Badminton Reflection #1

Confirmed: No Pain - No Gain!

It has been officially six months since I commenced training in Badminton Club after school every Wednesday for an hour and a half and I can confirm that there are no gains without pains! 

Reflection

In regards to my physical health, I do feel more comfortable with my step-approaches as I play. An example would be that I can reach the shuttle and get swiftly back to my starting position ready for the next hit. 

My hits are much more accurate nowadays and although there is always room for improvement, I can see a difference from the precision in my shots currently as compared to the very beginning of the year, where before that I have always been playing badminton on and off as a hobby. To my surprise, my shots are also slightly stronger now which is an advantage to my control of the racket. 

Attack stroke

Likewise, I am more flexible with my backhand strokes now than previously. I recall initially having some wrist aches after a practice as I trained my stoke more and more aggressively. However after all that work, I can confidently say that the strokes come smoothly and naturally without much thought.

Backhand stroke

These little steps of improvement all lead me towards being the best player I can possibly be with only weekly trainings. As time progresses, I hope to continue the motivation I have for this sport just as in the previous months.

train - TrAiN - TRAIN!

Inevitably, there were some difficulties I encountered whilst doing this CAS activity such as my lack of energy at the end of the long school day - right before I begin badminton practice. This issue is a consequence of time management. Although I am very well aware now that it takes a lot of effort to organise homework, socialising time and sleep, this task is still a working process. I hope to further improve my time management skills as I grow older and prepare for arduous years ahead in university. Nevertheless, I look forward to my future studies with much enthusiasm!

Additionally, I can communicate more comfortably with my teammates now. Not only to provide moral support to one another but to offer some advice. I clearly notice some common mistakes that many of the younger students do - mistakes that I was guilty of as a child since I would unknowingly constantly repeat them. In fact, I also feel more at ease when speaking in German, even though I do catch myself making grammatical errors every so often.

Badminton Team

As in every sport, training never gets easier but the contrary - it toughens as you improve. Nonetheless, with every swing of the racket and each bead of sweat I have enjoyed this past few months more than ever in with respect to badminton trainings. 

So far, I have met the following Learning Outcomes with badminton: ① ② ④ ⑤. I plan to achieve the last three outcomes by the end of this school year.

My Numbers sheet to keep track of training hours

In the coming months, I hope to work on my stamina so perhaps jogging or, more preferably, jumping rope. Additionally, I would like to acquire more knowledge about the sport by actively reading and researching articles and advice from professional players. It will be beneficial to learn about my hobby rather than to only simply play it.

Keep your head up and keep playing!

Besides these two main goals, I will certainly hope to develop my previous aims further and work to perfect my strokes in general. With the continuous support I receive from Mr Schneider and my teammates, I am able to train enthusiastically every time!

Evita ☺

Grade 11 Max-Planck Biology Trip

Pipetting, DNA amplifying, genotyping and more!

Exactly one week ago, my Biology class visited the nearby Max-Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research. As mentioned in my post months ago, regarding the Max-Planck Science Barn Trip for Grades 3 & 4 which I planned and organised, this institute was where I accomplished two weeks worth of student internship, learned so much externally of school and gained incredible experiences! This time however, I had organised a trip for my own classmates and teacher…

Activity Planning

Inspiration: This idea came into mind as I recognised similarities directly from our IB Biology course and the wide-range of things I had learned from working at the research institute in the summer of 2014. Just as I have done genetic fingerprinting and gene amplification there several times, my classmates themselves will get a chance to view how this is truly done (i.e. experiential learning) and not only from learning through pictures provided in a textbook.

Although I may have organised a larger scale school excursion before (i.e. the Grades 3 & 4 trip), this was certainly still a challenge since I had to organise this trip myself and make it a complete success for my classmates so they can enjoy practical biology at its best! With this CAS activity, I hoped to accomplish all eight of the Learning Outcomes!

To begin, I contacted my supervisor from the institute and informed him of my plan. Together we discussed all the possible activities we can do together to touch on the subtopics which we learned in school. Next, I explained to my Biology teacher, Ms Mutie, of the plan and then selected a date that best suits our school time-table, so that we are able to miss half a day of school for this productive trip. Since Ms Mutie accompanied us on the visit, she was therefore the most appropriate CAS supervisor for this activity.

Reflection

Arrived by Mr Max Planck!

After spending a total of 2 hours calling and planning, it was finally time for the trip on the 10th of February. The half-hour walk from our school to the institute in the late winter morning was very refreshing. Upon arrival, we were warmly greeted by my supervisor who brought us directly to the laboratory! There, we commenced with some pipetting exercises to learn how to use these highly accurate instruments used vigorously in research. We continued with the punching and making of FTA card samples and then together followed the protocol for the PCR mixture which would later be used for DNA amplification. All the while my classmates and Biology teacher were learning and asking questions and in fact so did I! There is always so much more to learn and it was exciting to be back in the lab once again!

Let's start pipetting

Careful pipetting

Vigorous pipetting

Ms Mutie carefully handling a young Thale Cress plant

Before taking a tour of the institute, we took a short break and allowed for snacks and warm beverages. Here, we discussed many curious issues about the research in the Max-Planck society, the ethical problems associated and also about global news in the world of scientific research.

Touring around...

Two hours later, we returned to the lab with full stomachs from lunch and analysed our gel that had successfully gone through electrophoresis. We studied the samples and had further discussions about the knowledge constructed from this piece of information. Finally, the excursion has come to an end and we were thankful for all the new things we learned that half-day!

Ready for the PCR machine!

Our gel electrophoresis results

This entire trip was a complete success! My main objectives were met and all my friends had a brilliant time learning by doing - so did Ms Mutie! It was enjoyable to be in another environment outside of school campus and to have a new learning atmosphere. My supervisor did a fantastic job in teaching us and I am very thankful for all the patience and support he showed us!

Nonetheless I did encounter two difficulties through this activity…

1. During school hours, attending classes means that I am unable to pick up the phone when needed. This was therefore a time management issue since my supervisor and I were to discuss the plan and time slots. In order not to repeat the same mistake I did previously when I called him during the wrong time, we e-mailed the times where we can exchange phone calls. This thus made things much easier for the both of us.
2. Initially, the visit was to take place on the 17th December. Unfortunately, Ms Mutie had suddenly fell sick on this day and it was due to her absence that I had to make the sad cancellation! This honestly frustrated me and it was because I worked with all the careful planning, I completely oversaw the rise of an unexpected event! This was a lesson learned to be prepared for anything and never take anything for granted as we might never know the what could happen in the near future.

CIS IB Biology Class at the Institute!

These were the weaknesses which I was able to overcome. I have learned so much from organising school trips and I believe I enjoy doing so. Hopefully there will be more chances in the future for more of such CAS activities!

A Numbers sheet to keep track of the hours spent altogether in this CAS activity

Evita ☺

Class Christmas Market

Cologne International’s very first Weihnachtsmarkt

Germany is known for many wonderful traditions and one of them includes… the christmas markets! According to Wikipedia, this street market originated in the late Middle Ages from the germanophone regions of Europe, i.e. mainly Germany, eastern part of France as well as Switzerland and Austria. The street markets open at the beginning of Advent to usher in the holiday season.

The markets feature many traditional delicacies such as gebrannte Mandeln (caramelised and toasted almonds), Bratwurst (a type of German sausage that can vary with different regions), Lebkuchen (soft ginger bread biscuits), Glühwein and Punsch (warm alcholic drinks), heiße Maronen (roasted chestnuts), Christstollen (fruit cake with dried candied fruits and marzipan) and not to mention Berliner doughnuts. Along with the food, every stall offers something different, including hand-knitted scarves and gloves, scented candles, moulded chocolate treats, wood-crafted goods, christmas ornaments, customised snowglobes and many more. 

