Soup Kitchen

If you were a member during the 2008-2009 year, then I'm sure you remember what the Soup Kitchen is! If you don't, the Soup Kitchen is our term for Broadway Baptist Church's Agape Meal, held every Thursday at Broadway Baptist Church (305 W. Broadway St) from 5:30 to 8:00.
Our members regularly attend this function EVERY Thursday and have a great time (by my estimate, roughly 95% of the people that have been to Soup Kitchen have returned. The reason why that number is not 100% is because our member who was a foreign exchange student went back to Germany before they had a chance to come again!)
This ongoing project will also count towards our Lt. Governor's project, Life's Essentials.
We would like to set up a car-pool from the school to the Soup Kitchen and back. If you have a car and would like to help transport our group, please email Alden at alden.aldrich.aa@gmail.com. If you have a parent that would like to pitch in, send an email to Alden (addressed above) including their parent's name and phone number or their parent's name and email address.

Crayon Drive

Hey everyone, while you're out shopping for school supplies make sure to buy some crayons to contribute to our Crayon Drive! We plan on delivering the crayons we collect to either Cook Children's Hospital or one of the nearby Elementary Schools. At either place we donate them too, I'm sure the children will be happy to use them.
Not only does this benefit the children, but it also benefits our club, as our current district's project is to make the community a more colorful place.
Please bring your crayons (any size, any amount) to Mr. Jones in room 210 during lunch or immediately after school. There is no deadline set as of now, but don't put it off because there might be one in place tomorrow for all we know!

Welcome Back!

Contents:
I. Welcome Back!
II. Fall Rally
III. Fall Training Conference
IV. September Kiwanis Meetings
V. Soup Kitchen
VI. Real4Life 5K
VII. Cowtown Classic Bike Ride
VIII. Crayons for Kids

I. Welcome Back!
Welcome back to Southwest everyone, and welcome to Southwest freshmen! I'm glad to say that our first six weeks of school is jam packed with events, with at least one for every week. These are all chances to do your part and get an edge on everyone else. I would like to keep this brief because you may or may not have homework, so let's get to it!

II. Fall Rally
Fall Rally, the event where all of Key Club and the K-Family raids Six Flags Over Texas in the fall, will be on October 3rd, 2009. We only have a month to prepare, and we will not be taking a bus, so we need a lot of your help, as well as your parents' help, to solve our transportation issue. The cost to attend is $26 for admission to Six Flags and extra for food or drinks or caricatures or whatever, or you may use your Six Flags Season Pass to be admitted free of charge. If you or your parent would be interested in donating their time to carpool, please give Alden a means of contacting them at next week's meeting.

III. Fall Training Conference
The date for the Fall Training Conference is September 19th, 2009. It is in your best interest to attend this if you are wanting to become an officer in the future or already are an officer. It will be held at Martin High School in Arlington, please provide your own transportation!

IV. September Kiwanis Meetings
Our sponsor Kiwanis Club, Southwest Kiwanis, invites us to eat breakfast with them at their meetings on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Wednesday of every month. These dates for September will be the 2nd, the 16th, and the 30th. They meet at Rise N Shine Restaurant on Altamesa, right next to our school, at 7:00A.M. This time should not conflict with your school schedule, and you will have time to come to school before 1st period begins. We make it a goal to have at least 4 people attend these meetings.

V. Soup Kitchen
Now that school is back in session, it is easier to gather our forces and run the Agape Meal at Broadway Baptist Church! This was our most popular event last year, and happens every Thursday. If you don't already know what the Agape Meal is, it is where we go to volunteer by serving a home style meal to underprivileged people. Volunteers are asked to be present at the Broadway Baptist Church at 5:30 on Thursdays.

