1. CAS Personal Profile

 

CAS used to bother me a lot at start but soon I realised the perks of completing such activities that no other children (from different board schools) have chance to. CAS helped me investigate more into myself and discover my true potential and helped me enhance my current strengths and improvise on my weaknesses, when I say this I would refer to one of my interests i.e. to cook. I had an early interest that grew while helping my mother in the kitchen and accomplishing it as a cas activity further helped me develop and enhance my skills.

 

Therefore, more than anything else, CAS has taught me the importance of being BALANCED. In my pursuit of meeting the prescribed CAS points, it has helped me become a more CARING individual. It has made me more OPEN-MINDED and helped me reflect upon the current concerns. For instance, earlier, I would never think of investing so much time and hardwork to create a video on sustainable development but after these experiences, my insight has changed to concentrate more on the ‘reward’ factor rather than sticking on to the ‘effort’ factor.

 

These experiences have therefore taught me that even though I may not have total mastery in all the activities that I undertook, I should continue trying to learn new things to expand my horizons. I say this because although CAS is not academic, it has definitely been an extremely educational experience: my CAS project (organising a stand up comedy show) and being the organising head of FSMUN 2017, helped me become a better leader and moreover a better team member as well as helped me enhance my level of patience, hard work, tolerance and perseverance.

 

Moreover, my best experience of CAS won’t only remain to personal benefit but considering the happiness CAS brings into other peoples life is very significant. I almost felt at the top while helping some underprivileged children living the best days of their life with me under my guidance in the service session. While executing one of my CAS activities, cleaning the beach, the respect people had in their eyes seeing youngsters like me working hard to influence others was a sheer moment of pride.

 

I believe nothing comes without pain and in my CAS experience I faced many difficulties in achieving the desired outcomes. One of the biggest challenge that I faced was commitment. Commitment is the building block that is required in accomplishing any sort of work and being a bit lazy things were very difficult to adhere with at the first place. Still with regular motivation from teachers and the compulsive nature of CAS I was able to change my routine and bring in some extra efforts to achieve the desired outcomes.

 

In my understanding ones biggest enemy is ‘want’ and no one will ever remain satisfied and it’s no surprise that even I fall under the same umbrella. With such an insight I’m never satisfied with the things I own in fact these aren’t any of my assets either, it is my parents who work hard to give me this lifestyle and hence to make it count I have always dreamed of living my life somewhere far from luxury and near to hardwork and in finding such a livelihood I got across to an Ashram in Vrindavan wherein they will teach me the elements of life and the juices of hard work. This will be accomplished by following a strict morning routine, regular sessions and working in the fields and getting paid off for the same. I would surely execute this CAS activity in the coming future. This is a short term goal that I would like to achieve which will act as a pivot to plan my future ahead.

 

Moving forward, I think I’m definitely going to use the creativity – action – service formula while planning my schedule to ensure that I have a principled lifestyle that benefits me and others.

 

2. CAS plan

 

Activity Name	Components (C/A/S)	Activity duration – from date	To date	Learning Outcomes
P.S	Activity	8/29/2017	7/12/2019	LO 1 Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth LO 2 Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills LO 4 Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences LO 5 Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
Savarkundla CAS Trip	Creativity, Activity, Service	9/8/2017	9/10/2017	LO 1 Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth LO 2 Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills LO 3 Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS LO 5 Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively. LO 6 Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance LO 7 Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions
Service Session 2017	Activity, Service	9/1/2017	9/30/2017	LO 3 Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS LO 4 Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences LO 5 Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively. LO 7 Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions
Fountainhead School Model United Nations 2017	Creativity	10/1/2017	11/30/2017	LO 1 Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth LO 2 Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills LO 3 Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS LO 4 Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences LO 5 Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively. LO 7 Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions
Sustainable Development Challenge	Creativity, Activity	12/1/2017	12/12/2017	LO 2 Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills LO 4 Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences LO 6 Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance
Cooking – Essential for all	Creativity	1/1/2018	8/31/2018	LO 1 Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth LO 3 Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS LO 6 Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance
Beach Cleaning	Service, Activity	7/9/2017	7/9/2017	LO 6 Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance LO 7 Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions
Strength and Fitness (GYM)	Activity	3/1/2018	9/1/2018	LO 2 Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills
Laughter is the Best Medicine (Project)	Creativity	3/1/2018	5/31/2018	LO 3 Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS

 

3. Reflection of 9 activities done in Year 1 & 2:

Completion of 9 activities (including project) with reflection form & reflection on blog (with evidence)

 

 

• Basketball – My Favourite Sport (P.S)

 

 

Basketball being my favourite sport since the day I selected it as my Personal Sport (PS). My experience and dedication to the sport helped me be qualified enough to be a part of our school team and have this great experience.

