Habitat for Humanity May 21, 2011

The Habitat for Humanity we went to Moratuwa for a build. The day started off as we went around and met all of the owners of teh property and they told us about the issues they are all facing involving the ways that they live. In Sri Lanka customs are very important so before we started to build anything we had to light the customary oil lamp. After this we began to get to work starting off making concrete; the people in these areas can't afford the store bought concrete so they make their own out of sand, concrete, rocks and water. Once all of the mixing was done we started to spread it evenly across the floor and walls as a foundation of a kitchen. In doing this i worked collaboratively with the other students and homeowners and persevered to help the people of the Tsunami affected areas. But despsite all of the work we started off doing and had originally intended to do we were forced to leave early because there was no more work to be done.

Music Makers

The "Music Makers" concert was an OSC sponsored event in which a variety of students and teachers showcased their musical talents to the rest of the school and allumni in hopes to gain interest and funding from the OSC community in hopes of starting up a music program next year. In the performances I played the saxaphone in the band, "Las Paginas" with Fililppo (drums), Mr. Smith (Lead Guitar) and Mr. Reihm (bass). We played the songs Play That Funky Music, Moby Dick, Take a Look Around and Fairys Wear Boots.

SAISA Track'n'Field 2011

I have just recently returned from the 2010-2011 SAISA Track'n'Field event taken place in New Dehli, India. I personally found this years SAISA Track to have been much more rewarding than those of previous years. Mainly because I exceeded my own personal expectations along with other also showing tremendous heart and effort in all of their events. As a team we placed 6th place among the other 6 schools; Chennai, Dehli, Kathmandu, Bombay, Karachi and Lahore. I placed 5th in the 200m with a time of 25.57seconds which I too was also very happy with for this was my first time placing in Track EVER!!! ACHEIVED PERSONAL GOAL
We also placed in both of relays at 5th place for the 4x1 and 4x4 which in respect of the other schools was not the best that we could have done, due to faulty handoffs and an un-even track. We were also presented with the most coveted award of the entire tournament...SPORTSMANSHIP... :P in which the team and the school should be very proud of for it shows a tremendous amount of commitment and effort.

SAISA Track

Simply Scenes... :D 2-23-2011

As a part and requirement of our IB DP coarse I must take place in a play production in part with my drama class. I am in 2 different plays; Burried the Child and A Street Car Named Desire in which I play male characters whom are both confident and a bit of a pushover at times. Today we have our performance at 6:00pm in the auditorium. I am also taking part in a play with Tara Nelson in grade twelve where i play an elusive criminal whom cannot be brought to justice. In previous rehearsals it has been quite good and run smoothly without any mishaps in which I hope will carry over into my performance.

NEW SEMESTER!!! CAS

As for CAS fulfillments for this semester I will be taking part in Habitat for Humanity following my first semester of DAWG.

Goals:
1) Have fun
2)Go on as many builds as possible
3)Give as much input as I possibly can towards having a successful CAS

SAISA

I have just recently returned from SAISA(South Asia International Sports Association) Boys Football where we went to Dhaka, Bangladesh for the tournament. There were 10 teams from all over south asia and it was very competitive. Due to a variety of reasons, a few players on our team were cut so we were then forced to travel with the minimum, 12 players. We all avoided injury as much as we could but fatigue got the best of almost all of us and the games went on. We all played very well and i think that i also played exceptionally well taking into account that I am not primarily a football player. I found this to be a great experience and defiantly something I will look back on in the future as a positive as my time here at OSC.
FULFILLED GOAL #1

Week Without Walls

February 22, 2011
This year for WWW(Week Without Walls) the grade 11 class went down to Hambanota, South Sri Lanka where we took part in a variety of activities mainly involving community service involving an issue of global importance. Overall I found this Week Without Walls in particular to have been the most rewarding out of all of mine for this one was solely CAS (Community, Action and Service) orientated. The main thing that i found it to be the most rewarding was that of painting the school. These schools don't have much and neither do the people that attend the school and when we all saw how happy and thankful they were after we did no more than a little polish and paint; it was all worth it. I personally think that even painting is great, the real need at schools such as these are not paint jobs and cleaning, the children need school supplies where I think would benefit them much more than some paint. But aside the minor issues with the school and what view as their needs i found it to be a good WWW.

MamaPapaHome For The Disabled

I recently took part in a trip to the Mama Papa home in Northern Sri Lanka to go and visit an orphanage. In this orphanage there were a number of children with disabilities that ran all across the board from physical diabilities to mental. I found this experiance very moving for when I first arrived I was a bit uncomfortable about beign around children with mental and physical disabilities; but as time went on through the day i realized that all these children need is just a little of your time to make them happy. They will never complain and will always have a smile on their faces as long as you do as well.
The part that really bothered me about the whole experiance is that the facilities were not suitable for the caretakers and also the children. The children there have disabilities and will be happy no matter what but we know what types of facilities they should have and what should be their standard of living. The group I went with to the orphanage will be returning to teh orphanage as planned at least once every month and a half and also plan to have a fundraiser to raise money for their facilities and basic nessecities like diapers, blankets and powdered milk.

