Western HS Key Club December 2015 Newsletter

Division 30 South | Region 3 |CNH

Volume: 4, Issue 8

The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | December 2015

The Key Club Times

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S 0 3 D s g n i t e Gre "HEY PIOS!

IT’S A NEW YEAR PIOS!

Now that December is long gone, that means we only have ONE semester left before school ends, so hang in there! By the time you’re reading this, the executive board members have probably already been elected. In case you didn’t already know, the 2015-2016 term ends officially on April 10th, 2016, which is the last day of District Convention. It’s crazy to me to think that in less than 3 months, you’ll have a brand new board of amazing leaders who will, without a doubt, bring the club to greater heights.

But until then, we still have a ton of events coming up: Division 30 South Ice Skating Social, Winter Club Social, Surf City Marathon, February DCM/Buddy One Day, and much more!

Welcome to the brand new year, I hope you all had a good one. As January rolls around its time to take a look back and December and remember all of the great service we’ve done as a club! Looking through the newsletter is a great way to do that.

It’s never too late to get involved in Key Club, whether you’re a freshman trying to find a club you can thrive in or a senior looking for ways to have fun in the community before graduation. All you have to do is ask and opportunities will be given to you!

With appointed officer applications coming out soon for you freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, I want to say that regardless of what the results are, what matters more than getting the position is what you do with that position. Just about anyone can learn how to fulfill the tasks of a historian, publicist, or bulletin editor, but it’s more about how you can make an impact in the club while serving as that position.

We still have 3 months left in the term to finish strong, so keep on serving and stay updated!”

Shinin’ With Service, Van Bui, Western Key Club President 20152016

I’m honestly excited about the upcoming year; college is right around the corner seniors! But MORE important than that we have elections and position interviews which you all should be coming out to because you are amazing people who care about everything and I love you all. I mean just think about it; what did you do last year with Key Club? What more amazing things can you do this year?

Thanks for reading Pios, Michael Coates, 2015-2016 Bulletin Editor

Table of Contents w o h e S g r e lla k o c M C a r C g n P.1 Nutc er D i t s h a b g i L m t P.2 cem s e i r e r h e T C D D f 4 o e N 3 d A . g a P n r W i a n 6 P a 5 t e . a P M o l he se F T 8 o R 7 0 !

P. s 1 t c e P.9 l E r w a e d n N e l 1 1 a C P. 2 P.1

December Collage

1

Nutcracker Dance Show | December 4th “What’s a great way to start off this holiday season? Dancing of course! Western High School Dance Department, lead by Ms. Leonard, put on a great show on December 3rd and 4th to kick off the spirit of the Holidays! However, it all could not have been done without the helping hands of the Western Key Club Volunteers! Ms. Leonard turned to Key Club Volunteers to man the different stations she had set up for her show. The first job was passing out programs to the families that came in; this required a very friendly smile and attitude. The next job was handling the ticket money; this job was probably the one that required the most responsibility. Another job was handling concessions that occurred during the fifteen minute intermission. The final job was the one that needed the most athletic person-the job of the runner. The runner had to run from the front of the forum all the way to the backstage dressing room to hand out letters to the performers from friends or family. I think the runner probably had the hardest job because so many family members and friends wanted to send messages of positivity to the dancers.

It was nice that us as volunteers had the opportunity to deliver such happiness and positivity. I worked the Thursday Night show with two other volunteers. After explaining off all the jobs, one would think that three volunteers can’t handle all this work; however, what people neglect to notice is that we are Key Club Volunteers-we can handle any job thrown at us!”

-Lesley Aguirre

2

“After a while less and less people started coming so we closed the doors and the show started at 7:00pm. When the show was half over we had the intermission time or break. In that time we sold candy, water and more grams. A lot of people were buying things and it got a little chaotic but we managed to handle it. Later the show started again, when we were not working we were allowed to watch the show. I thought that the dancers did great. I especially liked the first half of the show but the second half was not bad either. Around 8:30pm the show was over and everyone was leaving.

At the end we gave the two money boxes to Mr. Leonard, one box was for the ticket money and the other was for everything else that we sold. Mr. Leonard thanked us for helping her out and around 8:50pm I was heading home”.