There were a lot of inter school basketball competitions scheduled in the year 2017 and I being a student of Fountainhead school and a part of its basketball team was fortunate enough to attend these inter school competitions. The competitions I participated in were Khel Mahakumbh, Xavier’s cup, Fountainhead cup, a competition that took place at Tapti valley International school and an inter school competition at Alchemy school. Some of these competitions were held in our school and some outside the school.

The learning Outcomes I had during the activity are:

Learning Outcome 1 – Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

I have been playing basketball since I was in grade 9 and today basketball has became an integral part of my life. In my first year of playing basketball I used to play as 0 (Power Forward) where I was required to play offensively near the ring area and drive in to attempt a lay up and to collect all the possible rebounds but later I was asked to switch my position by my couch and play as 45 (Small Forward), with this I had to change my playing style entirely as it required a lot of mid range shooting. After some difficulties I was able to play at this position and in fact I came to know that I play better here and this change became my strength. I believe the biggest strength I have in playing basketball is the dedication I show towards the sport and my will to adjust to changes. While playing this position I was able to make sufficient space from the defender to perform a shoot but most of my shoots didn’t count as they weren’t accurate. At first it demotivated me a lot but it also gave me a scope of improvement. I planned to attend morning camps so that i could give time to my shooting and enhance my shooting skills.

Learning Outcome 2 – Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken developing new skills

Basketball is a very competitive sport. There are a lot of teams we need to face before holding the trophy and for that we need to create many different strategies and follow them in the game. Every game that we were defeated in, left us with motivation to work harder so that we can clear all the loopholes and perform better next time. In the year 2017 we came across many teams and some of them were very competitive and some were even better than us apparently best in the city, even after all this hard work we lost our matches to these teams but giving up was not an option instead we worked on our skill set to make our team fit for next match and to do that we practised new and different skills, introducing us to a professional game experience. The last match we played as a team was the Xavier’s cup. We ranked first in the tournament with an amazing score of 18-5, we have lost twice to the same team in the past and we were very familiar with the strategies they use, our experience and hard work paid off and helped us win the cup. It is important to undertake challenges in our life so that we develop new skills and grow as a person.

Learning Outcome 4 – Commitment to and perseverance

As I have talked about it earlier, I was asked to change my position where a lot of shooting was required which I failed in doing accurately. As a solution I decided to register my name for morning camps in school so that I could spend more time shooting and improving my game. It was really difficult to wake up 2 hours early than your normal wake up time at first but after forcing myself for about a week or so it changed into my habit and I didn’t have to force myself out of bed anymore. The goal of improving my game was so clear in my mind that nothing could stop me. Shooting 40 to 50 shoots in an hour was not easy and it started to bore me after some days but I knew that this is the only thing that can improve my shooting skills and hence i carried on with this activity for one and a half month. I was able to see some changes in myself and was also appreciated by my coach and other teammates. When it was about competing some other team we never forget to learn from their actions and skills and implement them in our game also whenever possible. We were required to adapt to different game strategies to win against some specific teams and in order to do that we focused more on practising rather than playing matches in our PS.

Learning Outcome 5 – Demonstrate skills and benefits of working collaboratively

I get myself open to working in a group since I have been playing this game for quite a while. I didn’t come across to any problem from my team in any of our matches. Our group was exceptionally cooperative. A team can never win until everyone puts in enough effort and a combination of efforts result in the success of a team. If everybody does their activity well, at that point it increments what the group can accomplish. Everyone has their own unique role, yet every individuals part should be perceived and appreciated so that it motivates him or her to keep up the hard work. It has happened a lot of time that our team captain who plays at a different position, helps and advises our teammates including me when we do something wrong, we never hesitate before considering areas of improvement and this attitude helped us to be what we are today as a team. Every player must be devoted to the entire team and act altruistically to perform the best.

Some evidences of our Achievements:

This was a great CAS experience to be considered as it left me with a lot to learn and explore my own self.