There are many cities all over Germany which have famous christmas markets but perhaps one of the most famous and visited one of all is here in Cologne with over 4 million people each season!

The christmas market by the Cologne Cathedral*

Activity Planning

In order to welcome the christmas holidays which were approaching rapidly, several classmates of mine decided to open up our own school christmas market. This purposeful CAS activity required us to work towards high goal together, to present a sensational event our whole school on the penultimate Friday before the winter holidays of 2014.

The main organisers included five of my classmates, whereas the rest of us provided support with everything possibly needed. They selected the date of the event, organised posters for announcement, planned the venue and then together, we brainstormed who could offer which products and how many. We were all given the deadline of December the 8th to prepare our items in order to keep ourselves ready for the event. We agreed unanimously that all the profit of our current and future Class CAS projects will be donated to a good cause of our choice, at the end of our 18 months CAS program of the IB DP.

As I was inspired by the countless christmas ornaments sold at the real markets, I decided to make my own with origami. In fact, the art of paper-folding has always been a comforting hobby of mine where I can put all my concentration onto the technique and dedicate time to make a well-crafted piece. Furthermore, this activity was certainly a budget-proof one with the cost on only paper, time and commitment. There are many types of modular origami and the one I chose for this project is a kusudama, a decorative origami ball assembled by many identical pieces. This piece is by Philip Shen and consists of 6 modules in total.

For material preparation, I collected and counted various sized sheets of A4 coloured paper and organised them into the colour combination which I was fond of most. Next, I cut them using the a large manual paper cutting machine into equal squares and finally began the paper-folding frenzy! In terms of Learning Outcomes, I hope to achieve all 8 of them successfully.

Little colourful Origami christmas ornaments

Reflection 

It was enjoyable to see these creations come to ‘life’, however I noticed that with all the pre-creasing to do, I was soon running out of time to complete all for the deadline. Therefore together with the help of a few friends, I first demonstrated the simple pre-creases to them, followed by the method to fold each unit. It felt satisfying to be able to share my paper passion with my friends and introduce them to a different type of visual arts. As soon as 6 units were prepared, I assembled them together as that was the trickiest part of the task.

While we were folding intensively, we selected the price range together: since I made 4 sizes of origami ornaments, it was logical for a consecutive increase in the prices respective to the size, i.e. smallest to largest would be 1€, 2€, 3€ and 4€. Along with four colourful A3 posters I made for my stall in the market, I accomplished 16 ornaments of different sizes and colours altogether!

The days following up to the Friday, several friends and I were to bake in the school’s kitchen for the bake sale stall in our market. One of my friends prepared all the materials and gathered the recipes, whilst the rest of us were there for support. It was actually quite fun to help out and motivate one another. After some hours, we completely ready with food for our customers!

19th December: The big day finally arrived and unto our surprise, we were truly busy with the set-up and decor for half of the school day. We excused ourselves from class to prepare and organise tables, chairs, posters, balloons, christmas hats, many colourful decorations, our products including baked goods and drinks and last but not least - music for the christmas atmosphere!

Let's set it up people!

We depended on one another and worked cooperatively throughout the project and also individually play a role for the team: e.g. Since the baked goods started out to sell well, I had to leave my stand temporarily and be the go-fer to pick up paper plates and napkins. A concrete foundation of trust was required and this CAS activity was definitely no exception.

My friends were hard at work by the bake sale

To summarise, we offered hot chocolate for a small price, hand-made plasticine Olaf magnets (from the Disney animated film Frozen) made by our classmate, christmas tree-shaped and snow-flake-themed ornaments made by another, water-marbled holiday cards by my arty friend, many delicious home-baked goodies such as brownies, lemon cake etc. and finally my hand-crafted origami star ornaments.

