Final evaluation for Creativity, Service and Action

During the last two years of my IB diploma I have been involved in various different activities. Here is a list of all of them and what I have accomplished:

Community and Service: 

Bethlehem Crèche: This has been the main service which I have been involved in. I have been one of the leaders for this through grade 12 and a member since grade 11. We have been able to accomplish quite a few things. For example we taught the children a few nursery songs, won a Yamaha keyboard for them, interacted with the children, started painting the murals at the playground (still in progress) and donated various books and items for their education. This community and service program has been a global issue and it has made us as leaders make ethical decisions as how to treat the children and what to do which would benefit them best. As an individual I have grown in how to show perseverance and commitment to this program, planned and initiated activities, worked collaboratively with others and developed new skills in how to be a good leader.  It has been a pleasure being one of the leaders for this service as it has taught me a lot throughout these last 2 years. I will probably be involved in something like this in the future as I love children and helping them.

Alzheimer’s: I took part in the walk for Alzheimer’s during 2011 in order to show perseverance to a global issue as I was making more people aware of this cause. I also considered ethical issues as to how this could help people in the community around me become more aware.

Action:

Football 2010 and 2012: When I first started football in 2010 I was just a beginner at it. This team sport has really helped me in accomplishing new skills, commitment, working collaboratively and strengthening skills. This is a sport I have really enjoyed apart from all the school work. For both years we were really close in becoming champions however it was a great experience!

Motocross:  This has been one of my hobbies since I was nine years old and I believe that by continuing this hobby I have strengthened my skills, learnt new skills and showed perseverance and commitment. It is something I really enjoy and it will be something that I will continue practicing in the future even though it is a dangerous sport. I am willing to take this risk in order to become a better driver.

Track and Field 2011: I thought that I would be able to do track and field again this year however, football and track & field were at the same time so I had to choose one. During 2011 I was able to show commitment to the sport and collaboration with the other team members throughout. I managed to beat my personal records as well improve previous skills.

Basketball: I tried out for this in 2011 however I was not able to travel which therefore meant that I couldn’t be on the team. This was a new sport that I tried out for and by doing this I showed how I undertook a new challenge and tried something new. I learnt a few skills but I still believe that I can strengthen these skills in the future if I want to play at some point.

Creativity:

Stage and set direction: For this after school activity I showed commitment and perseverance as I showed up to help paint the drop back for one of the primary productions. I developed new skills as well as strengthened old ones through painting. This activity helped me collaborate with other member of the activity in order to work as a team to finish the drop back.

Week Without Walls: During week without walls I was involved in painting the murals of one school in Hambantota during grade 11. This showed my creativity skills as I had to use old skills in order to paint the murals at the school. By doing this we brought a smile to the children at the school. I also initiated activities such as the design of the mural as I have always been a good artist.

Fashion Show: I undertook a new challenge by trying out for the fashion show which would be held at school in 2012. However, I did not make it but by trying at least I knew that I had done my best. This showed that I have areas to grow in when it comes to fashion shows. I liked it as long as it lasted.

Through this reflection it shows how much I have grown as an individual by undertaking all these different activities in the last 2 years. I think that it has really helped me in developing new skills and offered a wide range of activities which I have enjoyed. I will be continuing helping children in the future as well as my other hobbies such as motocross, football and track & field as I am a very athletic person. As this is the end of CAS for this year I believe that most of my goals have been achieved except for one which was to join a motocross race. However this can still be done in the future and I think it will be better off this way.  I have really enjoyed the CAS program at OSC and I hope it continues like this in the future as it has such a variety of activities to choose from!

Bethlehem Creche

For the last three weeks we have been going to the Creche to paint different designs on the murals at the children's playground. This has shown my skills in creativity as we had to paint different designs on the walls in order to make it look appealing and colorful for the children. We have not finished painting the mural and Maheshi and I will probably not be able to go to CAS anymore as our final IB exams are coming up very soon.

However, we have shown commitment to this global issue as we have made a difference to the children. We have made ethical decisions as to what to do with the children every time they have visited or when we have visited them.

This community and service program will probably not be continued next year as the children and the creche have already gotten a lot of help from us which has involved donations and learning different activities. Maheshi and I will probably go to the Creche one last time after exams in order to see how the murals turned out which will be the last time as we graduate this year.

END OF SAISA 2012

So we didn’t become the champions of SAISA football 2012, but we really kept on fighting till the end which is what matters. We have really grown as a team and worked really hard to get to where we are now. It was not easy but we showed perseverance and commitment throughout the season and to each game we played during the tournament.

