November 27, 2024

Event Participation: I was a part of the afterschool event, my job was to sell the Sundae tickets to grade nines in the foyer on Monday and Tuesday. I was also a Sundae Barista for the Grade 9 day afterschool event. My job was to come early to the library at 2:55pm and serve the ice cream with the scoopers to the grade nines who have previously purchased a ticket.

• Curricular Competency: Theme 4: Use effective communication skills in a group setting, which will be sensitive to everyone’s ideas, while still being efficient.
• This core competency aligns with my course goals because I am usually not the one to initiate conversations, and I am often not as talkative as other people. So being able to start a meaningful conversation with the grade nines was a huge step forward for me.
• Being able to project my voice so that others can hear me was another step forward towards efficient communication.
• Communicating with the other people in my team about concerns I had about the amount of ice cream we were giving them and being mindful of how I approach the issue to them and present my idea.

Actions Taken: Explain what you did to work towards or achieve this competency.

Before: For this event, I was initially put on the raffle team when we had our first initial lunch meeting on the 13^th. I was in charge of handing out the raffle tickets to grade 9’s while walking around school at lunch. On the 19^th of November, the Point People had decided to entirely scrap the raffle idea and have the raffle members switch out to security and floater roles. Then during our next meeting on November 20^th, I was assigned to the after school event, I was now part of the Sundae Barista members. During that same afterschool meeting we discussed items we needed, such as gloves, napkins, bowls, ice cream scoop spoons, and more. We discussed which ice cream flavors and sprinkles the grade nines would want. We collectively agreed on having chocolate, vanilla, and cookie dough ice cream along with chocolate and rainbow sprinkles, and I suggested we have crushed Oreo bits as an additional topping. After having all of our material organized we split half of our members to sell tickets during lunch. I was assigned to sell tickets on Monday and Tuesday (the 25^th and 26^th). I was there on Monday, but I had forgotten to bring my shirt, I stood near our table and would encourage grade nines to come buy tickets, approaching the ones I was familiar with (grade nines from my peer tutoring class). I wasn’t able to be there on Tuesday because I had a Point people meeting at lunch for our December event.

During: Then came the next day, grade nine day, I made sure I didn’t forget my shirt for that day. I arrived 15 minutes early to help set up. I got there around 2:55pm and began setting up the tables and chairs in an organized manner so the kids could sit at tables with their friends without being too cramped. Then they needed someone to crush up the Oreos into small bits, so I volunteered to help with that. Then we waited on the ice cream for a while (until around 3:20) and made the grade nines wait outside, we were all looking for Mrs. Macpherson so me and a few other team mates told our point people to send a couple people out to look for her. But once the ice cream arrived we let them in. Me and the other scoopers quickly began ripping the lids off of the tub as we saw the herd entering the room. I was scooping the cookie dough ice cream, and we decided to give a maximum of 3 scoops to each person.

After: After everyone got their ice cream, I decided to switch out with another team member so I could get ice cream for myself. Later on, me and a few other team members chatted with the grade nines, got to know a few, and played Jenga with two other girls for a while. After the event was over, we talked to a few other students about what being a grade 12 is like and we stacked the chairs and took the grade nine day posters down from the halls.

Evidence: Provide strong, concrete examples of your efforts and achievements. Ensure your leadership teacher can understand this evidence.

• Communicating with the grade nines
  • After serving ice cream to everyone a second time we decided to socialize with the students in the library. We looked for the people that seemed to be within smaller groups, because we wanted to take into consideration that the larger friend groups probobaly wouldn’t want additional company. So we approached a smaller group that was playing Jenga, we wanted to be sensitive to their feelings, we didn’t want to force ourselves into the game. So we asked them how they were doing and if they enjoyed the sundae. Then we discussed the game, and they asked us if we wanted to join them. We made sure that we were mindful of not forcing ourselves into the game and that they were comfortable with us joining the game.
• Sending someone to fetch the ice cream
  • It was 3:18pm and the ice cream was no where to be found. The grade nines were waiting and started to form a line outside. This raised concern for me and the other scoopers, we thought it would be best to bring this to the attention of the point people. We were mindful of how we approached them and said that it would be best to send a few security people down to the socials office to look for Mrs. Macpherson. Being efficient and effective with our communication while also being mindful of how we are presenting our idea.
• Concerns for ice cream amount
  • While handing out ice cream to the students, I noticed that the other scoopers were giving smaller scoops, but it was only because their ice cream tubs were harder to scoop, and they didn’t want to hold up the line. I effectively communicated with the other scoopers I told them that maybe we can give the students bigger scoops since they had already payed for it and it was their first year in highschool, so we could try to make this experience a memorable one. While being mindful of what I was saying, they agreed to give bigger scoops and that they felt the same way. I offered them to use 2 spoons to scoop the ice cream so it would be easier to hand out bigger scoops.