 

 

• Savarkundla CAS Trip

 

 

We were taken to a village, Savarkundla and we were required to do one of our CAS activity there, because of no good water facilities, the villages of Savarkundla rely heavily on wells considering this there are thousands of wells in the region of Savarkundla built across the year 2000. While hunting Lions fell in the well unknowingly, so we as a group wanted to help the situation of the village by covering one of the wells. The well that we were assigned to cover was 35 feet in depth and the dimensions were  8 ft in width and 14 ft in length. So to figure this problem we collaborated with the organization ‘Rural Pleasure’ and decided to cover at least one well and show our goodwill to the villagers and save lives of a dozen of innocent Lions.

At start I wasn’t too sure whether I was going on the trip or not, reason being that I was a little busy with some family programs coming near tentative to the trip, but after thinking a lot on this I gathered a bunch of pros to go on this trip and that this is, that it’s a social activity also it will help me gain a lot of experiance and now I don’t regret it even a bit.

This activity included cutting, welding and even grinding the steel posts to make an innovative covering for a well. It secured all the three standards of CAS.

Going there, I comprehended my weakness which was to coordinate in a social event and that is one inspiration driving why I worked when everyone was offered a relief. That is one way I was most gainful and I truly felt I locked in for this. In spite of the way that, if I had worked with each other individual, I could have been more beneficial and adapted more.

The major troubles that I expected to go up against were that it was to a great degree brilliant and I had never worked any of these equipment types. At first, I was frightened of the flashes that left the machines, however I finally generated the courage to complete the activity.

Here are a few pictures of me working:

Also supervising some work!!

Learning outcomes which I accomplished are:

LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process. I needed to live in an open space with no fans or AC and needed to make my own particular bed. I likewise needed to figure out how to utilize devices to weld, penetrate and cut steel poles and the vast majority of us were students. Thus at to start with, I attempted to utilize those devices however on the second day, I was acclimated with those instruments. I additionally needed to guarantee to utilize wellbeing gear as while welding my eyes could get harmed consequently I wore shades for assurance and utilized gloves when I needed to utilize the penetrating machine. I was instructed how to utilize the machines by the educators and they showed how to utilize them and the things we needed to contemplate like at which point the machine ought to be and how far do I need to remain from it while utilizing it.

LO4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences. There were just three days to take a shot at the cover subsequently I needed to finish the work doled out to me but since there were such a significant number of individuals at the principal day everybody figured the other individual will do it thus we finished less work. So on the following day, I chose to adhere to the work I was doled out. It was additionally exceptionally hot the following day, however, I continued working on the grounds that in the event that I didn’t remain focused on my errand then it might happen that the fence may go into disrepair since one individual did not do their work. We would not have possessed the capacity to make it if every one of us didn’t buckle down.

LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively. I couldn’t do much work on a principal day in light of the fact that everybody was taking the necessary steps they like exclusively henceforth it was getting turbulent so on the following day we made gatherings and appointed distinctive errands to each gathering, by doing as such the gathering would guarantee they finish their undertaking and different gatherings would do likewise. Along these lines, we can help each other and finish our work all the more effectively.

LO6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance. Asiatic lions were going to get terminated and I think the annihilation of creatures is a worldwide issue. There are currently just 523 Asiatic lions alive and by building the fence for the well I helped in diminishing their passings.

Overall, the experience was shocking and energizing moreover. To be sure, even after this industrious work, I don’t regret a single minute spent to help the lions. Serving the overall population without expecting anything back truly can breathe a sigh of relief. I feel lucky to have been a piece of this CAS trip. I’m thankful to the school to organize this trip and to give me this great opportunity.

 

 

• Service Session 2017

 

 

My school, Fountainhead came up with a very appreciable activity and that is of a service session, where underprivileged children are invited to our school so that they can learn many different activities such as- Basketball, Football, Arts, Dance, IT and many more. My school gave all the students a great opportunity i.e. we could volunteer in this service session and be a part of this greatness. Many students including me filled the form and chose the activity that they will be volunteering in, I prefered basketball over any other activity as I have enough skills and I hold a lot of experience as well. A lot of students volunteered in the activity because of which there were four batches in total and each batch was packed with six sessions and they were conducted on 3 continuous weekends. Each session had many children to participate (learners) because of which we divided ourselves further into groups of 4-5 so that we can pay close attention on everyone, these groups continued till the end of the batch.