I played attacker during the games which was not easy but I was able to dribble past players through developed skills during the season but it also meant that I had to plan and initiate with the other players in order to be able to pass to them later. Football needs a lot of communication as it is a team game which means everyone has to work collaboratively in order to make it work.

I think we were one of the most competitive teams during SAISA as we never really lost a game until finals by one penalty shot! It was sad that it had to come down to penalty shots in order to get one team to win. But I guess there always has to be one winner and this year it was Dhaka. On the other hand we won SPORTSMANSHIP! This was probably because we played fair, followed the rules of the game, respected the referees and officials and treated the opponents with respect. This is a really positive thing for a team as it shows we were really disciplined on the field and off field during the SAISA team as a whole.

I think the team has really come a long way from when we first started playing our first game, we grew from every game we played which made us stronger and more competitive. All the seniors including me played our hearts out the last game since this was officially the last SAISA and the last game for us as we will be graduating. However I think this season has ended great and that our coach Mr. Mueller should be grateful to where he has got the team as a whole. GOOD JOB everyone for making this last SAISA a great time!

Bethlehem Creche

In Bethlehem Creche we have been working on different designs for the murals which consist of animals, cartoons and things that small children would like. I have been initating what has to be done during the last two weeks since Maheshi the other CAS leader has been a bit busy with other work. This has helped me to preseverance and commitment towards an activity as I have always shown up ready to work.

We have given the Creche wall filler and paint so that they can prepare for us when we come to paint the murals. We planned to paint the mural last saturday however they were not ready painting the first layer which made us have to change plans. Now that this happened we are planning to go every thursday to start painting the murals bits by bits. This may take a while however this seems better since the Creche are not available during the weekend.

After the murals are done I think this CAS will not be continuing after due to different reasons which is sad because it has been a pleasure working with the children at the Creche as it has made their life a bit different from usual and one can see that we have put joy into their lifes by giving them new opportunities to learn and to play.

Football!

For the last few weeks I have been going to football practice on Tuesdays, Wednesday mornings, Fridays and Saturdays which has been quite challenging at times. The team has been finalized for the people who will actually be travelling to Dhaka from 14^th – 18^th March. At first I was unsure if I was going to be able to travel due to concerns from parents about school work, however it has been discussed that I can concentrate on both since it is something that I enjoy doing and it is also the last SAISA ever as a senior graduating.

We have been playing games against the middle school boys which has been quite hard due to the fact that we have to communicate between each other, plan where to pass the ball, work as a team, jockey to defend and to actually want the ball with all our energy! Due to football I have been able to work collaboratively with others by making sure that we play as a team because this is really important in this sport. It also requires a lot of development of new skills and previous skills. By adding to my strengths and weaknesses I have also been able to develop new skills. For example I have become more confident dribbling the ball and crossing over.

I think that our team needs to play against more schools in order to improve our techniques on the field as well as to see how a proper game actually works. As a senior I feel like we have a strong team however we really need to pull it together these last two weeks of practice in order to make it even stronger! Overall I am really looking forward to this last SAISA and I hope that it will be great and that we actually win this year!

Bethlehem Creche

Yesterday (February 2), we had our first meeting with the new members and we discussed the plans which are to be done before the end of this year. The goals are as follows:

1. Donate the Yamaha Keyboard which Maheshi and I won through a radio competition.
2. Paint the murals and the playground equiptment.
3. Teach them new nursery rhymes.

By doing this we will be able to fullfill the wishes from the Creche as that is what they want.

Below is a picture of the Yamaha keyboard which we are going to donate and all the memebers in the CAS.

Football!

Football has just started which is great as I am really looking forward to this season since it will be my last SAISA if I make the team!

For the first practice we met as a team to talk about drills, how to communicate, proper gear and how we have to collaborate in order to make the team work as a whole.

We started of with some stretching and then moved on to some easy passing. In the 30 last minutes we played a game and we used the whole field which was quite hard as we had 8 people on each team. Although new people are trying out for the team this year we were able to communicate quite well and pass the ball quite efficiently, however this does not mean that we do not need more practice. I really think that we all need to get quite fit in order to play our best and with full potential! Overall it went quite well for the first practice!

We will be having football every Tuesday, Fridays and Saturdays which should be enough to get a great team together, and if we do not think this is enough we can always add more practices!