CAS PORTFOLIO

CAS PORTFOLIO

CAS Experiences and CAS Project

(2021 - 2023)

María Tato Gil IB Candidate code: kds753 Gresol International American School

Esto es un párrafo listo para contener creatividad, experiencias e historias geniales.

Learning outcomes

Who am I?

IB profiles

Experiences

Project

Who am I?

My name is María Tato Gil, I am 18 years old and I am an International Baccalaureate (IB) student at Gresol International American school.

I live in Castellar del Vallés, a small town in Barcelona, I am an only child and two of my hobbies are dancing and cheerleading. I decided to take this baccalaureate to improve my English and to be able to go to a university abroad. I would like to study biology, and as a plan B, veterinary medicine.

Learning outcomes

Identify their own strengths and develop areas for growth.

Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.

Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

Demonstrate engagements with issues of global significance.

Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

IB profiles

1. Inquirers
2. Knowledgeable
3. Thinkers
4. Communicators
5. Principled
6. Open-minded
7. Caring
8. Risk-takers
9. Balanced
10. Reflective

kNOWLEDGEABLE

EVIDENCE

On October 18th, 2021 I had an exam in Sports and Health, but the topic was too long and dense. We had the exam after lunch, in the afternoon, so we took advantage of the playground time to study and to make a review of all the topics.

Besides, I helped my classmates to understand some parts of the theme, that is to say, I became a teacher for a moment.

I believe that with this experience I have put into practice the quality of knowledge since I have been able to share my knowledge with my classmates and in that way, I have helped them to study for the exam. I felt very good about myself because I could help my friends and all of them passed the test. Also, I have realized that during this experience I have put into practice the first learning outcome: Identify their own strengths and develop areas for growth. During this type of review class, I have identified my strength, which is teaching other people and explaining effectively. Another thing I have noticed is that explaining the topic to my classmates, helps me to memorize, and develop this area of growth. This experience made me realize that I like to teach and explain different staff, so I thought about dedicating myself to something related to teaching in my future. It’s only an idea, but now, I have a plan B for my studies. And also, it made me ask myself a question, I have always thought that I will study science but, should I study letters instead of numbers? Should I try to do some classes with younger students to help them with their homework?

KNOWLEDGEABLE AND COMMUNICATOR

EVIDENCE

Another service experience I have done was an oral presentation on the cardiovascular system to young children at school during science week. I did the presentation together with my classmates, and we had to prepare a topic to be able to explain it.

I liked this experience because I have always enjoyed teaching and lecturing, especially to young children. In addition, we were also able to dissect a heart to see all its internal parts. This experience fulfills both the service aspect and the activity aspect and was enriching, as it was the first time I dissected a real organ. I was able to become an knowledgeable person, communicator and inquirer. I developed my teaching skills and put into practice the knowledge acquired; and the learning outcome achieved was identify your own strengths and develop areas for growth, and Show commitment and perseverance in CAS experiences.

COMMUNICATOR

As a member of the Ambassador program of my school, my role is to bring some ideas to make the IB program more interesting and complete. Different meetings are celebrated among the ambassadors to determine the stuff that we want to carry out, so

we have to communicate and share our thoughts and proposals with the other members. Once we have cleared the idea of what is going to carry out, each of the members has to communicate it to his entire class and explain to them the discussion that took place in the meeting. I believe, that playing this role in the program helped me to grow as a good communicator, since I must talk about many topics with people of different ages. In the beginning, I was a little shy, and I didn’t participate a lot, but now, I feel more confident talking with anyone. This improvement makes me ask myself some questions like, should I try to improve my communication skills by doing some presentations in public? Would it be better in my studies if I communicated all my ideas or doubt in all my classes? Thanks to this experience I have developed an interesting learning outcome called “show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences”, since when I talk, and I explain the ideas, I demonstrate that I’m interested in the program and in the improvement of it, so I constant and perseverant in my work. Sincerely, I’m very glad to have the opportunity of being an ambassador in that program, since I have noticed it will help me to be better in some aspects, and one of these is as a communicator.

