Closing time

Well, here we are.  My blogging has been less-than-meticulous lately, but that's mostly due to a lack of new activities.  My schedule has been packed with all the old favourites that I've started and continued over these last two years, but you reach a point in each where there's not always something new and exciting to say.  I gave a pretty thorough status update in my January reflection video, but before I complete my final CAS reflection I'd like to bring this blog up to date on the new developments that I've faced over the last few months in each of my activities.

Yearbook:  Picture-taking and page editing, ahoy!

The struggles Jess and I are facing this year are the same as I've written about in the past, and with all that experience behind us we're much better equipped to deal with these hardships.  I needed dodgeball results from the student council, and so I buckled down and devoted myself to trying to get them; when they couldn't be found, I made the page work without them.  Drama is a waste of time and energy; that's what I've learnt most through yearbook.  Dig in and get things done instead of becoming overwhelmed by the task ahead; the results will be worth your effort.

Newspaper:  Another month, another issue.
 

The romance edition was published on Valentine's Day, and we're planning a grab-bag final issue to be released at the start of June.  If yearbook has taught me about the importance of hard work, I think what I've learned most through newspaper is the point where one should put perfectionism aside and just go with it.  Yes, my buttons are going to be pushed when the last line of an article get cuts off and yes, a sentence shouldn't be ended with a preposition, but it's important that one does not focus so hard on the trees that they can't see the forest.  It's important to work hard and do your best, but you'll never be content if you accept nothing less than perfection.  Our effort has created a newspaper of which I'm proud to have been a part, and that there is the forest.

Junior Achievement:  Business plan and the home stretch.

There's only a week or so left for Dechameleon, although I'd say it's a busy week ahead.  We've planned a 50%-off closing sale that has generated quite a bit of interest, so if we're lucky, this business will end with a bang, not a whimper.  Junior Achievement was the last CAS activity that I initiated, and I think that it really exemplifies how far I've come over these last two years.  We faced a lot of hurdles - troubles with the marketing department, company members resigning until only three of us remained, cancellations of selling events and production delays, sales difficulties, pretty much every problem conceivable.  In retrospect, I faced more challenges with JA then with any other of my CAS activities, except perhaps the great undertaking that is yearbook.  But I've blogged about Junior Achievement the least, because in the times of these hardships, I don't feel overwhelmed or like they're immense obstacles.  Through CAS I've expanded my horizons and my capabilities.  New challenges?  Bring them on!

I think those three are the main updates I wanted to write before I post my CAS conclusion.  This entire blog is evidence of my growth over the CAS program, but the following entries in particular are those that I think best exemplify the eight CAS learning outcomes:

1.  Increased their awareness of their own strengths and area for growth
Evidence:  Confessions of a seriously out of shape teenager (Write-up, October 8, 2012)

2.  Undertaken new challenges
Evidence:   Letters to the editor (Article/write-up, November 8, 2013)
The eleventh hour (Write-up/pictures, July 23, 2013)

3.  Planned and initiated activities
Evidence:  It's not easy being in charge (Write-up, October 29, 2012)
The end of an era (Write-up/pictures/audio, May 26, 2013)

4.  Worked collaboratively with others
Evidence:  IB victorious (Write-up, December 6, 2012)

5.  Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities
Evidence:  A greener garden (Write-up/pictures, October 18 2013)
21 - 44 (Write-up/pictures, June 29, 2013)

6.  Engaged in issues of global importance
Evidence:  The road so far (Opening speech for Model UN, May 2, 2013)

7.  Considered the ethical implications of their actions
Evidence:  A trip down memory lane, 13:00 - 15:58 (Video reflection, January 29, 2014)

8.  Developed new skills
Evidence:  Easy as E, F, G (Video, August 19, 2013)

While I hadn't necessarily known it when I began my yearbook journey (Happy new yearbook, October 23, 2012), it quickly became a huge part of my high school experience, a two-year endeavour that I have no difficulty calling my major CAS project.  All my posts about this activity can be found using the yearbook search label.

