Monday, October 28th, 2024
5:30 pm ~ 7:30 pm 

Event Participation: 

• For the Pinetree Family Fun Event, I had two main roles. The first was assisting with the event’s beginning and end, where all leadership students were involved. The second was preparing activities and organizing for the older group of kids, ranging from 5~10 years. The leadership students in charge of the older group prepared Musical Chairs and a 10-minute Scavenger Hunt. 

Curricular Competency:

The curricular competency I focused on in this event was to “Utilize different leader styles to complete tasks”. It falls under the heading: Self-Awareness and Personal Leadership. 

• • This competency aligns with my course goal of understanding how to adapt to different leadership frameworks, as I used my critical thinking skills to make decisions on the spot (during the event), as well as beforehand. 
  • When brainstorming ideas for the event, I made sure to be a team member and allow ideas to be contributed by everybody, ensuring there was an equal distribution of input.
  • When the ideas were put in place and we were split into two groups, I noticed that the members of my smaller group were slightly disorganized and confused about the event. I was aware of myself and made an extra effort to make sure I wasn’t overwhelming or burdening any team members.
  • I made sure to utilize a different style, rather than a friend or classmate, but someone that my group could rely on, so I assigned roles to the members of the group. For example, two people were in charge of grabbing the colored paper for the wall decorations, three people were in charge of cutting, etc.
  • We were in a time crunch because we could only meet for the duration of ESS (the week before the event), and 1-2 group members were missing as well. This was where I exercised another one of my course goals, which was to be able to work well and in an organized manner in a high-pressure environment. With 30-40 minutes to work on decorations and ideas for the activities, I believe I was actively working on many of my course goals in preparation for the event. 

Actions Taken: 

• Before the event:
  • I made sure to have a group discussion with my small group (in charge of the older kids) about which activities we would do. We had many ideas and not much time, so we decided on two easy and simple activities: Musical Chairs and Scavenger Hunt. With all the group members, there was a lot of discussion among team members about the different elements of the games. For example, the “treasure” the kids would find for the scavenger hunt, the rooms it would take place in, what rules or measures would we have to put in place, etc. 
  • I noticed that some members were confused about very small details, but I thought it would be important for everyone to be on the same page, so I decided to make a separate document (not the Business Plan) for my small group outlining the key points and elements of our part in the event. For a gist of the document, the link will be down below in “Evidence”! 
  • Additionally, after our group meeting in ESS, I noticed that there were barely any decorations done, maybe a couple of pumpkins and two bats. Since we had a lot of extra paper and I had an off-block right after, I decided to stay in Mrs. Rioux’s room to complete drawing and cutting out the decorations. 
  • On the day, other leadership students and I prepared the rooms, drew on the whiteboards, arranged the desks and chairs, and taped the decorations. 
• During the event: 
  • The beginning of the event went smoothly where everyone was mingling and we were all getting to know the kids. We soon grouped the older kids together and I yelled out for the kids to follow me to the Musical Chairs room. We quickly began, and it was a success. I tried my best to make everyone feel comfortable and create a fun and easygoing environment. 
  • After Musical Chairs was over, I escorted the children and parents out to the neighboring room, where the Scavenger Hunt would take place. Here, instructions were very important, as we also had to lay down the rules so no one would be running or shouting and such. At one point, I felt some kids weren’t enjoying the activity as much as others, so I tried to play with them and start a competition. 
• After the event: 
  • After the event concluded, I rearranged the desks and chairs in Mr. Sandhu’s and Mrs. Matthews’ rooms back to how they were beforehand. Additionally, I erased the whiteboards and took down the Halloween decorations that were taped onto the walls. 

Evidence: 

• Here is the link to the Older Group’s Plan! This is an example of utilizing different materials and leadership techniques for different objectives. I tried my best to listen to everyone’s ideas and maintain efficiency. I assigned different responsibilities to people beforehand, which I believe helped greatly with the end result. Within the document, I made sure everyone would have something to do to contribute.

• Before the event, I would reach out to group members and individually ensure their understanding of the event. I tried my best to keep everyone organized and up-to-date with the changing conditions of the event. Additionally, when the rest of my group arrived, I made sure to be sensitive to new changes and compromises. I would reinforce the main goals that we had for the event, focusing on time and having a “fun time”. During the event, I tried my best to contribute as a team member to navigate through tough situations and come up with efficient solutions. 

• I prepared decorations for the event in my own time and outside of school. After realizing that we wouldn’t have enough decorations for the event, I decided to prepare the rest of them myself and get everyone else up to date afterward. I believe this correlates to the main curricular competency I focused on, which was mainly based on completing tasks and my self-awareness during that process. The preparation for this event excited me greatly for the next event, and I cannot wait to be one of the Point People for Grade 9 Day! 🙂 

Photos: