Leader of Project (Blog #3)

     I am very happy with my progress on this project so far because I have been able to get more done than I ever expected I would by this time. Just this week and last, I have been able to get my project approved by Ms. Gilman and Mr. Kelly, finalize all of the rehearsal venues and get them accepted by Ms. Pamela, write an entire script for the play that was approved by my helpers, have Mr. Hoehne agree to be my adult superior, create and put up posters for advertising, and (if that is not enough) make a semi-list of volunteers that have asked about helping and acting. I was worried when I first chose this project that I would never be able to do anything on time, but my determination and love of theatre has already pushed me ahead of the game, I just can't wait to see how everything turns out!

     The milestone task for this week (that is, by 2 December 2011) was to be aware of people willing to help me and act in the play by writing down the names of those who agreed, or to come up with a meeting date and place for a chatting session so I know specifically who is willing to help me with my project. Since I am not yet fully aware of how many people I have on my side, this meeting (set for 5 December in the gym during lunch) has been put aside as an audition/approval of volunteers time instead of an official rehearsal.

     Even though I have been spending much of my free time working on things for this project, I am enjoying that work, so it is totally worth it. I have talked to so many staff members for the approval of this project, that most of the things I was worrying about before (such as getting proper times and places for rehearsals and the performance) are no longer a problem, and this only makes my IP more fun for me!

Helper for Aidan (Blog #2)

     Aidan has not talked to me much about what he wants me to do for his sound system project, mostly because he was absent from school a couple days before Thanksgiving Break. I have been coming up with ideas for different things or problems that can be added into the manual, so that I have some ideas and suggestions to give to Aidan when I see him again. Some of these problems include things like how to connect some of the basic wires and such to the actual instruments so that anyone can rejoin them if they become disconnected in the future. Also, some details about how to fix the current problem that was just resolved of the random beeping sounds coming from the sound system can be included so the school knows what to do if it happens again and not have to wait. With concepts like these in the manual, the school can just have volunteer students read from it and fix problems if no one else has time to do so in the future.

     Next time that I get a chance to talk to Aidan, I want to make sure that I ask him what it is I need to get done for the manual, and if all of the current system problems have been taken care of so far. I will be open to any new tasks he might give me to think about or complete since he hasn't told me to do much yet; I will always keep thinking about things we can add to the manual because that is the least I can do to contribute as a helper of this project.

Helper for Hiren (Blog #2)

     Right now, Hiren is experimenting on the types of posters he wants to make for his project. All I have been asked to do so far for his project is to come with ideas he can use as concepts for his posters such as inspirational words or phrases, and subjects that would bring out school spirit in students. Hiren wants just ideas because he wants to create the first couple posters by himself so that he can decide exactly how he wants the rest of them to turn out; once he has figured out how the final products should look, he will ask the other member of his group to make some of them.

     Some of the suggestions I have given him to experiment on his posters are things like using deep poems or phrases that involve the concepts of learning and community since there are quite a few people at our school who enjoy creative writing. Also, I said that he could use interesting and eye-catching pictures on his posters that would somehow describe a single-word theme (such as showing a beautiful picture of stars in space to show the concept of dreaming). All in all, my idea about this project would be that whatever the posters look like, students should almost always be able to get some message out of them whenever they look at them, and preferably the message is a powerful and impacting one. Even though this project might not turn out to make a difference in the lives of everyone, there is enough satisfaction knowing that we would have at least tried and maybe even impacted the thinking of some students through the posters we will now create.

     As soon as Hiren is done with his experiments, I will ask him what he has decided to stick with, and what I can do to contribute more in this project.  

Leader of Project (Blog #2)

     My first milestone date was set for this week (or the week of November 21, 2011) and I have pretty much gotten ahead and accomplished it pretty early. I needed to finalize the play that I want to do because I needed to get all the copyright details over with to proceed on the project. What I plan for this is since I chose The Cat in the Hat as my play and it is a book, I will write my own script for it over the Thanksgiving Break, so that although I will need to acknowledge that the story isn't mine, I will not need to do any legal work for the script copyrights.

