THE EVENT 2012

Has it really been 5 whole months since I've updated? Well, this goes for the rest of the year, I guess. Everything seems like "it happened yesterday". Previous CAS events. First days of school. Last days of school. But in reality, we are in the home stretch! Just over 6 more weeks of IB, then poof! We are released into the scary, larger world of university as (hopefully) well-rounded, inquisitive knowers. I only hope that I can do the last two years of IB justice.So what's gotten me into a nostalgic mood? Well, today's topic is "The Event".

S.A.G.E for S.T.A.M

Transformed Westwood gym with presenters and teachers alike.

On Friday, October 21, I was supposed to have a day off. But while every other sane student was snug in their beds; I, along with the rest of the ultimate team, was at Westwood Collegiate at 7 a.m.
That's right.
Exactly 1 hour and a half earlier than a regular school day.

It's been a while....

I'm back! In a figurative sense, of course, as CAS work never stops. Ironically, this fact is not obvious as my pending list of "posts" are just that; pending. Sometimes I wish my CAS life scribed itself, but instead I will have to set aside time for such reflections somewhere inbetween school, ultimate, cross-country, tutoring, catechism, St.Amant volunteering, etc etc....

While you wait in great anticipation (!), you might as well enjoy the single bit of blogging I did for my summer internship at the Manitoba Eco-Network.

Benefit Concert for GO! International

So, the CAS group has been helping raise funds for GO! International throughout the year. This time was no different, where a group of us volunteered to help Amanda Furst with her benefit concert at the West End Cultural Center on April 29th. I've been to concerts at the WECC before, but this was definitely a unique experience. Lexi and I were one of the first volunteers to arrive, and we volunteered for the ticket booth. As we waited for doors to open (or for us to open the doors,anyways) we perused some of the art that Westwood students made and were auctioning off. I'm always so blown away with the talent and creativity of some fellow students, and this time was no different! There were paintings, jewelry, and sculptures- needless to say that the silent auction tickets were selling fast!

For Love of the Arts

In February, Westwood Collegiate hosts a huge event featuring all its art students; choral, dance, visual arts, etc. While I'm not one myself, I definitely love to go out to support all my talented friends who are showcased. The day of the event however, I was hanging out in the library with a couple of friends when the principal, Mr.Wake, and Mrs. McCorquodale-Bauer (one of my favorite people, ever) goes in and asks for volunteers for 50/50 tickets. Naturally, I say yes for two reasons; one, I can never say no and two, I've never actually sold 50/50 tickets!

YIP, Coming Right Up....

You know when something is so big you don't know where to start? That's why I really haven't blogged about Youth in Philanthropy yet, since it's been such a large part of my high school career but I'm trying to put my experience into a reasonable blog post! Anyways, while you wait for that particular post...here's an article that was done in The Manitoba Teacher's newspaper a while back. A few quotes are taken from the lovely YIP convener Joanna Fultz as well as Yours Truly...

Certificate of Recognition: Premier's Volunteer Service Award

To my amazement, I received an envelope from the government of Manitoba the other day. Being a supposedly nondescript high school student, I was slightly worried about its contents. But to my disbelief, my two volunteer coordinators at St. Amant Centre nominated me for the Premier's Volunteer Service Award. This is a prestigious award for outstanding volunteer work within the province. Though I wasn't a final recipient, I still received this certificate of recognition. Though I don't volunteer for praise or recognition, this was still a very nice surprise to get in the mail!

Movember

Movember.

No, this was not a typo. This is actually a month-long event in November dedicated to raising awareness towards prostate cancer research. Ironically, a group of us girls got together and decided to do just that; raise both money and awareness within Westwood Collegiate. With such high statistics, (1 in 7 men will develop prostate cancer during their lifetime) we wanted students to be aware of something that may affect them (in the guys' cases) or someone they know sometime in life.

Freeing the Spirit, Fulfilling Potential, Together: Volunteering at St. Amant Center

This post should really have been up ages ago. Long before those other ones, even. I've been volunteering with St. Amant Centre since I was in grade 8. Coming from a Catholic elementary school, community service has always been a large part of my education; long before the hours counted to an IB diploma or college scholarships. Thus, St. Amant was a perfect place to start what is now a near 4-year biweekly tradition.

Haunted Halloween Fundraiser



The Canteen

Basically, the Haunted Halloween Fundraiser was a Halloween "party" for elementary kids were they could come and participate in activities such as cookie-decorating, pumpkin weight guessing, a haunted maze, etc. for a couple of hours. The entrance fee was a simple donation that would go towards the orphanage (our CAS goal for the year). Considering all the parts that went into this event, I believe it was both the Creativity and Service part of CAS. Creativity was found in creating halloween-themed events appropriate for young children, and Service is, of course, taking into account all the time we spent; not only for the actual event, but for organizing, setting up, taking down, etc.

Cross-Country Running

Having been part of the Westwood's cross-country team for the past 3 years, I am rather familiar with how it is organized and run for the most part. However, at the same time, the short season (September to mid-October) and unpredictability of the weather always makes for a new and different experience each year. During my JV seasons, for example, my coach had been Ms. Beachell, and I had always been able to easily make 3 practices (or more) a week and all of the meets. However, this year, many changes were abound. With Ms. Beachell leaving Westwood Collegiate, our new coach became Mr. Sdrolias. Everyone who is familiar with him knows that he loves to push students to (and often, past) their limits in order to reach maximum performance. Knowing this, I entered this season tentative yet eager for this new change in pace. What I hadn't counted on was the demanding courseload of IB. Admittedly, in the past I have been a student to miss many classes due to numerous extracurricular events. I always justified that since I maintained good grades as well as had reliable friends to catch me up it would be no problem to miss class time.

Enter a full Grade 11 IB courseload.


2009 Provincials

Watershed Project at Sturgeon Creek

Our first painted tree...with love.

This past Thursday, a group of Gr. 11 IB students tagged along on a Gr. 12 Bio field trip. Our purpose? To clean up Sturgeon Creek and prepare it for the looming autumn/winter months. Our tasks included protecting trees from beavers by covering them by stucco wire or paint, picking up garbage, and pulling out thistle bushes that tend to grow wild along the creek. Needless to say, it was day filled with humbling work for everybody involved. This project actually spans beyond the day that our group helped out, but our part was only  for October 7  from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.. It included the "Action" and "Service" part of CAS, since lots of physical labor was involved (see: pulling out thistle bushes, etc.) and it was a voluntarily missed day of school. Though of course, it was hardly something to complain about.

Welcome! A nudge in the right direction...

Welcome to my CAS blog!
I've already been debating for a while now about becoming a 'blogger'. I'm so sentimental in that I've always loved the idea of having my spur-of-the-moment thoughts recorded for future references. With that said, however, being a procrastinator definitely doesn't help my cause. I've already thrown around ideas for blogs about my lovely kitchen adventures (otherwise known as experimental baking), or even just the random ramblings that I'm known for. These obviously never turned into something tangible. Turns out, it's a school requirement that gets me to create this account. Not that I'm complaining...
So, get ready for posts that revolve around my experiences within and around the community. I enjoy experiencing different things, so you can probably count on a diverse set of activities. I'm a person who volunteers not only to complete hours, but to be able to know that for that certain amount of time, be it one hour or one day, I was able to help and make a difference.