THINKER

I’m a member of the Ambassador Program of my school, and my role in this program is to bring some ideas that we can carry out to improve the IB Program and to encourage people to take part in it.

We have some meetings every month and in the last one, I brought many proposals for Halloween, Carnival, and Christmas. I had to think of possible activities to do in school, taking into account the time, the disposition of the teacher and students, and the material needed.

So that experience demonstrates that I can be considered a thinker and I have been able to develop some learning outcomes such as demonstrating how to initiate and plan a CAS experience or demonstrating the skills and recognizing the benefits of working collaboratively, since all the members must work together and plan the activities thoughtfully. As a member of the Ambassador Program, I will have the opportunity to participate in more meetings over these two years, and I think that this will help me to improve my reasoning and to become a good critical thinker among some others skills.

PRINCIPLE

EVIDENCE

This experience consisted of a chestnut sale at the school in order to raise funds to make a donation to PRODIS, a center dedicated to the care and assistance of people with disabilities. The activity lasted a week between preparation and sale.

I did it together with my classmates and we raised approximately 200 euros. It was a fun and interesting experience as I had never done anything like it before; we had to take care of buying the chestnuts, roasting them and then selling them at an affordable price. We even had to make informative banners of publicity. This service and activity allowed me to develop my public speaking skills, as well as teaching me commercial aspects of buying and selling. I was able to show that I am a communicative, collaborative and principled person, since the objective of this sale was to help a group of people in need. In addition, through this experience, I was able to put into practice the learning outcomes of demonstrating the skills and recognizing the benefits of working collaboratively, and demonstrating commitment to issues of global importance.

CARING

My best friend has moved a month ago, she was living in Barcelona and her parents decided to move to Sabadell because it is nearer to the parents’ job and to my friend’s school. They were very busy making the transfer to the other house, so I

decided to help them with it. We were packing all the household goods, such as furniture, dishes, delicate items, kitchen utensils, room items and everything needed to make the move. It took us a month to finish packing everything. This experience is one of my favorites because I did it with my best friend, and it was to help her, so I really enjoyed it. It was actually fun, I went three times a week to her house in Barcelona to help her and we spent the afternoon together. I think this experience makes me a caring person and has helped me develop my organization and sorting skills. Organizing all the items by boxes was complicated. After packing everything, we had to move all the boxes to the new house, which was exhausting. When we did the move, my friend and I had to take all the items out of the boxes and place them neatly in the new house, which took us two more weeks. The truth is that I felt so good about myself after helping them, I like helping people and this experience has helped me to demonstrate my ability to work with more people and collaborate to achieve something, which is related to the fifth learning outcome: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively. I have thought about signing up for different volunteer programs to be able to work and help, as I really enjoy doing charity work.

EVIDENCE

CARING

For Christmas 2022, my dance academy did a charity festival to raise money to donate to a mental health association. This experience has been one of my favorites since I have enjoyed it the most.

I consider that this activity has made me develop a more caring profile, in addition to improving my dancing skills and public presence. The day of the festival we went to the auditorium in the morning to prepare all the decoration and material, we were eating sandwiches there all together from the company and in the afternoon the public began to arrive, in addition to people with disabilities from the association with which we collaborated. It was a very special moment when we met those wonderful people. Many of them also participated in the show singing and acting, which I think enriched the experience; to be able to share a day like that with those people I loved. This experience has given me many things, besides teaching me others; I have been able to fulfill two learning outcomes, which are demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively, and demonstrate engagements with issues of global significance, since it was a joint project, collaborative and aimed at the issue of mental health. I felt very good about myself and I had questions about this issue, and at the same time I wanted to participate in volunteer work helping people with disabilities; this activity or experience was the one that inspired me to decide my CAS project.

