S T U Y K E Y C L U B

345 Chambers Street New York, NY 10282 USA

Official Newsletter of Stuyvesant High School Key Club

Volume 4 SPECIAL INDUCTION ISSUE

The Locksmith

INDUCTION ISSUE

UPCOMING EVENTS!

Visit our calendar and sign-up for events on our website! STAY ACTIVE OVER THE SUMMER!!!

Table of Contents

AIDS Walk

Briefing

Tutoring

End of the Year Checklist

Farewell from Gavin

Farewell form Victoria

Farewell from Kenny

Farewell from Adeline

Farewell from Victor

Reflections

End

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3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

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1

Brought to you by the Locksmith

Committee and Editor

Retirees and Inductees!!

AIDS Walk

It’s 4AM and I’m Out to AIDS Walk

By Michelle Chen

Ring! Ring! Its 4 AM and it's time to get

up. It was May 17th, 2009, the day of the AIDS

walk. The event started at 6:45 AM for volunteers

and we had already received a shirt from the orien-

tation on Tuesday. Getting to the event was a pain

because of the lack of mass transit and delays. Vic-

toria, Amy Jeshipio, Ken, and I, had to transfer

three times!!! The day started out on the wrong

foot but the MTA flaws did not stop us from going

to the event. After a painstakingly long train ride,

we reached the Bandshell at Central Park. Once we

checked in, got coffee and some fat-free doughnuts

(Yuck!), we waited at the 72nd Street entrance to

be put into position. While Victoria, Amy,

Jeshipio, and I got put into the same group, Xu Yu

and Olivia were placed several blocks away.

Once we arrived at our stations, which took a while because we had to go back to pick up someone,

we were left in the cold with our neon yellow hats. The weather didn’t help us at all, being windy and all.

Poles that were setup to keep people on the right side of the road were falling down. We did nothing for an

hour since we were at the later half of the walk. Slowly, trickles of people started to come. We stopped

them when cars had to pass but as more people came, it was hard to control the crowd. The crowd was

rowdy and ignored what we said. Our job was trying to prevent people from getting run over but when we

tried to stop them, they ignored us and kept going. When a dance crew came to practice, people started to

listen to us. They had actually stopped but it was to the point where they were standing in the middle of the

road. These group of people stopped traffic and it was worse than before. Eventually, we had to ask the

dance crew to stop practicing so that the crowd could keep moving. Soon, the walk ended with a lot of

trash on the floor. Amy, Victoria, and I got a lift to 76th Street while Olivia, Xu Yu, and Jeshipio ended us

cleaning. After thousands or people walked past, there was a lot of trash left over but we got started and

finished in no time.

Although this event wasn’t the best event, it was a learning experience. Some people are ignorant

and like to avoid warning given by other people and as a volunteer you still have to try your best to get

them to follow the rules. But this walk was for a good cause and just because some people are like that

crowd, doesn’t mean that it should prevent you from volunteering for events such as these. It provides a

new challenge to your skills as a leader and from these events you begin to turn into a person who the large

crowd can no longer ignore.

2

Community Gardens

Briefing

HE FIRST COMMUNITY GARDEN IN THE

United States was established by Europeans near the

city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina in the early

1700s. Three hundred years later, the garden is still running.

And in a society that is becoming more concerned with its

environmental impact, community gardens like it are needed

now more than ever. Community gardens allow members to

grow their own food and others to donate what they have

grown. They foster an environment of collaboration and

openness that hippies could only dream of creating. The

community garden movement was at its height in the 1970s

in response to the ecological movements of the 60s. With the

creation of various federal programs, the movement

continued into the early 90s, as gardens began to spring up in

urban areas plagued with crime and vandalism. The

American Community Gardening Association was formed in

1979 to encourage the creation of more public gardens. Like

public parks, community gardens are open to everyone and

are often used for social gatherings, education and recreation

and provide green space in urban communities. Unlike the

traditional public parks, though, these gardens are not run by

professional staff members but by volunteers and gardeners

who live around them. The survival of a garden is dependent

on the dedication of the people who work to preserve it. It is

as much a political statement as it is a beautification effort.

