The Locksmith October 2013 Vol.1 Issue 3
Stuyvesant High School Key Club Publication
Table of Contents Table of Contents
1. Greetings From Your Editor 2. Greetings From Your Board 3. Upcoming Events 4. Events Review i. ii. iii. iv.
CBID-Kim Lau Square (8/24) Color Run (9/7) September Divisional (9/20) FAB Festival (9/28)
5. To New Members 6. Contact Information
From Your Editor Meet Your Board Hi Stuyvesant Key Club, My name is Dorothy Chen and I am glad to be your Bulletin Editor for the 2013-2014 service year. My friend introduced me to join Key Club, and when I became a member, I found it hard to leave this warm family. Now as the editor, I want to contribute to Stuy Key Club by sending out information and sharing members’ experience with all Key Clubbers. In this way, members will have stronger bonds with each others. The biggest goal I want to achieve in this year is the revival of our only publication-the Locksmith. We did not have any issue in years, and there is few member knows that the Locksmith is our newsletter. In this May, I published my first newsletter and I promise I will keep releasing one newsletter every month. In the newsletter, there are sections of events reminder, review of past events and Key Club’s projects. Please read all issues so that you can learn much about Key Club and truly be part of this organization. This Mid-October newsletter will be your guide if you are new to Key Club. Not only the introduction and greetings from board members are included, but also the events’ experience from old members and basic information about Stuyvesant Key Club are provided. Hope you can enjoy your time in Key Club and I promise you this year will be exciting! Are you ready?
Yours in Service, Dorothy Chen Stuyvesant High School Key Club Bulletin Editor 2013-2014
From Your President Meet Your Board Hello Stuyvesant Key Club! My name is Bonnie Lee and I am so excited to be serving as your president for the 2013-2014 service year! From my past Key Club experience, I’ve had the honor of serving as last year’s vice president and meeting many influential leaders on the club and district levels. This is a big year for me since it is the first time I am officially leading the club and I am so grateful to the people who have helped me along the way. I’m sure that it will be a big year for StuyKC as well! This year, I plan to improve Stuyvesant Key Club by developing closer relationships with Kiwanis and the school to provide members with more volunteering opportunities. As mentioned by Vice President Wendy Huang and me in our election speech, one of our biggest goals this year is to raise awareness and fundraise for the Eliminate Project, Governor’s Project, and district projects. We haven’t forgotten our promise, so stay tuned for upcoming fundraisers and events! Sometimes we forget that the members are who make up the core of Key Club. Although officers are there to lead, members are there to serve. They are the ones who make this the largest high school service organization in the world. I am so lucky to be working with such an amazing cabinet this year. To the old members, thank you for entrusting us with your vote and for all the service you have performed. To the new members, thank you for joining and welcome to the Stuyvesant Key Club family. If you ever have any questions or concerns about Key Club, feel free to email me at bonnielee.pres@stuykc.org or xbonnielee@gmail.com. I look forward to working with all of you in making this a successful service year! Yours in Service, Bonnie Lee Stuyvesant High School Key Club President 2013-2014
From Your Vice-President Meet Your Board Greetings, Stuyvesant Key Club! My name is Wendy Huang, and I will be serving as your vice president for the 2013-2014 service year. I have joined Key Club since freshmen year, but I'll admit that I was not the least bit passionate about volunteering then. I would make excuses to skip out on events, and I ended up with four hours by the end of the year. When sophomore year came, I met new friends in Key Club. Although school was intense, Key Club gave me the opportunity to bond with friends through meetings and events. As I went to more events, I gradually enjoyed the idea of volunteering, and going to events became part of my Sunday schedule. By the end of the year, I proudly stood with 104 hours, a significant difference from what I previously had freshmen year. Although many of you may start out joining Key Club because your friends had joined, I can guarantee that Key Club will gradually bring out the passion for volunteering in you. Key Club is a place where you would develop strong bonds that may even last past high school while contributing to improve this community. Regardless of how many events you go to, you will know that YOU have played a role in making the earth a better place. This year, to improve Stuyvesant Key Club, I plan to establish closer relationship with members and committee heads. Although the cabinet is in charge of leading the members, the members actually make up the soul of Key Club. Because of this, I hope to make every member feel that he/she is part of this family. As for the committee heads, they contribute to various aspects of Key Club and do beyond what members do. I encourage you all to join committees because in actuality, your ideas and opinions do matter. As stated in our election speech, Bonnie and I will plan more events and fundraisers that will be geared toward the Governor's Project, district projects, and Eliminate Project that past members may be familiar with. With this, I welcome old members back and new members who have decided to take the first initiative in making the world a better place. Key Club will be life-changing, and it will definitely play a big role in your high school career. If any of you have questions, concerns, or anything else, feel free to contact me at wendyhuang.vp@stuykc.org or wendy.huang9139@gmail.com. I am excited to start my first leadership experience with you all, and I'm sure that this will be a successful year! Wendy Huang Stuyvesant High School Key Club Vice-President 2013-2014