Photos:

Photo Booth B- October 31^st, 2024

Event Participation:

For the cash handling job at the Photo Booth on Halloween, my job was to stand at the front desk right next to the photo booth decorations. Talk to people to get them interested in the photo booth and handle all the money transactions. Taking money from those who wanted to get their photo taken, handing them a number to wait in line for, give back any change, and offer refunds to those who couldn’t get their photo taken because of the short amount of time we had.

Curricular Competency: Theme 2: Utilize different leader styles to complete tasks.

• It aligns with my course goals because while I may not have been the leader/point person in this specific event, I took charge in different ways that showed leadership skills to help with the photo booth.
• Effectively communicating with the people (customers) on where to go, many were confused about which way to line up or where they should line up for those who still hadn’t paid and those who had already paid but wanted to get their picture taken. The table where we had to stand at was placed oddly so it confused the customers about where to go.
• Taking charge while painting our poster, where to draw everything and how they should do it. I had made a few of these types of posters before, for other Halloween projects or other assignments in different courses. So I knew where and how we should paint everything. Using my previous knowledge that I had about art and decorating, I applied that to our crime scene poster board and directed everyone on how we should continue painting the poster.

Actions Taken:

Before: On October 9^th, when I first found out what I was doing and we had our meeting afterschool for our mandatory Halloween event, I began to look for ideas on Pinterest for a proper background, I saw a few ideas, either a classic Halloween themed backdrop with things like bats, and pumpkins, or a crime scene/mental asylum themed backdrop with blood and handprints everywhere. I emailed my ideas to our point person so she could take a look and take my ideas into consideration. We had our second meeting on October 16^th after school where our point person gave the group the outline of our crime scene related backdrop (the one I had suggested). We had a meeting the next day at lunch to draw and cut out things to stick onto the board. I drew and colored things like knives, handcuffs, guns, and fingerprints, while helping others cut and draw other items as well. On our second lunch meeting on the 21^st, we discussed making things like the missing poster, and what other supplies we needed, I suggested we use caution tape to hang it all around the board. On our third lunch meeting we had our supplies ready to go and to paint, we decided to stay in after school that day to paint the poster. I got paint brushes from the art teacher in room B101 and we got huge white poster paper from Mrs. Hopkin and I began to paint blood splotches and splatters all over the white paper with red paint, and a few handprints as well, I also wrote “Help me” on the poster so it could look more realistic. I also guided other groupmates about how they should continue painting on the board. Then once the painting process was over I cleaned up our paint brushes and our painting spot.  On the 28^th we had another lunch meeting, this was the day where I helped my team mates with stapling the items and the poster on to the board. At this point our board was ready and everything was set for Halloween.

During: Once the 31^st came, I wore my costume to be on theme and asked my teacher to leave class around 10 minutes earlier to be ready for lunch. I was in charge of handling cash, so I waited at the desk until people started lining up for their photos. During the lunch block, our line got a little bit out of hand, people started to get upset because it was a huge line filled with people who were waiting for their picture taken and some who were waiting to pay. I started individually asking people if they had paid already and to just come to the front desk to pay if they haven’t. Throughout the whole lunch block I made sure I handled the money properly and gave people the right amount of change.

After: Once it was over, we were given the task to count all of the money that we had made from the photo booth, my other groupmate who was on cash handling duty, counted all the cash, while I counted all the coins. I can’t recall how much exactly we had raised, but I remember being shocked at the amount of money we raised, once we added it all up together, which ended up being somewhere around one hundred and twenty dollars (ish). Once lunch was over, our other group mates decided to put the board away and I went to my Block 4 class.

