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.