RISK-TAKER

EVIDENCE

I’m still living my experience related to this aspect of my personality. The experience that makes me more risk-taker is taking the IB Program, since it’s a real challenge for me. The IB Program has challenged me in many ways and has made me bring

out the best in myself and push myself to the limit. For me, it is more complicated than other high school courses, since it requires a lot of self-work and research. Sincerely, I believe that I have done very well in taking the IB because it will prepare me for university. I have considered this experience a risky one, since, when I decided to take the IB, I was not entirely sure. I had just changed school, the level here was very high, besides, almost all the subjects were in English. The truth is that I had a hard time making up my mind, but in the end, I took the risk and thought that this would be a good fit for me, even if it required a lot of effort on my part. That shows that I’m identifying my strength and my weakness, and I’m ready to improve some areas of growth around me, which is a learning outcome in CAS. Also, that experience that I am living allows me to demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process, since I have learned how to overcome some problems in my studies and I have improved some of my collaborative and proactive skills. Now that I am adapted to this type of methodology, and I am happy with my decision, I wonder, should I take more risky decisions to test myself? Does taking this type of risk and challenge help me to improve and develop some aspects of my personality?

BALANCED

I think I am a balanced person, as I combine my studies with other activities and hobbies, so I know I have to organize my time. Three days a week I go to self-defense in the afternoon, as I need time to disconnect and exercise, but I also need time to study.

That's why I think that doing some extracurricular activities helps me to improve my organizational skills and makes me more balanced, since it is proven that doing different things helps to enrich you as a person. Every afternoon I study a little and do the necessary homework for school, however many times, in the case of exams or assignments, I collapse and don't perform well. For this reason, I go to the gym and do these activities, this helps me to clear my mind and disconnect from my studies, so when I go back to my studies, I feel more receptive. So, combining my studies with my hobbies and sports shows that I am a balanced person. I believe that to be balance it is important in a student life, since it is a period when you have lots of thoughts, feeling, sensations or worries, and you need to deal with all of them which requires your serenity and temperance. My studies and hobbies routine helps me to be balanced and to develop some learning outcomes such as demonstrating that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process, and identifying their own strengths and develop areas for growth.

EVIDENCE

INQUIRER

This year, I have been offered to work at school as a ballet teacher for some younger girls. I have been doing ballet for six years, and I have enough knowledge of how to teach a class to little girls, so I accepted the job. It is two classes a week.

This teaching experience has been excellent for me to develop my inquiring skills, since I have had to look for information on how to teach ballet and what are the steps that girls of that age can perform. I consider that this job shows that I am an inquirer because, in order to give the classes correctly, I have to prepare them before, and decide the steps, the choreographies, and the music. I have to adapt the steps to the students and the type of music. To be able to do this, I have researched how to teach ballet to 4-5-year-old girls. I have watched videos of ballet classes of young girls and I have noticed the methods that the teachers use. I have realized that I am happy teaching, especially if it is something I am passionate about like ballet, so I have considered teaching in the future, or continuing training in this style of dance. In addition, this experience has enriched me a lot, because until now, I had never had a job, and less with little girls. The truth is that I am glad to have accepted the job and to be able to live the experience of preparing the classes and then teaching the little ones, it has helped me to improve some areas of growth such as my research and teaching skills, which is the first learning outcome.

CAS PROJECT

My motivation

At the beginning of the course and thinking about my CAS project, several interesting ideas and services came to my mind, I even started to elaborate and organize an initial project that consisted in the preparation of a week of various workshops in my town; however, several obstacles and difficulties put an end to that initial idea. It was thanks to some experiences made, that I realized that my project should be directed and aimed at people with mental and physical disabilities, since they have always been present in my family and friends environment.As I have indicated, part of my motivation came from other experiences, and another part from the feeling and admiration I have for these people, one of them, my cousin. I have always had a very good relationship with her, and she has taught me many things, for this reason, when I had to abandon my initial idea about the workshops, she and the idea of a collaborative project with this group of people immediately came to my mind. My family makes an annual financial contribution to a non-profit social initiative organization dedicated to the assistance and integral promotion of adults with intellectual disabilities, mental disorders or cerebral palsy, PRODIS. As I already knew this association, I focused on it when it came to direct the project and offer the collaboration and service.

