GIN Film Festival

Create a film to submit at the 2012 Global Issues Network Conference in Singapore. You do not have to go to the conference to submit a 3 minute film in the GIN Film Festival.

Go HERE for all the information on how to participate.

ICT Outreach @ Brent

GIN participants assist with ICT classes at Constructing Learning through Technology in Manila - 02/18/12

The Brent ICT Outreach Project (we seriously need to come up with a better name than that!) will begin this Friday, February 24 and will run every Friday from 3:30 to 4:30 until Easter break.

If you are interested in volunteering with this project and can commit to coming MOST Fridays, talk to Mrs. Wright ASAP or write a proposal in your CAS blog.

GOAL: 
The goal of the project is to improve the lives of disadvantaged youth in our community by providing access to and training in ICT.

WHO DOES THIS SERVE:
Adolescent boys living at the Irisan Department of Social Welfare residential home who have demonstrated an interested in learning more about ICT.

WHAT YOU WILL DO: 
Student volunteers will share their knowledge of a variety of ICT skills one-on-one with the ICT class participants in a way that is personalized to the interests and abilities of their students.

Oh, the possibilities!!!

Just had a chat with my friend Sam, the Peace Corps volunteer, who some of you may remember from the leadership training we did last year. She said that CFSPI is eager to have volunteers come again to work with their girls.

When: Saturdays or Sundays for an hour or two
Where: Suello Village (ask Anito or Mrs. Maner)
Who is served: girls are age 7-17 and are mostly victims of abuse
Who serves: YOU, go with a classmate if you don't want to go by yourself
Transportation: you must provide your own transportation

ICT/Computer Lessons 
There are several computers and you could implement an ICT class with a small group of interested girls. I can help you plan and prepare for this.

Piano and Guitar Lessons
CFSPI has a piano and a couple of guitars that you could use to teach the girls music lessons.

Dance and Drama
Teach a play/skit/dance to a group of girls to help them improve their self-confidence and have fun. This is also an option.

English Conversation
Practice speaking English is another type of activity that would be good for the girls at CFSPI. This could be as formalized or informal as you wanted.

Homework Help
Most of the girls at CFSPI go to school and could use some tutoring and extra help with their homework. You could commit to helping them once a week.

Solar Lights - Awesome!

Screenshot from isanglitrongliwanag.org

Liter of Light - isanglitrongliwanag.org

Teaching Kids Science with Fun Experiments

This is just one of MANY fun and easy science experiments that you could do with a group of kids at CFSPI (Sam's NGO), a Gawad Kalinga site, Dreamer School, or Mabini Elementary.

The following is a screenshot from the website www.sciencebob.com/experiments.

The following is a screenshot from the website kids.nationalgeographic.com.

The following is a screenshot from the website www.squidoo.com.

The following is a screenshot from the website chemistry.about.com/od/madscientistlab.

Global Issues: What are they?

The IB CAS Guide states that students may look at the twenty global issues identified by World Bank economist Jean-François Rischard in his book High Noon: 20 Global Problem, 20 Years to Solve Them.

Global Issues Network Conference

Similar to MUN, but different. This year's Global Issues Network conference will be held at International School Manila. If you initiate a GIN group at Brent, you can participate in the conference.

Click here to learn more: http://earcos-global-issues-network.org/

Check out the program from last year's GIN conference in Jakarta.

This year's conference speakers include these guys among others:

I'm just sitting here watching CNN...

...and I see a high school in Korea 

and teenagers in Quezon City 

Taking a Stand to End Slavery.

You can too. 
With a paper airplane...
or by uploading a creative iReport video/image here.


Raising awareness  IS a form of SERVICE.

Freedom Climb 2011

ACTION & SERVICE

Climb a mountain, set a world record, and plant some trees = perfect CAS activity!

INFO for Northern Luzon region HERE

CAS Opportunity in Seoul

Are you going to be in Korea June 23-25?

Are you interested in learning more about human trafficking and modern-day slavery and what you can DO about it?

Go HERE: http://www.nfsacademy.org/backyard-academy/

WHY?

• This is an exciting and unique CAS opportunity. 
• You can meet other students who are interested in global issues like human rights.
• Human trafficking is a horrible problem in southeast Asia! (You should know something about it.)
• You might learn about a project you could bring to Baguio to do as your CAS project later on.
• It's not free but it's not that expensive considering the opportunity and where the money is going.

The website says that the Korea "Backyard Abolitionist Academy" is an introductory course so it is good for students without very much experience or knowledge about these issues. You will receive a certificate of completion.

Email me if you have more questions. Or go ahead and register on the website above and write a PROPOSAL.

Twitterers - Follow @NFS_Students

Information from the Website:

BACKYARD ABOLITIONIST ACADEMY

2011 Academies

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA:  JUNE 23-25

• Cost: $139 for students; $189 for all others (includes lunches)
• Location: Kintex Center; Daehwa-dong Ilsan-seogu; Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea; Tel:  82-31-810-8114; Fax:  82-31-810-8083; kintex.com
• Lodging: Discounted rates available at Book City Jijihyang Residence Hotel (jijihyang.org). To reserve a room, please email admin@onnurienglish.org or call 82-2-3215-3685. Free roundtrip shuttle service to and from the convention center will be provided.
• Course Tracks: (See Below; All offered except Effective Healthcare)
• Three-Day Agenda: (See Below)
• Registration: Click Here
• To register via South Korean wire transfer, email: admin@onnurienglish.org
• Directions: Click Here

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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