This miniature blog post is the fifth in my CAS series called Mini Blogs. In this little series, I will write some small blogs about CAS-related activities that I have completed, focusing mainly on only one learning outcome. The other learning outcomes related to each blog post will be briefly talked about at the end, with a short sentence about how that learning outcome was addressed with each activity.

LO3 Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience Students can articulate the stages from conceiving an idea to executing a plan for a CAS experience or series of CAS experiences. This may be accomplished in collaboration with other participants. Students may show their knowledge and awareness by building on a previous experience, or by launching a new idea or process.

In my french class this year, my teacher Mrs. Fert has suggested that we do a few different CAS-related activities in French! I had already done my french reflection on my Experiences as the SGA Spirit Coordinator, and this is the second one of my French CAS Experiences. I worked on this project, planned (with help and collaboration), and initiated this CAS experience. Mrs. Fert gave all of us the good idea to write letters to the French Elderly, to help them out during the challenging times in the pandemic, and to cheer them up! Me and Sheruni (my best friend), decided to do this for a “Service” project in french! This is building on the experience of my French reflection, as it is adding to my French CAS-related Actives. After an idea from Mrs. Fert, Sheruni and I initiated the writing of our own letters in French!

First of all, we made mini-plans for how we will get the letters to the french elderly, what time they will be delivered, how many we will each write, who they would be addressed to, and what the content in the letters would be. Mrs. Fert kindly offered to deliver the French Letters to the Assidom Association in France when she goes in the Summer. Through the AssiDom Website, we looked at all the options of who we would send letters to, and we both decided to write to elderly french ladies. We coordinated with Mrs. Fert to when we would drop the letters of at school, so she could collect them and bring them to France with her!

Here are our plans: We were both the only two people to make physical, hand-written letters! First, we wrote out our french Letters, and Mrs. Fert kindly offered to help edit them for us (to avoid any grammatical errors).

Here is my Original French Letter:

Chère Madame,

J’espère que vous allez bien et que vous faites bien attention à vous dans cette période difficile.

Je m’appelle Chloé, et j’ai 17 ans. J’habite au Sri Lanka, qui est une petite île dans le sud de l’Asie. J’ai habité ici depuis mon CE1, et maintenant, je suis en train de finir mon année de Première, alors, j’habite ici depuis 10 ans! Avant, j’ai habité en Tanzanie pendant 6 ans, et avant ça au Pérou quand j’étais toute petite. Mais, je suis née au Canada, et mes parents sont canadiens. Je me demande si vous avez visité d’autres pays dans votre vie? Moi, j’aime beaucoup voyager, et voir de nouveaux endroits. Je pense que j’ apprends toujours beaucoup en visitant d’autres lieux et en rencontrant d’autres personnes. Mais, maintenant c’est difficile de voyager…malheureusement.

Mais n’oubliez pas! <<Détermination et espoir sont les facteurs clés d’un meilleur avenir.>> – Dalai Lama

Alors! Je suis positive et je sais que tout s’améliorera un jour. J’espère que vous essayez de vous occuper comme vous le pouvez . Je vous souhaite d’être heureuse. Si vous avez besoin d’idées de choses à faire, voici 3 petites idées pour vous 🙂

1. Essayez de dessiner votre fleur préférée

2. Faite une liste de toutes les choses pour lesquelles vous êtes reconnaissance

3. Et finalement, essayez la méditation

Il est nécessaire que nous nous aidions les uns les autres dans cette période difficile. Nous devons nous serrer les coudes et rester soudés. J’espère que cette petite lettre vous apportera de la joie.

Amitiés,

Chloe

Here is a rough translation of my Letter to English:

Dear Madam,

I hope you are doing well and taking good care of yourself during this difficult time.

My name is Chloe, and I am 17 years old. I live in Sri Lanka, which is a small island in southern Asia. I’ve lived here since my third grade, and now I’m finishing my junior year, so I’ve been living here for 10 years! Before, I lived in Tanzania for 6 years, and before that in Peru when I was very young. But, I was born in Canada, and my parents are Canadian. I wonder if you have visited other countries in your life? I like to travel a lot, and see new places. I think I always learn a lot by visiting other places and meeting other people. But, now it’s difficult to travel… unfortunately.

But don’t forget! “Determination and hope are the keys to a better future”. – Dalai Lama

So! I am positive and know that someday everything will improve. I hope you can try to entertain yourself if you can. I wish you happiness. If you need ideas for things to do, here are 3 little ideas for you 🙂

1. Try to draw your favourite flower
2. Make a list of all the things you are grateful for
3. And finally, try meditation

It is necessary that we help each other in this difficult time. We must stick together and stay united. I hope this little letter will bring you joy.

Kind regards,

Chloe

After writing this letter and getting it edited, I then used some pretty, colourful pens and I re-wrote this letter on 3 different papers (addressed to 3 french elderly ladies). Here is a photo of the 3 letters I wrote! this took quite a while, as I wanted to make my handwriting look nice and legible.

Here is a photo of me with the letters I wrote!

Then,  I folded up the letters, and I put little eye stickers and smiley faces on the outside of the letters, to make them look cute!  Then, my mom and I drove to school to drop off the letters in the guard office (so Mrs. Fert could collect them!)

Then, in France, Mrs. Fert delivered the letters! Here are photos of the AssiDom office, the Lady ready to deliver the letters, and a thank you note written in an email! There is also a photo of some of the elderly from AssiDom who may have received our letters!

Photo Credits:  Marlene Fert

 

 

 

This was the final stage of executing the plan to send letters to the French Elderly!

Other Learning Outcomes (Shortened):

LO2 Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process A new challenge may be an unfamiliar experience or an extension of an existing one. The newly acquired or developed skills may be shown through experiences that the student has not previously undertaken or through increased expertise in an established area.  – It was a bit of a challenge for me to write the letter itself. I did not want to only write about myself and potentially bore the readers about me and my life. It was challenging for me to find a balance between talking only about myself and asking rhetorical questions/addressing the reader. I also found it tricky to be correctly sensitive in the scenario to be polite, respectful, and interesting in french (this would not be very challenging for me in English). I have developed my french vocabulary through this experience, learning how to use a “subjonctif” expression (Il est nécessaire que nous nous aidions les uns les autres dans cette période difficile), and also some more complicated vocabulary. This new vocab and knowledge are my newly developed skills.

LO6 Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance Students are able to identify and demonstrate their understanding of global issues, make responsible decisions, and take appropriate action in response to the issue either locally, nationally or internationally.  – COVID-19 is a massive global issue, and it is impacting everyone in the world (from impacting their physical health, to their lifestyle and their mental health). Writing letters to the french elderly was a way of demonstrating my awareness of the mental and emotional impact that COVID may have on people (especially older people who are isolated from visitors and lacking social connections). My response to this issue was to try to make a few people’s days a little bit better, to let them know that everything will be okay and that they are not alone. I took this action internationally, as the letters I wrote were flown from Sri Lanka to France.

LO7 Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions Students show awareness of the consequences of choices and actions in planning and carrying out CAS experiences. – I have considered the ethics of my choice to write letters to the french elderly, and I have thought a lot about how this may have affected people’s days. I really hope that my letters had achieved their intended effect to make people happier and feel less alone. The thank-you note written was incredibly kind, and it showed that the letters really did make some people happy! 🙂