     With that all taken care of, the other main thing that I needed to get done by this milestone date was to tell either Ms. Gilman or Mr. Kelly (whoever I got a hold of first) about my project and present a rationale and proposal for the positive effects my project would have on the environment of our school. In the proposal, I said that this project would give students who have talents outside of STEM education subjects to show them to other people who might not know of them as well as that it would be a good bonding opportunity between the students of this school. I have given my papers to Mr. Kelly, and he has said he will give me the details tomorrow (on November 22) about what he thinks and suggests for my project.

     I have started to spread the word about my play (although I am keeping it kind of low in case I am not allowed to do this project) by asking my friends the following:  1) if they want to join, 2) if they know anyone who might be interested in volunteering backstage or performing, and 3) if they would like to help in the future but aren't sure yet. I already have many people who are eager to help me (Chandler Neames has said she could do make-up, and Haley Silvernale has said she would love to help with costumes), and I am not only excited to see how my project will turn out, but also proud I have chosen a topic that many students here seem to enjoy.

     November 22:  Mr. Kelly said he was very interested in my project, and he gave me  few tasks to complete before I started doing anything too big. He wants me to get the signatures from all of the adults that will be helping me throughout this project as well as create a calendar of dates for when I would meet with my helpers and actors so that they can be informed along with the people helping me with venues.  

Helper for Aidan (Blog #1)

     For my second helper project, I will be assisting Aidan with his project called "Fixing the Sound System in the Gym". I have the contact information for reaching Aidan when I need to for this project, but it is best not to reveal any of it on my blog. So far, Aidan has said that he already has two of them done, and the step that comes next is creating a manual for other people that will use the sound system in the gym for events such as assemblies (and even my play). He hasn't really informed me about the other milestone dates he has planned so far, but I will talk about them as soon as I am informed.

     The objective for this project is to fix up the sound system in the gym that always makes odd noises and interrupts important events such as speeches and assemblies. By fixing the dirty parts of the system, not only will the person speaking avoid being embarrassed by having to stop mid-sentence, but it would also avoid laughter and taunts during a serious meeting. This project aligns with the goals of our class since it would help both the school and community by doing good for the school and making it so that it doesn't have to get a whole new system. It would be useful for creating a professional atmosphere for guests that come to our school since the constant sounds coming from the system would no longer make it seem like our school doesn't care enough to change what we have.

     My role for this project is going to be working with Adain in writing the manual for the new system since I am pretty good in coming up with warnings and instructions. The manual will be about how to handle the system properly as well as how to fix any future problems that might occur. Adain has not yet explained to me just exactly what I am supposed to do specifically for the manual, but I do know that we are both going to work on connecting our projects to each other since my play will need the sound system, and Adain will need my help in writing as an exchange.

     I am going to check again and again to see where Adain is in his project and if he is on time; I can do this both in class, and through the contact information we have traded. Every time there is a project work portion in class, I will make sure to get updated with all of the new tasks I have to do. I am also willing to stay after school or during lunch in the gym to either assist Aidan's progress or to take things into my own hands if Aidan is busy and thinks I should do more as a helper. If Aidan ever needs me to research anything, I will do it as fast as I can get it done, because I need to have his project done on time if I want to perform with a well-working system and easy-to-use manual.

     The largest thing I see getting in my way during this project is that I may not be able to accomplish that much writing in a short time frame if I am given a lot to write since I have a pretty packed schedule when it comes to homework. A group obstacle may be that it turns out to be difficult to find exactly what needs to be talked about within the manual, because much background knowledge about technology and what was done in order to accomplish fixing the sound system is needed in order to tell someone what needs to happen during a problem.

      I can solve my problem by giving myself a bit less time to relax and instead using it for this project on the weekends; I can also use some of the time I have in class to work on writing the manual if I am on track with my own project. The problem about having background knowledge can be handled by recording all the steps it took to fix the system while actually repairing it. Also, some background research can be conducted to figure out more about other sound systems so that we can compare them with this one in the manual.