Also I also just returned from the IB TAPS (http://www.ista.co.uk/taps)orientations in Jakarta, Indonesia where we attempted to further our acting skills on stage and behind camera. We underwent a series of exercises that tested us both mentally and physically. The different classes we took were that of Masterclasses which works like a specialty clinic for certain acting skills and regular classes that involved the different aspects of acting and ways to use acting and drama to influence you, the audience and others in differnet ways. Overall a enjoyed the trip the Jakarta and taking part in IB TAPS and plan on doing it again next year...IN HOPES :) of furthering my acting skills!!! :DDDD

CAS Begins... :( jk

September 29, 2010
The school year has just started for the 2010-2011 Diploma Program and it has proven itself to be quite a challege. An escape from the rigorous program is that of doing CAS(Community, Action, Service) such as DAWG, basketball, and an out of school service with another school. For DAWG we are currenty trying to raise fund for starilization for helpless dogs and cats around Colombo and collecting food items for the animals such as rice, dog/cat food and basic grains to keep the animals healthy. Overall i really enjoy doing this for I love being around animals, exspecially cat and dogs for all they need is a loving home and a healthsy diet and this is a real problem all around Colombo.
Every Saturday I take part in a basketball activity with helping students from OSC and occasionally other student from other school come to further their skills as a basketball player or just getting started. Basketball is my passion and i really enjoy helping these people better themselves as overall atheletes and basketball players. The part about this that i most enjoy is seeing the progression of the players and watching have a good time playing the sport that i also enjoy.
Also, once a month i will be attending an Orphanage/School with children from ages 2-12 in which my family and I will be buying school and other supplies for the children at the School. If all goes well, i plan on making regular monthly visits to the orphanage to build a good relationship with the people.

Also as the year has just started I have been participating in SGA(Student Goverment Association) organizing different types of event and socials for the student and community here at OSC. The most recent SGA ran event was that of the Homecoming Social/Dance. It was a success and alot of the people that attended said that they had a good time. We also do events along with the PTA, and we plan on having a successfull year for the SGA and helping OSC become a more enjoyable place for students and faculty over the course of the year.

GOALS AND CRITERIA..

My name is David Gresham of the Overseas School of Colombo and am in the last year of the Middle Years Program. One of the requirements as a being in the Middle Years Program is that we have to complete a certain amount of community service hours. We can do many different things to fulfill this requirement such as...

Goals:
1) To participate in at least two SAISA Tournaments
2) To PASS the IB :P
3) To participate in at least 4 major community service project this year

Guiding Questions, Aims & Learning Outcomes
The following questions may help students determine whether or not an intended activity qualifies as CAS.
 Is an activity a new role for me?
 Is it a real task that I am going to undertake?
 Does it have real consequences for other people and for me?
 What do I hope to learn from getting involved?

Aims
The CAS program aims to develop students who are reflective thinkers—they understand their own strengths and limitations, identify goals and devise strategies for personal growth
 Willing to accept new challenges and new roles
 Aware of themselves as members of communities with responsibilities towards each other and the environment
 Active participants in sustained, collaborative projects
 Balanced—they enjoy and find significance in

8 Critical Learning outcomes
Learning outcomes are differentiated from assessment objectives because they are not rated on a scale. The completion decision for the school in relation to each student is, simply, “Have these outcomes been achieved?” As a result of their CAS experience as a whole, including their reflections, there should be evidence that students have:

 Increased their awareness of their own strengths and areas for growth
They are able to see themselves as individuals with various skills and abilities, some more developed than others, and understand that they can make choices about how they wish to move forward.

 Undertaken new challenges
A new challenge may be an unfamiliar activity, or an extension to an existing one.

 Planned and initiated activities
Planning and initiation will often be in collaboration with others. It can be shown in activities that are part of larger projects, for example, ongoing school activities in the local community, as well as in small student-led activities.

 Worked collaboratively with others
Collaboration can be shown in many different activities, such as team sports, playing music in a band, or helping in a kindergarten. At least one project involving collaboration and the integration of at least two of creativity, action and service, is required.

 Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities
At a minimum, this implies attending regularly and accepting a share of the responsibility for dealing with problems that arise in the course of activities.

 Engaged with issues of global importance
Students may be involved in international projects but there are many global issues that can be acted upon locally or nationally (for example, environmental concerns, caring for the elderly).

 Considered the ethical implications of their actions
Ethical decisions arise in almost any CAS activity (for example, on the sports field, in musical composition, in relationships with others involved in service activities). Evidence of thinking about ethical issues can be shown in various ways, including journal entries and conversations with CAS advisers.

 Developed new skills
As with new challenges, new skills may be shown in activities that the student has not previously undertaken, or in increased expertise in an established area.