-Lara Matty

December DCM - Winter Extravaganza “On Saturday December 19th Division 30 South and North had held their 3rd annual Winter Extravaganza. While arriving to Buena Park High School I was signed in and greeted by Cypress’s Key Club President Heaven Lee, while entering the cafeteria I searched for my home club (trying to make a scene because the Division Council Meeting had already begun), while meeting up with my friends I quickly paid attention to the worthy news that our Lieutenant Governor had to say. After the DCM was over we then began on our Winter Extravaganza with Division 30 North, we started by getting food. When we have finished socializing and eating our food we then on started to get in a line where the Lieutenant Governors will then partner some of Division 30 North and South together, while next in line I was partnered up with Linda Lee one of Western High School's Historian and with some of 30 North Club President and Vice President. Right away we found some seats and were started to get instruction on our service project, the service projects were non slip sock for children in hospitals and a card making project, it was interesting interacting with new individuals from different divisions as it was nice to see what they do and how they do their things. I really enjoyed the interaction with the other division as this gets us to know more people instead of the usually getting isolated from the rest and staying in a herd with the rest of our home club. The service projects were a pleasure to do as our home club had already done the none slip sock service project in our Fall Social, I always enjoy to do it again as it is very difficult to do as it can get really messy. The people that I was partnered up with were a President and Vice President of a school in Division 30 North they both never mentioned their name I felt very awkward at first as not knowing what to do with random strangers, I don’t remember much of them all I remember was that they looked really cool with their windbreakers and how they talked. When it was time to switch service projects our 30 North friends had to leave so by then Linda and myself had to find another group to group up with, by then we grouped up with Division 30 South Executive Assistance Kristyn Bryd and Kelly Tran I greeted Kristyn by saying “ Hi new Linda" (this was the common phrase that I always greet Kristyn) with these two introduce us to their partners we then on started on our card making project, while having a conversation with the people around me I noticed how great card makers they all are except for me but you know what it doesn’t matter how you present it, it only matters the thought and effort that you put into it. Throughout the day the Winter Extravaganza with Division 30 North and 30 South was fun event that I will truly recommend to other Key Clubbers as it gives you an opportunity to let you bond with people and catch up with some friend and makes you realize what a great day decision it is to be in Key Club.”

-Abraham Vicente

3

“The long and cold month of December isn't always fun. However, Key Club always has a way to save the day! The month of December brought the usual DCM - a Winter Extravaganza! … First, I was making nonslip socks for children at CHOC Hospital. So, my group would wear regular white socks on our hands and, using puffy paint, draw designs on the soles of the socks, in order to provide both warmth and safety for those children in need of them. Next, the groups switched and I was writing letters to serving soldiers and veterans. Inspired by Operation Gratitude, we were able to write to members of our military in order to wish them a happy holiday season and thank them for their service. As we worked on each of these service projects, our lieutenant governors quizzed us on Key Club trivia in order to win prizes! While we didn't always get the correct answers, it was still fun. What was also fun; we were able to have an ugly sweater contest, which also garnered success and doubled as a fundraising effort. After all our activities, both divisions came together to one big group picture. Overall, the December DCM was tons of fun. I had a great time with my friends, and even made some new ones. It was both informative and relaxing; it put me in a great mood and really was the best way to start my Winter Break. Although this was probably my last time going, I'm glad I got to experience this event again!”

-Randall Belyea

4

WAND Tree Lighting

Magic!

“After an after school activity on Friday, December 4th 2015, I walked to Twila Reid Park for the WAND Tree Lighting. This is one of those events where we get a lot of participation as it is very close to our school and the timing is pretty convenient as we had the weekend right after. I remember this event being one of the most special events to me two years ago, as I had a lot of fun with my brother and his friends who were all seniors. Looking back, I was not as involved in Key Club, I was just a general member who went to meetings every now and then, but this is one of those events that triggered the- I guess you can call it- “spark” that started the growth of my Key Club experience. My second time going to this event as a historian was obviously different because of whom I was surrounded with, but with this change comes a new experience as I also became more involved with Key Club.

