7th/Aug./2023

CAS Learning Outcomes:

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

7: Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions

When tidying up my room, I found many seashells that I collected over the years at different beaches where I went to for family trips. I first thought I should throw them away because I don't look at them anymore, but I felt that it would be wasteful to throw them away. Because I like handicrafts, I thought I could make something out of seashells. I searched, and I thought that a wreath is a good idea. My mother used to learn flower arrangements, and she had materials for making wreaths, so I thought I could use them. 

I have tried flower arrangement in jars before, and making a wreath was a similar process, but there were some differences, so I faced some obstacles. Although in the beginning, I didn't know where to start, and I couldn't stick the shells on properly, but I gradually got used to it. At the end, I closed gaps with beads and artificial flowers. I have strengths in these handicrafts because I'm experienced at it, but I learned that I don't have enough patience sometimes, and I should build on my patience because handling these small pieces requires patience. Overall, I was happy that I could make use of my old shells and turn it into a memorable object. 

30th/Sep./2023 - 1st/Oct./2023

CAS Learning Outcome:

4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

Firstly, I was surprised by the fact that I'm one of the oldest among the participants in this conference. When I first took part in an MUN conference, I was still a middle school student, and I was intimidated by all the experienced MUNers. This time, I realized that compared to the first time, I became one of the oldest with more experiences, and I knew how MUN works. 

This time, I tried a new committee, Historical Security Council. Although I am experienced, it was my first time learning that chairs are referred as "dias" in Security Council, as well as about the consultations of the whole. In this conference, we came across a difficulty that we cannot form different blocs, as we almost came to agreements and merged into one bloc before the debate, although dias wanted different blocs to be formed for a fruitful debate. Looking at other delegates and myself, I realized that we can easily come to an agreement, although it doesn't work in such a way in reality. I would like to keep that in mind as one of the global issues.

17th/Nov./2023

CAS Learning Outcome:

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

On the International Day, Japanese club hosted a booth to sell 3 different types of food: mochi, takoyaki, and yakisoba. As a leader, I allocated different members to be in charge of those 3 foods. Although we needed a lot of preparation and hardwork to sell 3 different foods, it was possible thanks to the big number of club members the club has. I helped the mochi station to flavor the mochi and pack. We had a busy day, but this would not have been possible without the hardwork of all the club members. 

11th/Dec./2023

CAS Learning Outcome:

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

The Math Club hosted "Are you smarter than the primary students?" workshop. In this workshop, a group of high school students compete with the primary students to solve math in a relay format. Because more high school students than expected signed up for this workshop, we decided to collaborate with 2 of the primary classes: one from G4 and one from G5. 

First, I talked with the homeroom teachers of those primary classes to set the schedule. Next, I asked them what type of math the primary students are learning. Then, I asked the club members if anyone can help organize the event on the day. Later, I cooperated with my co-leaders to make questions. We made about 50 calculation questions and 10 word problems in total, and I split them up into a set for G4 section and for G5 section. 

On the day, I was in charge of the G5 class. Both the primary students and high school students seemed to have enjoyed. Surprisingly, the G5 group won. I believe that by having this collaborative workshop, both the primary and high school students were able to be more enthusiastic about solving math questions than usual times. 

Everyone was taking quite a long time solving for each word problem. I believe that my strength is to set good critical thinking questions, because those made the participants think deeply to give final answers. However, my area of improvement is to adjust the level of math a bit more, because some questions seemed to be a bit too hard for primary school students. 

12th/Dec./2023

CAS Learning Outcome:

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

The Japanese Club hosted a kumihimo bracelet making workshop. Kumihimo is a Japanese traditional method of weaving yarns. I found the easy tutorial on the YouTube, so I decided to host a workshop to give opportunities for students to make them. 

First, I gathered materials I had at home, and asked some club members to help cut yarns beforehand so that we don't have to waste time cutting on the day. On the day, participants could pick colors of yarns they like and take out yarns individually. Then, I bought paper cups, which will be used as a tool to weave yarns. I also asked some club members to help taping cutting the paper cups to complete making tools. By collaborating with club members to prepare materials, the workload per person was lessened greatly, which was very appreciated. 

On the day, many people enjoyed picking the yarns of their choice, thanks to our preparation. However, we did not provide clips as weights of the yarns to help making the weaving process easier, so many participants struggled to succeed in weaving. Next time, I should make sure that I follow the tutorial perfectly to avoid making the same mistake. 

14th/Mar./2024

CAS Learning Outcomes:

3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

March 14th is the pi day, so as a leader of the math club, I collaborated with math club co-leaders and members to plan some events to spread positive awareness about math concepts in the school. I was mainly in charge of preparing an activity for the primary school students. The members of the math club all researched about pi, made slide presentation about pi, and prepared questions about pi to be used in treasure hunt. 

I was in charge of preparing this activity for G2 students. When we were presenting some information about pi, the G2 students looked curious and enthusiastic, so I was glad that it didn't bore them out. After we finished presenting, we let the G2 students have a treasure hunt where they answer questions about pi based on what they learned and find answers in the classroom. They were very competitive and running around, so I was happy that they got some positive image of math, especially about pi.