By Natalie Nguyen from Mansfield Lake Ridge High School

HOTO Prompt: How does being a part of Key Club show appreciation?

This November 11th, I was voluntold to help out with the Veterans Day Breakfast at Lake Ridge High School. I was super reluctant in helping out because that would have meant I would miss my AP Chemistry class U.S History class. However…

By Ryan Duong from Allen High School

HOTO Prompt: How has your club engaged with the Kiwanis Family (Aktion Club, K-Kids, CKI, Kiwanis, Builders Club) so far this year? Have you reached out to your local Kiwanis Club?

Throughout this year, our Key Club has actively engaged with the Kiwanis Family through meaningful service opportunities and collaborative events, strengthening our connections across all branches of the organization. Our involvement has not only deepened our understanding of Kiwanis values but has also created lasting relationships…

By Daylin Vo from Freeman High School

HOTO Prompt: Write about an event that either formed or strengthened your bonds with other members, relating your story to one of Key Club’s core values.

In moments when being physically together isn’t always possible, what matters most is the emotions and experiences that keep Key Club members connected and valued. One of the strongest examples of this for me was the end-of-year celebration held by Freeman High School Key Club, the Golden Keys. This event was our inaugural celebration…

By Ethan Tai from Clear Brook High School

HOTO Prompt: Autumn is the season of change. Discuss a time when your participation in a Key Club service project changed your perspective or taught you something new.

Autumn is a season of change-a reminder that sometimes transformation comes in small, quiet moments rather than dramatic shifts. For me, that moment came during a Key Club social. It wasn’t a large-scale service event, or a district convention, or a complicated volunteer project; it was a simple afternoon of pickleball and volleyball competitions-something meant just for fun…

By Tommy Ngo from J. Frank Dobie High School

HOTO Prompt: Discuss a time when your participation in a Key Club service project changed your perspective or taught you something new.

Nearly 300,000 people in Harris County rely on SNAP benefits, and almost 650,000 people qualify for federal assistance. That’s almost one million people in just my local community who struggle with food insecurity. When the government shutdown came into effect, millions of people in the United States, especially Texas residents, with the highest food insecurity rate…

By Aurora Martinez Gonzalez from Mount St. Mary's

HOTO Prompt: Are there any holiday-themed events/activities that your Key club is planning on participating in? Describe in detail.

This year, Mount St. Mary Key Club members had the opportunity to decorate Christmas trees at the J.D. McCarty Center as an act of service. The J.D. McCarty Center is a pediatric rehab hospital located in Norman, Oklahoma. The hospital serves children with developmental disabilities from birth to age 21 through inpatient, outpatient, and outreach services.…

By Mark Bloker from Mustang High School

HOTO Prompt: How has Key Club changed the way you see your community?

Before joining Key Club, I saw my community as an area of people and places - my school, parks, and neighbors. I never fully recognized the amount of effort and collaboration that went into keeping those spaces thriving. Through Key Club, my perspective changed. What once felt like a regular, somewhat basic town, became a network of citizens, organizations, and volunteers working together to make our space better for everyone.…

By Zariah Ware from Westside High School

HOTO Prompt: How has Key Club "opened doors to leadership” for you?

When I first joined Westside High School’s Key Club, I never imagined how much it would change the way I saw myself. At the time, I simply wanted to volunteer and meet new people. But through Key Club, I’ve discovered my confidence, learned to take initiative, and found my own voice as a leader.…

By Madeleine Barot from Garland High School

HOTO Prompt: Every club meeting has that one snack that disappears first. What’s the ultimate service project snack and how does it keep your club going?

There’s a saying for pretty much anything and everything. For the food you eat. For the clothes you wear. For the apple on the tree. But this one is one of my favorites. It’s corny, but it’s true what they say — life is like a sandwich. No matter which way you flip it, the bread always comes first.…

By Ryan Duong from Allen High School

HOTO Prompt: If Key Club had a reality show, what would it be called? Who would be the star? What kind of drama (or laughter) would happen at service projects and DCMs?

