Here are many additional major club events that we were unable to cover in the paper due to space limitations.
By: Vivian Jair, Anjali Kanthilal, Kerrie Wu, Anna Zeng & Lindy Zeng
Last summer Ubuntu Athletics teamed up with Myndflex Day Care at Forest Park, offering sports training to 8-12 year-olds. The sessions were 1-4 PM from June 24th – August 16th. The network of 25 volunteer coaches, most of whom are varsity level athletes, served as leaders and provided training. Over 900 volunteer hours were spent and $2800 raised, which will be used to provide athletic and academic opportunities to underprivileged kids in India, Mexico, and the Bay Area.
Computer Science Club organizes a field trip every June to the ComputerScienceHistoryMuseum in Mountain View. This summer they learned about the progression of technology in the past hundred years through machinery and demonstrations. (There was even an iPhone in a glass case.)
Every year, MSJ Key Club, along with all of the Key Clubs in Northern California gather at Six Flag’s Discovery Kingdom for a day full of rallying, unlimited drink wristbands, and fundraising known as Fall Rally North (FRN). This year’s FRN will take place on October 19th.
MSJ Speech will participate in two major tournaments: League 1 Tournament on October 28, and the Santa Clara Invitational at the end of November. Signups occur earlier each month. There will also be a Speech and tentative Debate Showcase in late May to watch performers and fundraise for tournaments.
FTC, First Tech Challenge, is an annual international Tech and Robotics competition in which teams from of ten students design, build, and program an 18 by 18 inch robot on a game challenge presented in the beginning of the school year. Previous FTC challenges have involved robots maneuvering hockey pucks, rings, and bowling balls to score points and achieve objectives. In January, MissionSan JoseHigh School will again be hosting our own FTC qualifier where 16 teams from all across the state will come to compete.
MSJ DECA held a two day summer workshop for incoming freshmen and new DECA members this past summer. DECA taught them the fundamentals of business, finance, marketing, and entrepreneurship, brought in guest speakers, had them make business plan presentations, and even give impromptu presentations. DECA will be attending four conferences: LDCEC on November 15-17, SVCDC on January 3-5, SCDC on February 6-9, and ICDC on May 2-7.
Elementary School Demonstrations and Recyclable Aluminum Competition
Mission Energy volunteers educate local elementary students about the benefits of green energy. Mission Energy also aims to collect as much recyclable aluminum as possible. Bags will be sent to every third period class for student donations. The class who donates the most aluminum by weight will win an awesome prize!
The Fall Leadership Conference is an annual Interact conference at IndependenceHigh School held this year on October 13th, 2013, where the coming year’s international and community projects of the Bay Area will be released. Interactors from all over District 5170 attend this event to improve leadership through workshops and special guest speakers.
American Cancer Society will be hosting its annual Message in a Bottle fundraiser in both December and February. The club will be selling personalizable Christmas themed or Valentine’s Day themed bottles. The fundraiser will contribute to ACS’s goal to donate $1000 to cancer research by the end of December 2013.
In May 2014, MSJHS Medcorps will be hosting its annual Health and Wellness Fair in partnership with Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Sutter Health, SAVE, and Tri-City Health Clinic. Attendance is mandatory for freshman and sophomores, who will explore the informational booths set up in the Gym Quad with their PE class on the day of the event. Medcorps will also provide nutritious snacks!
Usually once a year, Writer’s Block offers a school wide writing contest with prizes of gift cards or pizza parties. This year, we plan on also spotlighting the winners’ pieces online on our website. The contest usually has a creative prompt, such as last year’s 50 Words Contest, the year before’s “Fairy Tale Remake,” and two years prior’s “No Main Character” requirement.
Phoenix: Art and Literary Magazine usually holds a Poetry Slam, either at Mission Coffee or the Little Theater, where they feature talented musicians, dancers, and poets. The money from this major event fundraises for the annual magazine, which is published and sold in late May or June. They begin collecting submissions for the magazine and select top-quality photographs, paintings, poems, prose, and essays from MSJ students earlier that year in March or April.
