Beach Day Reflection 27/1/14

This past Saturday SSS had their first event of the trimester. We hosted a communal Beach Day. We had food for sale (lots- hotdogs, salads, cupcakes, drinks), lots of activities (slack line, capture the flag, etc.), we also had a DJ which really was the cherry on top. Overall it was a successful event, we had over 100 people attend and raised around $500. 

Now SSS has 3 parent volunteers, Natasha, Debi and Jamie and it's really helpful, this helps have direct contact with the parent community. They really help me organize my thoughts to share, because the way I plan is a lot in my head, which works but not for big projects that involve other people. I'm really thankful to be working with them. 

The planning was a little chaotic compared to other times. We had about 2 weeks to get all the food donations (most difficult to plan), games and details organized. We ended up with more than enough food but we really weren't sure what the outcome would be. Everything just kind of fell into place the day of. 

We had the 6th grade girls in charge of food, which is great but most of them didn't even attend the event. It would have been better with an older student in charge but there aren't any in SSS. I completely understand though, it takes getting used to. I plan on having a conversation with them about what went well and what didn't and what they could do next time. I'll also give tips. I think this event was a good challenge of working collaboratively with others. There was a combination of adults and younger students, two side of the spectrum. We all had different responsibilities and techniques.

Even though the planning was kind of hectic, everyone was very calm. I'm glad because I really think that when people start stressing it makes the situation worse. I'm used to things being all over the place, I think this is mainly because we rely so much on donations and volunteers. I know that it always works out though. 

Next time I would like there to be even more people, more teenagers from all over, the local community to the expats. I think this is completely feasible, we just need to advertise more.

Our next move is going to be Valentine's, we'll probably do a dance and candy grams. We've already done these, so they're easy to plan. I'm excited! 

Back Again...

This trimester we're continuing with SSS, with the same objective of having events/fundraisers to raise money for the scholarship program. 

There will be the expected Valentine's event and there was an idea of hosting a skate contest. This trimester we have 3 parent volunteers- Natasha, Debi and Jamie. This is really helping us stay on track and helps us reach out to the parent community. 

My goal for this trimester is the same as last, to delegate more and share the leadership role. I'm slowly disintegrating myself. Personally, SSS isn't difficult for me to handle at all. It's easy for me to organize and have the events but mostly I'm just kind of tired. Tired of the same things happening- lack of support, or certain reactions or blah blah. I feel kind of unmotivated, about school in general, but it is what it is and it's my responsibility so here I am trudging through day to day. I'm not really sure what's keeping me going at this point. 

That aside I hope to raise a good, certain amount of money (still undecided). 

In last Thursday's meeting we spoke about potential events for this trimester. We came up with a few. Then we started getting into the specifics of our first event, a beach day with a "snow day" theme. We will raise money through a BBQ, a percentage of surf lessons and activities. Hopefully this can be a fun communal activity which everyone attends. 

Below is the list of events (hopefully have more, but here are the realistic expectations):

January Saturday 25th- Beach Day

(BBQ, music, surf lessons, activities) 

February Friday 14th- Valentine's Dance and Candy Grams

Undecided but definitely an activity in March- Skate contest