VI. Real4Life 5K
On October 10th we will be helping out at the Real4Life 5K Run being held at Hallmark Baptist Church at 4201 Risinger Rd. We should show up at around 7:45A.M. to help prepare and work at these positions:

Registration Table

T-shirt Table

Finish Line

Water Stations

Snack Table

Race Monitors

Photographer

VII. Cowtown Classic Bike Ride
Ah, of course, the Cowtown Classic Bike Ride! As an avid bicycle activist this is one of my favorite events to work at. Our sponsoring Southwest Kiwanians put this show on the road every year to raise money to donate to Cook Children's Hospital and they always ask their Key Clubbers to help out. We will be at North Crowley High School at 5:00A.M. (yes, 5:00A.M.!) to work this event.

VIII. Crayons for Kids
In conclusion of this blog update, we'll end on a more easy note. It costs about 25 cents for a box of crayons, and if everyone could pitch in and buy a box of crayons while out buying school supplies, we could have a massive amount to donate to either Cook Children's or an elementary school nearby, such as Westcreek, J.T. Stevens, Bruce Shulkey, or Woodway. A box will be set up in Mr. Jones to put donations in. If you would rather donate money instead of actually buying crayons, that is fine as well.

July Newsletter v2

Contents:
I. Greetings and Salutations
II. The Rest of July Updated
III. August

I. Greetings and Salutations

Hey everybody! As I write to you I am watching This Week In Baseball. How about the White Sox no-hitting the Rays, and who can forget the RANGERS sweeping the RED SOX?! I am also looking forward to the end of my enrollment in Summer School, as finals day is on Monday. It looks like from here until the rest of summer, its all Key Club all the time for me!

II. The Rest of July Updated

The time and date for the PCM is set for 4 o'clock at the Red, Hot & Blues at 3000 S Hulen St on Tuesday, the 28th of July. Everyone is invited, even people who are not members of Key Club. That said, this would be a great way to introduce them to our ranks!
On Wednesday, July 29th, I was able to sign myself, Lakendra Smith, Jackie Romo, Amber Foulks, Branford Murrell, and Eric Bennett up to help out at Alex's Lemonade Stand, set up by the North Crowley Key Club to raise money to help fight cancer. We will be outside the Wal-mart at 6300 Oakmont Blvd (Hulen) from 11:30 in the morning to 8:30 in the evening. Please come out for some lemonade and show some support, I would also like to organize a street team to help advertise our stand. Please contact me if you are interested, you will get service hours and help the club out tons!
Before we go work at the lemonade stand on Wednesday, we will be having breakfast with the Southwest Kiwanians at their meeting. We need 3 more people to go, so let me know if you're interested. These meetings are at 7:00 in the morning (yes, you will have to wake up that early during summer!) at Rise & Shine (3636 Altamesa Blvd, right next to our school.)

III. August

The next board meeting is scheduled for August 3rd. While board meetings cater to the board and not regular members, any member is allowed to attend. This will be at my house, so let me know if you are interested in coming.
On August 3rd, 4th, and 5th, there will be a Leadership Conference at UTA. Student leaders from all over Tarrant County will be attending, and we would like some of our members to go and represent our club. If you wish to be an officer in the future, it is in your BEST interest to attend this. It is free but transportation will not be provided. Please contact Preston if you want to go!
I would like to schedule a regular meeting for members sometimes before August 10th! If I don't receive any input from anybody on when exactly to schedule it, I will throw a dart at a calendar to chose, so please let me know! We will talk about our plans for convention and committees, a chance for regular members to have leadership responsibilities.
The August DCM will be on August 20th and we need 4 people to go, but anybody can come. More details will be disclosed when they become available.
The Kiwanis Breakfast Meetings will be on the 5th and the 19th. We need 3 more people to go to each one, I will be at both. These meetings are at 7:00 in the morning at Rise & Shine (3636 Altamesa Blvd, right next to our school.) Let me know if you are planning on going!

July Newsletter v1

Contents:
I. Greetings and Salutations
II. Officers
III. ICON
IV. German Friends
V. DCM (B.U.Gs) (IF YOU ARE GOING TO READ ANY OF THIS MAKE SURE YOU READ THIS)
VI. The Rest of July
VII. August
VIII. 2009-2010 Theme

I. Greetings and Salutations

Well hello there! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and that this newsletter finds you well. Most people only hear of Key Club during the school year because announcements are made over a speaker for the whole school to hear daily. My objective in writing this is to keep communication open and informative to our members, something that has been severely disregarded in the past of our club. So let's get this show on the road already!