The learning outcomes met:

L3: Initiate and plan a CAS experience.

To train someone the most important part as a teacher is planning the activity and that’s what my group and I did before the service session started. In our first meeting we were able to plan the first three sessions and we decided that our strategy for the best outcome will be to polish the skills by continuously repeating it. We started off with basics like dribbling and passing and on the third day we taught them how to shoot the ball properly and in the correct position. We paid special attention to ones who were lacking behind and they were taught at a slower pace so that they can also learn and develop the required skills. For the 4th session we planned that we will teach them how to do lay-ups and for the last 2 sessions we planned that we would give them more of a game experience, for this first we explained them the rules of teh game and then we made them play a match between each other and we as couches divided ourselves into teams and guided them altogether as a team.

L4: Commitment to and perseverance.

At first I was very doubtful as to will I be able to give my hundred percent to the session as teaching beginners is always difficult, but I didn’t let it invade my stand to train the children and pay close attention to everything they were required to do. We soon realised that we need to stick to the plan we made for the best outcome and to do that a lot of commitment was required. We tried to get perfection in teaching them by clearing each and every doubt they had even the smallest and the most silliest ones. We as learners also did mistakes but we tried our best to do minimum mistakes so that they get to learn the correct skills. Finally, we were able to teach them how to play basketball and our perseverance helped us a lot to motivate ourselves.

L5: Demonstrate skills and benefits of working collaboratively.

To guarantee we arranged and executed the sessions effectively we needed to ensure that we worked collaboratively to accomplish our goal. All of us weren’t able to attend all the meetings because of their own personal reasons and to tackle that we required a lot of communication skills. We revised the ones who missed the meeting and requested their conclusions and if everybody agreed to the decisions made, then we moved ahead to plan the coming session. During the session we helped each other if any of us did something wrong and always motivated each other to accomplish our goal, also we all took initiative to manage ourselves as well as others politely and respectfully. In addition, we had to manage many children and it would not be possible to handle all the children hence we decided that in every session three people will demonstrate and the others will observe the children and help them learn from their mistakes, we also decided that everyone will have 3 sessions where they will observe and other three where they will demonstrate making it a fair play. Working collaboratively helped us handle the children easily.

L7: Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

During this activity, my behaviour and actions played a major role. We were working with underprivileged children who had a different background and lifestyle than us. Hence it was important for me to be more cautious about my actions so that I did not hurt their feelings or make them feel inferior than me. I made sure I treated them in a friendly and more approachable manner so that they would not feel shy learning from me. We had to make sure that we brought the best out of them by treating them fairly and giving them equal opportunities to excel in the sport and this was an ethical choice to make.  By being fair and creating a more friendly environment for them we helped them feel comfortable as well as confident.

This was a great CAS experience as it makes me feel more responsible and left me with a moral: “Stay happy with whatever you get”, as during the activity I had a feeling of how fortunate I am to have all these facilities in my daily life. In the end, it was a great pleasure to be a part of this service session  and I’m thankful to our school (Fountainhead School) to provide me this opportunity.

 

 

• Fountainhead School Model United Nations 2017

 

 

My school has been organizing Model United Nations and was named the event as Fountainhead Model United Nations (FSMUN). Model United Nations is an academic simulation of the United Nations where participates play the role of delegates from different countries and attempt to solve real-world issues with the policies and perspectives of their assigned country. Participates from various schools and cities participated in the debate. The school Fountainhead organizes many such events where participants get the chance to build their personal profile and enhance different skills like public speaking and learning self-management etc and FSMUN is a sheer example. For the academic year 2017, FSMUN was organized on 25th and 26th November.

 

I with other fellow partner were the organizing committee heads and had several responsibilities. Like coordinating with the logistics team, ordering resources for decoration purposes, assigning jobs to other people in organizing committee, making the delegate kits etc.

We were responsible for making the event successful by giving it our best with this spirit and determination during the event, I came across many learning outcomes:

 

LO 1: Identifying my own strengths and develop areas for growth

Throughout the process, I got to identify my new strengths which includes leadership and the will to help people to accomplish the task each individual was assigned to. I believe that being a leader is always better than being a boss, mutually dividing work rather than giving orders helped me a lot in this case. Still keeping that in mind that people needed someone to assign them tasks I had to act like a head sometimes.

