordinators allowed us to also take some pizza boxes home as there were some extra. The chilly air nipped at our skins, but that did not stopped the warmth growing from our hearts. That night, a memorable quote I heard was “the best gift you get to take home tonight is your father.� However, I could say we took home something else that were not our dads, but the gift of service.
w h e n
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W i n f r e y