Wendy Au's Senior Get-Together Reflection

A few months ago, before winter break, Wendy Au organized a Senior Get-Together Christmas Party and I was able to help her plan it. What I did to help was to help her think of the outline; theme, date, setting etc.  One of the things I did was to look up potential places that would allow high school students to hangout. I contact the Hard-Rock Cafe and spoke with one of the events coordinator to get an ideal price because even though the place looked really spacious and sophistcated, the cost would be a different story...and it was.  We did run into a situation of not knowing what other places would be convenient for everyone but also cheap, but finally, Wendy Au found a nice restaurant in Burien, The Mark. It turned out very successful because just as we planned, people did bring a present for White Elephant, the restaurant was nice enough to lend us a private room with a nice Christmas tree, many seniors dressed up in Christmas attire, the food was delicious and cheap, and most importantly, we all had fun. Little was spent and lots of memories were made.

Talent Show Reflection

Wow. To be honest, this was one of the most challenging projects I've dealt with for school. At first, I thought it would be easy to orgzanize a talent show but I was wrong. I was fortunate to have Ms. Wombold to help me out because she had experienced this before, therefore she made sure I wouldn't make any mistakes. The hardest part for me was to publicized this event. I thought posters and a few intercom announcements would be enough, however, students still did not know about it. Also, reminding and making sure those who signed up for auditions, come to rehearsals was pretty difficult and frustrating.

Some issues I've came across was keeping up with the workload in order to not fall behind schedule. I had approximately two and a half months of preparation, which now, I think is still not enough. It was stressful at times; where I was worried that I wouldn't have enough performers. However, I found out that if I were to actually go around and ask people to sign up, it was more effective rather than waiting for the list to expand. When auditions came around, I was relieved to have about 20 performers but then when it was a week before the show, some people bailed out. This added more stress and I thought I was literally going to lose my head because 4 people backed out on the same day. Not to mention, some didn't even tell me in person a few days before the show, which was very disappointing. Luckily, thanks to a few help from my friends, they recruited 3 performers on the day of the show, which was absolutely awesome.

Overall, I'm glad that I successfully directed a talent show. I knew what I wanted from the beginning and aimed for it. I couldn't have done it without the help of Emily Chhun, Arun Somasundaram, Drew Hidalgo, Wendy Au, AJ Sullivan, Jenny Gao, and Karan Grewal. They all helped me with making signs, selling tickets, setting up stage decorations and being backstage crew. As well as the MCs; Miranda Sita and Jose Aguilar. And last but not least, Ms. Wombold as the advisor of this project. I can't thank them enough. I'm glad that lots of people showed up for the talent show because I was worried that we wouldn't have enough due to the number of tickets sold during lunch but as always, people buy it the last minute. I really didn't plan to buy anything for the talent show, other than hiring the Au Lac Lion Dance team and a few labels for the awards. Plus, when the tickets are set at a low price, many people bought them where we made $474 dollars!

After all of the hardwork that everyone contributed, I was glad that people enjoyed the show. The performers were awesome and I'm grateful that they were willing to participate in the show. What I've learned from this experience that I would probably take with me in the future is to always plan ahead. I almost ran into situations where everything was conflicting or was winged. Planning every single step is crucial; from figuring out the dates of rehearsals, auditions and show to the themes/decorations etc. Also, making sure the word gets out as soon as possible. Performers actually need more time to practice before rehearsals and the actual show because they do have other stuff to do besides talent show. Because the performers had approximately a month to perfect their act, I figured that was probably one of the main reasons why some backed out. If I were to do this again, I would definitely work twice as fast, then I wouldn't be stressing out as much. Although there were times where I really wanted to just not try anymore or give up, I'm glad that I made it through and turned it really fun.

Project Update!

These past weeks, I have accomplished:
-Deciding theme for the talent show; which is the Grammys
-Made the official sign-up sheet
-Made very colorful posters/ads that indicates when and where auditions are
-Decided on who is incharge of what tasks in my talent show crew
-Made assembly, intercom and class by class annoucement
-Made a talent show sign up list; so far approximately 27 has signed up for auditions
-Decided to add another audition date after winter break, on the fourth of January
-Found the hosts for the show; Miranda Sita and Jose Aguilar
-Got Kevin Schilling to video tape the entire show
-Spoken to Bonnie about ticket sales, she suggest we should sell at the door to make it less of a hassel.