Areas of development

I have done the project together with a classmate, as we were both interested in the same idea. Our CAS project is divided into two parts, the first is a monetary donation to the center for the construction of new facilities, and the second part consists of volunteering. The money donated to the center was the proceeds from a chestnut sale at the school. About 200 € were raised, and all of it was donated to the center to financially support their new construction project. On the other hand, the second phase of this experience focused on a support service for the coaches in charge of the school's sports activities. We did a weekly volunteering for 14 weeks, in which we participated in the organization and implementation of sports activities for people with disabilities, in particular training and basketball games.

Volunteering

My partner and I went every Thursday from 5:30 to 7 at the PRODIS center to pick up the people we were dealing with and take them to the gym for training. Once there, our role was to motivate them and assist them in sports practices. In addition, we had the support of two PRODIS trainers, who were responsible for the activity, our role was completely helpful. The first meeting we had with PRODIS was on Wednesday, January 18, 2022, where the girl in charge of volunteering at the center explained to us what PRODIS was, what spaces and areas they had, what their function was, and also what our role in volunteering would be. We signed the necessary papers to confirm our commitment with the entity and the following week we started volunteering.

Volunteering

First week: The first Thursday of volunteering was the most special and remarkable, since it was our first contact with them and our first training as assistants. We arrived at the place and the trainers introduced us to the PRODIS team, made up of people with various disabilities. I remember that I had a great impression when I saw that they all smiled and greeted us as if they already knew us. They were wonderful and loving people, we were playing basketball with them and cheering them on, which I enjoyed very much. They were fixed volunteers, which means that every week was the same and our role did not vary, therefore, every Thursday was similar in terms of our actions in PRODIS.

Impressions and sensations

I have been very happy doing this volunteering, and in fact, I will continue to do it. One of my most pleasant impressions was to meet many people with these conditions and to be able to deal with them often. I have discovered that we should all learn from them and know how to respect and treat them. The truth is that before I started volunteering, my partner and I had to do a small online course, in which we learned how to deal with these people and how to behave towards them in some situations. This gave me new knowledge that I was unaware of and I find important and, above all, necessary to know. In short, this volunteering has helped me to understand many things and to feel good about myself knowing that I was collaborating with people with disabilities, giving them encouragement and help.

Developed profiles

This extended experience has helped me to evolve as a person and to develop some sensitive and cognitive skills. Being constantly in contact with people with disabilities, you learn to be attentive to any details and to keep calm in complicated situations.

The different situations I have experienced throughout this volunteering, whether good or complicated, have taught me to act in one way or another.

Moreover, I can confirm with certainty that if many people had the philosophy and vision of life of these people, the world would be a more peaceful and beautiful place. I have been able to help the people of Prodis, but honestly, I think they have given more to me than I have given to them. I have been able to grow as a person and develop a caring and open-minded profile, since I have helped people with disabilities and I have had to adapt to their behavior and way of acting and thinking. Another profile I have developed is that of a communicator and principle, since I have improved my communication skills with these people throughout my volunteering, and I have always tried to do what is best for them and for their well-being. Therefore, I can say that doing this volunteering has been a change in my life, besides making me see life in a different way, and above all, to have another impression about this group of people, which I already knew.

Learning outcomes

Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process...

Demonstrate engagements with issues of global significance...

Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively...

Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience...

Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences...

...since in dealing with people with different disabilities I have encountered several situations that I have had to overcome and it has helped me to develop different skills.

...because in volunteering I had to do different activities with them and plan some games. Therefore, I have lived several CAS experiences within this volunteering.

...when making a donation to such a center and volunteering with a group of people with disabilities. Mental health is a very important global issue.

...since my role has been completely collaborative and group-based. This has helped me to be a more open and understanding person, as well as proactive.

...it has been a long volunteering and I have shown commitment to it.

EVIDENCE

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EVIDENCE

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