First off, there is Model UN, which will run from May 3rd to May 5th and entail much preparation prior to the actual event. I have been accepted into the school delegation of twelve students, although we have yet to hear back with regards to which country everyone will be representing and on which committee they'll be. My first choice was Tanzania, and I somehow doubt that will be a popular selection, so I hope I will end up receiving that option, although I am sure no matter with what country I end up I'll learn some fascinating things about both it, the world, and the issues that affect the two. My first choice of committee was ECOSOC, and its topic this year is "Commission on Sustainable Development", so I think I would learn a lot about both the current critical situation with the environment and also how developing countries regard this issue. Recently we had a guest speaker into our school to talk about climate change, and while what is going on in our world today is undeniably terrifying, I think it is definitely something about which we are better off being informed than remaining blissfully ignorant. My second committee choice is "A Reconsideration of the Responsibility to Protect", which is an ethical issue that I find fascinating and would love to learn more about. It's something that is so hard to wrap your head around, and I'm not sure where I stand. I'm reminded of all those sci fi programs and futuristic novels where the most important rule of everything is that you shouldn't interfere (think Star Trek's prime directive), yet when one is talking about things like genocides and mass killings, how is it ethical to remain uninvolved? All in all, it would be a fascinating thing to learn more about, and while I'd still rather be accepted to ECOSOC, being part of either committee would be a great experience. The school delegation will be meeting sometime in the near future to learn about our country and committee assignments, and I can't wait!
Secondly, we have what is going to be my major CAS group project, fitting into the realms of service and creativity: something we've been calling alternately the "gardening club" and the "school beautification project". It has a number of components (only befitting of a major group project), and I suppose it would be most logical if I told them in the order in which we developed them. First of all, our chemistry teacher used to teach botany, although this year there wasn't enough student interest and the botany class wasn't offered. Despite not having a class, it's her responsibility to tend to the sad-looking indoor garden we have in the lobby, although with all the other important things she has to do, fixing it up isn't something she has either the time or energy to do on her own. That's why a group of us decided to start a gardening club under her leadership: we'd have access to the school greenhouse, we'd water the three nearly-dead trees and the sad looking cactus, we'd learn which plants grow best under our school's conditions, we'd clean all the trash out of the bed as it is currently being used like one big garbage can, and we'd use our newly gained knowledge of plants to grow flowers and the like in the garden. That sounds like a nice CAS activity in itself, but what really propelled it into the big group project level was what happened when we went to go check out the bed. It was a mess -- even more so than we had thought. The paint on the wall was peeling all the way back to concrete due to water damage, chocolate milk containers and muffin wrappers abounded, and one of the trees was no more than a few sticks surrounded by dead leaves. But the garden layout was interesting: on the bottom level of the school, there is a wall in front of the garden and you are standing below soil level, and then there is also a wall behind the bed above your head on the lower level but under you if you're standing on the school's main floor. Looking at this, we were struck by how perfect it would be for a mural. So, that's our plan. We'll do all the gardening things previously mentioned, but we're also going to learn how to plaster and repair the wall, do it, and then paint two murals. The one behind the bed will be a foliage or a jungle theme, creating a sort of 3D effect with the real plants that will jump out in front of it, and on the lower wall we'll create an underground scene, with things like tree roots and dinosaur bones and stuff like that. It's going to be a lot of work, but we have a great team of people (we'll also be opening the gardening club up to anyone else in the school who is interested, although we'll be spearheading the project), and I'm excited to help make the school just a bit more beautiful. Currently, Adrian is composing a proposal to send to the principal to get official approval of our idea, although she already expressed interest earlier and I strongly believe that she'll give us the go ahead.
My third new activity is more of a summer preview than an entry to my spring lineup, but it's something that I'm too excited about not to mention. I've been accepted to Shad Valley, which is a pretty prestigious summer program for high school students focusing on the sciences, leadership, business, teamwork, and innovation; I've already gone through an extremely intense application process just to be accepted. That in itself was a good learning experience, particularly as it is quite similar with what one might expect to see when applying for universities in grade twelve, but the actual Shad Valley program is going to be a thousandfold more extraordinary. For one, they're big proponents of the IB program, and they particularly cater to the IB core, including, yes, CAS! As they write on their website:
Through their active participation in the design/entrepreneurship project that’s a key element of Shad Valley, IB diploma students fully satisfy the Creativity and Action aspects of CAS. Through their involvement in this entrepreneurial endeavor, they build their knowledge, skills and understanding; explore the ethical responsibilities that surround innovation; experience the excitement of inquiry and discovery; build confidence in their ability to initiate change, both as an individual and as a member of a team; practice autonomy and self-reliance; and develop a strong appreciation for their own, and others’ talents. Many schools acknowledge participation in Shad Valley as fully satisfying the Creativity and Action requirements; others allocate partial hours. Because CAS focuses on in-depth experiences, the month-long, residential nature of the Shad Valley program makes it strongly aligned in helping satisfy this requirement.So that's what's on the docket for summer CAS. I'm going to be gone all of July for Shad Valley, living on campus and engaging in so many cool activities and learning experiences. I won't know which campus I will be attending until early April, but my A choices were Waterloo, Queen's, Saskatchewan, and Calgary, so I'm hoping to end up with one of those.
That's what to expect from me over the next few months. I do have a couple of other activities in mind that are either still in the planning stages or are yet to be approved, but for the most part this is what I'll be looking at in terms of CAS as I enter the home stretch of my grade eleven year. I'm looking forward to continuing with what I'm already doing, starting these new projects, and getting that satisfied yet melancholic feeling of wrapping up a long running activity. While school is definitely going to be keeping me busy over the next few months, I'll be sure to make time for all these exciting opportunities!
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