Create a Website for Social Business

Attention economics, ITGS, and business management students (and any other interested parties)!

You know the youth center in Suello Village where Anito and Jasmine teach music and where Sam, the Peace Corps volunteer, works? Well, they also have a livelihood program for teenage boys who are trouble with the law. They learn how to make furniture in an apprentice program so that when they turn 18 years old, they don't have to return to a life of crime, they can get a job and earn a decent living.

Not the actual workshop but I imagine it looks similar but with teenagers working.

But, if I didn't know Sam, I would have no idea that there was a place in Baguio where I could go shop for furniture that would benefit youth in this way. In fact, I've still never seen the place or seen what kind of furniture they make.

Ugh! Can't find anything I'm looking for on the internet.

But if the furniture workshop had a website where people could see what their products are and where it is located and how to contact them, they could get some more business and make more money. Also, if the boys there learned how to manage a website, they would be that much more hirable when they leave the organization. Computer literacy will help them to find clients, buy raw materials, and market their products.

That's where Brent CAS students come in.

CAS Proposal: Create a website for furniture workshop NGO.

You can even use blogger like I did HERE. (Obviously this sucks but I spent about 5 minutes creating it.) You would spend a couple of months.

This could be a great real, physical accomplishment that would benefit others in the community. It is CREATIVITY and SERVICE.

Let me know if you are interested and I can help you set this up.

Worried that you don't have the skills to create a website? Like I said, you can use blogger (and everyone knows how to use blogger) and if you can google a question and watch youtube video tutorials, then you can do this!

Winter Break and Beyond

Whether it's SCUBA diving or tennis center or finally getting a chance to volunteer at a youth center, your winter break can be a great opportunity to take time to carry out a CAS activity that was difficult to fit in during the school semester.

• DO write a proposal!
• DO NOT wait for APPROVAL. (I may not be able to respond quickly.)
• Have FUN!

Reflections that are soon due (within 2 weeks of completing an activity):

• Lessons and Carols
• Gawad Kalinga
• Mabini Tutoring

Creativity ideas for next semester:

• lead a broadcasting club for middle schoolers - http://www.youtube.com/cdspodsquad

Famine Event

 Click HERE to download the full Famine Manual with all the information you will need.

If 12 hours seems too short for you, why not go for 30 hours like this famine or this famine.

Here is the person you should contact for more information. Just identify yourself as a student at Brent.

Community Development and Leadership Training

Smiling Face
Originally uploaded by jamesfischer

The expectation of the IB Diploma CAS program at Brent is that students will participate in a community based service project at some point throughout the two years of the program.

On October 25, there will be a leadership training on how to carry out basic community development analysis and how to organize and structure a community development program.






This workshop will ensure that your CAS service projects are in line with IB requirements:

The general principle, sketched out in the section “The nature of creativity, action, service”, that the “rights, dignity and autonomy of all those involved [in service activities] are respected”, means, among other things, that the identification of needs, towards which a service activity will be directed, has to involve prior communication and full consultation with the community or individual concerned. This approach, based on a collaborative exchange, maximizes both the potential benefits to the recipients and the learning opportunities for the students.

Ideally, such prior communication and consultation will be face-to-face and will involve the students themselves. Where this is not possible, schools need to work with appropriate partners or intermediaries, such as NGOs (non-governmental organizations), and make every effort to ensure both that the service provided is appropriate, and that the students are able to understand the human consequences of their work, for both individuals and communities.

Where: Brent School - Little Theater/Griffiths Theater

When: October 25 - 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM - This training normally takes 4 days but is being condensed in order to fit the specific needs of Brent students.

Who: Grade 11 and Grade 12 IB students (Workshop leaders will be current Peace Corps volunteers working in communities in the Philippines.)

Why: This training will prepare you to be able to contribute effectively in the community service projects that you engage in.

How to Write a Killer CAS Proposal

The CAS coordinator at Brent Subic has created a sample CAS proposal that might be helpful to those of you who struggle with this step. Take a look:

CAS Proposal (SAMPLE)

Proposals for Girls Basketball and Boys Soccer due on Tuesday.

Action: Eye Run 'coz I Care!