If Key Club had its own reality show, it would definitely be called “Keeping Up with Key Club.” The title captures that perfect mix of chaos, laughter, and heart that defines every Key Club meeting, service project, and DCMs. It would be the kind of show that starts with people handing out flyers and ends with a glitter explosion in the gym, part wholesome community service, part sitcom energy.…

By Glaiza Cerezo from Cypress Park High School

HOTO Prompt: What song do you associate with Key Club? How does it best reflect the core values of Key Club?

When I think of Key Club, I immediately think of Beaches by Beabadoobee. As an avid Beabadoobee listener, it’s a part of my agenda to spread the Beabadoobee’s fascinating lyricism, especially when it comes to relatable moments in life that play deep into my heartstrings. In particular, a few of her lyrics from Beaches instantly create a connection between Cypress Park Key Club and I.…

By Hannah Pham from J. Frank Dobie High School

HOTO Prompt: Is your club doing any Halloween-related service events this month?

October celebrates the festive holiday of Halloween, and with it comes a multitude of sweet service events to take part in! I love volunteering in October because of the variety of exciting volunteer opportunities that spring up in the midst of the spooktacular holiday! That being said, our event coordinators, Ingrid and Fabian, have put forth their best effort in October to schedule 9 Halloween-related service events that our members had the opportunity to take part in.…

By Sofia Barrera from Cypress Ridge High School

HOTO Prompt: How does your club plan on promoting the District Project, Service for Generations, this year?

This year, our Key Club is excited to support the district project, Service for Generations, by dedicating our efforts toward supporting the children and elderly in our community. We believe that service is most meaningful when it connects different age groups, allowing us to curate events that are enjoyable to all.…

By Aaron Shin from Frontier STEM Academy

HOTO Prompt: Does your club use social media to promote communication? If so, how?

During my time as a member and now officer of our Key Club, I have noticed that we have historically been considered one of the smaller and less active clubs, partly due to our school's relatively small population of around 360 students across all grade levels. However, this year, my fellow officers and I are determined to change that reputation.…

By Isaac Ma from James E. Taylor High School

HOTO Prompt: What are some ways your club encourages member participation?

Member participation is the foundation of a functioning and productive club. Our club encourages participation through reward systems and the strong sense of community developed by our Key Club officers.…

By Vivian Tran from Mansfield Lake Ridge High School

HOTO Prompt: What are your Key Club officers doing to stay connected?

The windy air and changing temperatures are the first indicators that fall is around the corner. Mansfield Lake Ridge Key Club officers decided to embrace the upcoming season by getting coffee together. On September 19, the weekend just before fall, the officers went to a coffee shop after a Kiwanis meeting to relax and chat.…

By Yana Tan-Huu from Cypress Woods High School

HOTO Prompt: If Key Club had a theme song, what would it be?

In Kenny Ortega’s High School Musical, the main conflict presented is the fragmentation of the student body through the use of cliques, which act as forms of separation to force students into linear lines that fail to cross paths.…

By Xyon Evans from Nederland High School

HOTO Prompt: Does your club use social media to promote communication? If so, how?

In today’s generation, up to 95% of teens use social media. We use it to do things such as accessing the news, expressing ourselves and our opinions, and most of all, communicating with friends and family. It’s not even just the teenagers, social media has taken the world by storm…

By Brian Wen from Santa Fe High School

HOTO Prompt: If you could design a dream service project with unlimited time and resources, what would it look like?

If I said everyone in the whole wide world had equal chances, you would probably say I’m wrong. Which I am, not everyone in the world is fortunate enough to have the resources we have. From clean drinking water to lack of education, many people are fighting just to survive.…

By Chloe Tang from Cypress Creek High School

HOTO Prompt: What’s a small but meaningful Key Club memory that has stuck with you this year?

Key Club has provided me with dozens of memories, whether it was volunteering at local events, being at socials, or even as small as being in meetings surrounded by an astonishing community. These memories have made my life so much more fun and unforgettable. Nevertheless, there was one small but very important memory that I continue to cherish to this day.…

By Glaiza Cerezo from Cypress Park High School

HOTO Prompt: If your club’s service spirit could be represented by a color, object, or even an animal, what would it be?

