Western High School Key Club 2017-2018 | July Newsletter

CNH | KEY CLUB Division 30 South | Region 3 |CNH Volume: 6, Issue 5

The Official Western High School Key Club Newsletter | July 2017

Summer Social: Rise and Serve (pg.5) Greetings Letter (pg.1 and 2)

WKC Board Bonding (pg.7-8)

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12 Mud Mania (pg.6) June Collage (pg.3 and 4)

H Helping Hands (pg.9 and 10)

CONTENTS Calendar, Service Hours Leaderboard, etc (pg.13-18)

Heifer International (pg.11 and 12)

President’s BEEautiful letter Hello sunshines!

Honestly, could I ask for any better club members than these?

Thank you all so much for volunteering in the month of July!

The amount of hours we’ve had in these usually slow summer months is honestly surprising, and I surprising, and I appreciate every single volunteer for contributing to this. Because of your efforts to help the community, as well as the board’s hard work this month, we received 5th Shining Club of the Month at the July DCM! I can already feel more success coming around this term.

Other than that, we have had plenty of fun sunny events, from the Bolsa Chica Habitat Restoration to Beach Boomba. At this point in the year, school is fast approaching. However you feel about that, remember that Western Key Club is there for you! We still have volunteer events in August despite not having a meeting yet, so make sure to keep updated on all the opportunities we’re providing. I hope you all started your summer projects at this point in the summer (unlike me). That’s all for July, check out the rest of this wonderful newsletter!

Sincerely, Crystal Ly

A quick word from your editor Hello, lovely people!

School is coming, and some of you guys might be a little nervous about first day of school and already thinking about it, which is normal because I am too (lol). Thank you guys for volunteering a lot this month of July! I have seen very many Key Clubbers who work really hard even though it’s summer and I know it takes up a lot of your time but we appreciate you guys very much! I always have short letters because I am not good at writing letters so without further ado, I present my newsletter for the month of July! Have a wonderful day!

Sincerely, Cedric Baral

JULY...

Summer Social: Rise and Serve

Rise and shine as Western teams with Oxford for a summer social consisting of a beach clean up, icebreakers, and a good American potluck of hot dogs. It wasn’t that great honestly, cause Jerry burned half the hot dogs. Nice. But what was nice was standing in the water and basking in the sun in 90 degree weather. The outcome? Not so great, because after nearly a month my tan is still in place and I will never forget what it’s like to be so sunburnt that one touch could sting the heck out of you. It’s time ought to listen to these environmentalists and the destruction of the ozone layers and whatnot, I’d go on, but I’m straying off topic here and I’d digress. Following the summer social, which ended a little prematurely, the majority stayed behind to enjoy the beach and yet another potluck of the leftover Doritos and hot dogs with no buns. I did not stay, cause it’s time to dip y’all. But regardless, from what I heard, the social was a success and that’s all that matters. End of story…

-Cecilia Dang

MUD MANIA

Mud and even more mud! Hence, the event’s name “Mud Mania”. The event was a celebration for adobe in which family and friends come together and do some unique activities that include some fun facts. Adobe is basically traditional sun-dried blocks that are made out of sand, clay, water, and straws. On Sunday, July 9, signifies the messiest fun event.

When we arrived, we were assigned to our stations and to prepare ourselves when it starts. My booth was the mud tattoos. It is basically like giving them tattoos but instead we used brown paint (to act like mud), stencils, and brushes. Other booths consists of digging through fossils, create ceramics, mixing mud, etc. The children looked like they were having the time of their lives and I love how the event went smoothly.

At first, there was not a lot of people in our booth, but as time passes, it started to get busy. Omar and I did the best we could to keep it organized with people coming. Some of the stencils didn’t work out well and the result did not turn out as planned.

A few were successful tattoos. I wanted the people to be happy with their tattoo. I started making my own hand-drawn drawings which are pretty simple. I made a Patrick Star (a simple star shape), crown, and seashell. I felt like Picasso but with less artistic skills.