Are you not really into team sports but looking for a fun action activity that will challenge you and make you stronger while benefiting a good cause??  Look no further! Here in Baguio the Lions Club is sponsoring a running event to help blind children in Northern Luzon. There are three different levels: 3k, 5k, 16k. Just think about it: 3k is shorter than you have to run for cross-country and I'm sure somebody would be up for the marathon challenge of 16 kilometers.  There is even a FREE running clinic (where they teach you techniques for long-distance running I imagine?) with a famous Filipina runner so you will likely learn some new skills.

Remember, you need to have a variety of CAS activities in all three areas: Creativity / Action / Service. This is a great opportunity to do a short-term ACTION activity.

If this sounds like it is too hard for you, then it is a good idea for CAS. 

If this sounds like it will put you in an unfamiliar environment, then this is a good idea for CAS. 

If you've never run in a community race before, then this is a good CAS activity.

Alright, alright, I convinced myself.  I'm doing it. Who's joining??

Click here for more info.

Understanding Learning Outcomes

Some of the CAS Learning Outcomes need to be dissected a bit to understand how they apply to your CAS activities. I thought I'd start with one of the more difficult ones.

• considered the ethical implications of their actions

What does that mean? And how do you show proof of it in your reflections? 

Considered means that you thought about something critically. You may have questioned yourself and your actions.
Ethical implications means the expression of or meaning behind an ethical decision.
Ethical decisions involve determining right from wrong. They may involve issues of honesty, justice, compassion, integrity, and fairness.

The IB CAS guide states: 

Ethical decisions arise in almost any CAS activity (for example, on the sports field, in musical composition, in relationships with others involved in service activities). Evidence of thinking about ethical issues can be shown in various ways, including journal entries and conversations with CAS advisers.

So as far as how you can show evidence of growth in this area, WRITE about it or TALK to me about the moments in your CAS activities when you are faced with ethical decisions, when you have to judge between right and wrong.
 
Here are some quotes that may help you in your understanding.

• An ethical person ought to do more than he's required to do and less than he's allowed to do.
• Winning is nice if you don't lose your integrity.

Have an impact on Millennium Development Goal #2 in our own backyard!

"Only the truly motivated students get a quality education...individual attention is almost impossible." 

This quote is from a teacher in an overcrowded public school in the Philippines. As students yourselves, you should understand that individual attention to your learning is essential for learning. With very small class sizes at Brent, it's easy to take individual attention from your teachers for granted.


MDG #2 is universal primary education by 2015. According to this blog post that explains the Philippines' progress in each of the different MDG's, the country is NOT on track to meet the second goal. Presently only 73% of Filipinos complete the sixth grade. This article details some of the obstacles to providing a quality education to all Filipino children - overcrowded classrooms being one of the most significant. 

Fortunately, you have the opportunity to give some individual attention to some students who are not so privileged to be able to attend a private school like Brent with small class sizes.

Mabini Elementary School and Rizal Elementary School both are in need of a few students who will commit to working with some of the struggling students at these schools one day per week after school. There will be an adult teacher supervisor but the work of tutoring and encouraging these students will be your responsibility.

This type of CAS activity may provide you the opportunity to work on the following learning outcomes:

1. Undertaken new challenges.
2. Planned and initiated activities.
5. Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities.
6. Engaged with issues of global importance.


Sources:
Mydans, Seth "The Philippines Face Classroom Shortages" The New York Times August 24, 2009.

Gonzales, Iris Cecilia "The Philippines on MDGs: Goals 1 and 2 Likely To Be Missed" Think About It: European Blogging Championship May 24, 2010.

Images from New York Times

Brent Manila Graduate's NGO: Leap Ahead

If you were curious to find out more about the Brent Manila graduate who started an NGO for CAS, check out the organization's website. There is even a message from Kristoffer Munden, the founder who is now a senior at Boston College, about how his experiences in Manila led him to create Leap Ahead.

URGENT: Add this gadget to your blog!

A Gadget is a thing on your blog. You need this so that I don't miss any of your questions or comments. Please do this ASAP!

Step 1.

Click on the link Design in the upper right-hand corner of your blog, then click on the link Add a Gadget where you want this gadget to appear.

Step 2.

Scroll down the list of choices until you see Subscription Links. Select Subscription Links and then click Add to Blog.

Step 3.

You can name your gadget instead of the default text “Subscribe To” and then click Save.

Step 4.

Go to view your blog, it will look like the image below.

Food = Health @ Brent?

A Philippine Daily Inquirer headline reads, "500 Pinoys diagnosed daily with diabetes". The World Health Organization, has declared obesity a global epidemic.