II.Officers and Other People You Should Know

Here's a list of the 2009-2010 officers and how you can reach them.

President: Alden Aldrich
Email: alden.aldrich.aa@gmail.com

Vice President: Amanda Martin

Vice President: Stefania Quevedo
Email: heydolly@live.com

Secretary: Nazia Shaikh
Email: smart.sweetgirl@hotmail.com

Assisstant Secretary: Katie Arellano
Email: katie_llano@yahoo.com

Editor: Lakendra Smith
Email: kendrafalsetto@yahoo.com

Faculty Advisor: Adriel Jones
Email: adriel.jones@fwisd.org

Historian: Alyssa Surita
Email: aberaly92@hellokitty.com

Parliamentarian: Jacqueline Romo
Email: jackiearomo@yahoo.com

Lieutenant Governor: Preston Ross
Email: prestonkeyclub@yahoo.com

Regional Advisor: Donna Newsham
Email: dnewsham@region7texokey.com

III. ICON

ICON was really fun! Parliamentarian Jackie Romo and Lt. Governor Preston Ross attended the 2009 International Convention this year and had a blast as was expected. We sent a crew of members over to Dallas to help out and here is picture proof.(Left to Right) Alyssa Surita, Me, Valerie Valtierra (North Crowley High School)
At the train station; you can't see it but we were all wearing white shorts too!Eric Bennet, Alyssa Surita, and Branford Murrell looking pretty in the mirror at the Sheraton Hotel.

IV. German Friends

After convention, three German students stayed with students from North Crowley High School. They held three socials, a night at Main Event, a movie night, and a pool party. Several of us went to Main Event to hang out, bowl, play laser tag and arcade games and the pool party. The Germans were impressed with Texas' highways and ice cream.

V. DCM (B.U.Gs)

I attended the July 16th District Council Meeting of our local Kiwanians. The B.U.Gs program was a major emphasis (B.U.G.s stands for "Bring Up Grades.") In this program, elementary school children are challenged to bring their report card grades up atleast one letter grade. I think this would be a great program for us to work with the Southwest Kiwanis Club to implement at Woodway, J.T. Stevens, Bruce Shulkey, or Westcreek Elementary. I would like to know thoughts or opinions on this to see if it is possible to make this happen!

VI. The Rest of July

Preston spoke to me over the phone and told me he is planning a Presidential Council Meeting (PCM,) likely to be on the 28th of July. It will either be at the new Putt Putt in Burleson or Red, Hot & Blues on Hulen Street, so it sounds like this should be a lot of fun! PCMs are for the Lt. Governors to keep their club presidents informed, but any member is invited to attend. If you are interested, please contact me any way possible, give me a way to contact you, and I will be sure to inform you of what the final plans are as soon as I find out!

VII. August

August is an important month for us. Usually it is when we do most of our recruiting and this year we will start recruiting before the school year even starts! I will be at the Fish Camp promoting Key Club and I would like to have some help by some actual members, not just officers! Fish Camp will be August the 10th through 12th I believe, at Southwest High School. We need decorations, information, and people to sit there and answer all those curious Freshmens questions and get our club out there! Please inquire if you want to join in on the fun!

VIII. 2009-2010 Theme

Our theme for the 2009-2010 year will be TV Shows! We think this will be an easy theme to tie in to many aspects of Key Club, and I challenge all members to think of ideas to tie into this theme. The theme is used for club promotion and there are a lot of competitions at District Convention for us to enter. If you think of something and let me or Alyssa Surita know about it, you will be awarded half a point, which are good towards becoming member of the month and are totalled up to decide member of the year, so get to it!

If you have any insight to give, advice, questions, comments, opinions, event you would like to tell us about, just give any of the officers a holler. We need to work hard this year, not only because we care or because it's fun, but also because we want a better placement than #8 club overall in the Texas-Oklahoma District!