The staffs were very nice and gave us some breaks. This day was really hot for me, but I was really glad that they provided an ac place for us to cool down. I could not thank them enough for providing as much as they can. The event was successful and I would love to come back to volunteer.

- Khrystal Contreras

On Sunday July 9th, things got real dirty at the Virginia Country Club.

Not that I’m complaining—that is the point of Mud Mania, after all! At Mud Mania, families and their children came together to learn the history of the area, as well as enjoy the day’s festivities: mirth, music …and lots of mud. There were lots of muddy activities that volunteers helped operate, including mud-throwing and mud-digging and mud-brick-building!

And though I’m sad to say that most of the parents were not the biggest fans of anything that involved watery dirt, the kids loved messing with the mud, and it was very fun for both the staff and parents to watch the kids in their muddy mania.

This being Western Key Club’s first time volunteering at Mud Mania, I couldn’t help but feel a little paranoid. However, those nervous thoughts faded away pretty quickly. The event coordinator was warm and forgiving, the area was beautiful, and neither the event volunteers nor the attendees had any opportunity to be bored. And on top of all that, Key Club members from other districts helped me feel more energetic and welcomed.

Funnily enough, I don’t think I expected to get that dirty at first. Obviously, I knew that, “duh, Mud Mania, there’s going to be mud,” but it wasn’t until I started monitoring the kids running their mud-relay that I found that I might get a little dirty. You see, in the act of frantic racing with a handful of mud to see who fills up a container the fastest, one tends to fling large volumes of mud onto anyone nearby. I realized that I was in the splash zone quite late.

No regrets, regardless. My phone, my clothes, my shoes, and my dignity are all clean and in working condition, so it’s all good!

A thanks to two special groups of people: thank you to the Mud Mania coordinators for having us, and thank you Western Key Club members for volunteering at Mud Mania and for continuing to volunteer with us throughout the summer. The school year is going to kick off soon; I hope we continue serving at volunteer events as enjoyable as this one over the school year!

- Jerry Castillo

Key Club Board Bonding

On Tuesday, July 18, 2017, the Western Key Club board members gathered up and went to Los Angeles to hike and see the Hollywood sign! It was one of the best moments I ever had in Key Club because I had lots of fun and I got to hang out with my peers! We voted to go hike but as soon as we started the hike, the complaining and struggling started, which was actually pretty funny. I was surprised that hiking for me was really fun even though it was also exhausting at the same time. I motivated myself to climb and finish the hike with my friends so that I could enjoy hiking with them.

While in the middle of hiking, our publicist, Abril, went back down to the starting point to find a restroom because nature was calling her (I thought that she was trying to find an excuse to not hike, which is pretty smart to be honest). While climbing, I realized that the view up there is really refreshing and incredible. It felt like all my strength came back (just kidding, I was really exhausted at that time). Everyone was resting after reaching one of the “checkpoints”, trying to get their energy back, while I went ahead of them because I wanted to drink water (seriously thirsty at that time and I ran out of water). I went with Linda, our Historian, and took the hardest path to climb down and that’s because we asked a guy if which is the easiest way down and he said take the path to the right so we did, and turns out it’s the hardest path and we made a mistake.

We did successfully go down the hard path, but it left me with a couple of bloody wounds which is fine because it has been months since I got a wound and I don’t really know but I had a feeling that I wanted to get one. After hiking, we all walked to Shin Ramen and ate, talked about the board in general, and laughed together! After eating at the restaurant, we went out for desserts and this time, Jerry and Crystal, our Key Club parents, paid for us and all of us really thank you so much for it! Last but not the least, while we walked around Hollywood Boulevard, we saw a really famous Instagrammer, Inanna!

She was so beautiful and we we’re so happy that we met her. Overall, it was a pretty fun trip with the board and I wish that there would be many more to come!

-Cedric Baral

Cardio is hard let me tell you that! You know what they say: a team that hurts together stays together, and that’s what we did.

Building relationships between board members is a crucial component to ensure efficiency and keep strong communication between everyone, this was why we decided to hold a board bonding trip and hike on July 18.