This past summer, several Green Club members began working on MSJ’s new garden, which was created last school year on the old vandal watch lot. A group of volunteers planted flowers and watermelons, transformed a wooden board on the house into a chalkboard and bulletin board, and re-purposed an old gate door and leftover wood into a table and a bench.
MSJ Debate will be attending tournaments throughout the school year and the biggest one will be the Santa Clara Invitational on November 22-24. MSJ has a great track record at this tournament with numerous debaters breaking into and winning elimination rounds in the past.
The following blurbs provide more information on events we covered in the paper:
iKnit teaches members how to knit and crochet scarves for San Francisco’s homeless. Every Christmas, these scarves are gifted to the homeless through the Scarves for St. Anthony’s charity program. Last year, iKnit donated a total of 79 scarves to the program, and members also received service hours for each scarf they made.
Food for Thought’s annual chocolate tasting is set for Friday, October 11, in which members will sample and discuss the tones and textures in chocolates from around the world (in the past, they’ve tried Belgian, Swiss, bacon, and more). To attend the tasting in P6, bring the membership fee of $5.
MSJ Future Business Leaders of America will have the Bay Section Conference is on March 1 at HomesteadHigh School. Our State Conference is on April 10-13 in Ontario, California.
HOSA, a national health-care and medical organization for students, will have the of the annual State Leadership Conference in late March, which is eligible to all students. There are all sorts of events, ranging from Biomedical Debate, HOSA Bowl, Veterinary Sciences, and more!
The Spanish Honors Society will be attending the theatrical adaption of “Macario”, an award-winning film, between October 10-20. The play will be performed at the Mexican Heritage Plaza Theater in San Jose. Tickets will be available soon, first come first serve, at meetings.
MSJ Junior Statesman of America (JSA) will be having its first out of two “Join the Movement” night with the theme of gender equality. They will be playing a related movie, and all the money will be donated to a related organization. This will be a joint event with all the JSA chapters in FUSD. The tentative date is Saturday, November 9th, 2013.
MSJ Science For Youth (SciFY) holds sessions in the Fremont Main Library for young children, inspiring them to pursue science. Each session consists of a short presentation on a scientific topic, followed by a hands-on activity. Past topics have included electricity, cell biology, and properties of water.
Awareness Club for Endangered Species (ACES) will be holding an art contest to support our endangered animals and to celebrate this year’s Endangered Species Day on May 17th. The winning artwork from its art contest in March will have a place on the ACES t-shirts. All the proceeds will go to the World Wildlife Fund to help protect endangered species.
National Art Honor Society will exhibit different forms of artwork submitted to art club by artists at MSJ (club members AND nonmembers) in their 2nd Annual Art Club Exhibition. Artwork will be posted at Bay Street Coffee for an entire month and there will be a reception at Bay Street Coffee on the first night of the exhibition. Submissions open in October.
This year the Chinese Chess Club has contacted the San Francisco Chinese Chess Association, which will be hosting an open competition for the public in October. MSJ Chinese Chess Club has been invited to attend.
The California Scholarship Federation will be handing treats and talking to the elderly at retirement homes in their Reverse Trick-or-Treat event in October and volunteering at the Tri-City Food Bank in November. The federation will have a ThinkTank Guest Speaker answer student questions in February.
Mission: SOS will be participating in the Stanford Challenge Success Conference on October 4, as well as a Health and Wellness Fair in early May. There will also be a Rising Seniors Workshop in May. Look forward to two Surprise Stress Free Day’s this year!
Every year, Universal Performers has a fall play, and this year it is Alice in Wonderland. The show will take place November 8th, 9th, 15th, and 16th.
Model United Nations is an international forum for debating and negotiating solutions to world issues, with conferences simulating how the United Nations operates. The club helps prepare students for the conferences it attends; upcoming conventions include the Contra Costa Model UN Conference on November 1-2, and the Stanford Model UN Conference on November 15-17.
