CAS vs Drama Commitments

This post is to notify that I may have trouble fulfilling my CAS requirements during the beginning of my senior year at OSC. This is due to my conflicting schedule between CAS and the Secondary Drama production, “Fiddler on the Roof”. Obviously, there is a problem if I can not maintain my role as Leader of Library Service, especially since I volunteered for the position last year. On the other hand, I am an IBDP Theater Arts HL Student who should be involved with the Secondary Production.

…It is unfortunate that such a choice has to be made, especially since both offer fantastic experience; however I believe that the organizers of the ASA (After School Activities) will rectify this scheduling conflict, since there are numerous students that are in a situation similar to that of mine. I will comment on this post when I know more about the situation.

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.

 

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.

IB Orientation (Class Trip to MAS Fabric Park)

The IB Orientation was an all class trip that was located at MAS Industrial Fabric Park. The venture was about a week in total, including travelling and such. The general goal of the trip was so that we could become more aware of what the IB Diploma really is. However, there was the sub laying goal of our class of 2012 to get to know each other better. I would say that after the orientation our class was more connected than before. Another large part of the orientation was the action element of it. For example, the infamous “Abseil” which tested our mental security; the other events that we could take part in were rock climbing and high rope climb. I found that rock climbing was the most entertain of the three because I like rocking climbing in general. Another important element of the rock climbing event was belaying. Belaying was quite literally the act of holding a person’s life in your hands. The final component was a theatrical performance that was created, produced, and director by Mrs. Grant. Since I have a strong admiration for performing, I was asked to accompany various people and performance groups by playing the guitar. However, I chose to only perform two songs, which were Little House with Antoni and Good Riddance with Chrisni. There was a certain level of creativity that was required to learn the songs in about a day. For the day before the show, I was practicing each song over and over again. When it comes down to my guitar performances, I really strive for perfection; anything else would be a disappointment. Therefore, I feel that the IB Orientation was both a “Action” component as well as a “Creativity” component.

Practicing Little House with Toni

Performing Good Riddance with Chrisni

Ushering Service for “The Actor’s Nightmare”

Ushering.

“I wonder who’s yacht that is out there?”

I volunteered for an Ushering Service for the IB Theater play “The Actor’s Nightmare”. I had the choice to usher for Thursday and Friday performances. Although I attended both showings, I did not usher for the Friday performance. We were asked to be at the auditorium dressed in formal clothes at 7:15 pm to be given instructions for the night’s performance. All that was asked of us was to greet the attendees, check their tickets, and wish them a good show. There was some confusion in the ushering when the viewers entered the theater from doors that were not assigned as entrances. (Eg. The bathroom exit/entrance) Overall, the ushering service would have to be one of the “Service “elements from my previously created CAS goals.

Sports Day 2010

Sports Day 2010 was a school based athletic day filled with action and team spirit. There were four team houses which were Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue. I was assigned to the Red team. The day before Sports Day I could already tell from the lack of care throughout the grades, that the actually event would be hectic. As predicted, on the day that the events took place almost 75% of Red team did not show up. The reasons why they were not able to attend were neither well thought through nor plausible; they ditched us. As a result of the lack of team members, the 11th grade Red team was composed of two people, Charity Dowers and me. Needless to say, the both of us saw plenty of action throughout the day. The events were broken into two parts, before noon which was Ground Sports and afternoon which was Swimming Events. Since neither of us were decent swimmers, neither of us wanted to participate in the Swimming Events. However, both of us took part in all of the Ground Events which were, Volley Ball, Foot Ball, Kickball and Basket Ball. Therefore, I feel that this blog entry is a sufficient example of the “Action” aspect of my CAS goal

Kick Ball in Sports Day 2010

CAS Goals for 11th Grade Semester 1 (2010-2011)

LIBRARY SERVICE

For Semester 1 of school, I’ve decided to do Library Service as my Community Service Activity at OSC. In this activity, a small group of fellow students and myself go to the Secondary Library after school to help out with tasks that need to be taken care off. The chief librarian, Mrs. Lockwood is very grateful for our help because all of the library sections, labeling, and organizing is all done manually. So she appreciates not having to do all of the work herself. The program is run by Keiko Tamura, who along with seeing that all of us do our assigned jobs correctly, also helps out with the work load. After 2 sessions I can roughly imagine what the rest of the semester will be like. I’m sure their be ample amounts of books to sort out, labeling to be done and delivering books and other resources our teacher’s classes. Although we don’t literally clean the surfaces in the library, we are tidying up the library bit by bit while organizing the books. Although Library Service is not the most demanding work physically, we do have to work  mentally while finding matching patterns and numbers to organize books. We are able to work “collaboratively with others” and “plan” how we are going to organize the library with the guidance of our peers. Although this is one of the less demanding CAS services that are available I am “fully committed to attend” every week and I will give 100% in my duty. Therefore I think Library Service will be one of my “Service” in grade 11.

Introduction to CAS (IBDP)

“CAS”, or more commonly refered to as “Creativity, Action and Service” is a crucial aspect of the 11th grade IB program. Our class was first introduced to the idea of CAS during our recent IB orientation trip. The CAS program is a 2 year commitment that is started in 11th grade and finished in 12th grade. By the time I have completed 11th grade I wish to have fully fulfilled my CAS duties as a student under the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP). The CAS program uses 8 criteria that help guide the students in completing their CAS requirements and obtaining new life skills along the way.

The 8 expectations from a student are as follows:

• Increased their awareness of their own strengths and areas for growth
• Undertaken new challenges
• Planned and initiated activities
• Worked collaboratively with others
• Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities
• Engaged with issues of global importance
• Considered the ethical implications of their actions
• Developed new skills