Category: Service

CAS Project: Creativity & Service Recycling Signs

cascoordinatorCreativity

CAS Project Process: 

 

When brainstorming ideas for my CAS project, I knew I wanted to focus on the service aspect of CAS. I am a service leader of OSC’s Recycling and Sustainability program, and I was brainstorming different projects I could do involving the service. I wanted to leave a mark on OSC, and the service group, something physical that will outlast my time at OSC, and remain useful for several years after. My original idea was to upgrade the current recycling room, as we had problems with insects and organization. However, we were relocated in January as new security turnstiles replaced the recycling room. We were relocated to a small section of the open parking lot, under a metal cover. We had a room built in that location to help protect the recyclables from rain, and falling debris such as leaves. 

 

One major problem we face as a service is that non-recycling items are mixed into the recyclables. Additionally, we would often find that people would dump a large amount of paper and cardboard into the room in a disorganized manner. This would mean that we would spend the whole service block time cleaning and organizing the room. We also had no clear signage. So I decided for my CAS project, was to create a sign that indicates the rules of the recycling room, what can and cannot be recycled, and who to contact if they have any questions.

 

I decided on having 3 total signs, two outdoors in the room and one indoors. The first outdoor sign would indicate that this is where the recycling room is. Since we recently have moved location, it is important to make it clear to people where recyclables go, because otherwise they end up in the trash, and go to a landfill. The first sign will also have text highlighting OSC’s commitment to reducing its environmental footprint, how the recycling room is run, and rules regarding placing items in the room. I wanted to have this text in English, Tamil, and Sinhala, the national languages of Sri Lanka. I translated the text into Tamil and Sinhala and asked my housekeeper’s husband, who is fluent in both languages, to check the translation. The second sign will indicate what items can and cannot be recycled by the room. Currently, we collect mainly paper and cardboard, however, our scrap dealer will also accept (intact) glass and metal, but this is very rare to find on campus. We often get dirty cardboard, such as food-filled pizza boxes and tissues, both of which we do not deal with as it is both a hazard for our service group and attracts insects and rodents. The sign clearly shows that all items must be clean, this should reduce the amount of food and tissues we get in the recycling room. At the bottom of sign two, there is also contact information for Mr Lockwood, the service leader, and also the student leaders. The third sign will be placed inside the room and will highlight the information outside of the room, such as organization, and what materials can and cannot be recycled. Once I got a grammar and spelling check for all languages I downloaded my design as a PDF and went to my local print shop. The place I went to is called Leaf Next Day Print. I talked with a consultant, and they recommend that since these signs would be exposed to Sri Lanka’s humidity, temperature, and rain, the signs should be on compact foam board, and also laminated. I decided on an A2 size for the signs, which is 42, by 60 cm. A2, in my opinion, was the best dimension for these signs, as they both have to be readable from a distance, but also fit within my price range. The designs were printed by the next day, and I will hang them up in the room when we get back to school when Sinhala & Tamil New Year Holidays end. 

 

CAS Project Reflection:

This CAS project allowed me to explore both the Creativity and Service aspects of CAS. Creating this poster allowed me to improve and develop my graphic design skills. Additionally, I had to do research during the process. The information I learned from the research during this process I could use in other academic, and non-academic projects. Additionally, this project allows me to engage with a global issue, pollution, as this sign will make recycling at OSC more efficient. 

 

CAS Learning Outcomes: 

#1 Identify your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth.

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

#3 Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.

#4 Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

#6 Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

 

Photos:

Finished Printed Sign 1 & 2, on Compact Foam Board
Finished Printed Sign 3, on Compact Foam Board
Digital Design of Sign 2

Service: Open Day Presentation

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Summary of OSC’s Open Day Presentation

OSC planned to host an ‘open day’ at their campus to encourage families and students to enroll at OSC. The first half of the open day would be campus tours, and the second half would be a presentation of highlights at OSC. Eloise and I were to give a presentation on OSC’s environmental awareness and progress. We were allocated 15 minutes for our section of the presentation. We decided to use parts of our FCC green flag audit presentation for the open day as well. I prepared slides on recycling, food waste, biogas, garden beds, and OSC’s green code. However the day before the open day, we were given a new slides template, and the night before the event I had to recreate the slides on the new Open Day Presentation Template. The day of the event was hectic for me, as I also had to organize OSCARS, OSC’s prom. 

 

After organizing decorations for OSCARS in the morning, I arrived on campus at 10 am Saturday for the open day. I helped give a school tour to two families looking to enroll at OSC. Since the children were in primary school, we focused mainly on the primary school facilities. At 12 there was a buffet lunch provided by OSC’s canteen. At 1 the presentation began. While others were giving their presentations, I was organizing details for OSCARS. Our presentation went smoothly, and we stayed under our 15-minute goal. I had to leave immediately after the presentation to prepare the venue for OSCARS, and on the way out I got a high-five from Dr Kleiss, the Director of OSC.