 

We had to divide other objectives and we decided this by looking at the interest of other organizing committee members. We were needed to instruct them tasks and also let them express their way of doing it, if it was more efficient we would implement it throughout the event. This insight helped us a lot when we were discussing how to decorate the photo booth. Everyone gave their own ideas and the best one was finalized.

 

Due to the continuous interaction needed, I could overcome one of my weaknesses which were communicating in a team. In this process I was able to eliminate my weakness and was comfortable working with a team, this helped us to make decisions more quickly without any conflicts.

 

LO 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

One of biggest challenges we faced was on the day of the event when we were decorating the venue for socials. We had to design a Photo Booth and earlier we had ordered fairy lights for that but at the end moment, they stopped working. So being the heads, one of us quickly went to buy new ones and till then rest of started making the other one without using the lights. We successfully managed to decorate the photo booth, not only one but we came up with two of them. This task required a lot of spontaneity and creativity which helped me to develop these skills. I was really happy with the outcome and team effort.

 

LO 3: Initiate and plan a CAS experience.

Being the Organizing head of such a big event of almost 100 active participants was a huge task to accomplish. This required a lot of planning from the start till the end. It all started on the first day when the selection procedure was announced, from that point in time my initial planning started. All the participants individually had to answer some of the questions asked by the coordinators. I had an early idea that these questions would relate to contingency planning and what I think of being a leader, before the interview I had planned my responses and the same questions were asked in the interview just with a situation connected to it. Because of my early planning and dedication, I was selected as the organizing committee head and from the day of my selection, I was expected to plan several meetings in order to discuss the requirements of the event, to divide work accordingly and to keep a check on the activities, these responsibilities helped us to shape the event.

 

We were the ones expected to decorate everything and get everything at its place before the delegates enter their committees, because of this we had to do stay backs, come early to school as well as come to school on Saturdays, during this time firstly we planned how to decorate everything and later worked on them to give the best experience possible. Apart from that the days of the event also required a lot of planning to be done as each committee required a logistic who would pass the cheats and help them with any managerial issue they face, this being a very boring task none of us were ready to opt for this and hence on the day of event we came up with an idea of fixing the time each one of us had to be a logistic in a committee, we made a timetable considering the favorable timings for each individual and followed it till the end. Such equal efforts and time investment helped FSMUN to be the best FSMUN in its history.

 

LO 4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

This event required a lot of people’s effort behind it. To make it successful, we had to show a lot of commitment like coming early to school and giving a lot of time and efforts. As being one of the organizing committee head, I had to ensure that all the work is done within the deadline and had to report it to the higher authority. In our free slots, we ordered resources so that in the morning we could start with our work. On the day of the event, we had to run here and there and solve all the problems of the delegates so that they don’t feel uncomfortable. Also at the end moment, we were required to be in logistics for some time and we did that also. It was a very tiring task, however, due to my commitment from the start, I had to do all possible things required.

 

LO 5: Demonstrate skills and benefits of working collaboratively

As a team, we were very happy with the final outcome of our days and days of efforts. Our hard work was paid off when we got amazing feedbacks from delegates as well as teachers. It was a large team that I had to manage so at times it was difficult to work together because some people had contrasting perspectives on some points but as a majority, we used to explain the person and reach to a consensus which was in favor of all. It was very important to work together as a team to make this event a hit because it required a lot of ideas, creativity and hard work which wouldn’t have been possible without a team. Collaboratively we had to do each task with patience and determination to reach our goal. After the task was over I understood that each and every person’s contribution was so important.

 

Overall, this was a good learning experience and I got a chance to work with an amazing team. I was really happy to see FSMUN cross the mark of 90 delegates, which is the highest to date in our school. These things make all the efforts paid off. I hope the skills I have developed or used will further help me to excel.

 

This was a great CAS experience to be considered as it left me with a lot to learn and helped me explore my own self.

 

 

• Sustainable Development Challenge

 

 

Our school participated in the “School’s sustainability challenge” where Environmental systems and societies (ESS) students of our grade (Grade 11) had to make a video on measures taken by our school to promote sustainable development and show ways in which it has contributed to our environment. “Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). Some sustainable practices include using solar panels, windmills and doing crop rotation. As a school, we aimed to make a video which will not only spread awareness to localities and other schools but will also motivate youth and other citizens to work towards their mother nature and protect it for their future generations by showing and educating them the methods which can be used.

