Leader of Badminton for After School Activities. (Unable to fulfill due to Drama Conflicts))

This post is to explain that I will not be able to be a Leader of After School Badminton on Mondays due to my rehearsal conflicts in the MS and HS Play, The Curious Savage.

Week Without Walls 2011 (WWW) Leader of Playing w/ Children

Samitha and I

Two Very Cool Kids

Interacting with the Students

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

As leader of the group that would interact with the children at the school, it was my duty to plan an supervise an introductory orientation for the school children and the 11^th grade students from OSC.

The games lasted approximately 25 – 30 minutes, which allowed the entire group to interact as one. Some of the games we played with the school students include, “Duck, Duck, Goose”, “Tag” and other miscellaneous passing games with small sport balls. Some of the areas of the activity that I thought were weak consist of the age and language differences between the school children and the 11^thgrade.

For example, we were playing games that were designed for young children, but I believe that the concepts of most of the games such as the previously mentioned, “Duck, Duck, Goose” were too complicated for the younger minds at the school. In addition, the language barrier was probably the largest dissimilarity; it caused miscommunication between the two groups. In some events it was difficult to distinguish whether the understood what we were trying to organize, although my group had translators aiding our cause, I was not sure whether they were enjoying the activities as much as we hoped.

 

Week Without Walls 2011 (WWW) Summary

Class of 2012

Week Without Walls 2011, for Grade 11 was 5 days on the Eastern Coast of Sri Lanka in the city of Hambantota. Our Schedule for the time we stayed there was as follows.

Day 1 – Travel to Hambantota, Visit International Shipping Dock, Check Into Hotel.

Day 2 – Visit School, Playing with Children, Paint, Clean Up.

Day 3 – Visit School, Play with Children, Paint, Finish Painting, Music Concert at School.

Day 4 – Yala National Park, Relaxing Time, Football/Swimming, Music Concert at Hotel

Day 5 – Travel back to OSC.

The primary CAS work that we did during this trip was the renovation of the 2 Pre-Schools we visited. Grade 11 was separated into two groups, “Shi” and “Sha”; I was was part of Sha group. Some of the other things we did for the schools include, playing with the children, painting their outside equipment, fixing their equipment, and providing color books and gift bags to the students. In summary, we achieved more than we originally planned for, which is a great success, however we could have used our extra time more creatively, but for the effort that was put into the renovations, the results were highly satisfying. The trip was a lot of fun and I’m sure everyone on the trip enjoyed it as much as I did, if not more so.

*Note* I was leader of Playing with Children for the Sha Group (there will be a in depth summary of my work later soon)

I believe that I demonstrated the following qualities within Week Without Walls 2010:

– increased their awareness of their own strengths and areas for growth (In the form of performing in both music concerts)

– undertaken new challenges (Was seen when I helped with painting although I was in the “Playing with Children” Group)

–worked collaboratively with others (In the form of being a leader, working with my team to fulfill our requirements and set goals)

–shown perseverance and commitment in their activities (Seen when I was required to re-paint, the outdoor equipment when it rained)

–engaged with issues of global importance (In the form of renovating a local Pre-school and caring for the young students)

–considered the ethical implications of their actions (Was demonstrated when we thought about disposing the left over paint into the Pre-School’s community and  environment)

-developed new skills (I have developed an understanding of how to interact with children at a very young age through socialization with the students, parents and teachers.)

Inside Painting Group

Mural Group

Sha Group with Students and Teachers

Sha Group - Mural Finshed

 

Semester 2 CAS Activity on Thursday (Library Service)

For the second semester I have decided to continue with Library Service because I feel that I help the Leader, Keiko Tamura with organization and communication amongst the people within our CAS Service. I also realized that I could help out more because of the substantial increase of members of Library Service. In fact, within the first couple of sessions, I have helped explain what we do in library service, what needs to be done, and how it should be done.  I feel that it is most rewarding for myself when I can pass on what I have learnt to a new group of volunteers; not only does it show that I know what to do, it also shows that I know how to explain clearly to newcomers. I think that this entry is classified under the Service aspect of the CAS program. Some of the qualities that I demonstrate through this Service is increased their awareness of my own strengths and areas for growth, I have undertaken new challenges, worked collaboratively with others and I have shown perseverance and commitment in my service.

High School Drama Play – Mrs. Savage

For the second semester of grade 11, I have auditioned and have been accepted in the MS and HS school play “The Curious Savage” written by John Patrick. I will be the character, Hannibal. He is a fat, cherubic musician that is one of the inmates. Although this is good experience for my pursuit of Drama, being in this play requires a large amount of time from my life. I have practices usually 3 out of 5 days of a week, along with CAS on Thursday. I believe that starring in a play is Creativity, because I am using all of my internal and external talents l to create a character and a show.

In summary, I will not have free time to explore CAS options until the end of March.