To CyPark Key Club, our definition of “service spirit” means creating a welcoming and fun environment to happily serve our community. For as long as I can remember, CyPark Key Club’s service spirit animal has been a T-Rex known as Key Rex! For many years, he’s been highly recognized as our outstanding mascot who uplifts our beloved students and members.…

By Katherine Olivero from St. Agnes Academy

HOTO Prompt: If your Key Club were to create a signature tradition (like a chant, quirky fundraiser, or annual event), what would it be and why?

I’ve always been used to Key Club being one club out of many in my school, and not having as much of a presence in the student body as a club like National Honor Society. So, suffice to say that when I attended my first LEDCON, I was positively overwhelmed by how much of Key Club I was experiencing…

By Arwen Recolizado from North Garland High School

HOTO Prompt: What was your first major Key Club event like as an officer, and what does that memory hold for you now?

I scan the empty dark library after cleaning up tables and littered itinerary programs from a celebration that somehow survived a complete disaster. I’m the last to leave after our Key Club banquet, and finally, I can breathe. I thought I knew what leadership meant. I’d collected titles and positions, each teaching me how to manage people who mostly wanted to be managed. But Key Club was different from day one..…

By Ava Elmore from Freeman High School

HOTO Prompt: What’s the most unexpected thing you’ve learned from being in Key Club that isn’t about service?

One of the most unexpected things that I learned from being in Key Club, which isn’t service-related, is how deeply humans are connected through the art of dance. On August 1, our club volunteered at a nursing home in Katy, Texas, and it was a pamper party for the residents. We styled their hair, applied makeup, polished their nails, and even gave them massages.…

By Alina Siddiqui from Jenks High School

HOTO Prompt: Describe a service project or initiative you led or participated in that had a significant impact.

It has been three years since I have founded Youth Pre-Law, a national initiative committed to making legal education and civic leadership accessible to high school students—especially those from underrepresented communities…

By Abigail Linville from Kingwood High School

HOTO Prompt: Describe your club’s cord ceremony, which encourages members to continue in service after graduation.

At first, it seems like cords are just colored strands draped across a few shoulders amidst the caps and gowns of graduation. But for Key Club, they are more than that. They are the thread tying our members back to their service. They are a reminder of the times spent at food banks, trash pickups, and countless other volunteering events…

By Yahan Dai from Kerr High School

HOTO Prompt: Have you attended a DCM/PCM yet? What did you enjoy and why? Did you learn anything new?

I’ve been to 2 DCMS so far, June and July. I love how my LTG made it in person and not online because I feel like having it done online is very awkward, and it just doesn’t seem fun or interactive. The DCMS is actually really informative, especially knowing what officers do and what. Personally, I feel like in-person DCMs are much more engaging, interactive, and enjoyable…

By Tony Duong from North Garland High School

HOTO Prompt: What do the words “Key Club” mean to you and how has it changed over your high school career?

The first time I heard the words "Key Club," they were being shouted across a crowded hallway at Raider Rush, our school’s freshman orientation. Club officers were screaming to promote their clubs, from Key Club to UNICEF, their voices echoing down the walls as confused freshmen like myself tried to sort out the chaos of club recruitment. "Key Club" meant nothing more than noise and intimidation…

By Ayush Sharma from Stephen F Austin High School

HOTO Prompt: Has your club encountered any obstacles? What has your club done to overcome those obstacles?

Our Key Club did suffer from issues internally, from officer communication to scarce funding, but through positive thinking and continued planning, we've seen great advancements in improving some of those problems and continue to pursue our ultimate goal of being among the top 25 Key Clubs of the year…

By Christine Dao from Klein Cain High School

HOTO Prompt: How has Key Club made you the person you are today?

I was confined in a bubble. I floated around everyone familiar, and I only spoke when spoken to. I stuck around people whom I knew, and stepped away from those I didn’t know. What was comfortable to me was what held me back from letting me experience new connections, new people, and hearing new stories…

By Jonathan Diaz from Ross S. Sterling High School

HOTO Prompt: Describe how your club promotes socials and how they benefit your club as a whole.

