What is the CAS Project?
A CAS project is a collaborative, well-considered series of CAS experiences, engaging students in one or more of the CAS strands of creativity, activity, and service that culminates toward a larger project, outcome, goal, or experience. The primary purpose of the CAS project is to ensure participation in sustained collaboration. A CAS project challenges students to show initiative, demonstrate perseverance, and develop skills such as those of cooperation, problem-solving and decision-making. A CAS project can address any single strand of CAS, or combine two or all three strands.
Collaboration and the CAS Project
A CAS project involves collaboration between a group of students or with members of the wider community. Students work as part of a team, with all members being contributors. A CAS project offers students the opportunity to be responsible for, or to initiate, a part of or the entire CAS project. Working collaboratively also provides opportunities for individual students to enhance and integrate their personal interests, skills and talents into the planning and implementation of CAS projects. Ideally, your CAS project builds on the interests on which you have been reflecting throughout the two years of CAS.
Timeline
This is completed at the end of Senior year. A minimum of one month is recommended for a CAS project, from planning to completion. CAS projects of longer duration can provide even greater scope and opportunities for all participants and are encouraged. Students should aim to undertake their CAS project locally.
Examples
Creativity: A student group plans, designs and creates a mural.
Activity: Students organize and participate in a sports team including training sessions and matches against other teams.
Service: Students set up and conduct tutoring for people in need.
Creativity and activity: Students choreograph a routine for their marching band.
Service and activity: Students plan and participate in the planting and maintenance of a garden with members of the local community.
Service and creativity: Students identify that children at a local school need backpacks and subsequently design and make the backpacks out of recycled materials.
Creativity, activity, and service: Students rehearse and perform a dance production for a community retirement home.
When you begin thinking about your CAS Project, you will be required to work through and apply the following stages in your brainstorming, preparation, and execution:
Investigation: Students identify their interests, skills and talents to be used in considering opportunities for CAS experiences as well as determine a purpose of the CAS experience as a whole. For service, students identify a need they want to address.
Preparation: Students clarify roles and responsibilities, develop a plan of actions to be taken, identify specified resources and timelines, and acquire any skills as needed to engage in the CAS experience.
Action: Students implement their idea or plan. This often requires decision-making and problem solving.
Reflection: Students describe what happened, express feelings, generate ideas, and raise questions.
Demonstration: Students make explicit what and how they learned and what they have accomplished. This is accomplished through the CAS project.