It's so strange to find that my CAS experience is winding down.  I'm beginning to start new projects outside of the framework of CAS -- a literature blog with a one-hundred-book challenge for 2014, a physics enrichment class, a position writing for a Canada-wide student issues site -- and it's odd to not have a yellow sheet to sign or a reflection to write.  Before I started IB, I hadn't thought CAS would affect me much.  I was already the girl involved in way too many extracurriculars; I didn't need a push to get involved.  But over these two years I've found that CAS is so much more than just doing things.  It's about reflecting on what you've done, and using those reflections to improve how you see the world and find solutions in the future.

I might not have any "I wouldn't have done that if it wasn't for CAS" memories, but this blog is full of things I wouldn't have realized if it wasn't for CAS.  We learn by doing, but we learn more by reflecting on what we've done.  If I had to choose, I'd say that's the most important lesson I've learned through Creativity, Action, and Service.

A trip down memory lane

After extended, theory of knowledge, and works in translation essays, who has fingers left to type a CAS reflection?  And thus, an idea I stole from Jessica:  reflection à la video.  Although I did start to lose my voice towards the end, so perhaps that's karmic retribution for my attempt to save my fingers from further hardship.

I may have been shirking my blogging duties, but I think this video does a pretty good job summing up this past summer/autumn/winter and my CAS experience over that time.  In case I said it a bit quickly, the url for my Junior Achievement website is crhsja.wix.com/dechameleon.  If you decide to check it out, you'll get to see the adorable logo I mentioned.  Tempting, no?

21 - 44

This week has been a whirlwind of yearbook.  It seems like it's all I've been doing, all day, every day, mixed up in a sprinkle of work and getting ready for Shad.  Out of the eighty-eight pages in the book, twenty-one I've done completely myself, and I've had a hand in editing forty-four more.  And we're still not done!  The grade 10/11 school pictures still have to be put in once the grade lists are secured, and that's another eleven pages.  There's a few others here and there left to do, but none that I can do myself.  One is the school Athletic Banquet, which Mr. Toms requested to do himself, same with the Confederation City Classic tournament page, and the library monitors/newspaper page.  Then there's the staff pictures, but aside from that, the book is completed.  It's been so much work... most nights I haven't got to sleep before midnight, as I'm up late working on or fixing up pages.  But it's almost done, and all my and the rest of the committee's hard work will soon pay off.  What follows are the proofs of some of the pages I've created:

For the rest, well, you're going to have to buy a yearbook (42$, or 45$ with a signature page).

Now, there's one dilemma that I'd like to mention that I came across when it comes to creating a yearbook.  It's deciding on the pictures.  When I was a little kid, I played soccer every summer, and ringette every winter.  At those younger levels of sports, it was usually just kids' parents who coached.  When it came time to decide captains, the kid whose parent was coach always ended up on that list, but whenever my dad took his turn coaching, he never let me be captain, because he didn't want to play favourites.  I always felt cheated about that; I was one of the better players, and objectively, I probably should have been captain that year.  But anti-favoritism can be just as problematic as favoritism, and in trying to not be biased, often one goes just as far in the opposite direction.  I am long over not getting to be captain of my ringette team when I was eleven, so why I am telling this story?  Well, when it comes to choosing the pictures for the yearbook, the same ethical dilemma exists.  You're inclined to put more pictures of your friends in the yearbook, but that wouldn't be fair.  But often in attempting to not be biased towards your friends, you're biased against them, and then they don't get in the book at all.  And, like as not choosing your daughter as captain because she's your daughter may be just as problematic as making her captain because she's your daughter, so is putting or not putting pictures of your friends in the yearbook because they're your friends.  So that line was something that was in the front of my mind every time I dragged a little picture square over onto the digital page.  All in all, I think my pages ended up being unbiased.  My friends and people I know aren't completely excluded, but their presence isn't any greater than anyone else's.  The fact that it is something one must be conscious of means it can't be 100% perfect, but in the end, I think it is fair for everyone.