I feel this hike was extremely useful to our club because it really pushed us all out of our comfort zones and made us solve multiple problems effectively to make it happen.

Our first concern was transportation. The hike trail was at Runyon Canyon in Los Angeles so already this was the furthest any of us had to go to meet up. We ended up splitting into groups I oversaw the group that used the train and subway while Crystal took the rest by car. By doing this I practiced my leadership skills and taught my group how to navigate through the big city.Since my group traveled by rail we arrived two hours thus giving us time to walk down the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Once both groups united we began the hike! It was all easy at first but we soon understood how much we underestimated the difficulty of the trail. In the heat, we climbed up steep hills and loose dirt. All of us were dead tired after the first 30 minutes but we persevered. When we reached the summit, we knew we had done it; together we battled fear, heat, and exhaustion, nothing could beat us now.

Going down was fairly easy and in total we hiked about 6 miles. We needed to refuel after all that so we treated ourselves to some tasty tasty ramen and froyo.

By the time we had to go home we all wished we could’ve stayed longer. On our way to the subway station we even ran into internet celebrity Inanna and we couldn’t help but to take a few quick selfies.

Together our friendship grew and I push everyone take trips like this.

- Manuel Camarillo

Helping Hands Helping Hands is a free program that provides low income and disabled people with free garden work. The program chooses three houses to beautify every month.

On Saturday, July 29, I volunteered for Helping Hands in La Mirada. Volunteer events at La Mirada are usually my favorite so, I was excited to sign up for this one. At first, there was difficulty with transportation. The coordinator sent out an email how we needed to provide our own transportation. I thought transportation to the event location but, she mean to the three different houses we’re going to. Luckily, two volunteers came to save the day and gave Ali and I a ride.

I’ll be honest, I totally forgot what was the event about. When I heard we were doing garden work, I wasn’t that pleased. However, no matter how much labor is needed, I will do it because it is for a great cause. Some people can’t afford a gardener or their health is forbidding them. We need people in the community to reach to others and help. It all starts with one and this program definietly contributes to that.

A lady needed our help to cut her plants down because it was interfering with landowner’s property. She actually got a warning because of this.

Us volunteers had no problem with fixing that and trim everything and pulled all the weeds in an hour. The work was tiring because it was hot and I was still dealing with pain from my braces. The owner of the house was a very sweet lady and she gave everyone a delicous carrot cake cupcake!

When Ali and I were finally at the last house, we felt this sense of relief that it’s over. The final house didn’t need much work. The owner asked to groom the palm tree and trim the plants down.

Overall, this event was nice. I think the program is amazing because it helps low income and disabled families for free every month. However, I would not volunteer again because this event requires your own transportation to these houses and you need a strong mindset and durability. I do recommend this event to people who are more outdoorsy and love serving to the communtiy of course!

- Joanna Chatouphonexay

Heifer International

Ah my third and final year I’m volunteering to this event!

Every second of it was fun till it lasted.

If you have known me then you would know that this is my favorite event out of all them! Why you may be asking? Well first, Heifer International is a program where they provide goats and chicken to families in third world countries. The goat will give them free milk while the chicken will provide them with free eggs. These resources are great to sell and make money or to enjoy so you don’t sleep with an empty stomach. Heifer International has saved over 30 million people in 125 countries which is amazing! Second, the event is taken place in OC Fair so after your shift is done you can relax and hang out here for free! Third, I get to wear a cow costume. I know what you’re thinking and yes the third reason is my main reason I love this event.

For this event, the coordinator requires you to wear a solid color shirt and black/ beige pants. For me, my uniform is that costume (haha). The purpose of volunteering is to spread awareness of about Heifer International to everyone.

Usually, volunteers hand out pins to children but today unfortunately, we ran out.

Nonetheless, children were happy petting the goat named Quintoe and seeing the chicken named Roxy.