From Your Secretary Meet Your Board Hey, new and old Key Clubbers! I am your secretary for this service year and I hope you’ve started your new school year to a great start. A new year of Key Club is also beginning with lots of meetings and events that are fun, fun, fun! Don’t have time to attend them? No worries! Our events vary on different days and time. If it’s your first year in Key Club, you will make new friends who will be there for you. What I plan on achieving this year is to promptly send in monthly report forms of the events that are taking place each month. With these forms, Stuyvesant Key Club can gain acknowledgement for its service with help from you guys. By going to service events, we show commitment to helping the community. I am also achieving this year of punctual submission of which members handed in their dues on the Membership Update Center. With the help from members again, the faster the dues are handed in, the quicker members can become legit members on a great scale that is not restricted to just Stuyvesant Key Club. For each meeting, I hope that every one of you will come because of your interest in supporting Key Club, not for the sake of the points. Although there may be some up and downs on this roller coaster ride of stress from your studies, let’s enjoy to our fullest in Key Club! Beavers unite to help the community and to help ourselves feel better! Lastly, HEY STUYVESANT KEY CLUBBERS, HOW DO YOU FEEL? Yours in Service, Cindy Lee Stuyvesant High School Key Club Secretary 2013-2014
From Your Treasurer Meet Your Board Hey guys! My name is Jacky Lin and I am your 2013-14 service years’ treasurer! I am honored and glad to have this position and I am looking forward to an awesome year! My treasurer duties include, but aren’t limited to paying and collecting dues, fundraising, and creating a budget. During my first year of having a leadership role I have learned that teamwork and cooperation between all members is essential to any success one might hope to have. This year’s district projects are the Alzheimer’s Association, American Cancer Society, JDRF, and the Wounded Warrior Project. As contributing significant amounts of money to all projects is extremely difficult, I hope to raise enough money to contribute significant amounts to at least a few. Starting off the year, Stuyvesant Key Club will be giving out UNICEF boxes to members in which they will try to collect any amount of money to put in these boxes. All contributions will be donated to the Eliminate Project, which is a project by Kiwanis International and UNICEF aimed to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus. I hope to contribute greatly to this project as well as many others in the future. If you have any fundraising ideas or questions about anything, please feel free to contact me! Thank you and let’s have a great service year! P.S. (Send in those dues!) Yours in Service, Jacky Lin Stuyvesant High School Key Club Treasurer 2013-2014
From Your Webmaster Meet Your Board Hey Stuyvesant Key Club! My name is Danny Qiu and I am excited to serve as your 2013-14 webmaster! This year, I plan on making the most out of social media, our website, and email to keep you guys updated on everything Key Club. It is important that you know what’s happening in the club as well as the events that we have for you to volunteer at. Making sure that no one feels left out is one of my biggest goals this year. You will find your place at Key Club and come to treasure the memories and bonds that you create here. At Key Club, we make sure that everyone is included in all our activities, hence Inclusiveness being one of our core values. We care about each other, our school, and our community. Not only do we build character and but we also build the best possible leader. There is so much for Key Club to offer and I hope that you make the most of it. There are many opportunities that you can take part in as a Key Club member. A big one is volunteering. Not only is it a wonderful way to help the community, but it is also gives you the chance to meet other Key Clubbers from Stuyvesant and other schools. This may seem terrifying, but stepping out of our comfort zones once in a while can't hurt. Who knows? I’ve had many amazing experiences meeting others outside of our school and I can say that exiting my comfort zone was worth it. The year is only just starting and I promise you that it will be memorable. Stick around and enjoy the experience. So, I recommend that you get started by visiting our website, http://stuykc.org, and signing up for an event! I hope you can all share the same wonderful experiences that I’ve had here at Key Club. If you have any questions or want to find out more about Key Club, feel free to contact me at dannyqiu.web@stuykc.org. Yours in Service, Danny Qiu Stuyvesant High School Key Club Webmaster 2013-2014
1. ROC Race 5k (Saturday, October 19) Project Captain: *needed* Time: 6:30 AM - 11 AM, 10 AM - 2:30 PM, 1 PM - 5PM (You can volunteer during any [or all!] of these shifts) Location: Aviator Sports and Events Center: 3159 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11234 Description: The ROC race, dubbed the Ridiculous Obstacle Course race, is an annual race inspired by the game show, Wipeout. It combines the craziest obstacles to create the best obstacle course ever! We will be helping with this event by doing bag check, registration, obstacle assistance, and other fun jobs! There will be food provided at this event.
2. Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk (Sunday, October 20) Project Captain: Sissi Zheng Time: Starts at 8:00 AM Location: Central Park 72nd Street Bandshell Description: Making Strides of Central Park is a divisional project supporting the American Cancer Society. We'll be cheering on the walkers as well as distributing food/snacks.
3. October Divisional Meeting (Thursday, October 24) Project Captain: Sharon Lin Time: 5:30 - 7:00 PM Location: TBA (Tentatively NEST+M High School) Description: October Divisional might be the first divisional for many of you! We encourage you to join so that you can know more about Key Club and our division. At the divisional, you will get the information about the upcoming divisional events. The divisional is also a good chance for all of you to meet some Key Clubbers from other high schools in NYC and have fun with them!
Events Review CBID-Kim Law Square (8/24) On Saturday August 24, members helped the Chinatown Business Improvement District (BID) out at Kim Lau Square. It was an extremely successful event that helped raise awareness about Kim Lau Square, the growing problems of rats, and life under the Manhattan Bridge. Our dedicated Key Club Members arrived early in the morning in order to help move tents, board games, chairs, speakers, and more. After setting the fair up, we had a fun filled day playing with kids at the dartboards or helping them design their own Kim Lau Square. We also had our very own Lion Dance performance available for the public on such a hot day. We also helped the local partners, veterans, council member Margaret Chin, and non profit organizations raise awareness of life living underneath the Manhattan Bridge and the growing problems people in the community face. It was an important step to help out the local community as Design Trust was authorized to create public spacing around Manhattan Bridge to help the local community. We had members that are bilingual to help translate and communicate with the locals living there. At the end of the day, we cleaned up the location we used to host the fair at Kim Lau Square and the booths underneath the Manhattan Bridge. Although we were all tired and hungry after the heavy lifting, we had a fun filled day helping out our community. By Stanley Lok
Color Run (9/7) One of the most interesting events I've done this year was the Color Run. It took place on September 7th, the Saturday before school started. It started it off a bit earlier than what I was used to at 7am. The position I had signed up for wasn't supposed to be the one on the track, but we were pleasantly surprised that we were being sent to a color station because we arrived so early. By this point I was getting acquainted to Jason, an Arista member. We joked to pass the time and to kept us distracted from morning chill. After arriving to our color station (yellow), we immediately started setting up the 12 heavy barrels of colored cornstarch. Our group was joined by a smaller group of four guys, they were Key Club members from a high school in Queens. (They must've mentioned the name at least ten times but I can't seem to recall it). I was shy and reserved at first but after I found out they were from key club also, I started talking a lot more. The four guys were friendly and very open, and I started talking to them more than the other Stuy kids. Once the run started it was scary and overwhelming to see such a large amount of runners rushing toward you to the start of the 5k track. The leaders of the event encouraged us to stand in the middle of the track and greet the runners. I've never given and received so many jumping high fives in that five minute I was out there before returning to the sideline to cheer. Once the run started we armed ourselves with large squeeze bottles filled with yellow color cornstarch and prepared for the first runner. Once the first person ran through, ten followed behind him, the cornstarch creating a thick yellow fog that soon overwhelmed some of us. It was so chaotic at first that I thought it was just more effective to use our hands to throw the color at the runners. -continued-
Events Review Color Run (9/7) We were separated into small teams to make sure each runner gets a healthy dose of yellow cornstarch before heading off to the finish line. After about half an hour my fingers started cramping up and the amount of runners decreased, I thought we did an amazing job even though we barely used any color. But when I turned around I saw a larger second wave of runners about to start the run and it was back to battle station to refill the bottles. I lost track of how many waves there were, it seems there was about twenty waves with a few hundred people in each waves. For the next few hours the reggae music blasting from the multiple speakers kept us going, completed with the occasional granola bar and water break. What really kept me going was seeing how happy the runners were rolling around in the color and the loud cheers they rewarded you every time when you sprayed the color. When run was over, I surprised myself at how sad I was, when just half an hour ago I was complaining about the endless waves of runners. Everyone's clothes was heavily coated with layers of the colored cornstarch, even the inside of my mouth was yellow. But it was fine since the cornstarch was non toxic and edible. ( I tasted more than I wanted to) Cleanup was done efficiently as we swept and shoveled all the cornstarch we could see. The shuttle bus took is straight to the train station, where I thank’d the group of guys for being awesome and so cheerful during the event, because of their amazing attitude to have fun and interact, it made the job more fun than I could've managed. I'm glad I went to the Color Run, it truly stands up to it's motto, "The Happiest 5k on Earth". Going to fun events like this and meeting fellow peers who are interested helping out is an amazing experience. How much fun you've helping out is all depend on yourself. If you're willing to adopt a positive attitude and open yourself up to meeting new people and experiencing new things, I guarantee you'll enjoy Key Club. By Michael Lee