So, that's yearbook 2012/2013.  By mid-July the book should be finished completely, although I will be away at Shad Valley by that point.  The books will then be delivered in the fall, and I'll be sure to report in on the finished product.  Until then, get ready for a chronicle of my Shad Valley adventure in Saskatchewan -- coming tomorrow to a blog near you.

Year-end yearbook

I've been extremely busy lately (most recently with my year-end exams, and the week prior I was away in Ontario attending an invitational math seminar) but CAS waits for no man (or girl).  Today marked our last exam, with all the rest of the school having finished yesterday or earlier, and now that school is out of the way, our final yearbook deadlines are fast approaching.  The signature pages were delivered last week, but the book itself still has a lot of work to be done on its pages, especially with regards to recent or upcoming events like Prom and Graduation.  So, even though school is over, I'll be heading back there Friday morning to work on finishing the book along with Jessica, Adrian, and Mr. Toms.  Despite the work ahead, I think things are going along well.  We have pretty much all the pictures we'll need, save for grad, at least to the best of my knowledge, and I think the final product is within our reach.  That said, I don't know if Jess and I are going to be able to take on this commitment again next year.  So many pictures and so much work needs to be done towards the end of the year at the time we'll be writing IB exams, and so we may need to pass on the bulk of the responsibility to another set of grade eleven students.  Additionally, we've been invited to take the role of editors on the school newspaper this coming year, which while being a large commitment for most of the year would allow us to finish prior to exams.  A step down from one commitment and a step up in another might be a good swap for us; the timing fits better, and it lets us try our hand at a different skill set.  Still, nothing is set in stone, and I guess it will all depend on what next September brings.

Hex codes and half-priced Helvetica

Over the last few weeks, we have set foot into a new dimension of our yearbook experience:  page design.  The photography aspect has died down for the moment; at this time of year, there is no sports teams to capture, no school events that need coverage, and it is still too early for club pictures to be of any immediate concern, and we have taken advantage of this lull to finally delve into the realm of book layout that we have been neglecting thus far.  Jessica and I have had a few jobs behind the scenes prior to the grand opening of the yearbook editing website for the entire committee; I've already mentioned the page outline I made a month or two ago, and in addition to that, we've also had to select the colours and fonts to be used in the book.  The colour selection was fairly easy, but choosing the perfect fonts was a difficult decision.  You don't want too many or the book looks cluttered and disjointed, but with too few you don't really have any options to pick from.  We settled on five, and choosing those was no small decision.  Some were really neat, but they were a bit too crazy to be of any practical use, and others seemed too juvenile.  I should also mention that most of the options were essentially facsimiles of existing fonts, made 'completely different' by using a hip name to appeal to a teenage audience.

Case in point:  "Baby Maker"

We ended up going with "Coolvetica" (a shameless Helvetica clone), "Burning Facts" (having a sci-fi, digital clock-ish feel without being too out there), "Modern Art" (Agency FB meets Impact), "Ebony" (an innocent enough sans-serif), and "MacBeth" (a bit more ornate and perfect for graduation and more classy things like that).  We also got the default font, "Lynn" (it's definitely not Times New Roman at all).

A few days ago we had our first layout meeting.  Since I had the outline, I ended up having to organize the handing out of pages, making sure everybody had something to work on and no two people thought that they were in charge of the same page.  I ended up with a pretty eclectic array of pages to work on myself; I decided to do all the dividers so that they would be consistent, and since the software forces you to edit a two-page spread at a time and two people can't be working on the same two-page spread without a lot of technical blunders ensuing, I therefore became responsible for all the odds and ends that happened to be beside a divider:  Student council, best of the year survey, sports candids, and the runners up from the cover contest.  Jessica, Adrian, and I are also teaming up to make the IB page, seeing as we all have a vested interest in making sure it's awesome.