   

Helper for Hiren (Blog #1)

     My name is Surbhi, and the first project that I will be helping with is that of Hiren. The project is called "Inspirational Posters" and it has a purpose of getting students at AHS to have more school spirit, as well as inspire them to follow their dreams and goals in life. I have the contact information of the group members written down, so there is no need to include it in my blog. The milestone dates are still being set, for Hiren hasn't yet finalized what they should be. The objective of this project is to create a new atmosphere of spirit and connection to the school in different areas that students tend to hang out, so that there is always some kind of reminder that AHS is a wonderful school that should be worth celebrating everyday.

     This project aligns with the goals of our class because it not only helps influence the people within our school to be happier and remember the whole reason that they attend AHS (which should be something like wanting to be well-educated and do what they would like to in life). Also, this project would create an even safer environment for both the school and community by setting a positive example of why education is important and why we are proud to be learning. With more people positively contributing in school and learning for fun, the whole community would be inspired to do the same for similar causes.

     My role is going to be pretty simple in this project since I will be doing more of the background research than the actual artwork. Whenever Hiren wants to make one of the posters, he is to call me and his other helpers for suggestions according to the topic he is making the poster on. I would also research a little about the topic and give him things like pictures and quotes that he can use on the poster. Also, I would help assemble the posters if the need came and I was available, as well as hang up the posters around the school on selected times when I can be of assistance.

     I will constantly e-mail and call Hiren to monitor his progress, especially on the milestone dates to check if we are finishing everything on time. If not, I will give advice on how we can speed up and when we can meet together to get more work done quicker. I have asked him to give me a call when he would need me to do something more than just research, and I will most likely take extra work on myself to get what needs to be done finished (this shouldn't really occur since this is a pretty simple project).

     The largest obstacle in the way for me during this project is that I am not too good of artist, and if I am ever asked to actually create a poster or two, it will be not only very time-consuming for me, but they also might not turn out like Hiren wants them to. Something that might come in the way of the group would be not being able to create posters that are inspiring to the students at our school, and ending up wasting our time with this project.

     In order to take care of this, though, I will create an outline early after asking Hiren how he would want the poster to look, and I can create the poster by copying my earlier outline. By doing it this way, I don't have to worry about whether Hiren would like the poster, and I also don't have to think about what to do for a long time. In order to make interesting posters, the group can observe things around it, such as certain words that students use that are inspiring as well as popular, and the posters can be based off of these kinds of topics. Also, we can create extremely eye-catching and colorful posters so that they are noticed easily by people walking by them.

Project Under Leadership of Surbhi Ghadia

     My name is Surbhi, and I am in Ms. Fitz's Leadership class. This project is for serving my community by choosing a task to accomplish that will benefit others and myself. The name of the project that I am planning to do is "The Direction and Success of an All-School Play". Since I plan to perform just a little while after the holidays, I want to do a play about The Cat in the Hat. I have started this project on Monday, 7 November 2011, and want to finish it (actually perform the play) around Friday, 13 January 2012. My helpers for this project will be Camila, Jenni, Aidan, and Hiren; my adult supervisor will most likely be Mr. Hoehne.

     What I want to see as the result of this project is bonding between not only the people who will be in the play, but also the ability for the rest of the people in the school to relax and enjoy something that their classmates and students have given up their time for and put hard work into. I want to use something as wonderful as acting to bring the school together as well as try to end the comments that some make about AHS being a boring and nerdy school, especially since this is a unique concept for our school. Even if the play is not a success, the ending result should make my crew and myself proud to have given a shot to something new and we should be able to see that our efforts were not to waste. My project will be able to accomplish some of the goals that I have created in Leadership class, such as using my independent and leading skills to bring the school together while inspiring the ones I work with to display the talents they may be hiding.
    

