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The Official Student Paper of Riverside Poly High School

The Sum of Its Parts

Jan 11, 2013

13 January 2013

CLUBS: Clubs across Poly’s campus do their part to ring in the holiday spirit.

By Kira Roybal, Staff writer

This season, your home has probably received letters asking for donations for the homeless. And you have probably noticed the Salvation Army volunteers ringing their bells outside of stores like Ralphs and Rite-Aid. This charitable spirit can only mean one thing: it is time for the holiday season to ring in its cheer. There is just a special something about the most wonderful time of the year that prompts people to open up their pocketbooks and give, give, give back to the community.

A single individual can contribute to a cause. A group of these individuals can put the goals of a charity into action. Clubs around Poly’s campus have taken this idea to heart in order to not only make the holiday season memorable for those in need but also bring cheer to those hectic pre-winter vacation school days.

Culinary Club is one of the newest activities that Poly’s students can take part in. Staying true to its cooking roots, the club baked candy graham reindeer cookies for the seniors at Sunrise Senior Living, a retirement home for the elderly. Alyssa Candelario (11), the president of Culinary Club, believes it is important to let these senior citizens know that someone does care about their welfare, especially since a number of them spend the Christmas season alone. “They are remembered, not forgotten,” Candelario said.

Other clubs on campus are bringing the holiday spirit closer to Poly. Fashion Club held its annual Christmas sweater contest. This competition is not just for the average sweater, though; only the tackiest, ugliest and gaudiest ones can win. Student judges select a lucky winner based on these criteria and award him or her the prize: a gift card. Fashion Club’s festivities also included a photo booth.

Bear Pals, led by Kash Mattson (12) and Carly Comer (12), created warm holiday memories with the special education students at Poly. The club members and students decorated cookies to upstart in their holiday cheer in a sweet way. Club members also gave gifts to the special education students to show them that they are a key part of Poly’s student community.

The club members of Cancer Answer expanded their acts of goodwill outside of Poly. They created Christmas cards for the young patients at Loma Linda Children’s Hospital. Ary Ochoa (11), the vice president of Cancer Answer, stated that the ailing children and their parents are constantly in a state of uncertainty. “We need to support them,” Ochoa said.

Catholic Club is also spreading holiday cheer throughout the community. Aside from celebrating Christmas with their own Secret Santa gift exchange, the members of Catholic Club are participating in charity events throughout Riverside. The events range from creating crafts with children to dressing up as the big red man with the long white beard, Santa Claus. “[Christmas is] the one time of year people get to give gifts and show how much they care,” Isis Leon (11), the president of Catholic Club, said.

BSU and Mecha partnered for a charitable event that the entire school could participate in. Students were asked to donate canned food and toys throughout the month of December. What happens to all of the donated food and toys? Well, the toys are given to the Salvation Army and the canned food is organized into care packages for families in need.

The care packages hit closer to home than you may think. The school administration estimated that at least six Poly High School families will need a care package for the Christmas season. Along with the donated canned food, gift certificates were also added to the packages; these gift certificates were paid for with the money Poly’s special education students collected by recycling bottles and cans.

Care packages do not organize themselves, though. Student volunteers, like those from Poly’s Key Club, carefully arranged the packages so that each of the families in need would receive a variety of food; after all, one family cannot get twenty-five cans of beans and another get thirty cans of meat sauce. Creating the care packages was the work of Poly High School’s very own student community.

Poly’s Key Club is part of an international student-led organization that emphasizes community service over material whims. It is led by Kiwanis International, a global organization dedicated to creating better communities worldwide. This year, Poly’s Key Club members plan to attend Kiwanis float building for the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena.

Periodically, Key Club is observed by advisors; most recently Elizabeth Solrio, the advisor of three other Key Clubs in California and also the mother of Poly student Alanna Callow (11), visited the club members to raise their spirit and encourage their progress as community volunteers. The club learned a new Key Club chant while Ms. Solrio was there: when someone says, “Hey Key Clubers, how do you feel?” the members respond, “I feel good. Oh, I feel so good. I feel fine all of the time. A-booga, a-booga, a-booga-booga-booga.”

The ideology behind Key Club is true for all of Poly’s holiday-cheer-spreading clubs this season: they all pledge to build and uplift the home, school and community.

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