Hey, this is Katrina J. I figured since I am practically done with CAS I would finally blog my reflections =). I’m not really sure if some of these will count as CAS, if not I’ll just do some more.
Learning Outcomes to be reached:
1) Increased awareness of my own strengths and areas of growth
2) Undertaking new challenges
3) Planning and initiating activities
4) Working collaboratively with others
5) Showing perseverance and commitment in my activities
6) Engaging in issues of global importance
7) Considering the ethical implications of my actions
8) Developing new skills
Reflection 1
Activity: Catch the Reading Bug
Dates: Mondays & Fridays; June 13 – June 30, 2008
Location: Clayton County Pines Library System: Riverdale Branch
Hours: 10
Learning Outcomes: 1 & 4
After receiving my CAS papers in early June I decided to volunteer at my local library during the summer leading to my junior year. My advisor, Ramona Clark, informed me that I would be working with four other volunteers in order to promote and encourage reading amongst the children in our community during the summer break. My tasks included: registering children for the reading program, helping the children find books to read based on their current reading level, awarding the children with prizes based on their reading achievements and entertaining the children by reading story books while their parents used other services available in the library. I truly enjoyed interacting with the children that entered the library. At the end of my experience many of them knew me by name and they were excited to tell me about the books they were reading and how many hours they had read that week. I always saw myself as a pretty good people person but my time at the library enabled me to improve the way I interacted with and inspired children.
Outcomes met:
1) As I mentioned before, I have always been a people person but I have never been that great with children. Maybe it was because I have always been a little impatient and had a low tolerance for screeching, whining and hyper children. Working at the Riverdale Library showed me how much joy the little people can bring into your life and even lower your stress level. There were times that I really did not want to spent hours in the draft cold library but the children always seemed to look up to me and by doing so, they made my days a little brighter.
4) As a library volunteer I had to work with other teen volunteers, most of which had already established their own personal relationships with one another from school and from previous volunteer work. Despite how awkward our relationship was, I was able to work with them on a professional level to get each task done.
Reflection 2
Activity: Bulletin Board for Reading Champions
Dates: June 16 & June 20, 2008
Location: Clayton County Pines Library System: Riverdale Branch
Hours: 8hr. 30min.
Learning Outcomes: 1, 4 & 8
Aside from my regular tasks at the library, my advisor asked me to design and create a bulletin board so that we may recognize the children enrolled in the Catch the Reading Bug Program and their success. With the help of one of the other volunteers, I was able to produce a board that would be used to recognize all of our accomplished readers.
Outcomes met:
1) I have always been good at organizing and designing. Being given the opportunity to create the reading champs board allowed me to expand and display my talent with the library.
4) In order to create the board I had to work with another volunteer at the library.
8) Even though my designing eye has always been good, my actual artistic ability was never that great. Creating this board allow me to develop my artistic skill and showed me that when I take my time and have patience I can produce good art.
Reflection 3
Activity: Neighborhood Awareness Fair
Dates: June 19, 2008
Location: Clayton County Pines Library System: Riverdale Branch
Hours: 6hr. 15min.
Learning Outcomes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 8
Every summer the library holds a Neighborhood Awareness Fair to teach and warn younger children about the dangers they may encounter. During the fair everyone helps to teach about safety through a variety of activities such as: demonstrations, videos, interactive plays and of course stories.
In between each activity the volunteers aid in entertainment for the kids with face painting, ring toss, soccer, food and a host of other fun activities.
Outcomes met:
1) I improved my entertainment, artistic and children skills through interaction, storytelling and face painting.
2) I tested out my acting skills in two of the interactive plays/ puppet shows.
3) I assisted in the planning and advertising of the neighborhood awareness fair by handing out flyers and calendars.
4) I work collaboratively with the other volunteers, my advisor and parents and teachers of schools that came to the fair.
5) Even though I was tired half way through the fair from giving all of my energy to the children I did not once give up until the fair was over. Whenever anyone needed my assistance I made sure to help to the best of my ability.
8) During the puppet show there was no script so my co-volunteers and I had to think quick on our feet, using our improvisational skills to teach the kids about safety and awareness. The children seemed to enjoy our comedic show.
Reflection 4
Activity: Dazz with Jazz 2nd Annual Battle of the Dancelines Competition
Dates: November 16, 2008
Location: Clayton County Performing Arts Center
Hours: 4hr. 15min.
Learning Outcomes: 1, 4 & 5
On this day I performed with the Lovejoy High School Dancing Diamonds as the team Captain in the annual Dazz with Jazz competition. This competition was designed to showcase the dancelines of the metro-Atlanta through competition in the areas of stands and field routines. I lead my team through each performance and collaborated with my sponsor and choreographer to ensure a great show.
Outcomes met:
1) I further showed and developed my leadership capabilities by uplifting my team to give a powerful performance and to receive complements from complete strangers about my leadership abilities.
2) I worked collaboratively with my sponsor, choreographer, and volunteers backstage through communication.
3) Through all of the stress and physical ailments I encountered in preparing for this competition, I stuck through it a delivered and so did my team. It paid off.
Reflection 5
Activity: Marching Band
Dates: August – November 2008
Location: Lovejoy High School
Hours: 10
Learning Outcomes: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 & 8
As a Dancing Diamond at Lovejoy High School I perform with the Marching Wildcat Band every Friday of the football season under the direction of Ryan Lincey and LaToya Lee. During this season I held the position of Captain on my team. Throughout the season, I helped to improve and inspire my team as a whole as well as each individual by instilling confidence and pride in their art and school.