The plan was to open at 14:00, right after lunch as some primary school students and parents would come through via the building’s main foyer which therefore meant customers for our christmas market! We greeted parents and students warmly and welcomed them to our event.

Welcome our dearest customers -welcome to our christmas market!

Rush hour (which we later discovered to be an understatement with all the hustle and bustle) was to commence at 15:25, the moment the school day ends and after school projects begin. Parents were intrigued and supported us immensely with their purchases and nor were our school friends letting us down with all the enthusiasm to our market.

Hand-made Origami Star Ornaments by yours truly

As the younger students passed by, I greeted and showed them my origami stars. All were astonished at how paper could be recreated into such detailed pieces. To top it off, I dazzled them by throwing the sturdy stars up into the air and catching them repeatedly - proving just how tough and fun the stars could be! I really appreciated every pleased look on the students  faces when they finally purchased the stars, since it felt reassuring to know that somehow with paper and patience, you can brighten up someone’s day.

17 minutes later, there was the table, myself and only one origami star left to sell! This task of selling my products allowed me to interact with the audience, i.e. the customers, and helped me to communicate more confidently about my hobby, as well as improving my marketing skills. After an exciting afternoon, it was time to slowly collect and clean up by 16:15. 

Naturally, there is always room for improvement for planning and executing such events. I believe the key to our success was management and organisation, even if I honestly doubted it at times myself. By trusting one another and aiming towards a common target, we were able to work together efficiently. I am sure that as we complete future projects, we will improve our class relationship even further and develop our organisation skills. 

Cheers to a successful Class CAS project!

I can proudly say with all our effort and hard work, the CIS Christmas Market was a real success! It was certainly exhausting but very worth it from the beginning to the end and not to mention that we collected over 250€! As for myself, I have dedicated just about 11 hours of my free time into the project. Moreover, I enjoyed working as a team player as it has allowed me to be a part of the project and focus on my roles - and not to stress about others and their contribution. As my other classmates would say, I look forward to yet another future brilliant Class CAS project!

*Disclaimer: The image used is subject to copyright. I do not own the image nor do I have any legal rights on them. Thank you for your attention.

Evita ☺

School Secret Santa

It is Christmas in the heart ♥︎ that puts Christmas in the air ❄︎

From experience in my previous school, the senior students used to conduct a whole-school Valentine’s Day rose delivery for students who were eager to send a lovely surprise to a close friend or partner. I have always thought it to be an elegant idea to organise such an event, allowing others to express their gratitude or love for someone else with a flower delivered through an intermediary. Therefore, I hatched an idea to apply the same concept to another theme… instead of expressing your love for Valentine’s Day, why not spreading Christmas cheer for the upcoming holiday season!

Activity Planning

As a small class, my friends and I were eager to do this CAS activity together - Class CAS! However after consulting with our CAS Co-ordinator, this seemed to be unreasonable, since when we chose roles, it could play out unfairly in the activity. As a result, we voluntarily decided to divide our class into two smaller groups, one will be responsible for the Christmas Chocolate Delivery (aka Secret Santa) and the other will be managing another Christmas related CAS activity (blog post on that very soon). In this way, both groups are in charge of their respective activities, but we will all participate in both projects by offering helping hands.

Well, what is Secret Santa? It is a simple way of showing someone care, appreciation and wishing them a Merry Christmas. We will open up a stand by the main entrance of our school and welcome people every morning for two weeks. It is during the mornings of these two weeks that the senders are able to approach us to send a chocolate santa claus (or more if desired) to anyone in the school of their choice. In exchange for 3€, the sender will be provided with an A6-sized card (designed specifically for Secret Santa) where they can state to whom it is for, which class the receiver is in if they are a student, and sign their own name, which they are naturally welcomed to omit if it is to be a secret surprise! On the penultimate day before the school holiday, Santa Claus’ helpers, i.e. our class, will deliver the santas to every person who has been sent one (or more). From our side, this means coming to school extra early to be ready to take orders in and receive an excuse from class on the delivery day.