 

Learning Outcomes. 

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

#3 Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.

#4 Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

#5 Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

 

Photos:

Environmental presentation at OSC
The Overseas School of Colombo Organises 'Open Day' on Saturday the 25th of March - Adaderana Biz English | Sri Lanka Business News
OSC Open Day Promotional Image

Service: Trip to the International Water Management Institute

cascoordinatorSchool Trips

Summary:
Our service, Recycling and Sustainability aim to reduce OSC’s ecological footprint. In order to develop new ideas, and further reduce OSC’s ecological footprint, we went to the IWMI headquarters in Sri Lanka, to learn more about how waste is managed, and turned into a useful product. Since the headquarters were about 200 meters away from our school campus, we took a short bus ride there and talked with Dr Pay Drechel. Our group was comprised of key members of our service group, the DP1 and 2 chemistry and biology students. We were given a comprehensive interactive presentation on different ways IWMI, large cities, and Colombo, deal with waste management. An interesting thing I learned during this presentation, was how wastewater is converted into protein through the use of black soldier flies. Which are fed to fish and livestock. Or how cleaned wastewater is used to irrigate crops.

Dr. Pay Drechel Giving a Presentation to the Group of Students Image Credit: Ian Lockwood


CAS Learning Outcomes:
#1 Identify your own strengths and develop areas for growth.

6# Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

Green Flag Application

cascoordinatorService

Recently OSC received the Eco-Schools green flag. In order to receive the green flag, several services including Recycling and Sustainability presented to 3 executive members of the Eco-Schools association. Huirong and I, being the leaders of R & S, are members of the Eco-Schools committee, and presented the projects, challenges, and progress R&S has made to achieving Eco-School’s objectives. I focused on the biogas project and our recycling initiatives. This whole presentation was about 2 hours. And about 12 students and 4 teachers participated in this presentation. In addition to the 12 students, a student who used to be at OSC used zoom in order to join the presentation. Huirong and I took about half an hour since we had many initiatives to discuss. After the presentation, the 3 judges asked in-depth questions, directed at the ecological initiatives undertaken at OSC, and in our community. 

After waiting a week, we received an email from the council that confirmed our green flag acquisition. OSC is the first school in Sri Lanka to receive an Eco-Schools Green Flag. The email had several suggestions that OSC could follow in order to remain on track. 

Learning Outcomes: 

#1 Identify your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth.

#4 Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

#6 Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

 

Service: Recycling; Cardboard, Paper, and Scrap Metal

cascoordinatorService

Last Thursday, during our usual service time slot, we had the ambitious goal of clearing the cluttered and disorganized recycling room and taking the recycling materials down to the scrap dealer. Despite us missing a few of our service members, we were able to achieve the goal. We cleared the entire recycling room, which was full about a foot high with paper, cardboard, and non-recycling items. We took all of the paper we could down to the scrap dealer.

Huirong, Vansh, and I helped unload the truckload of recycling material to be weighed by the scrap dealer. It took about half an hour from when we started clearing the recycling room, to when we had unloaded all the material down at the scrap dealer.

We made about 2000 rupees from the scrap material alone. We added it to our service fund, which we plan on using for a future service project, such as an upgrade to the recycling room, or possibly an addition to the biogas plant.

The main learning outcomes achieved were:
“Demonstrate how to internal and plan a CAS experience” We created an action plan on how we were going to clear the recycling room, and we split it up into jobs to optimize the process and make sure that everyone was contributing a sufficient amount of effort.

“Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance” the act of cleaning out the recycling room, and sending our cardboard and paper to a scrap deal demonstrates that we were engaging with the global issue of pollution, and waste.

Service- Making Popcorn with bio gas for the PSGA

cascoordinatorService

As a leader of the service group: Recycling and Sustainability, I have to ensure that the whole school is making an active effort to reduce OSC’s ecological footprint. One of the major contributions to OSC’s ecological footprint is food waste. The way that our service group is combatting the food waste issue is with the use of a biogas plant. We put in food waste and in return, we get cooking gas. 

 

However, we had two problems, firstly was getting food waste from the canteen into the biogas machine, and raising school awareness about food waste. We tackled part of the issue with an announcement in the daily bulletin, however, I wanted to involve the primary school as well. So I met with Mrs Leblanc, the teacher leader of the PSGA, the primary school government association, and proposed a plan. The following Tuesday with the PSGA meeting, I brought all 20 members ranging from first grade to fifth grade to the biogas plant. 

To demonstrate how important it is that we put the food waste into the plant, we cooked popcorn and made hot chocolate using the cooking gas created. The PSGA were excited about the popcorn, however, they thought the hot chocolate was a bit bitter. Either way, they proposed that the PSGA collect the food waste created during the primary lunchtime, to be placed into the biogas plant. The event ended up on the school’s facebook page, and in the gecko times. 