All in all, we managed to get most of the pages accounted for.  Someone is going to have to deal with all the staff, grad, and class pictures, but that won't be relevant until later.  There's also a few sports pages that have yet to be found a home, but as other pages get finished, I'm sure that someone will end up needing something more to work on.

I haven't got to spend a lot of time with the software yet, seeing as I was busy with organizational duties during our computer lab meeting, but from the bit I've got to play around with it so far it seems quite similar to what we used in junior high, although with a few changes.  It'll take a little bit for me to get used to the new format, but hopefully I'll be on my way to mastery in no time.

Swimming in post-its

Things with yearbook have been moving along steadily.  We've decided to hold an art competition to find the perfect cover for our yearbook, a plan that has been approved by administration, so we'll be getting that underway soon.  Other of our ideas were vetoed by the higher-ups; we wanted to make a Facebook group where students could submit their pictures for yearbook use -- carefully moderated, of course -- but unfortunately it was deemed against school policy.  I've been taking some photographs myself lately, both of Movember and Spirit Week, but my current greatest undertaking is creating a comprehensive layout for the book.  Six pieces of paper, eighty-eight small boxes, sticky notes galore, rulers, pens, last year's book, calculators... I quickly found making an outline is no small matter.  It also involved much more math than I'd anticipated; our school has decreased in student population substantially since last year, but with the help of my trusty GDC I was able to determine how many pages I would need for both grad and student photos -- down two of each from last year.  I tried to leave us as much leeway as possible for unknowns that may spring up later in the year, with one extra page for clubs and one-and-a-half extra events pages, and also to give some groups that are usually under-represented in the yearbook a little coverage, such as a split page for drama/art, an IB page, and a full page for student council near the beginning instead of just an entry in the clubs section, not to mention a page for our yearbook committee at the very end.  I tried to deliver on my promise of more fun content as well, with a page reserved for a best of 2012/2013 survey, sports candids, general candids, a page both for chem free and for chem free awards instead of just one split, a page for the runners-up from our cover contest, an extra fun page for either confessionals, imagine-ifs, or whatever other sort of quirky thing we decided to run, plus I still found room to include all the vitals from last year.  Our next committee meeting is tomorrow at lunch, and hopefully everyone will be happy with what I've come up with.  I know we have a few people on the committee who love to hate change, but with any luck they'll like this layout just as much as I do.

CAS keeps right on trucking

Exam period has just wrapped up, so recently time for CAS activities has been tight, and time for blogging about them even more so. Still, even if exams have put a slight damper on my regular posting, I've still had a lot of action (and creativity and service) going on lately on the CAS front. I'll save my progress reports on newspaper and ringette for later posts, and dedicate this one to the latest developments with our yearbook committee. Administration has completely vetoed our hopes of getting the book released in June. It's immensely frustrating, since it is difficult to change things and make the book better when we're supposed to be in control yet someone else is holding the reins, but I guess this is one thing I will just have to let go. It really took a toll on my and Jessica's spirits, though; we'd really hoped to be able to move past an outdated tradition and start a new chapter. But, we can't dwell. If we do dwell on this issue, then we won't get anything done. I just hope we won't have to bend our vision even further to jump through these political hoops. In terms of actual, positive progress, we've formed a yearbook committee, which is great. There is one boy on it that was part of the old committee and keeps insisting that the way they used to do things is the 'proper' way to make a yearbook, and there are a couple of grade twelves who think that their seniority means they should get to call all the shots, but despite such issues I think the committee is quite strong and we'll be able to get a lot done. Jess and I have already taken some pictures of the field hockey team and gotten team lists from the sports coordinators, and we're currently looking into getting a list of all upcoming school events to make a yearbook calendar. Getting photos is currently our top priority, since layout can be done at any point, but you can't take photos of an event retroactively. Still, I'm hoping to be able to have a good discussion with the committee about layout next meeting, with ideas for pages and content that we can get the school involved with and make the yearbook full of memories and uniqueness. We've decided to potentially hold an art contest to select a cover for the book, and Adrian is taking charge of creating a social media page for students to submit their photos for yearbook consideration, so overall I can already feel our changes taking shape. We plan on getting inserts for the book that people can get signed at the end of the year, so we don't have to give up our signing-books dream entirely, so that's also a plus. My next steps are to create the yearbook calendar I mentioned previously, and also take photographs for Movember and Spirit Week, so all in all things on the yearbook front feel altogether quite manageable. There have been some speedbumps, sure, and there's bound to be more, but for now I think we've got things under control.