September Divisional(9/20) What better way to start the school year than by attending a Key Club Divisional? The first Divisional of the year was held on September 20th at Hunter College High School. I met up with the nine other dedicated Key Club members after school, and we made our merry way toward our destination, our hearts light with the prospect of the upcoming weekend and happy to have a chance to catch up with old friends after a whole summer apart. We were perhaps the loudest group on the extremely crowded subway, but what can you expect from a group of teenagers? Teenage volunteers, what’s more. At Hunter, we were greeted by our fellow Division 11 Key Clubbers. Lieutenant Governor Lillian Xie was her usual cheery self, and the atmosphere was light and comfortable. Lillian called the Divisional into session, and we pledged allegiance to a flag drawn on the floor-to-ceiling chalkboard. Each school, including the newly chartered NEST+m Key Club, gave its updates on events from the past month and upcoming events as usual. Our webmaster Danny Qiu gave updates and had the chance to show-off our advertisement flyers, designed by Art Committee Head Mary Safy and hung all around the walls of Stuyvesant promoting the club to potential members. The best part of the meeting came at the end: the ice-breaker! In groups, we all played the Zoo game. Simply put, each person chooses an animal to imitate. We do our own imitation then pass it off randomly to another person in the group, all the while following a beat. The first person to miss the beat or do the wrong imitation is out. Imitations included flapping like a shark, scratching like a monkey, and roaring like a lion. The ridiculousness cracked us all up and before we knew it we were all laughing like we’d been friends forever (and we didn’t even know each other’s names yet!). The amazing opportunities of bonding with strangers that Key Club offer is what make it all so worth it. Walking home with a friend later, we both agreed that it was an enjoyable afternoon, and, considering none of us had had anything to eat since lunch, that’s really something. By Sunny Zhang
Events Review FAB Festival (9/28)
I never had the courage to be project captain, because I thought I couldn’t handle the big responsibility of managing all the volunteers. But I got to experience a different perspective when Danny Qiu asked me to be project captain in place of someone who opted out of it. The Fab Festival on September 28th was very convenient for me, as it was situated in downtown Manhattan, near Cooper Union and NYU. It was in St Marks, which is a great place for culture and activities. The Fab Festival started in the early morning and ended around 8pm. I saw Bronx Science Key Clubbers, and other schools/organization. Everyone was helping out. The Stuyvesant community was also very active and participated in distributing flyers, conversing with people and diligently doing tasks. We even watched some of the shows during the remainder of the time, which is another reason why I love participating in Key Club: It is arduous work at times, but it’s fun, and memorable. At the end, I believe hardwork and dedication really pays off, and that is what Key Club is for. Key Club is a unique blend of students who come together to make better use of the environment and our skills. I don’t think anything tops the list of my favorite clubs besides Key Club. I am looking forward to more events! By Katherine Wei
Key Club International Key Club International is the high school organization sponsored by Kiwanis International. Key Club assists Kiwanis in carrying out its mission to serve the children of the world.
Key Club Structure Key Club International President Individual Key Clubs belong to divisions, which belong to districts, which comprise Key Club International.
Raeford Penny Key Club New York Governor
Key Club International has 33 districts. A district is normally defined by state or nation and tends to match a similar Kiwanis district. Each district is chaired by a governor, who is elected by delegates at the annual district convention.
Paul De Santis Key Club NYDKC Division 11 Lieutenant Governor
Districts are divided into divisions and each division has a lieutenant governor, a student leader who carries out the district’s policies and provides support to the clubs.
Lillian Xie
Stuyvesant High School Key Club Resource:
www. keyclub.org
Contact Information
Divisional Board Lieutenant Governor Lillian Xie
Phone: 1 (917) 588 – 3238 Email: lillianxie.ltg@nydkc.org
Stuyvesant Key Club Email: stuyvesantkeyclub@gmail.com Website: www.stuykc.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stuykc/