As the new school year is approaching, many students chose to be part of some clubs at school. There are many clubs to choose from, but many students participate in Key Club. This year, the club is very active.

Key Club is an international student-led high school organization, sponsored by Kiwanis International. Which provides its members with opportunities to build character and develop leadership. Student members of Key Club attend many events which perform acts of service in their communities and help children around the world. Board members also learn leadership skills by running meetings, planning projects, and have opportunities to run for positions in district and international levels.

Key Club was established in 2010 at Yorba Linda High School and has gradually grown over the years. This year, new elected board members are working hard to run the club to it’s best. Koorous Vargha (12), the 16-17 key club president stated, “Some key goals that I plan to make for the club to be more inclusive, with a variety of service projects, and to crush our fundraising goals. Key Club is different from other clubs, because our service projects are coordinated with other high school Key Clubs in Orange County. This allows members to meet new people, serve the community, and have fun at same time.”

Key Club offers its members numerous community service events throughout the year, such as food bank packing, beach cleaning, stepout walks, tree planting, liquid run and more. Koorous Vargha (12) mentioned, “Due to our large member count, our club can fundraise enormous amounts of money that other clubs weren’t able to do. Currently, we’re doing Trick Or Treat For UNICEF, which fundraises towards the ELIMINATE Project, which is a campaign to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus—a deadly disease that steals the lives of nearly 49,000 innocent babies and a significant number of women each year. Our club has a major impact on our community and I’m amazed of what a group effort is capable of.”

Daniela Zirkle (11), being the event coordinator of YL Key Club, definitely thinks Key Club is for students who want to make a positive impact towards society, “I feel proud to be apart of such a global organization that honestly makes an impact all over the world. As Key Club members, we not only have the opportunity to network with like minded, hard working high school individuals all across California, Nevada, and Hawaii regions, but we are also given the chance every month to do immediate change in our community ranging from helping the homeless to planting a tree for the city.”

Key Club is off to a great start this year; Daniela Zirkle (11) continued, “Like everything else there is always change. And this years Key Club is different from all previous years. I would say there are positives and negatives, but overall it is good to have change because you get the opportunity see what works and what doesn’t. My duties as a board member in our club are to organize the events. I also contact outside volunteer coordinators to find events for our members to participate in and impact our community.”

YLHS Key Club Board Members 16-17

President – Koorous Vargha(12)

Vice President – Katrina Wynn (10)

Secretary – Garrett Deang(12)

Treasurer – Michael Torres(12)

Fundraiser Coordinator – Sebastian Dement(12)

Special Event Coordinator – Daniela Zirkle(11)

Co-Membership Coordinator – Ashley Bui Tran(10) (Membership Services)

Co-Membership Coordinator – Alex Tang(12) (Membership Outreach)

Historian/Bulletin Editor – Maggie Shi(12)

Co-Publicist – Jasmine Yu (12)

Co-Publicist/Tech Editor – Christine Ding(10)