The essential purposes of this CAS activity is…

1. To learn how to organise a whole-school event collaboratively with classmates which requires a good deal of thought, organisation and dedication in order for it to be a complete success.
2. To kick-start the holiday season by sharing care and spreading on the merry mood to close friends and terrific teachers. This would benefit the receiver, as he or she shall get a special gift happily on the second-last school day before the Winter break.
3. To raise money for our charity fund as we have officially decided as a class to collect all the profit of our current and future Class CAS projects. It will finally be donated to a good cause of our choice, at the end of our 18 months CAS program of the IB DP.

The four of us main event planners had to discuss and confirm all the important details in our first meeting that lasted for about two hours. We talked about the means of communication for the project to be heard, which included A3 posters, Facebook post on the school’s page, a notification in the school’s newsletter, introduction tours for the primary school classes and last but not least, a direct announcement during the school assembly.

Next, we allocated deadlines to our tasks such as when to produce the posters by, when we will start taking orders, when to hunt for the best chocolate santa prices in supermarkets etc. Finally, we decided on roles in general to make sure we each have a justifiable part in the activity. As for myself, I will be the graphic designer to produce the posters and the christmas cards.

Check out our Secret Santa poster featured in the school newsletter! 

And check it out featured on the school's Facebook page!

Reflection

Within the meeting, we got a chance to brainstorm the details to state in the official posters. Altogether, it took more more than five hours to work on the entire layout and structure of the A3 posters, the A6 cards, an ordering form to keep track of our orders as well as an A1 sized poster for our Secret Santa stand. It was a slow process but the all work payed off!

Secret Santa's teaser poster

Thinking about it now, I believe I should have taken time beforehand to sketch my initial ideas on paper before commencing work on the computer. Whilst I played around with the images I found online, ideas popped up spontaneously that inspire me to create the final poster. The resulted in loss of time but ultimately gave the best product!

Secret Santa's main poster

Organising a large-scale project does invite many obstacles and as a group we tried our best to solve them. The first of those issues was the involvement of primary school students. We were aiming for a younger target audience because we believed they would be more eager to participate in such events. However, upon presenting our idea to the primary school principal, it was unfortunately a no-go this year. We were told that such wonderful events can in fact inevitably lead to social tension within the classes, i.e. jealousy and frustration could erupt due to chocolate injustice. This made us reconsider our entire project but soon enough - we have never felt more persevered to accomplish the activity.

More cutting and editing had to be done on the posters - literally!

Half of the Secret Santa organisers together

After more poster editing, hanging them up around the entire school campus, more group meetings, e-mail distributions, we finally began the week of ordering on Monday, the 1st of December. We scheduled two persons together for each morning shift over the 10 days, thus involving the help of our friends from the other Class CAS project.

The second major issue revolves around backup plans. It was in the morning of one of the shifts, when we received an apologetic text from a friend who had not realised they were to attend a doctor’s appointment that hour. After some thought, I offered to come in early at the last minute and made it to school in time for the shift. This made me think about having a back-up plan in case unpredictable issues may arise. In future activities, I will work towards having such a plan so as to avoid as many avoidable mistakes as possible - even if it may be impossible.

Nevertheless it was a delightful experience to meet and greet so many familiar faces every morning. Seeing someone - anyone at all - smile at the start of the school day shows just how simple it can be to improve the (arguably) dreadful mornings! Initially, I felt good to be in my comfort zone standing behind the table greeting good mornings however I soon learned that to be insufficient and decided to switch up a level. I wore a classic santa hat and bought three example chocolate santas to use as a display on the stand in order to attract our customers. Engaging with people as soon as they walk by glancing at the stand, showed our dedication and whilst we explained clearly what the gist was, the orders were taken. Sure enough, our teachers and close friends became interested as well - the more the merrier!

During my Secret Santa shifts... 

... I had an enjoyable time with my friends! 