Learning Outcomes: 

 

3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.

I initiated this cas experience myself, I also arranged all the material required and created a plan.

 

4: Show commitment and perseverance in CAS experiences. 

I missed parts of my economics class, which I had to catch up on later so that I could participate in this CAS experience. I also had to organize materials and resources outside of school time. 

 

Stage Management

cascoordinatorCreativity

Summary: 

Twice a year, the school holds a Gala, one in spring and one in winter. However, due to covid 19, there has not been a gala for the past 2 years. However, restrictions being lifted allowed the school to organize a spring gala. Along with the performers, a stage management crew was needed. In total there were 5 stage management crew members including me. 

 

There were 2 whole days of rehearsals, in which we needed to create a plan on how to organize, move, and set up the stage for each performance. Each of the 21 performances required different setups, and everything needed to go smoothly.

 

We created a document in which we clearly outlined the required chairs, stands, instruments, and mics. We also stated which person had to deal with which item to limit confusion. We also had a booklet with a hand-drawn layout of each of the setups, noting down the microphone, stand, and chair placements. 

Our stage management plan

To help us with the placement of the items, we had to “spike” the stage. This involved taking pieces of duct tape and marking down the placement of items for each performance. We developed a system for labelling the spikes using different colour markers for different items. 

Me adjusting the mic stand (Credit Senaya)

The actual day of the Gala was very stressful, we made sure to check everything, and make sure everyone knew what their jobs were. We had some issues during the setup of a few performances, one of the mic stands was broken, and had to be switched out. 

IB learner outcomes:

This whole 3-day experience taught me a lot: The first primary ib learner outcome was “Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.” Stage management was very challenging, it was extremely tedious to create an organisational system in which everything was accounted for. However, I did develop organizational skills, and the ability to develop detailed plans and strategies. 

 

Next to the learning outcome was “show commitment and perseverance in CAS experiences”. The whole 3-day process was 18 hours of work, it required a lot of perseverance, and commitment, as the entire gala performance depended on us. 

 

The final main learning outcome was “Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.” As a group, we were able to collaborate and develop our plans together in the most effective way. Without teamwork, we wouldn’t have been able to have effectively operated as a stage management team. 

 

Relaxing after a successful Gala performance
The stage management team creating a planning document

Service: Recycling and Sustainability

cascoordinatorService

My service progress:

  • Since the start of the service semester, the service, recycling and sustainability, has achieved a lot. 
  • We have restarted our collection of paper and cardboard from each room within the OSC campus, to be sent for recycling. 
  • We cleaned and reorganized the recycling room, to allow us to store recyclables more efficiently. 
  • We also did an audit of the rooms, to figure out which rooms required new recycling boxes. And we also began reviving the biogas plant. The biogas plant produces gas when water and food waste is placed into it. Bacteria break down the food, creating gas which we can burn to cook food. However, because of covid restrictions, all the bacteria died off, and it has to be revived. This is done by putting cow manure into the opening, re-introducing the bacteria. 

Main Learning outcomes:

#3, Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience. We planned out how to revive the biogas plant, how to efficiently collect recyclables , and how to organize the recycling room. These were all service based actions, and they all were planned out. 

#4 Show commitment of an percenerace in CAS experiences. For 4 weeks, our service group has been putting cow manure into the biogas plant, to revive it. We also have consistently collected recyclables from every room, every week. 

Prior Service Experience

cascoordinatorService

Prior Service Experience: During my 3-year experience within the MYP programme, I participated in 2 different service groups, and throughout my experience, I learned a lot of new skills, and information, that I can take with me into other situations.

Reefkeepers: The first service group I participated in was ReefKeepers. Within this service, our goal was to raise awareness about ocean pollution and find ways the school, and local community could help combat this. During my time I participated in beach cleanups, and street weeps. We collected hundreds of pieces of trash, and sorted it, identifying which companies were the largest polluters, and we sent them a message regarding that.

During my Reefkeepers experience, I learned a wide variety of things. I learned how to efficiently organize an event. I worked with my ReefKeeper peers to plan things, such as the beach sweep, or t-shirt sales. I am able to take the planning and organizing aspect of my experience and utilise it in other situations, both academic and personal. For example, I used a planning scaffold before we visited Auckland during the summer, preparing and planning all the necessary documents and procedures.

Recycling & Sustainability: During my short time with the service group Recycling and Sustainability, I learned how to efficiently work as a team. Part of the service activity is sorting through recyclable materials from the school. We were, as a group, able to sort through the entire room and have it clean within 45 minutes. I could utilise these group working skills within school projects, or within social life, with friends and family.

I plan on utilizing these skills within my DP service experience, and I plan on further developing my academic, and social skills within my service.