IB Dodgin Domination!

First two games of dodgeball today, and we won!!!!!!! yayayayayahahayah!!!! well we won our first game, but we were kinda crushed to a pulp in the second one. Anyway, we were the first IB team to win something so, I'd say we're off to a good start! I'm planning on doing a video and ill post it later.

Yearbook: Not Exactly What We'd Planned?

In the past few weeks much has happened with the yearbook. We applied an earlier published date (so everyone can get their book at the end of the year instead of the fall after), we've taken pictures at events (artsy and sporty alike) and we've formed a committee. However, it's been less than stellar sailing. We were denied and earlier published date, some of the pictures I took were pretty awful and our committee isn't exactly easy to get along with. When Emily and I started the yearbook we had been told that we'd be running the show; that we were the leaders, but it seems like what Mr. Toms says goes. I can deal with that, but it's just that the grade 12's on our committee think that they get priority because of seniority and at least half the committee wants to keep this book bland and boring. Everyone seems to be against us and (sorry Emily) but in some ways i'm almost regretting being part of it. Don't get me wrong; i love photography and page design, but it honestly doesn't sound like it's going to be much fun if everybody fights you on your decisions. That's also one of the reasons i really wanted to do the IB yearbook; because our class doesn't care if 10 years later our cover has a picture of a weesnaw on it, or if our pages have insane designs or extremely weird awkward quotes.  Hopefully it'll get better as things get organized.  Who knows, maybe this book will be the best yet!

Not In Kansas Anymore...

So, here's my article for the Rural Reader. You can thank Emily for the picture because i lost my copy of it. The article i wrote was the book review on Casual Vacancy by J.K Rowling and as you can read yourself i wasn't really a fan of it. This is most likely because it was just such a sharp contrast to the Harry Potter series. This impeccable author went from bravery and courage always prevails to vulgarness and (spoiler alert) suicide are okay options. To be honest when i was reading it i was just really out of what i was used to and out of my element; i truly wasn't in Kansas anymore. 

Buddy Program

The Buddy Program is a program where once a lunch each week for half an hour one of the kids with disabilities at our school will hang out with us. Maybe we'll go to the library, chill in the cafeteria or walk around school. I think this program will really make an impact; at the moment these kids sit at their own table and are rarely integrated. I hope that by the end the kids we're being buddied with will fell more included and involved. Tomorrow is the first day. Let's hope it all goes well! 

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

Finally I have my first action activity! Even though i kinda hate dodgeball and it feels mutually i think it'll be fun! I'm on a team with most of my IB class, some of the grade 12 IB class and possibly some little pre-IB's. It's a co-ed team, but there's only 3 or so guys so we're playing in the girls tournament. Since it's with my equally awkward class if i suck it'll be all good. I think it starts next week; i'll keep you posted!

GISHWHES: A Tail of Insanity

Well, GISWHES officially ended this past Monday. It was interesting to say the least. The list of items were insane including things like:a video of you reciting "The Raven" to a crow or an image of a pumpkin carved to look like a feminized Misha Collins or a commercial sized blimp covered in autumn leaves. So, some pretty crazy stuff (here's the full List of Items). Our Ibsasscats team accomplished quite a bit, although unfortunately some of our items didn't get posted before midnight, but we all had fun doing them! I did #53 ([IMAGE] Carve a Jill O’Lantern! Carve a pumpkin to look like a feminized Misha Collins. Bonus points for realism. 61 points), 83 ([IMAGE] You holding a picture of you holding a picture of you holding a picture of you holding a picture of you holding a picture of an apple. You must have a gold frame suspended around your head. (Inspired by nakedontheimpalacoveredinbees) 33 points), 5 ([IMAGE] Let’s see what Twister would look like with 13 people. Each person must be wearing only one color of clothing, i.e. all yellow, or all red and no two people can be wearing the same color clothing. 56 points) and 131 ([VIDEO] Recode a version of the original Pac Man so that the ghosts are now unicorns and Pac Man is the face of George Bush. Then play a game. 111 points) and i also found our about Miss Jean Louis' kale binge. All in all, even though we won't win a sleepover in a haunted castle in Scotland with Misha Collins it was still a great experience!

Here are some of the items (not just the item's i helped with, but all of our team's)... just remember we tried...

#53

also here's the link to the Pac Man thing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pT34M9ZkOw&feature=youtu.be

Halloween For Hunger

The food drive went really well! Even though it wasn't for CAS it was really fun and we helped quite a few people, so all's well that ends well. It was a really cool experience and i got to know some of the grade twelves. so here's what we came up with!


However next year i think we need to do a little bit more advertising next year because not everyone got the word

Team Orange: Not For CAS

An update for Halloween for Hunger: IB style. So, yesterday we got an info sheet about times, places and teams; all pretty average stuff. Along with finding out i'm on Team Orange (my favourite colour!) and i have some pretty awesome people on it with me (Adrian and Sawini). The passing out of this sheet really got us all stoked for it. That is until we were smacked in the face by the news that this wouldn't count for CAS. Apparently it doesn't hit all the criteria. I still think it'll be a great time and a cool experience and i'm going to still blog about it. But, it does kind of suck that this was only told to us when we'd already made a commitment. I most likely would have done it regardless, but some people are giving up things to do it in hopes of getting CAS only to find out that they won't. It's just a bit disappointing. Well, i'll keep you posted; à bientôt.