Community gardens foster political empowerment, bringing

different constituents together in a common cause. In a

sense, they are the modern version of the Greek agora, the

medieval town square or the New England commons. It is a

place that inspires shared action.—BY GAVIN HUANG

Fruits of labor Gardens

allow members of the

community to plant their

own food and often

thrive on community and

volunteer support.

PLANTING SEEDS

1700 The first community garden in the U.S. is formed in North Carolina.

1970 Community gardens begin to receive federal funding and support.

1976 The Union Square Greenmarket begins to provide regional farmers the opportunity to sell organic

foods grown in local farms.

1978 The NYC Parks Department establishes the Green Thumb program to help create community gardens throughout the city.

T

THE REVIEW

River to River Festival

MOTHER NATURE TOOK OUT

its anger on the River to River

Festival last year. You can’t stop her.

You can only be very frustrated like I

was during the countless times I had to

walk back to the subway after hearing,

“Sorry boys, we cancelled it. It’s

going to be raining hard soon”. One

year has passed and those days remain

fresh in my mind as I walked around

the World Financial Center, looking

for the volunteer coordinator I talked

to for about an hour. Once the

formalities of introduction were done,

we began our task. Since it was a

kickoff, we needed to help announce

to the public the free summer-long

River to River Festival. We handed

out programs that detailed every event

this summer. When the supply began

to run low due to our quick pace, we

handed out CDs and flyers until they

restocked. Soon, the 12-hour festival

kickoff began. The music was

fantastic. It was tough when people

walked past and ignored the fact that

we were trying to give them

something. We just moved on and

gave the programs to people who were

interested. The most effective method

was to wait in front of the entrance

and hand out programs there. It also

helped to yell “SUMMER-LONG

FREE EVENTS.” Eventually, people

began to stay in the plaza and it was

harder to find people who hadn’t

received a copy. Many events are

coming up. School will be out soon, so

I recommend you get out and enjoy

the festival.—BY JENSEN CHEONG

SKIP

CONSIDER

GO ✔

SEWARD LIBRARY TUTORING

Tutoring

If there’s anything I learned while tutoring at Seward

Park Library in Manhattan, it’s that kids are very persis-

tent.

Most of the time it is a good thing, because that

shows me how much they’re willing to learn and how

much they care about their academic performance. But

other times, this aspect does make it difficult to try and

steer them back towards math when they get side-

tracked. However, regardless of which situation I’m put

in, it is a rewarding experience when I can see them visi-

bly improve each week and become more interested in

the wide range of things they have yet to learn. Before

this, I never realized just how much effort it takes to tu-

tor. Granted, it does have its moments, but it is in fact

quite challenging. I have to keep in mind what each per-

son needs and work with them each individu-

ally. Throughout my experience with tutoring, I found

that it’s not only important but crucial to devote your

time to answering their questions and explaining how to

do a certain problem when they don’t understand

it. This helps me to not only understand the range of

things that they learned in school but to help them pro-

gress even further in their studies.

“So, what have you been learning in school?” This

was the way I greeted everyone when I came and each

time they would immediately go into the things that they

were having trouble with. It was only more confusing

when concerned parents/grandparents began telling me

what their child needed to learn. I tried to keep every-

thing straight in my mind. Linda needed help with alge-

bra problems. David had to work on square root prob-

lems. I needed to get Josh to at least the fourth-grade

level in his multiplication tables. And there were three

Amys: the first one had to focus on improving her long

division, the second had to memorize different equations

involving surface area, and the third wasn’t here for

math help but wanted to learn something beyond her

grade level. Just another typical day of tutoring.

After giving each of the kids work to do and using

one of the problems that Linda had as an explanation to

do the rest, I turned my attention to the third Amy. Ac-

tually, I couldn’t remember seeing her before and I

asked if she was new and what school she had come

from. Can you imagine my surprise when she said that

she came from Lab, my old middle school? Immedi-

ately we launched into a discussion about her teachers

and the people there but as much as I wanted to find out

what was going on at my old school, I directed the con-

versation to math. She was in the math team as well

but she felt that the things she was learning in class

weren’t challenging enough for her. Just for fun, I de-

cided to teach her how to do quadratic equations. She

picked it up in no time and again, I was surprised.