Our Key Club promotes socials as an important way to strengthen bonds between members and create a positive, welcoming environment. These socials allow members to get to know one another outside of volunteering, which helps build a stronger sense of community within our club…

By Tiffany Nguyen from Cypress Creek High School

HOTO Prompt: In what ways does your club support or collaborate with other school organizations, and how has it impacted your presence on campus?

Cypress Creek Key club continues to build bridges and collaborate alongside different school organizations and create impacts that stretch beyond one on one meetings through finding opportunities that create an open door for us to unite with each other...

By Charles Pham from North Garland High School

HOTO Prompt: How would you describe Key Club to an incoming freshman—beyond a club for community service hours?

A fresh start, a new beginning, the start of a new chapter: a freshman walks through the doors of North Garland High School. Timid, excited, anxious, curious, that freshman is soon faced with a daunting task: completing community service hours…

By Arya Patel from Goose Creek Memorial High School

HOTO Prompt: How are you using your role as editor to prepare for the upcoming year and keep your club connected, even during a quiet summer?

As the new Editor of Goose Creek Memorial High School's Key Club, I have one idea in mind: to build a more unified, informed, and energetic club, even when times are slow right now. During the summer, things in Key Club slow down at our school, which might sound like a buzzkill…

By Ester Mang from Jenks High School

HOTO Prompt: Let's talk about Inspiration. How are you or your club promoting Inspiration?

Our Key Club is committed not only to serving our community but also to inspiring those beyond it. We believe that inspiration is the key to building a strong foundation, fostering leadership, and encouraging long-term engagement…

By Ryan Duong from Allen High School

HOTO Prompt: How does your club ensure that underclassmen stay involved and feel empowered to take on leadership roles?

At Allen High School Key Club, we prioritize creating a welcoming and inclusive environment that encourages underclassmen to stay involved and take on leadership roles early in their high school careers…

By Andrew Duong from North Garland High School

HOTO Prompt: Regarding the famous phrase “What is Love?” describe what it means to you and your Key club.

As questioned by the infamous girl group, TWICE, many of us may ponder “What is Love?” Well, after listening to their music on repeat, anticipating their new album, I have put together the answer. It’s truly quite simple, love is what you hold dearest to your heart…

By Conner Doan from Cypress Creek High School

HOTO Prompt: Returning officers—Describe highlights from the ‘24-‘25 year and what you can improve on for the new year.

The ‘24-’25 Key Club service year is certainly a year to remember for us at Cypress Creek High School. This year was one of our best regarding projects and achievements…

By McKinley Hatch from Mansfield Legacy High School

HOTO Prompt: What activities does your club have planned for the summer?

This summer, just like the last, is going to be very busy for our Key Club. Whether we are volunteering in the community or helping out with simple problems at the school, we will ensure that our members stay occupied. These service events are the ones we often look forward to the most, especially during these long summer days…

By Rachel Lee from Cinco Ranch High School

HOTO Prompt: How was your experience at LEDCON?

I’ve always been used to Key Club being one club out of many in my school, and not having as much of a presence in the student body as a club like National Honor Society. So, suffice to say that when I attended my first LEDCON, I was positively overwhelmed by how much of Key Club I was experiencing…

By Saanvi Reddipalli from Round Rock High School

HOTO Prompt: How is your club going to ensure member’s voices are heard? How will you bring the club together to help the community?

As the new editor of the Texas-Oklahoma Key Club at Round Rock High School, I am committed to ensuring that all members stay connected through future events and that every member’s new ideas can be heard…

By Tommy Ngo from J. Frank Dobie High School

HOTO Prompt: What are you most excited about for your term, and what are your service goals for this year?

Hi, I’m Tommy, and I will be the upcoming 2025-2026 Dobie Key Club Treasurer! I am so extremely excited for this new term as I know that I will experience many opportunities filled with moments of growth, service, and joy…