Suffering For Your Art?

On Wednesday Emily and I had our first yearbook outing. It was the girls field hockey championships (the good medal game) and we had to take some pictures. Our plan was simple: we'd hang out with a couple friends after school at the University Library and study, grab a snack, head over to the field about 20 minutes before to take a team picture and then take some action shots. We wouldn't have to stay the whole game and we'd still get all our pictures! However, we didn't account on the fact that we would each have about 80 pounds of stuff to bring with us, or that it would be soooooo cold and that it would start to rain. In the end we got all our pictures (there was this amazing sunset right behind the field), few permanent back problems from lugging around our stuff and no frostbite! I guess it all worked out in the end.

Extreme Makeover: Yearbook Edition

In my 3rd year of Junior High I decided to join the yearbook committee. It was one of the best experiences of my life. There was an epic theme, cool pages most of my friends were on the committee and at the end of the year students and teachers alike could sign each others yearbooks and have unique memories that will last a life time. When I arrived in high school I was eager to join the yearbook committee. However, upon going to the information meeting I was met with a bleak realization; creativity was a crime in the eyes of the yearbook supervisor. The only speck of theme was our school colors (red and white), the pages were all the same format and the only difference were the sizes of the red boxes on the white page. We were told that to be on the committee all you needed to do was take the pictures your were told to take and put where you were told to out them. To top it off; you didn't receive your lovely yearbook until the next year. Now, I don't know about you, but signing the yearbook is at least half the fun and who knows where you're going to be next year. What if you move? What about the graduating class? What if you have all different friends? The yearbooks are sent to you if you move or graduate, but you still won't be able to have anyone sign it! The reasoning behind this is so that grad and prom and such would be able to be in the yearbook. Although  in my own opinion everyone is going to take their own pictures with only people they actually care about. All the awards and scholarships are usually in the yearbook also, but if you win one you'll be given either a plaque or a certificate in memorial and if you don't win one, you probably don't want to remember all the people that did instead of you.The principal at my school has been principalling for at least 10 years, the yearbook has been this way for about 40 years and she thinks it's not really a yearbook when it doesn't include the entire year. Another IB student (Emily)and I decided to challenge this way of thinking by taking on the yearbook our self. The supervisor for last year retired and now we have been given the go-ahead to take over completely. We're going to have to make a committee of course, but we now have a supervisor! It's Mr. Toms our math teacher. We'll still be the ones mainly in charge. So back to the issue of end dates and yearbook arrivals, Em and I have decided to do a survey. Which ever option wins (stay the same or June arrival) our principal has given us permission to go along with it. So, basically I am officially one of the Yearbook Committee Chief Editors and tomorrow Em and I are going to kick off with taking pictures of the last game of the season of our field hockey team! Ta ta for now

It Will Be Spooktacular!

So, on October 31st (yep you got it, All Hallow's Eve) i'll be joining most of my astoundingly dazzling grade eleven IB class and most of the also cool grade twelve IB class on an adventure to fight hunger! Well, technically we're splitting into groups and going trick or treating around the Stratford area. Now here's the kick; instead of collecting candy and gorging ourselves with a mixture of glucose-fructose, artificial flavours and who know's what else, we are going to go door to door and collect non-perishable food for the food bank!  It should be really great, not only are we helping people, but it should be a  good chance to bond a little bit more with the grade twelve class. Oh, and did I mention we're all going to dress up as nerds( the classic ones not the IB ones)... I think i'm going to do a little twist on my costume... i'm thinking sparkles? More to come!

 

Basically my class

The Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen.

I just registered for GISHWHES! It's another creativity component and it stands for the "Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen". It's hosted by Misha Collins and starts in 2 weeks, 2 days and 12 hours! My whole class has formed a team and it should be a really unique bonding experience! Basically, teams are formed all over the world, items are posted on the website and then you take pictures of them and send them in. Now, here's the creative part: you have to make most of the items and points are rewarded for either accuracy or extreme creativity! The winner of this scavenger hunt is flown to Scotland to have a sleepover and ghost hunt in a haunted castle with Misha Collins! Although, we aren't doing this to win we're doing this to broaden our horizons and participate in this creative, unique and world-renowned scavenger hunt to rival all scavenger hunts!
Here are some item examples from last year!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these photos and all photo credits go to the GISHWHES organization.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Last Friday (October 5th) I started and finished my first CAS project! Yay! It was a review on the newly released book by J.K. Rowling The Casual Vacancy for the school newspaper "The Rural Reader". To be honest, I was not a fan of the book and I did leave the article to the last moment, but I got it done! This review actually took quite a bit more time than I thought it would, which is why I left it to the last moment. In the future, i'll make sure to start before the day its due and hopefully learn some time management. Over time I expect my book reviewing skills will also improve!