Every week I would move on to something new and

Amy had no trouble understanding anything that I

taught her. She even begged Kenny, math whiz/

secretary of our Key Club, to teach her calculus and

stayed long after the two hours that we held our tutor-

ing sessions. Even the other tutors crowded around

when Kenny taught her what the centroid, orthocenter,

etc. of a triangle was. And when Kenny wasn’t here,

sometimes even I was unsure of what to teach her and

eventually I ended up teaching her the same things I

was learning in my own math class. I’ll admit it, I was

a little proud of her. She was really smart and seemed

to be interested in learning more about math than any-

one I had ever met.

However, Amy wasn’t the only person I was espe-

cially proud of. There’s also Kevin, the little first-

grader I tutored. A few weeks had passed and he was

still having trouble with subtraction. Every time I

thought that he was finally getting it, he completely

forgot how to do it in the next five minutes. Even so, I

kept on coaching him and encouraging him. I helped

him through each of the problems I gave him and after-

wards, let him try to figure them out on his own by us-

ing what I had taught him. And then finally, he got one

right. And the next one. And the one after that. It

4

By Fannie Law

SEWARD LIBRARY TUTORING [CONTINUED]

End of Year Checklist

5

By Sharif Mahfouz

might not seem like such a big accomplishment, but I

can’t express how relived I was. I had doubted my

ability to teach but I really felt that I had made a huge

impact. Call it overexcitement, but I was really proud

of him at that moment.

In fact, I guess I am proud of all of the kids that I

tutor. Even if it’s only for a few hours, I really feel that

I’m helping them to progress and become more inter-

ested in math. I see how they improve over time and

convince myself that maybe I am doing something im-

portant; maybe I am actually helping them. I hope that

I am guiding them towards academic improvement and

that these aren’t just tutoring sessions to them, but an

open door, another chance to improve. Math probably

won’t become their best subject just yet, but I’m trying

to make it happen each week.

Kevin’s moving on to subtracting with bigger num-

bers. And I’m planning to teach Amy basic trigonome-

try. I’m sure Linda will have something to ask me

about on her homework and there will be a number of

concerned parents looking over my shoulder

again. Josh is already long past memorizing the multi-

plication tables and David will probably be ready for

learning more about radical numbers. I guess I’m al-

ready looking forward to next week.

As the year approaches it’s end, see what you’ve

accomplished this Key Club year. Your Locksmith commit-

tee chairs compiled a list of accomplishments you can have

obtained throughout the year. For every check you have got-

ten, give yourself a point. At the end, you can see how much

you’ve accomplished this year. Didn’t get so much done?

Don’t worry! There’s always next year!

Points

� Achieved 60 Points

� Achieved 600 Points

� Achieved 1500 Points

� Achieved 3000 Points

� Achieved 6000 Points

� Achieved OVER 9000

POINTS

Events

� Participated in MSABC

� Participated in March of Dimes

� Participated in AIDS Walk

� Participated in at least one tutoring event

� Participated in at least one Divisional

� Participated in Pre-Induction

� Went to LTC

� Attended at least 8 meetings

Committee Work

� Joined one or more committees

� Helped with the Art Scrapbook OR PR Poster (for LTC)

� Celebrated the scrapbook’s

success by destroying it

� Written at least 1 Locksmith

issue

� Written at least 3 Locksmith

issues

� Written at least 5 Locksmith

issues

� Received a Complimentary

Card from the Editor

� Helped in at least 1 bake sale

� Helped in at least 3 bake sales

� Signed at least 1 advocacy letter

� Signed at least 3 advocacy letters

FAREWELL FROM GAVIN

Gavin Huang

In his farewell address to the nation, George Washington warned the United States of foreign en-

tanglements. Dwight D. Eisenhower warned Americans of the increasing military-industrial complex. Bill

Clinton reminded the nation to remain fiscally stable, clearly something we didn’t follow through with.

And what of my “farewell address”? What warning can I give to my fellow Americans…Key Clubbers?

What encroaching danger threatens our peace and freedom here at home…in school? Procrastination?

Laziness? Teachers? The increasingly oppressive administration? The kind of people Holden Caulfield

himself would call phonies? What principles guide our lives as students? I have another year to find out.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, the greatest U.S. president to ever walk the Earth on crutches, delivered a

State of the Union Address to the Congress on January 6, 1941 that defined four basic liberties, Four Free-

doms, every human in the world is fundamentally entitled to. These freedoms―freedom of speech, free-

dom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear―form the foundation of a Great Society, a

society free from poverty, from war, from oppression and depression, from recession and insurrection.