Though it was my third time going to WAND, I was given a new task. My task was to decorate the backdrop of the stage, and doing so was pretty difficult at first since the plastic base could not support the heavy ornaments. In the end, we settled for something lighter and hung up the lights by itself. Even though there was a bit of trial and error, the backdrop still ended up looking pretty as the elementary kids sang and performed. This year, I was also able to help out with handing out candy canes at the Santa booth. A little after, I participated in a spinning wheel, and won a free flashing cup. It is pretty thrilling to win free things based off of luck. Overall, I enjoyed this year’s WAND as I was able to do different tasks than I did the past years. Even though the people I am surrounded with change as time flies by, it is all still part of my very own Key Club memory that I’ll always cherish”.

Kiara Legaspi

5

“I find it strange how the temperature always drops from the high 90 of the previous day to the low 60 of the next whenever the date of the WAND Tree Lighting comes around. The cold of this day is always a comfort however, and I like to take it as my own indicator of the actual coming of winter. The Candyland cardboard cutout, the Santa photo tent, the hot chocolate lines, the choir, the bonfire, the crafts, all of this, has always been our Wand Tree Lighting that I have watched come ago since I was a child. It has not been until now that I am able to see the changes from now to then, and the changes within my life as well. A cardboard cutout that was just a pretty little touch to the night where all the big kids took pictures at stood; David and Jesse struggled to hold it up as the Cypress members debated how to keep it standing. The Santa tent, with its lines always so long and where the jolly old man in his red suit sat; Michael and Joally stood watching over the lines where a work-worn yet happy old man sat. The hot chocolate lines with white wisps curling above in contrast to winter's breath grew into the night; Lesley's own breath mingled with the wisps as conversations passed from different tongues. I look at my relationships with everything and everyone around me, and the change of perspective.

The crafts table was worked by my friends, I made conversation with the smiling elders around the bonfire, and the choir kids filed pass, nervously trying to move around the big kids, I was a big kid. Melancholy has been hitting me pretty hard as of late and I don't know how to stop these memories from slipping away. This will be my quiet reflection of these changing days and nights for now�.

Nhi Truong

6

The Meaning of Christmas

with DO4W and DO4E

“I rarely get the chance to volunteer and help people in the community one-on-one, let alone with those who are also Vietnamese like me, so when I heard about The Meaning of Christmas with D04W and D04E, I was naturally intrigued. To be quite honest, I wasn’t thinking about volunteering at this event, but not necessarily because I was too lazy to go, but because I was hesitant to try to talk to people in Vietnamese. This event was basically Key Clubbers offering shoppers at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster to buy their children a toy for Christmas. Although it was a day after Christmas, it still helped bring Christmas cheer and a sense of unity, especially with the one-on-one interaction. Walking around the mall also made me a bit nostalgic because I had visited so often as a child when I was in elementary and junior high school. Since most of the shoppers at Asian Garden Mall were Vietnamese refugees, it was pretty much to your own benefit as a volunteer to know how to speak Vietnamese fluently—which I don’t.

Regardless, I got to escort one father and his son around Asian Garden Mall, and luckily, he actually spoke English very well, so I was able to keep up a conversation with him. While walking with the dad and his son, I kind of stood there awkwardly hovering over the child as he kept rejecting the toys that my partner volunteer pointed to. Honestly, I didn’t really interact with the child all that much because he knew mostly Vietnamese and not much English. I was talking to his dad most of the time. He asked about where I went to school and where I wanted to go to school in the future for college. We talked and talked and although it was a basic conversation about school and Key Club, I was very surprised (in a good way) that this man had a very… different viewpoint. Let’s just say that he came off as very supportive of whatever I wanted to do in the future, even though we had barely met moments ago. After returning back to the area where the rest of the volunteers were, I asked the dad for a picture with all four of us—me, my volunteer partner, the dad, and his son. Talking to him even just for around 10 minutes felt very comfortable and heartwarming to know that a stranger could support me in my plans for the future, despite how ambiguous they are. For the rest of the event, I couldn’t help out as much unfortunately because of my limited fluency in Vietnamese and also because there were already so many volunteers from Divisions 4E and 4W that everything was already being taken care of. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this event. I came with my friend Jennifer Hernandez and we bonded throughout the event too, especially over both of our lack of fluency in Vietnamese. But I am grateful that I got to bond with her not just as a board member, but as a friend, through this event, which I think is most important when it comes to volunteering: bonding with those you serve with and those you are serving”