Challenges that I've came across:
-Not many were informed, that was why I decided to go to each class to make a quick annoucnement.
-Some were concern about the time available before auditions, so I've arranged another audition date after break.
-I did make another sign up sheet that was more professional than the handwritten one, howoever, when it was some how taken down the next day when I posted it up in the cafeteria
-Not many participants but as of today, I got at least 10 to sign up just by going around and asking. (new method)

Goals:
-Look forward to auditions and make sure to take notes of what is needed in the act etc.
-Send out notes that notify performers, when their final audition date is
-Start looking for decorations to match the theme
-Start asking teachers to be part of the panel of judges
-Get completed script from the MCs
-Talk to ASB about paying for a Lion Dance performance during judging and perhaps, walkie-talkie headsets for backstage crew (could be used for future talent shows)

Project Updates

Leading Projects:
Talent Show:
       Before Thanksgiving break, I was able to go talk to Mrs. Stark about booking the gym for the talent show auditions, rehearsal and the night of the performance. There were no conflicts except a minor one which was Music Club usually have band practices in the gym. However, that was resolved because I went and spoken with Mr. Savishinsky. After that, I went and gave an update to Mrs. Wombold. She sent me a task list from two years ago as a reference for me. Another task I've completed was making the Talent Show Audition Sigh-up sheet. Also, I was able to email Mrs. Gilman before the week ended, asking if it was possible to make a small announcement about the upcoming audition dates and it was successful. Today, I had a few help with making poster signs about the talent show audition dates and post it around the school. New tasks for me to do would be to read through the Talent Show Tasks List from Mrs.Wombold and start assigning jobs for the followers in this project.

AHS Thought/Express Yourself Wall:
          I officially begun the project today during the leadership class by drafting a list of potential questions that would be in the jar for people to pull out. Now, I am going to type up the questions and then cut out the ones that are approved, then place it all in a jar or box. I've also figured out how I'm going to manage the materials and looks like I wouldn't need to buy anything. I have the camera and Mrs.Fitz has eraseable white board markers.

Following Projects

The Wright School: (completed)
Seniors Holiday Party:
            I have been doing lots of research on what restaurant in Seattle would suit our party. I've came across Hardrock Cafe and found the terrace to be really nice. I've contacted and called the booking manager where she agreed to email me the menu selections and the agenda for that day. Apparently, the price range was over the expected value I've had in mind. Luckily, Wendy found a restaurant in burien where there is a private banquet room that we can be in for the party. Throughout this project, we also recieved lots of positive feedback and it seems like people are really interested in going.