Quintoe was the main star was the born. He is a Mancha breed is a milking breed but only females can produce the milk. Quintoe is only four months old so, he’s just a little baby. He’s is so sweet and loves to lick my hand!

Roxy is a brown hen that loves to lay eggs but unfortunately miss treats them (haha).

Visitors were all nice and respectful to the animals. The coordinators of this event, Stacie and Frances were kind also.

Overall, this event is fun and the tasks are simple. You are required to take a small survey after your shift. After that, you can enjoy your day at the fair with your fellow key clubbers! I recommend this event to everyone who loves the OC Fair, adorable farm animals, and passionate charities/programs!

- Joanna Chatouphonexay

The Heifer International at the OC Fair event took place on Sunday, July 30th, 2017. It began at 10:00 PM and lasted until 9:00 PM taking place on the OC Fair Grounds in Costa Mesa. Western Key Clubbers got the opportunity to serve 3 hours, if not more, and with the perks of enjoying the fair before or afterwards as well.

When I arrived at the OC Fair it turned out that I was the only that was going to be there for that shift 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Immediately I signed in, put on an apron and stood there to remind kids to not touch the chicken cage or they will get pecked and of course talk about the organization itself when asked about it. It honestly did feel like I was there for quite a long time since I had no partner but it made me more observant of my surroundings. I noticed that it would usually be family just passing and how amazed the kids were to see a hen and a goat. I don’t even know if I was even that excited to see animals especially sitting there doing anything. After observing my surroundings, I realized the shift ended much faster than I had anticipated.

Overall, it wasn’t my favorite event but I did enjoy watching kids react to a hen and a goat which was cute.

Glad to say I could volunteer with Heifer International for these past three years.

- Linda Le

Who doesn’t like a goat, right? Well at the Heifer International event at the OC Fair my dream to pet a goat finally came true!

Despite the heat of the day Key Club volunteers drove the long road to the OC Fair July 30 th to inform visitors of the importance of Heifer International as well as taking care of the livestock. This event didn’t only educate the OC Fairgoers on the significance of animals in third world countries but it also informed us about the endless possibilities in giving back to communities.

I learned from volunteering here that along with service some communities need resources to thrive. Heifer International focuses on giving the less fortunate the tools, animals, and knowledge, skills, to help them succeed and become independent for years to come. This lead me to the realization that our volunteer services leave a lasting effect on the community even if they seem insignificant.

Focusing back on the event I’d say that it was extremely enjoyable. I was mainly in charge of taking care of the baby goat but other volunteers were given the task to pass out pins to children. I found this to be especially cute because the kids’, not that kid, faces would brighten up with so much joy when given their present.

The day got pretty busy and many people arrived to touch the goat. At first I was worried that someone would upset the little kid but all the visitors were so gentle and curious, I started to think the goat actually liked being touched. Along with the goat we also had a chicken named Roxy and this girl was crazy!

We witnessed the miracle of life as Roxy lay an egg and were quickly disturbed when she began to eat it! This was really the only crazy part of the event as it was very easy and well organized.

People, myself included, love working with animals so this service was extra enjoyable. I’m a bit saddened now that this is my last year in high school because I won’t be able to volunteer here again, but on the bright side it leaves room for new members to enjoy - Manuel Camarillo

So much words to say about OC Heifer International, but I cannot seem to put them in words. Awe-inspiring. No, I am not exaggerating. Well, maybe a little, but I can’t deny how I would wish to volunteer at this event again.

Sunday, July 30. A day with animals! Heifer International is a nonprofit organization that prevents world hunger and poverty as well as care for the earth. They had a chicken and a goat in the barn at the OC Fair along with a cow costume or animal puppets in which a volunteer can wear. The animals, costume, and puppets were a demonstration to show how Heifer works.