From these freedoms, we form a society where no man is without bread, where every man is a king, and

no one wears a crown.

It’s not communism. It’s socialism―and we don’t even call it socialism. We call it government

intervention. We call it taxpayer bailout. We call it giving a hand to a brother from another mother. We

call it caring. I will add another freedom to Roosevelt’s list: freedom from phonies. Freedom from insin-

cerity, freedom from ill will, freedom from forces which tend to undermine the institutions that we hold

dear. Freedom from phonies.

And here comes the lecture on the unimportance of points, but here’s a twist. Here comes the lec-

ture on the unimportance of points in the context of the great J.D. Salinger work (and perhaps J.D. Salin-

ger’s only work), The Catcher in the Rye. While you sit in your chair, not listening to what the people up

there have to say, while you wait for everything to be done so you can just get your certificate telling you

you’ve done the 25-hour minimum, thinking about maybe the college you’re going to, there are real peo-

ple with real problems. Forget your relationship woes, your 90 average, your oh-my-god-I-didn’t-get-into-

AP-comp-sci woes. Because that poster child isn’t just a poster child. That’s a real child, and that’s a real

photograph of someone real. Someone who is really

suffering, really starving, hungry for food, hungry for

a Great Society.

The Great Society began with Lyndon B.

Johnson. The Great Society began with Medicare,

then Medicaid. The Great Society began in Michigan.

It began in the halls and spilled out onto the campus

and onto the floors of Congress. We will rise again.

The students shall rise again. And we will remember

the year the passion died. The year life became a cy-

cle of boredom and lull, when college was the only

thing we cared about, when greed, lust, and the five

other deadly sins triumphed. This will not be the year.

And you will not be the victim.

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FAREWELL FROM VICTORIA

Key Club has been an enormous part of my entire high school career. I remember that when I

first encountered Key Club it had been in the 8th grade. At that time, my sister had joined her high

school’s Key Club. And from then on, I promised myself that I would join my future high school’s Key

Club.

I don’t think there has been anything in my life (aside from my family) that has had as big of an

impact on me as Key Club. Through Key Club I gained not only valuable leadership and communication

skills but also unforgettable memories and the coolest friends ever imaginable.

And it was through Key Club that I became more connected with the community because I ob-

tained a plethora of volunteer opportunities through the club. And because Key Club has given me so

much, I had decided January of last year to give back to Key Club by going for the position of Vice

President.

For a year now, I have gained an experience that will be with me for the rest of my life. I am

truly grateful towards Key Club and my fellow cabinet members for such an awesome year. All the pel-

vic thrusts and the “UH”s and the Beaver Dance and meeting all the cool people from all over the state

will be with me forever. And I will always remember all the crazy moments I have had this past year

(including all the girl talks that happened late at night during DCON and LTC).

Whether it’s attending hour-long divisional meetings, trying to come up with an icebreaker for

the meeting with Gavin, going to central park at 5 in the morning to going for Divisional Executive As-

sistant, I have never felt happier in my life. Whenever I know I’m about to do something related to Key

Club I instantly go in what I call my Key Club mode (which is basically being cheerful, loud and hyper).

I’m going to miss Key Club, but luckily I still have another year before I leave for college :D

And though it saddens me that the time has come, my term is now over and it is time for me to

hand down my duties to the new cabinet who I know will do a fantastic job this coming service year. I

wish them all the best of luck, and since I’ll still be here they can always find me if they have any ques-

tions. And to end this KC-styled…BOOMBA!

With Lots of Love and Caring,

Victoria Tsang

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Victoria Tsang

FAREWELL FROM KENNY

Kenny Yu

Hey Key Clubbers! It’s been an awesome and very successful year, and I want to thank all of you

for being so involved and enthusiastic about this club! I may not be graduating this year, but I am sad to

step down as your secretary. I regret not getting to know all of you, and for those that I got to know this

year through meetings and events, you guys have been the highlight of Key Club for me. Luckily, I have

another year to get to know the rest of you!