We gave ourselves a week to purchase and prepare the chocolate santas by labelling them with the A6 cards. The third problem we faced referred once again to the point of a backup plan. Due to their absence, our group member was unable to purchase the goods from a wholesale supermarket and by the time they called, the chocolate santas from the brand we chose was completely out of stock. Utterly stressed out, we decided to hunt for the 97 santas individually after school in nearby supermarkets. Thankfully enough, they could find the chocolates after a short search. Immense relief washed over us and we were back on schedule!

97 Chocolate Santas for 97 Secret Santa orders

Day of delivery: We used our free period to label the santas and by the end of it, were all hyped up to distribute them! The best part of Secret Santa was undoubtedly the delivery as the warm smiles and countless ‘Thank You’s said it all - it is Christmas in the heart that truly puts Christmas in the air!

Santa's helpers ready for action!

By the end of this CAS activity I have achieved the following Learning Outcomes:

1. Increased awareness for leadership roles and public relations etc.
2. Undertaken a brand new challenge to organise a large-scale school event.
3. Planned and organised this entire event with my classmates.
4. Worked together efficiently with my classmates as well as teachers’ cooperation to use the free period.
5. Shown perseverance with a lot of hard work and effort dedicated to the activity.
6. Engaged with issues of importance such as marketing and advertising and its effect on the public etc.
7. Took the ethical concerns into consideration during planning stage.
8. Further improves my skill to work cooperatively with people and to keep organisation a priority throughout!

As another project ends, a new one commences. I wait with impatience for what the new year has to bring! Although I did enjoy my winter holiday comfortably first and was thankful for all the incredible experiences 2014 had brought along. I hope you, my dear readers, had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - may it be a successful and prosperous one for your family, friends and yourself!

Evita ☺

Water-Marbling Activity

Getting my creativity on with card designing!

This original idea sprung from an arty friend of mine, who proposed to firstly learn the technique of water-marbling, then to create water-marbled cards for the holiday season and finally to present our product for customers of our school to purchase!

Activity Planning

This purposeful CAS activity allowed us to teach ourselves a new art technique commonly used to create irreplaceable modern art pieces on canvas, fabric and even as nail art. Using special materials, we learned to professionally produce hand-made cards tailored to the forthcoming christmas season.

It was the same friend who organised the supplies for this activity. Next, we met together along with a few others to try out this technique. However beforehand, she tried water-marbling at home in order to test which method worked best with our art supplies. The plan was to stay after school for about an hour and a half during several Mondays in a month so as to buy us enough time to produce the water-marbled cards.

The Learning Outcomes which I aimed to achieve for this CAS activity include the following:

1.  Increase my awareness for my strength in this creativity project, i.e. comfortably use a pen-knife (aka X-Acto knife) to make detailed cut-outs on the water-marbled cards.

2. Undertake a new challenge to learn a new art skill and additionally sell the hand-made products.

4. Work collaboratively with my classmates, who also took part in this project, to successfully make and sell the cards together.

5. Share ideas and came regularly to the activity as well as prepared the materials beforehand each time.

8.  Obtain a new skill in arts and crafts: water-marbling technique!

With permission from the art teacher, Mrs Stammen, we commenced the creative session in an arts & crafts classroom on campus on Monday, November 3rd. She had also occasionally supervised us during the card-making process and helpfully provided us with some tips and tricks.

Reflection

Get your hand-made holiday cards right here!

22 days and lots of dedication later, we finally began the cards sale! After all the effort we have given to this CAS project, it made me very excited to present and sell our work for others to benefit from. Nevertheless, we experienced some difficulties along the way…

• Initially, we had problems with our water-marbled designs for they appeared too dispersed and uneven. Likewise, we were wasting perfect paint in the large basin that we used to create our designs. As soon as we realised that the size of the basin was the main problem, we attempted using several other sized dishes and at the end, it worked best with a plastic tray that previously contained sushi rolls - simplicity can truly be the key!