As a group we listed down the things that we wanted to include in the video like talking about the school’s structure and the reason behind it, using the waste food as a fertilizer by making it a compost, generating electricity from solar panels and got them approved by the senior authorities. We were then divided into two groups, one group was responsible for making the script and other was responsible for organizing a debate competition and being the actors in the video. We also wanted to highlight the efforts made by the early years and primary years students so we coordinated with different teachers and as evidence took various photos and videos of students working for our environment. Finally with the help of the IT department we combined all the data and evidence to create a video for the challenge.

Learning outcomes I came across while performing the activity:

LO 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

While making the video, we had to go through many challenges and had to spend our school slots on making the video too. Not only that we even came early for over a week and recorded different places where sustainable measures are used such as KG farm, School’s terrace. The most challenging part was to bifurcate and select places in which we could show how sustainably we are acting. We had to visit KG farm thrice and even had to carry out activities such as digging the pit by ourselves, planting new seeds in the soil, composting dried leaves. It really became tedious and tiring for us to plant a new seed accurately so that it grows properly and doesn’t hinder the growth of its neighboring plants. The decomposed material was smelly too and without any masks or hand gloves provided we had to pick it up and throw it into the pit dug by us. But at last, it was fun to cover the seeds with soil and then provide water to it. We felt proud to act sustainably and provide life to many small plants, with a little of our hard work.

This was the first time that I ever took a particle step for the sustainability of resources and I came across a lot of new learnings and skills. All the tasks required their own set of skills like planting seeds itself required skills like digging a perfect hole which is not too deep and placing seeds at a particular interval. I came to know about the workings of solar panels, understanding the working was very difficult as it is a complicated process and for that, you need to be a good listener so that you can well understand what the teacher had to say. This activity helped me to concentrate on some of my unknown skills and interests. I didn’t just limit my experience and knowledge to myself, in fact, I decided to share it with my family and friends too so that we all collectively have a greater impact on the beloved nature. I influenced them to maintain a proper kitchen where there are two different dustbins one to trash wet material and one to trash dry material. Waste segregation is promoted as it makes garbage much easier to recycle. Effective segregation of wastes means that less waste goes to landfill which makes it cheaper and better for people and the environment.

LO 3:  Initiate and plan a CAS experience.

A lot of planning was required in order to make a great video. We were supposed to do many tasks like arranging a debate, a quiz (both for smaller grades), cast in a video, shortlist all the sustainable events our school has planned and find photos and videos related to sustainability. Accomplishing so many tasks required a lot of planning to be done and we all had to work collaboratively, because of so many tasked we divided ourselves into pairs and assigned tasks based on the knowledge each individual held, with such a planning everyone was able to complete their task before time. Coming early twice and sometimes thrice in a cycle was a routine for almost 3 weeks and helped us do most of our planning in addition to it working in our free slots and visiting KG farm to study its sustainability also helped us plan such a great experience. We all were very enthusiastic while working on this activity which was the main cause of it turning into a success. Towards the end, we had to plan the order of the video to make it as appealing as possible and in this task we were supported by our ESS teachers.

LO 4: Show commitment and perseverance in CAS experiences.

For most of us, it was very difficult to come early in the morning regularly as we felt sleepy and lazy at times but we had committed at first that we will do whatever the task involved and due to our commitment school took part in this challenge as it was a student-led task. To keep up our words we used to come early and used to plan ahead. We used to book an appointment with the IT team and discussed how we will shoot a particular thing. Not only this to record the video we used to visit KG farm which is outside our school premises in the sweltering heat and shoot for hours. We had to miss our ESS slots to make the video and used to get drained while returning. While doing this task I realized that it is not easy to commit things and to be persistent. However, it shows our dedication and determination towards our work.

LO 6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

The issue is lack of sustainable development practices for which we are responsible. We are using natural resources way too much and depleting it. If this continues there won’t be sufficient resources left for the future generations. Hence, it is our utmost duty to save our nature for better living and for personal growth. Looking at the video we have made, I feel proud of our school that it has taken so many measures that lead to sustainable development. It will not only contribute to our environment but will encourage more people to work towards it.