There will MANY obstacles that will come my way while working on this project, especially because it will require many events and people to be associated with it. Arranging times and places for these events (such as auditions and dress rehearsals) as well as writing a script and going through copyright procedures for the story. Rehearsals will need to be in a reasonable setting where everyone who needs to can meet whenever necessary, and I will need to make sure that my schedule is flexible. One thing that can go very wrong, though, is if no one is interested in doing the play except my helpers, and we have to pick our own actors and such; this would add a lot more work in our list of things to do. As for successful auditions, my helpers will most likely assist me with judging them.

• The very first date that will have to be set as a milestone is making a story final for the play and getting any legal information taken care of to do it. This step also includes having a meeting with Ms. Gilman or Mr. Kelly (maybe even both of them) to make sure my project is good to go; I will need to type up a proposal for this. After that is all finalized, posters would need to be put up advertising the roles and assistant spots for the play (these need to state that those with much free time should audition). This should all take about a week to do, and the day the posters are put up will be the milestone date. I have set this for the week of November 21, 2011.
• The second important step is fixing a date where the gym at the school would be open to host the auditions in after creating a script or pieces of it so the actors can be realistic with what they are auditioning for. The judging would also need to be done within a few days of this by my helpers and me. It also might turn out to be unnecessary to have auditions if the word is spread and I get enough people to volunteer for both props and actors; the people with the best available times and willingness will be chosen by me in this case (I will make a list of volunteers). The list of people or a meeting date finalization is set for December 2, 2011.
• The third milestone of this project would be the day when all the actors meet for the first time and our first rehearsal is completed. During this meeting, things like acting exercises, personalities, and any mistakes within the script should be addressed as well as the other meeting dates be finalized. Something that would also be important is creating volunteer lunch dates in which volunteers could meet at lunch and help create props under the supervision of our project mentor while the actors rehearsed more with each other in another area. First meeting set for 5 Decemeber 2011, other meeting dates have already been set on my official IP calendar.
• The fourth milestone would be the setting of a time that the play will be presented and arranging a dress rehearsal accordingly. All of the associated people will need to meet, dressed as their character, and practice through as much of the play as possible (this should be a day after school or on the weekend). This milestone has been set for 11 January 2012 after school from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• The fifth and final milestone for this project would be the actual play date, either during school or after. Everyone working on this project should be present and prepared, and it would be preferred if all went smoothly. Once all is done, there will be some kind of event that I will hold in order to thank all of the people who helped me. This milestone is set for 13 January 2012, either during or after school.

All of these things will be made sure to happen on time by using preparation techniques properly and working well with the opportunities and people that will assist me so that I can be on time. Unless the unfortunate occurrence of no one wanting a play happens, the obstacles in my way will be taken care of by communicating when necessary with my helpers and the school staff for arranging meetings, and working with my parents to take care of all the copyright business.

      I will need support from my peers to create posters to put up around the school. Materials that will be needed are things to make sets and props out of as well as casual character-fitting clothes that will most likely be simple enough for the actors to already have. The gymnasium will be needed multiple times during lunch and after school for rehearsals as well.

     I will need many people other than my helpers to assist me during this project... Not only actors are necessary, but I will also need stage technicians for moving props and creating effects. Many volunteers are also needed to help create the props and background supplies for the play, I WILL NOT have time to do this by myself.
    
     As many volunteers that want to be there for access help can come, but the actual play will hold no more than fifteen characters acting, of which some will be my class helpers and myself. My parents will be helping me at certain times, and a separate adult mentor will also be there for assistance. The plan will be to take on people who are free most of the time so that they can make most of the after-school rehearsal dates. My helpers will need to assist me in the script and other things, but they too have their own projects to worry about as well. All of my actors will need to show up to a certain number of rehearsals and bring assigned supplies if they want to be a success. I need to make sure I get my parts done in arranging and writing done on time before the made milestones.

     What I will do in order to hold both myself and my team members responsible for the things that we are all assigned to do is make sure that we all know for sure what is happening and what our roles are. As long as everyone in the group is updated on what is going on, there will be no confusion on what needs to happen. Also, I will only make sure to accept people into my group that promise as well as prove that they will not slack off, and anyone who volunteers that makes things harder rather than easier will be asked to leave.