If this issue AT ALL concerns you, you could develop a really productive CAS project that would have a lasting impact on the school and the health of many Brent students.

What can you do about it?

Start local. One of the major themes of CAS is to "Think globally, and act locally." That means that often times the best way to have an impact on many global issues, is to work on them at the local level.

So ask yourself, how many times have you seen young lower school students eating ice cream, cookies, or soda ("fruit drinks" aren't much better either) at recess time?

What other options are out there? What can be done about nutritional health at Brent, in the community, in the world?

Raising Chickens for the Environment and Better Health

There is a town in Belgium whose city government gives out two chickens to every interested household as part of the city's integrated waste management system. Hard to believe? Read this.

Image by grandmasandy+chuck

Last I heard was Baguio had a trash problem. What if a CAS student at Brent wanted to do a project where they learned how to take care of a small (2-4) flock of chickens as a way of promoting local, pesticide-free and organic food (eggs) and at the same time diverting biodegradable garbage that would take up space in an already over capacity landfill???

Image by ap

Adult sponsorship and materials will not be a challenge if you are interested in this project. You will almost certainly GROW in areas of creativity, problem solving, commitment, perseverance, and ingenuity. You will also grow in your appreciation and knowledge of agriculture and farming, the environment and sustainable living.

Stuff that's due August 6th

Start the year off right by getting your CAS Plan and Self-Review done so that you can turn it in tomorrow.

Click HERE to fill out the Student Self-review form on-line. Don't forget to click submit!

Click HERE for a copy of the preliminary CAS Plan. Remember, this can change throughout the next year so just write down your ideas.


While you are here, scroll down and check out some of the recent blog posts about different CAS ideas.

CAS Service Project - Women in Congo, Africa

Here is a great service opportunity that deals with raising awareness around a serious global issue.
 
My aunt is a college professor in Vermont, USA. One of her college students started a project to raise awareness of the horrible situation that women face in conflict areas of the East Congo in Africa. The project involves reaching out to students across the US and around the world to start "Dear Hillary" chapters at their schools and educate their community about this issue and hopefully do something about it!

 What do you do?

1. Visit the Dear Hillary Campaign for the Congo website and educate yourself about what the project is all about.
2. Write a CAS Proposal for this activity.
3. Click on the "Register a Chapter" tab and fill in the information required.
4. Organize a viewing on October 26th of the film The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo at BISB or in Baguio City.

Goals, Goals, Goals!

If a man does not know what port he is steering for, no wind is favorable to him.

- Seneca (Roman philosopher)

Goals are important. That is why your CAS proposal must include an explanation of your personal goals for the activity. How will you know if you have succeeded at anything if you don't aim for something?

• What do you want to learn? 
• What do you want to improve?
• What do you hope to attain?

43Things is a social networking site devoted to helping people reach their goals. It's worth checking out for inspiration and ideas (and laughs - one odd goal I encountered was "to become a mermaid"). And if you join and submit your own goals, other users will give you tips and encouragement.

The goals that you set in your CAS proposal should be included in your CAS portfolio. If you use a blog, it is easy to just copy and paste your CAS proposal into a new blog entry.

To blog or not to blog...

Now there's more reason than ever to create your own CAS blog. Blogger, the free Google blogging platform, lets you easily set up a personal blog and now you can choose from numerous customizable templates! Here is the link to the CAS Sample Blog.

Interested in Wildlife and the Environment?

It is shocking where our plastic bottle caps end up and the damage that they do. Below are photographs of albatross birds who have died as a result of eating garbage that they thought was food. Click HERE for more information.

Getting involved with the environmental club at Brent, improving recycling programs or educating community/school about minimizing plastic bottle use so that this doesn't happen could be a really great CAS activity or goup project.

Image by Chris Jordan

Image by Chris Jordan

CAS Opportunity for Musicians

What do you think about this statement?

"Music is the best medicine in the world."

The organizations Musicians on Call in the US and Music in Hospitals in the UK demonstrate a profound service possibility for musicians. I invite you to watch the videos and explore the websites. Maybe some of you will be inspired to create something like this in Baguio. (By the way, there could be plenty of opportunities for non-musicians to be involved with the organizational aspect of something like this even if they are not involved with the performance aspect.)

Musicians on Call


Music in Hospitals

Creativity + Community