Final CAS Reflection

CAS Individual Student Completion Form

NAME OF STUDENT: Avindhya Koralagamage

IB CANDIDATE NUMBER: 000245-018

CAS COORDINATOR: Ian Lockwood

SCHOOL YEARS: 2010-2012

Learning Outcomes	Achieved?	Nature/Location of Evidence
Increased awareness of their own strengths and areas of growth	Yes	Sunflower village- leadership of program gave me a good opportunity to identify what areas I would need to develop pot holes that I had as a Service Leader, and successfully exercise my areas of strength. One instance that I would recall was where I was required to find an alternative for swimming training for the children that visit OSC due to bad weather. The children had arrived prepared for regular swimming lessons, but a sudden outbreak of a thunderstorm, led to postpone the event. In order to keep the children entertained until it was time for them to leave. I suggested the possibility of using the gymnasium as a venue to play basketball with them. Their school lacked basketball court so I thought it would be a good opportunity for them to get a brief grasp of a sport that they only could have seen on T.V. OSC having the adequate facilities; the children participated in a friendly game of what they knew as basketball. It was a combination of netball and basketball. In terms of an area of development, I would say that I need further concentration on making sure all my team members remain on task and support the children’s learning rather than satisfying themselves with amongst other students from OSC that are also present in the pool.
Undertaken new challenges	Yes	There are several challenges that I had to undertake during my period of leadership. Out of these two major challenges outstand amongst the others. One being that the 2011-2012 service year having only 5 members from OSC community to run a program that has over 10 kids. It required each member of our team to ensure that two children get equal amount of support in developing their swimming skills. Second being the introduction of a sport activity of their preference other than swimming lessons in the pool. The children suggested that they play cricket as it would be beneficial in them developing their skills to a greater potential, as the facilities that OSC has to offer lets them go beyond their boundaries that they may be limited to in their school sports facilities. This was a entirely new addition
Planned and initiated activities	Yes	Apart from sport activities that we have introduced to the program, we also separated some time for the children where we could give them the opportunity to familiarize themselves with computers. Considering their age boundary (12-17) we thought it would be a great opportunity for them to get some firsthand experience in some of the up to date technology that OSC has to provide. It addresses the criteria of engaging in an issue of global importance as well.  Not only so, but we also planned the schedule which where we decided how we can organize the time spent doing each of these different activities. That alone was rather a difficult task for me as a leader because the children wanted to do whatever they wanted, not according to the schedule. It was a bit challenging keeping them satisfied with the planned schedule as the level of friendship between my group and them had exceeded the expected level. Furthermore, we also planned to supply their yearly writing books for school as it would be a reduced economic burden for their parents to purchase over 12 books for each child.
Worked collaboratively with others	Yes	The organization that takes place every Thursday afternoon to adapt to the varying number of students require a considerable amount of collaboration. Apart from service itself, being a team member of the 2012 SAISA Basketball team is where I would clearly outstand as the point where I worked collaboratively the most. Being a part of a team is no easy task. You are given a specific role to perform and it is your duty to make sure it happens. When running a play on offence or defense, you collaborative participation play a crucial role to the success of the whole team in general. My position as a wing player and number 3-4 on defense enabled me to clearly understand the importance of this role, not only this year but the previous as well.
Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities	Yes	My dedication to show up on time and prevalence to skip any basketball practice other than a medical condition clearly highlights this component. My effort to keep up this perseverance throughout the season paid off in being accepted as representative of both SAISA Basketball seasons 2011-2012. Not only in sports, but also every Thursday service. I was not absent to the service program without further notice to my team members or supervisor, nor was I not  present in the pool other than for a medical reason. Although I occasionally forget to bring my swim gear, I strictly refrained from omitting to participate in the program.
Engaged with issues of global importance	Yes	In terms of service, I would say all three aspects: swimming, sports, and using the tech labs are three main indicators of addressing issues of global importance in the host country we live in. Sri Lanka being a developing nation, not all government schools are able to construct swimming pools for the children’s use. So the very fact that we are volunteering to give the rare opportunity of swimming lessons under the guidance of our school swim instructors to children who lack access to such facilities is definitely a step towards addressing a issue with global importance. Cricket is the dominant sport played in sri lanka. Not all schools have the basic facility of a large cricket field and proper gear to properly play the sport. Kids who dream of being a popular cricketer in Sri Lanka are countless. Ending up in the Sri Lankan cricket team is almost everything a cricket oriented teenage child would dream of. Therefore it is our duty to do our bit from OSC. Although we may be catering a immensely small proportion of all the school children in Sri Lanka, it is brings to my pleasure to say that my team of 5 OSC members including me, do their bit in helping at least one child discover their potential in sport. Finally, the distribution of school books and separation of computer lab time every other Thursday, is how we aimed to extend how we address this criteria.
Considered the ethical implications of their actions	Yes	There were instances where I had to be somewhat harsh and demanding to my team members to carry out their duty. On some occasions I was rather un-flexible towards their requests. Requests such as finishing up service earlier than usual, early departure from the activity. Also not being flexible to those who do not carry out their duty as requested. This may seem as if though my intention is to appear as a boss and exercise my authority as a leader, but in my perspective, it was entirely for their benefit. Most of my team members were a year below being eligible for leadership of the program. And my intention was to develop them to a standard where they would not struggle in maintaining a successful period as a leader of the program.
Developed new skills	Yes	There are numerous new skills that I have learned from my service experience. From being a participating member of a activity to getting the opportunity to lead the program is a significant amount of skills one can learn. My first skill that I developed prior to being the leader of sunflower village was the ability to effectively engage in with the children. This hugely triggered my interest in the program to seeing it as more of an opportunity where I can utilize my ability as an individual for the benefit of another, than a regular every Thursday commitment that I must attend. Not only did I develop as an individual, but my friends from OSC who were in the program saw me as an example in how to develop a better relationship with the children. Punctuality was another significant aspect that I developed from the program. As a leader my presence before anybody else is important as all that goes on depends on my decisions. The importance of punctuality was one of the biggest elements that I learnt from this program.