Volunteers were supposed to inform more people about Heifer and how they, too, can support the organization. Some conversation starters included, “Chickens can lay up to 200 eggs per year” or “About 1 billion people live less than $1.90 a day”. As the conversation keeps going, it will eventually lead people to know that Heifer helps prevent hunger and poverty. Volunteers also had to check if everything is fine and to make sure none of the people distress the goat or get hurt from the animals. Visitors were very much amazed with the facts and were excited to see the animals. No one got hurt and left the exhibit with a smile on their face. At 12 p.m., it was rarely busy. It was not until 1 p.m. that more people started to look at the exhibit. It was running smoothly though. There were no problems. We were trained and we understood what we needed to do well. The volunteer training hosted by Frances Hale presented many information about Heifer. Thus, it helped me gain more confidence on what I was talking about to visitors. I now know so much about Heifer that I would like to support them sooner or later.

- Khrystal Contreras

It’s that time of year again when you seriously cannot get into Raising Canes to enjoy your chicken fingers, and it’s not because the line is too long, it’s cause the line from the OC Fair is packed all the way down to Raising Canes. Crazy right? But it’s no joke. Yet one of the best things of the OC Fair is actually being able to get in for free? How you might ask? Volunteering, of course, I mean you are reading a Key Club article, what did you expect, actual free tickets? HAHAHA. No, but you do get free tickets. MOVING ON, though! Our go-to booth these past couple of years has been the OC Heifer International which is, in essence, a non-profit organization striving to decrease and essentially end third world hunger and poverty as well as teaching these countries how to be more self-sufficient and sustain themselves, all factors that are in conjunction with Key Club values. On top of that, who doesn’t love a cute little baby goat that bites on your clothes. And yes! Like all fairs, this goat is pettable, so for only $14 admission, you can pet this one-horned baby goat and talk to passerbys about the organization as well as letting their younglings touch and take pictures of this powder white goat. On top of that, Key Clubbers, such as Joanna Chatouphonexay were encouraged to dress up as a cow and hand out pins to toddlers. A fun and family friendly event.

- Cecilia Dang

JULY SERVICE HOURS

LEADERBOARD Thank you for all your hours of volunteering! Keep shining, suns of WHS Key Club! :D

Huy Nguyen - 16.5 hours

Khrystal Contreras - 13.9 hours

Manuel Camarillo - 13.5 hours

Marilitz Diwa - 13.5 hours

Ali Al-Saleem - 10.4 hours

School Fun Tips!

Here are some tips for the incoming school year!

1. Get Involved In Activities.

2. Be Deliberate About Your Classes.

3. Make New Friends.

4. Don’t Stress Out About Small Things.

5. Always Do Your Homework.

6. Always Try To Be Present In School.

7. Have Something To Look Forward To Each Day. 8. Always Eat Lunch.

9. Have Fun In Class.

10.Always Be Prepared!

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1

Townsend Fair

LA Taco Festival August DCM

2 - MOMS OC Info Booth

Here’s a chicken, because why not?

2017-2018 Western Key Club Board Members

Crystal Ly

Jerry Castillo

President

Vice-President

lycrystal@gmail.com

jerbeariuss@gmail.com

(714) 315-6317

(714) 854-4848

Annie Nguyen

Cecilia Dang

Secretary

Treasurer

annie.nguyen956@gmail.com

cecilaa.dang@gmail.com

(714) 251-3847

(714) 837-5187

Cedric Baral Bulletin Editor cedricsalvador17@gmail.com

(714) 709-0165

Abril Petlacalco Publicist

abril.petlacalco@hotmail.com

(951) 410-3288

Linda Le Historian lindale922@gmail.com

(714) 782-2393

Omar Al-Saleem Member Recognition omarziadalsaleem2000@gmail.com

(657) 293-4569

Khrystal Contreras Publicist khrystal06@yahoo.com.

(657)226-7150

Manuel Camarillo Historian

Joanna Chatouphonexay

(714) 420-6149

(714) 331-8542

maniel.camarillo20@yahoo.com

Ali-Al Saleem Spirit Coordinator

Historian joannachatou@gmail.com

Jehan Kamoona Spirit Coordinator

Ali_alsaleem02@yahoo.com

Suny.exo0000@gmail.com

(714) 933-6518

(714) 808-7817