Van Bui

7

“On Saturday December 26th, Van, our club president, and I had the opportunity to help Vietnamese families choose gifts. Division 4 West and Division 4 East organized this event at Asian Garden Mall in which we would use the money raised to buy gifts for the families.

At first when we arrived we weren’t sure on what to do since they were barely organizing themselves and making sure people would sign in. While we waited I was able to interact with our lieutenant governor and members from my division that I hadn’t really talked too much before. As we waited I managed to take a few pictures of the mall and people around us.

When things finally were organized they had everyone split into two categories, those who spoke Vietnamese and those who didn’t. Obviously I didn’t speak Vietnamese so I went to the group who didn’t; our job was to wrap presents that they would buy. However, at the beginning we weren’t able to wrap presents due to the fact that the first few families were shopping around. There were some people walking around the mall telling people to stop by in order to shop for free gifts. Many were confused on what we were doing since it seemed a little sketchy to them, but eventually some people brought their kids and tried it out. As new people were brought they would send one or two people to go with them. Meanwhile I waited to get assigned something I helped John, our lieutenant governor, put sticky notes on a white board in which people would write what makes them happy on one of the post it notes. When I had finished doing this Van had returned from shopping with a family and seeing the face of the little boy with his new toy was truly rewarding. I was able to see how this event was making a difference in the community. While people were being sent out to escort the families in gift shopping we weren’t sure on what to do for a while.

However, we then went to sit next to the white board in order to ask people what made them happy. The people we would ask would write down funny things like wifi or something random. Throughout the whole time sitting there Van and I would talk about random topics and it really allowed me Despite not being able to go with the families it was a wonderful experience volunteering at this event because I was rewarded by seeing the families happy and being able to connect with people”.

Jennifer Hernandez

8

Rose Float Parade Decorating “Western Key Club started their Tuesday morning fresh with beautiful flowers and huge floats! Waking up early to catch the 6 A.M. bus wasn’t the best way to start the day but being around familiar faces made it better. We were all dresses very warmly because we knew what to expect from the freezing Pasadena weather.

We arrived at Pasadena in about an hour and the closer we got the colder we got. I was wearing three different socks but my feet were still freezing! We arrived and saw how busy the place really was. There were flowers everywhere you turned and beautiful floats at every corner! When we entered the warehouse, my group and I were assigned to the Alhambra float. We sat down as we waited for our jobs and a nice lady pulled me aside to interview me for her article.

When I returned to my group I noticed that some of them were pulled away to work on the float. I sat down but then sprang up as soon as our instructor said she needed a volunteer to go on a float. The job assigned to be was to go on a scaffold and glue beans in a straight line on the float. I started climbing the ladder to go on the scaffold but I did not realize how hard and scary climbing it really was. I feared for my life as I slowly made my way to my working area. Each time a new person came on or off the scaffold the whole area would shake and it made me think of an earthquake. Although my job was extremely tedious (and messy with glue everywhere, even my hair) I genuinely enjoyed seeing my progression with the beads and the float itself-that is the rewarding part about volunteering, the ending result.

12:30 P.M. rolled around which meant it was lunch time for all of us Key club volunteers! On today’s menu was a delicious hot dog, chips, chili, and your choice of soda or water. We gathered our Western Key Club group and we all sat and ate together like the family we are!

After lunch, we all went back to work for the last few hours we would be spending at Pasadena. Overall, I had a fabulous experience at the Rose Float Decorating because I got to bond with my Key Club family and we gave a big helping hand to the Kiwanis organization!”

Lesley Aguirre

9

On Tuesday 29th at Savanna High School many of us were waiting for the buses to arrive at 5 am to take us to Pasadena. It was freezing cold despite the amount of layers I had on, at first I didn’t really feel the cold but when we got to Pasadena it got worse. They organizers kindly gave us shirts to prevent our clothes from getting really dirty. At first we were just given instructions on what not to do in order to keep us safe.