2nd Project Proposal

Project: AHS Express Yourself Wall
Executive Summary: AHS Express Yourself Wall, is a project that involves AHS student's thoughts and input in order for it to be complete and successful. The purpose of this project is to not only get student's thoughts and opinions acrossed but also to help us understand each other's values and perspectives better. Students would draw out a question/ topic strip out of a bag or jar, and answer it by writing their opinions on the white board. After that, they would get a picture take with their answers, in front of a butcher paper. After enough pictures are gathered to be displayed around the school, my project team would be printing, cutting, pasting pictures on the construction papers and then post it on the walls. We will be announcing this ahead of time through NOTAM, so AHS students would be notified about what is going to be happening on that week and possibly have an intercom announcement before lunch on the day of, as a reminder. The tolo dance ticket sales booth may or may not be an obstacle because it would help us gather students over to the tables. No materials are needed to be bought because I can provide most of them and I'm sure other helpers could too. To decide whether this project will be successful or not, depends on not only, how many students were willing to participate but if students shows interest and excitement towards this. And when the pictures are posted up, people would take the time to stop and read all the thoughts. Most importantly, students would remember doing something like this and would feel excited to do it again next year. Perhaps it can become a new AHS tradition.
Need: This project is significant and timeless because it is a creative way for AHS students to understand/get to know each other more. Also, it's a fun bonding activity that involves everyone's input in order to accomplish this project. In order to complete this project, I would need a variety of students who are willing to express their opinions of different the topics or questions given and who would be happy to get their pictures with their thoughts, displayed around the school. And most importanly, this would be something everyone would remember doing because it would be displayed around the school. This idea was inspired by what Cascad Middle School did and according to Mrs. Fitz, it was pretty successful and exciting.
Objective: In order to fulfill this project, I would need to dedicate my lunch time probably for 2 weeks or so, depending on how many pictures and thoughts are taken. On the first week of December, I plan to brainstorm with my follwers,  a list of possible topics or questions for students to answer. These questions could be very broad and I'm expecting at least 10 would be approved by the mentor and an administrator. Therefore, this task would be a short term. Another short term would be deciding how to execute the project. Either students come to a table displayed during lunch, where students who are interested, would line up to pick out a question from the jar, write their answers on a white board and get their picture taken. Or, the second option, is to come to the students and ask random ones. If the first plan doesn't gather many student's thoughts, then we'll follow the second plan. After getting at least 50 thoughts from the students, printing, pasting the pictures onto a construction paper and getting it displayed around the school would be the long-term objective. I would need at least three helpers when gathering the pictures of thoughts and 5-7 helpers with printing, pasting and posting pictures around the school.
Method: To achieve the objectives I've established, I'm going to start working on the first week of December. I plan to create a list with one of my followers on this project, and get them approved. After that, I will need help typing the questions up, cut them into rectangular strips and then added into a small jar/bag or box. After that, I would need to get my camera ready by clearing up some space on my memory card and also, charge the camera. As for the white boards, I would need at least two boards and colorful markers to work with. So, I can ask to borrow from Mrs. Fitz. After all of the materials and equipments are prepared, I or any of my followers, would need to make an announcement through the notam or through the intercom, or even, both. If we choose to annouce through NOTAM, I would need to send an email to Reba or Lenore the message before Monday, the 6th. After the annoucement is completed, setting up a space to work with would be the next step. However, this would be the same week where dance tickets would be sold during lunch so it would either be an obstacle or an aid where students could get drawn to both stations. My station would have a big colored butcher paper (for the background) posted up behind the table. We can have two-three students writing their thoughts down at the same time for their question. So then we could have two lines, one for pictures and one for answering questions. After that week, I would need some helpers to help me print out all the pictures, have it cut out, pasted on nice construction paper. Finally, maybe around the week before winter break, we could have some leadership kids help us post the pictures on the walls throughout the entire school.
Evaluation: I know my project would be effective and successful when there are many students who are interested in expressing their answers everytime our station is set up during lunch. I would expect to see a crowd full. And the end result, when all the pictures are posted around the school, I would expect anyone who walks by would take a few minutes to read the thoughts of AHS students.
Qualifications: I am a good candidate for this project because it involves creativity and art is one of my strengths. I love getting the school involved with these type of projects so I will definitely try my best to make it work. Also, if I ever need help, advices or have questions, I can talk to Mrs. Fitz because she has experienced it before at Cascade Middle School. So far, people who are willing to help me are Emily Chhun and Wendy Au, both would be an asset to my project because I know both are very organized and would do every single tasks orderly and wonderfully.

Other Projects (Blog 5)

For my leading projects, I have the Talent Show and this project that Mrs. Fitz and I discussed about. According to Mrs.Fitz, the kids at Cascade did this project as well and it is to basically ask any questions to any ahs student, have them write their answer on a white board and take a picture. Pictures will be printed, cut/paste on construction paper and posted around the school. This is a great project idea because it gives ahs kids the opportunity to express their opinions and it is fun to learn random facts about other people. So, this would be my second leading project, the AHS Express Yourself Wall (Any better names?)

The projects that I would be following would be Wendy Au's project which is a Christmas Party for the seniors, Sarah Canul's Senior Bowling Night Project and Miranda Sita's Wright High School Visit Get Together

Project Status #1 (Blog 4)

I haven't done much except sketched an outline of the gym. I am a little behind schedule but I can definitely catch up and start getting some work done. Luckily, I have three followers on this project so far, therefore, more tasks will be completed. I figure that the first thing I would need to complete would be a tasks/job list and start signing people up--for those who are willing to help. Mrs.Wombold and I have reschedule our meeting time because of the peer mentoring that would be happening almost every Thursday. The new meeting time would be on Tuesdays.