Cards, cards & more CARDS!

• Since this was the first time any one of us ever produced cards to sell, we naturally made beginner mistakes as the paint covered the sides of the cards which were supposed to be clean and plain. Therefore they did not appear professional. However, I used that problem to our advantage instead: After cropping out the water-marbled surfaces of the cards, I re-used and cut out fine christmas tree pieces from them by using designs on a printed piece of paper as my templates. Then, I simply applied them onto a clean new card - et voila! Christmas tree-themed cards perfect for the festive season!

Hand-crafted water-marbled Christmas cards

• During the course of the card production, we discovered that the waste oil paint mixture is toxic to the environment - especially if disposed of through the sink! This caused us to think more about our actions and consider the environment when we (or more generally the artists who) make such pieces of art that can potentially harm nature. Mrs Stammen instructed that we dispose it carefully at a waste removal facility. This matter was taken care of successfully by my classmates who volunteered to do the deed.

Ultimately, this had been a successful creative CAS activity that we benefitted from. With over 75 cards made in less than a month, we collected 120€ in total! This sum will be safely kept and added onto by future profitable CAS activities. As a class, we are deciding to  wisely select and donate the fund to a charitable organisation. This will most likely happen at the end of our two year Diploma Programme.

Personally, I have enjoyed the whole process of the project and achieved my goals accordingly. I spent about 9.5 hours altogether and am content with the outcome of all our efforts. I look forward to future CAS projects such as this one to work more efficiently with my classmates!

Evita ☺

Update: Group Reflection on Max-Planck Show Garden Trips

A flowery visit!

As planned with several teachers and Mr Hombrecher last week, we had a get-together in school today at lunch time. This meeting would enable us to reflect on what we achieved during the trips and to share our comments or suggestions for improvements for future visits. 

Just as we were sitting down around the table, Mr Hombrecher presented me with a lovely bouquet of flowers freshly picked from the institute’s garden: a token of appreciation for all my hard work and effort. I feel very grateful to have received such a simple yet meaningful gift as I was not expecting any appreciation at all for my devotion in this project.

Today's meeting with Mr Green on the left, Mrs Hoffzimmer,
Mr Hombrecher and myself on the right!

Together with the teachers whose classes I accompanied this trip with, we began to exchange our opinions of the success of the trips and about what we learned during the whole experience. Simultaneously, Mrs Hoffzimmer produced a print-out of our school’s November newsletter to our guest. Within the newletter, there was one full page dedicated to the excursions - including a brief explanation, photographs that I snapped and even reviews of three students sharing their personal experiences! In addition to the flowers, I felt overjoyed to see the newsletter page - check it out:

Taken from Cologne International School November 2014 Newsletter

Overall, we had a very fruitful discussion regarding the current state of the show garden and also talked about the benefits and importance for the younger generations, i.e. the ‘city’ children, some of whom have never played in a garden before, to see and experience such natural environment in action. Furthermore, we talked about how consumers have a fixed vision of how vegetables in supermarkets should appear. As a consequence of this perfectionist vision we own and the tough demand we place, consumers throw away all the undesired food and immediately label them as waste. How irresponsible of us! Apparently, in Germany alone, every person wastes an average of 80 kilograms per annum! It is a shame that we raise major awareness about poverty in other parts of the world when we can simply begin change within ourselves in our own countries.

Additionally, another science teacher of the secondary school began to discuss with Mr Hombrecher about potential visits with older grades. I am very pleased to have been able to meet and keep in touch with such people and to make connections between our international peace school and their international research institute. 

A signature collection sheet to record all the supervisors that were
involved in this project

My Numbers spreadsheet to record my progress during this CAS activity
as well as all the hours completed

This CAS activity has thus officially come to a successful end. I have learned so much over the past weeks as I organised and executed the trips (altogether spending a total time of about 17 hours!). I hope to have a chance to work with them again in the future.

Evita ☺