Outcomes met:
1) I increased my leadership ability by taking on a new roll in the team as captain
2) I have undertaking new challenges many of which came from dealing with a plethora or personalities from the girls to their parents and band members.
4) I worked collaboratively with my sponsor, choreographer, drum majors, and band directors at every practice and performance to make sure that we were all on one accord.
5) I attended every practice and performance and dealt with difficulties during the activity, whether it is a disagreement within the team or concerns arising from parents, at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner.
7) Often times I had to make decisions that may not have pleased everyone involved but it was
done for the better of the team.
8) I developed new skills including: inspiring, leading, comforting, improving and challenging my teammates.
Reflection 6
Activity: Cleaning a Preparing Chemistry Lab for Chemistry Classes
Dates: January 15, 2009
Location: Lovejoy High School
Hours: 1
Learning Outcomes: 1 & 4
On this day I offered to take on the task of cleaning the chemistry lab and backroom. I rid the mess that had been accumulating for quite some time so that other chemistry classes would have a clean station to work from. I was able to put the things I had learned in the classroom to use with regard to the proper and safe discarding of materials. I broke down lab equipment, diluted solutions for discard, washed and stored glassware, cleaned safety goggles with alcohol and irradiated the goggles.
Outcomes met:
1) I as able to put to use the skill I had learned in chemistry class and apply them to cleaning the lab without harming myself or other.
4) I worked with one other classmate that stayed after to get the task done.
Reflection 7
Activity: English Book Room
Dates: February 27 & March 2, 2009
Location: Lovejoy High School
Hours: 3
Learning Outcomes: 4
As a member of the Lovejoy High School Beta Club I participate in a number of community service projects; many of which are held in LHS. One of the projects we did my junior year was cleaning and reorganizing the English department book room so that teachers could use it more efficiently. We boxed books that were no longer on the curriculum, we took inventory on the books that were shelved and we organized the books my number.
Outcomes met:
4) working collaboratively with my fellow beta club members to achieve our goal.
Reflection 8
Activity: Diva in a Day Dance
Dates: March 7, 2009
Location: Atlanta, GA
Hours: 8
Learning Outcomes: 1 & 5
As a member of the Dancing Diamonds, I was invited to the quarterly held Diva in a Day Dance Camp. This camp was created to improve the skill and technique of developing dancers to the status of “diva.” The camp is hosted by some of the hottest Historically Black Colleges and Universities choreographers. At the end of a hard working day, campers put on a performance for the parents to show what they have learned.
Outcomes met:
1) I further developed my performing art skills through instruction.
5) Even through a knee injury, my teammates can attest to it, I continued on through the camp and performance.
Reflection 9
Activity: SADD Health Fair
Dates: March 18, 2009
Location: Lovejoy High School
Hours: 10
Learning Outcomes: 3, 4 & 6
Every year at LHS, Students Against Destructive Decisions holds a health fair. In this fair several vendors come to stress the importance of caution and preventative measures when it comes to teens and health risks such as obesity, cancer, HIV/ AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. As a member of SADD I too participated in the health fair by making sure everything ran smoothly and assisting each vendor with whatever he or she needed. I also held the task of calling every health department within a 15 mile radius and that LHS SADD had developed a relationship with to invite them to come out to our health fair and speak.
Outcomes met:
3) I assisted in planning the health fair my contacting vendors.
4) I worked collaboratively with the vendors, my club members and my club sponsor, Dr. Brenda Adkins.
6) The health fair concerned global issues such at the HIV/ AIDS epidemic, cancer, HPV and obesity.
Reflection 10
Activity: Junior Marshal- Senior Shirts
Dates: April 22, 2009
Location: Lovejoy High School
Hours: 3
Learning Outcomes: 4
As a Junior Marshal we signed a contract volunteering our time to all senior events with regard to planning and overseeing. We were expected to do each assignment given in a way that met the high expectations on the senior advisors with little instruction. We were often times called “senior slaves,” but even in the most frustrating moments we realized that we decided to volunteer our time and that we had to follow through. After all we would want the up and coming junior to do the same for our graduating class.
On this day we were responsible to setting up the LHS cafeteria in a way that would allow for the t-shirt distribution to be swift and easy. We were bombarded by 300+ seniors demanding their shirts all the while we got the job done. First task down, about a trillion more to go!
Outcomes met:
4) I worked with my fellow Junior Marshals to complete each tasks given to us.
Reflection 11
Activity: NMBC Health Fair
Dates: April 25, 2009
Location: New Macedonia Baptist Church
Hours: 3
Learning Outcomes: 1, 2, 4 & 6
New Macedonia Baptist Church hosted its annual health fair. The health fair provided free services for all who entered such as blood testing, vision screening, massages, scoliosis screenings and more. I aided each vendor at the fair and I even decided to donate blood to the Red Cross Association.
Giving blood was truly a new a rewarding experience for me. It was my first time donating and I was a little nervous. I asked several question and wondered how much blood they were going to take, I must say that when I was how full that “pint” sized bag was, I had to wonder if they had left enough blood on my system for me to survive. Needless to say my mom was scared to, but we knew that it was for a good cause and that some other individual needed m blood more than I did.
Outcomes met:
1) I further acted upon my need to help others.
2) I faced my fears and donated of myself for the benefit of others.
4) I worked collaboratively with Church leaders and vendors.
6) The Health fair addressed issued of global importance such as cancer, scoliosis, vision, AIDS, high blood pressure etc.
Okay I am going to take a break now. Will post more later this weekend, maybe even later today =)!
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