LO 7: Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

Acting sustainably is something that the world should adopt because this falls in the ethics of humanity, as we are no one to exploit the gifts nature gives us, using them to an extent from where it can re-generate will be the best option as humanity is heavily dependent on nature and a slight change would cause a lot of harm to the existence of humans. Working unsustainably causes into several global issues like global warming, increase in the amount of greenhouse gases, increase in the water level, melting of the polar ice and waste deposition throughout the world, etc, with so many problems attached to it one should take care of its surroundings and take efforts to save it. It was very ethical for us to work on this project cause it has a global significance to it. We wanted to spread awareness amongst people and teach them how to work ethically. Just like how we take care of our home we need to take care of our surroundings, the smallest effort will cause a huge difference.

The activity consisted of tasks like throwing leaves in a pit so that it decomposes, planting saplings, picking up manure for better growth of plants, etc, such tasks demanded a lot of courage as it was very disgusting to do still such activities were conducted by each one of us cause this would spread awareness and would bring a change in people’s thinking and ethics.

This CAS experience turned out to be a great one as it reflected my responsibility for our environment while leaving me with great experience and new learnings.

Link to the video–

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VHre1SEx24

 

 

• Cooking – Essential for all

 

 

This year I opted for cooking as my AS and got to learn a lot from it –

 

Learning Outcome 1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

Earlier I used to live in a joint family and often used to help my mom with cooking (basic things like cutting veggies and other small tasks), my mom always used to say that I have great cooking skills and when in my first cooking class our mam herself appreciated my enthusiasm and my skills at that point in time I realized that cooking might be my strength.

Since I’m planning my graduation in Mumbai, cooking will be an essential skill to be learned as in emergencies I might have to cook my own food. This was the time I decided that I need to choose cooking as my AS. Now after a year of regular practice, I learned to cook various food dishes including the basic gravy and roti also some exotic dishes like red curry, Thai, etc.

 

Learning Outcome 3: Initiate and plan a CAS experience

This activity was a planned activity as, earlier I have attended many cooking classes teaching recipes of different drinks (like mocktail) and cakes, etc. Then I got to know that my school gives the opportunity to learn how to cook in school as our AS. Because of the high number of students in cooking it was very difficult to get your name on the list so I took initiative and registered for cooking 3 months prior. Our mam always tells us the dish we will be cooking in the next class and as a habit, I used to see the method of cooking it on youtube so that I don’t get confused with any step in the procedure. As I have said earlier, this way a planned activity as I want to be independent when I’ll distance from my home in some other city to attain my education and be able to fill my hunger when needed.

 

Learning Outcome 6: Engagement with issues of global significance

Globally many people starve themselves just because they don’t know how to cook, also it reflects in the high intake of pack food (Chips, chocolate, etc) affecting the health to such an extent that people nowadays are easily prone to health diseases like diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases and also affects our teeth causing cavity, tooth decay, etc.

 

With so many patients worldwide the skill of cooking would help millions to maintain their health. Even today I try influencing my friends and juniors to opt for cooking as their AS cause this will definitely help them in their future and having knowledge of what they are eating will help them maintain a balanced diet, even a small precaution can mean a lot when we are talking about consuming something.

Towards the end, this years cooking sections were great and left me with a lot of learnings.

 

• Beach Cleaning

 

Our first day of grade 11 started with a good task, we went to a nearby beach with an aim to clean it. We were handed with garbage bags and gloves and were divided into groups and were expected to pick up any visible garbage present on the beach.

The learning outcomes I accomplished are:

Learning Outcome 6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

Being an ESS student I know that pollution is a big threat and harms many animals and also causes issues like global warming to an extent. The beach we went to was full of garbage and required a lot of cleaning. Looking at the beach the first thought that arose in my mind was that even after the government trying so hard to control pollution through campaigns like Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, we the citizen never understand the importance of cleanliness and keep on spreading litter where ever we go.

Pollution causes several diseases like malaria, various infections, etc. This happens because this contaminates the water and the land. Leaving in such areas is very risky as you are prone to so many diseases. This not only causes humans but also innocent animals and plants, such an approach is devastating for the globe. This CAS experience left me with the importance of nature and environment in my life and made me realize that throwing garbage is easy but cleaning up the mess is very difficult. As a matter of fact, whenever I’m about to throw something on the ground which pollutes the surrounding, this activity strikes in my mind and I simply just wait for a dustbin or keep it in my backpack.