Happy new yearbook

When I entered high school last year, I quickly became quite disillusioned about the yearbook committee.  Yearbook was one of my favourite extracurriculars throughout junior high, and for good reason.  It was a giant part of the school -- pretty much every student bought one.  The yearbook was fun and amazing and made by the students, creative and memorable and representative of our student identity.  After three years of such an amazing system, I wasn't prepared for the underwhelming flatness of our high school yearbook.  Its only theme is red and white -- our school colours, and every page has pretty much a cookie cutter layout.  A few of my friends and I went to the information meeting for the committee last year, and we were essentially told that the yearbook was not a place for creative thought.  If you're on the committee, you take the pictures you're told to take and you stick them in the place you're told to put them.  That's it, that's all.  We decided to not join the committee after that; it was obviously not the thing for us, but those weren't the only quibbles we had with the yearbook.  You see, unlike with our previous experiences, the yearbook covers up until the very end of the year, saturated heavily with end of year activities such as prom and graduation.  This, while fine in itself, has one unfortunate implication:  you don't get to sign yearbooks.  Throughout junior high, this was the source of so much excitement for students.  Flipping through the crisp new yearbooks when they arrive in June, finding the pictures of yourself and your friends, and most importantly, writing messages in the yearbooks of everyone you know.  That's where the appeal of a yearbook lies, through my experience.  Those are the memories: your and your friends' haphazard scrawls, not just the pictures and text on glossy paper (although those are important too).  As I said, in Intermediate the majority of students bought their yearbook.  Here, in high school, where yearbooks should really matter, only about a hundred are sold out of a student population of 1100.  Yes, the yearbook might miss out on pictures of prom and names of award winners, but those people have their own pictures and their own certificates and plaques to remember these events.  But signing yearbooks; those memories are totally unique.  This is a pretty long preamble for something in which very little has happened as of yet.  In any case, this year the previous yearbook coordinator retired, and no teacher has been willing to fill the position.  Jessica and I saw this as our chance.  We emailed the principal our proposal outlining our plan to create a new yearbook committee and begin a whole new epoch in our school's yearbook history.  The book would be made by the students, for the students, fueled by student input and student creativity.  The principal approved our proposal, except for one thing.  For the past forty years the yearbook has been released in the September of the following year, not in June when they can be signed, and to change that we'd have to get proof that this is what the students want; she is trepidatious in believing that swapping prom and awards pages for the ability to sign yearbooks is a fair trade.  We'll have to get the student body to vote, but I sincerely hope that we'll be able to make this work.  Signing yearbooks are so quintessential; I can't imagine graduating from high school without it.  But I'm getting away from the CAS activity at hand.  Long story short, Jess and I are attempting to conquer the organizational commitment so many teachers and staff have shied away from:  running the school yearbook.  With the help of our trusty teacher supervisor Mr. Toms and a committee of students that we have yet to interview, we shall succeed in making the school yearbook a product heralded from every corner of our school, something purchased, treasured, and signed by every student, and with input from the same.  We shall... stay after school tomorrow to take pictures of the field hockey championship, since nobody has taken any pictures of any school sports or activities throughout any of September or October.  Running the yearbook will be a daunting, time-consuming task, but I know we can do it!