After receiving instructions we waited in line to be assigned to jobs, the coordinators were really kind in letting us be able to stick with our friends in whichever job we received. We got to work on the Alhambra City float which was pretty fun since it was my first time this year helping out at this event. Some of us had the chance to work on the top portion of the float. This required us to climb onto these metal stands and crawl on the pieces of wood that would be holding us up in the air. At first I was quite spectacle to go up there because I was afraid I would fall to the ground and die as dramatic as that sounds. The lady didn’t force us to go up there if we were afraid but I wanted to try it out and get over my fear. At first when I got up there I was a bit nervous but as I continued working up there I got less nervous. Cecilia, one of our members, was working up there with me and she was really fearless. The reason I say this is because she was standing on the wood in order to decorate the pieces more towards the top. While I was working up there I had the pleasure of meeting a kind man. At first he was just adding another piece of wood so more people could get up where I was, but then I ended up making casual conversation with him. He gave me advice that would be useful in the future and I’m thankful for that.

The first three hours we didn’t get to finish decorating the roof top and I only managed to get done one row. They gave us lunch around 12 pm and we got hot dogs, chips, and a drink. However, if people wanted something else they could buy it off of the food trucks. Since there were leftovers they let us grab seconds and for some people thirds since even after we got seconds there was still some food left behind.

When I returned back to the float I was working on I wasn’t able to resume my old job due to the people sitting where I use to be at. Since it would have been complicated to get in between the two guys they gave me another job for the meanwhile. In this small job we had to make the bark paper thin in order for it to fit well on the roof top; this would allow it to stay glued and not fall off.

The people guiding us were really nice to us because they would compliment us on our hard work. It showed they really appreciated us helping them out on the float. After helping out with the bark I did some small tasks that they would assign me because they were still working on the back side of one of the decorations on the float. Since I wouldn’t be able to go back up there I just stuck to working on the bark, but even though it was quite dusty it was pretty fun.

Three more hours had passed and our shift was over. We returned to the bus to go back home. This event has been one of my all time favorites from my experience in Key Club. I was able to interact with the people working the event and actually see how the hard work we were putting in was progressing.

When I saw the float on television I saw the big change Key Club has in the community because never had I thought I would be helping out in something so big. It might’ve been hours of hard work resulting in sore muscles but it was honestly really worth it.

Jennifer Hernandez

10

Introducing the 2016 2016--2017 Executive Board President Elect: Nhi Truong Vice President Elect: Crystal Ly Secretary Elect: Jennifer Hernandez Treasurer Elect: Abraham Vicente

11

Monthly Calendar Winter

OCC Key to College Feb. 6th

Wonderland Feb. 6th

Hope Out Loud Gala

Surf City Marathon

Feb. 7th

Feb. 7th

DCMs:

Race on the Base!

Ice Skating 01/30 Buddy One Day 02/20

Feb. 27th

TBA...

The Coaster Run 2016

President

V.P

Secretary

Van Bui

Nhi Truong

Kiara Legaspi

vankbuii18@gmail.com

nhtruo@gmail.com

kiaramel2525@gmail.com

(714) 824-2884

(714) 234-0275

(714) 931-7222

Treasurer

Spirit Coordinator

Bulletin Editor

Member Recognition

Randall Belyea

Lesley Aguirre

Michael Coates

Crystal Ly

rhbelyea@ca.rr.com

aguirre_lesley@yahoo.com (714) 576-3432

coates179@gmail.com (714) 225-2181

lycrystal@gmail.com

(714) 209-3865

Historians

(714) 315-6317

Publicists

Lara Matty/ Linda Le/ Jennifer Hernandez laramatty999@gmail.com (714) 306-9969

Brenda Rosas/ Abraham Vicente

lindale922@gmail.com (714) 886-2467

brendabrosas@gmail.com

jenniferhernandez1634@gmail.com -

(714) 342-0281 abrahamvicente3@gmail.com (714) 855-7625