Learning Outcome 7: Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions

With a primary aim to influence the people around by collecting garbage thrown on the beach, we had to be ethical to make them realize their deeds and to influence them. Instead of playing games and enjoying the weather, we were busy cleaning the beach. We had a choice to make, either be ethical and work a global issue or to be irresponsible and make no use of the opportunity. Enthusiasm was the key, as collecting garbage can’t be done with a fading interest cause then we would not achieve our aim. Keeping in my mind that we ourselves were not littering anything cause that would create a false impression and our aim would be unsuccessful.

When we were about to leave all we felt was responsible and pride cause now the beach looked a way lot cleaner and most importantly, we all were left with a lesson.

 

• Strength and Fitness (GYM)

 

In my opinion, Health and Fitness are very essential in life. Hence, to maintain it, going to the gym and working out is a must. I go to the gym 5 times a week to work on my fitness.

So the Learning outcomes I came across are:

Learning Outcome 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills

Right from the first day working out was a huge challenge and as you progress you tend to go higher with weights which makes it a difficult process throughout. There are new exercises that I perform every day with greater difficulty levels and therefore challenges are undertaken on a day to day basis in the gym. Without challenges, there is no way you can develop new skills. Personally, by performing exercises with greater difficulties, I have developed new skills like increased stamina, greater strength etc. This wouldn’t be possible if challenges were not undertaken.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_4M-IyOwx0

Overall this was a great CAS experience and left me with a lot to learn about myself.

 

• Laughter is the Best Medicine (Project)

 

 

With an aim to learn various skills I wanted to organize an event on a great scale which would give me exposure to various necessary skills.

Learning Outcomes

• LO1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
• LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken developing new skills
• LO3: Initiate and plan a CAS experience
• LO4: Commitment to and perseverance
• LO5: Demonstrate the skills and benefits of working collaboratively

For doing something big, you require a team and I found that team in our school itself. Me and 4 of my other friends came together and at first instance, we brainstormed ideas as to how will we deliver our aim and thought on the activity we will conduct. After trying a number of times we contacted an event manager (Neel Choksi) as he would have a greater experience in the event field and would guide us throughout. After some meetings, we decided to be event partners i.e. both (Event management team and us) would have an equal share of the profit as well as lose if incurred, we decided on a 60 to 40 percent ration where we claimed to have the 60 percent of the total amount. Later the 60 percent was further divided into 5 equal parts and each one of us shared an equal profit percent. In the beginning, we had to decide the genre of the show we were going to organize and after brainstorming we came to a concession, looking at growing industry of comedy events, we decided to organize a standup comedy show. We wanted to do something extraordinary that no one has ever done before in Surat, so we decided to conduct a Gujarati stand up comedy show as this is something everyone was waiting for and was never experienced by the audience in Surat. This was a huge risk that we took as none of us were sure about the success of this event. Soon after deciding we booked the artist and finalized the dates and had to give an advance amount of 1 lakh rupees, Each one invested a capital amount of 10,000 and the rest was invested by Neel. Then we were asked to work on the budgeting and had to create a complete budget in a few days so that we can work on the sponsorship PPT and start finding people interested in sponsoring the event. At first communicating within each other and with Neel was an issue but after some meetings, things became a little casual. Pitching people for sponsorship was a great deal because most of us lacked the skill and didn’t ever face rejection on the first go, but sticking to the task helped us attract enough sponsors which would help us cover the entire cost. For the final day, each one of us was assigned a task so that we could benefit from working collaboratively, I had to look after the activity in the box office as well as the main entry gate. On the day of the event, we had everything at place and everything was going as we planned. We could see smiles on peoples face throughout the event which made us feel very proud of ourselves as this event was not something that could be done by anyone, it included various risks, dedication, hard work, and commitment. Throughout the process, I came across many skills that I discovered in myself and skills like communication, time management, etc were developed.

This CAS experience gave me a gist of what real hard work is and made me realize the value of money. This experience has a major influence on my life as it not only taught me the extrinsic values but also the intrinsic values which I believe are very essential in life.

Link to the Sponsors List:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E1TptZ5_EQSHw76FgoUF7iG5KgKABfu7zCmJ6Tc95iI/edit#gid=108854912

Link to the Letterhead:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1B6D2apVqnLItUoRn16XJDsylWJJxQq21SkXYGLbgcE8/edit