I still remember the day that I joined Key Club—it was the second week of October almost three

years ago. My friends and I entered the room slowly and nervously, unsure what Key Club was or why

Stuy would have a club about keys. I remember seeing the cafeteria was full of people all running around

talking about the latest events, but I didn’t have a clue what they were talking about then. But then the bell

rang, people sat down, and the cabinet’s infectious smiles got everyone pumped and laughing as they por-

trayed their skit about “Boomba” in a bar. Courtney, the president, started talking about events, and Rich-

ard Huang, who you all remember as the president last year, talked about how he was volunteering at the

New Visions Garden event when he broke his shovel. The members all laughed together, and I saw just

how much of a family Key Club was. That was why I joined Key Club, and I hope that Key Club is as

much a family to you as it is to me.

Thanks for an awesome year, and hopefully we’ll have an even better one!

-Kenny Yu

8

FAREWELL FROM ADELINE

Adeline Yeo

Hey all!

It is a bittersweet feeling to say farewell to my year as treasurer. On the one hand, I will certainly

miss collecting dues and organizing events; yet on the other hand, I know your new treasurer, Sarah Zhao,

will do an AMAZING job for the 09-10 year. Through this past year and my role as Stuyvesant High

School Key Club's treasurer, I have learned so much more about Key Club than I had ever expected to. I

have learned how huge and influential Key Club is, both at the state level, and the international level.

Through Key Club, I have also met so many great people--at the District Convention and various

events. It's such a great feeling to know that there are other people who are also passionate about the

causes Key Club represents. And I think it's really awesome that we represent such positive, moral values

at Stuyvesant High School. I remember going to Key Club meetings, and seeing the several fifty or so

people who always show up, and it makes me really inspired to see such dedication. It is this commitment

and moral shown by Key Club members that makes me such a proud member of this organization. And

although I will not be Key Club's treasurer anymore, I will certainly be rooting on Sarah as well as the rest

of the Cabinet of 09-10; I have no doubt that they will do a fantastic job.

Your 08-09 Treasurer,

Adeline Yeo

9

AWAR

FAREWELL FROM VICTOR

This sentence has thirty-three letters. Being a Stuy student, you probably don’t believe me

unless you count it yourself. Okay. However, I’m here to write a letter (this is a letter) to all of you.

Now let’s all hear about how we joined Key Club. I was at the club/pub fair freshman year

and the Key Club table was in the middle of everything and the people at the table were the lou…

most enthusiastic and then I joined and then I found out it was a community service club. Cool.

It would turn out to be one of the better choices in high school. From Courtney to Richard to

Gavin to Bette, Key Club has been led by wonderful, capable and competent leaders. As web com-

mittee head and your previous editor, I’ll miss those fun times. Meeting new people at divisionals and

district convention was an amazing part of the experience.

I hope my newsletters weren’t that bad. I’ll look back and reminisce at the uncountable times

Gavin has called and yelled at me to either send out an email or finish the Locksmith. I remember the

days when I was super, super dedicated waking up at 5:30 in the morning and heading out to Central

Park. Some people (the second Huang) could never wake up early for events in the morning. I’ll also

remember Yahoo mail’s buggy interface and the crappy spam filter that could never distinguish be-

tween spam and ham.

Serving on your 08-09 cabinet has been an honor. To be part of one of the world’s largest

youth organizations and to be sponsored by generous Kiwanians. To take calls and help lost Key

Clubbers at an event find their way. To organize some events and make the Sichuan earthquake dona-

tions a success.

My Key Club years have been amazing, and all you Key Clubbers have made it a lot of fun. I

have no doubt that this year’s cabinet will do a superb job. Go Jensen! I’m saying farewell, but I’ll be

sticking around for another year.

- Victor Ma

10

Victor Ma

Reflecting Over the Year ‘08-’09

11

www.stuykc.org

a Kiwanis-family member

www.keyclub.org

A Small Word

GOOD LUCK to ALL of our members,

officers, and seniors!

Stay active over the summer!

See ya in September!

...and remember to send locksmith articles and pictures!

12

We’ll miss you guys!

I pledge, on my honor

to uphold the objects of Key

Club International,

to build my home, school, and

community,

to serve my nation and god,

and to combat all forces which

tend to undermine these institu-

tions.

Current Cab