Evidence: Provide strong, concrete examples of your efforts and achievements. Ensure your leadership teacher can understand this evidence.

• Before our afterschool meeting on the 23^rd, I already knew how I wanted to paint the poster, and what we had to paint. So when I got there, I noticed that many didn’t know exactly where to start and were confused about how they should paint the board. Without hesitation, I assigned everyone to do different tasks for painting the poster. Assigning a few people to paint their hands red and put hand prints in different places around the poster and assigning some to help me make random splatters and marks all over the paper and to smudge some paint around to make it look more realistic. I demonstrated my own way of leading by assigning different roles to everyone, organizing the group to work towards a common goal, while working along side them as well.

• Before taking charge of the line up, I didn’t think I would need to take charge at any point of the photobooth, because I was only in charge of handling cash, nothing else. There was already a supervisor role that had been taken by someone else, who was in charge of the customers and making sure people know where to go. But near the middle of the event, things got crowded, the supervisor was no longer aware of the line, as they were busy calling out numbers and helping the camera(wo)man when the camera started acting up. I noticed a few girls in the line getting upset that the line was taking too long and that they were thinking about leaving. I knew the best way to get everyone’s attention was to yell out and tell everyone to line up in front of the desk if they haven’t paid, and to line up behind the camera if they’re waiting for their photo. With the loud noises bouncing around the foyer, I knew that my voice wouldn’t project as far as I needed it to. I swerved through the line, asking each person whether or not they have paid. Directing each person in line to the place that they needed to be in, depending on whether they had paid or not. Eventually I successfully, helped everyone to get into the correct lines.

• Again, after noticing the few irritated people in the line, I decided it would be best to offer candy, to those who had paid. So I grabbed the box of candy that was given to us, and decided to go around through the line, and offer a candy to those who were waiting in the line. This approach reflects on my own style of leadership, it shows that my style of leadership is most effective in one-on-one situations, by connecting with people individually.

Photos:

(I took a photo at our own photo booth)

Reflect on your personal aspirations for this course. In a detailed response, address the following points:

1. Learning Objectives: What specific skills or knowledge do you hope to acquire by the end of this course? Explain why these are important to you.

By the end of this course I want to gain valuable leadership experience, I want to be able to take control over events and be able to efficiently manage the people and the environment. Being able to take charge in certain situations is a valuable asset, especially in career related atmospheres. Collaborating between team members, making sure everyone has a role and knows what to do is the type of skill I want to achieve by the end of this course.

2. Application of Knowledge: How do you plan to apply what you learn in this course to real-world situations or future academic/career pursuits? Provide examples.

There are many real-world situations where leadership can be applied. Learning to efficiently lead a group of individuals is crucial to future academic or career success. A leader is a motivator, communicator, and a guide. No matter what workplace you are in, employers will often favor employees who can lead. It also comes with making the right decisions on a whim, or under pressure, having this ability as a leader will come in handy when issues in the workplace rise and you will need to take action as soon as possible.

3. Personal Growth: In what ways do you expect this course to contribute to your personal development? Consider aspects such as critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, and communication skills.

I think that due to this course causing us to work in teams a majority of the time, it essentially forces us to become better team members, as a group. Having great teamwork skills will improve my communication skills, which helps in forming interpersonal connections with others. It teaches empathy and adaptability, as you learn how to work well with others, being introduced to new perspectives and approaches. All of these qualities can build confidence and lead to a well-rounded, self-aware person.

4. Challenges and Strategies: Identify potential challenges you might face in achieving your goals for this course. What strategies will you employ to overcome these challenges?

Potential challenges would include, not being loud enough at times. I unfortunately have a quieter voice that can’t reach a very loud tone, that’s definitely something I will need to work on and increase my vocal range. Another thing I think I would find difficulty in is being unable to work with people who are uncooperative. If I am working with someone who does not know what to do, has no interest in participating, or isn’t positively benefiting the group. I will immediately decide to not depend on them and try to take over their amount of work. I will often take charge of something when I feel that I cannot control something. Therefore this is one of the challenges I need to work on. Whether it’s by trying to explain their tasks in a simpler way or if I have to walk them through their task, I need to work on making sure everyone is included and has a job to do.