Basketball Day 7 2nd Week

As we reach the end of the second week of Basketball practice I have further developed my awareness on my strengths and weaknesses. Continuously we have been focusing on developing our defensive and offensive plays. We have been continuously practicing the plays we have previously been running through so that all members of the team get the chance to be familiar in their positions on court. Personally, my goal is to continuously give my full participation  and effort into the team so that we will have a sucessfull season.

Begining of new semester

Today the Community Service block for the second semester commenced once again. We were notified that  we will be training the same group of children from last semester. We waited for their arrival but nobody showed up. So we decided to take this opportunity to make modifications to our schedule of training with the students. Last semester we spared some time to allow the kids to engage in a activity rather different from swimming. We introduced a 20 minute session of teaching computer basics; such as how to handle a mouse properly, correct seating positioning while working on a computer, hand placement on keyboard for typing prior entering the pool for swimming training. By doing so we thought it will give the children a chance to gain some additional skills apart from just swimming. This however, was only successful to a certain extent. We realized that the children got rather distracted and bored after a few weeks into the new routine. Although a typing software was used to help them learn these fundamental skills, most of them deviated from the instructions given. Almost every child kept using their index finger to peck on the keyboard. Some were not seated properly and were still typing. We soon realized that this was not all that satisfactory. This is one of the goals that we wish to accomplish this semester. We need to ensure that the children remain focused and is given full attention by one of OSC members.

Children learn best when their personal interest in a particular area is present. So we decided to incorporated another additional activity to the program and alter the schedule which we already follow. We decided to incorporate cricket into the service program. So every other Thursday, we would only focus on cricket and computer training leaving swimming training for the next week. We ran a quick survey at the beginning asking the children what sport they wished to play. There were choices such as volleyball and netball, but obviously cricket was a dominating vote over the rest. By expanding the spectrum of activities the service has to offer it will only benefit the children. Playing cricket on the OSC field will give them the freedom of space and access to better environments to do what they enjoy doing most (playing cricket).

To keep the children encouraged to do what they do best, we also skimmed the idea to utilize our CAS budget to purchase cricket bats for the children. This way, we as the OSC community can help the children pursue their desired sport. 

This semester we aim to achieve the following goals as a team

• Ensure that the children are fully engaged and following instructions in the computer lessons
• Support them in the best possible manner to improve and developing their skills in using a computer
• Provide a suitable environment for the children to engage in playing cricket
• Maintain the same level of motivation towards teaching those children in need of extra support developing their swimming skills.
• Give my best effort to purchase cricket equipment for the children with Terunaga's assistance
• Be committed, show perseverance, and dedication towards the program at all times until my leadership is passed on.

SAISA Baskeball Day 1

Intense heartburn and sore leg muscles marks today as the first day of SAISA Basketball training. Today was a opportunity to see for ourselves our current position on fitness as a team an as individuals. 4 scheduled practices a week will prepare us for the upcoming SAISA tournament that is to be held at OSC. In today's practice, we focused on some basic fundamentals of basketball. Triple threat, dribbling, lay up's and jump shots were the few main aspects we focused on.

This gave me a opportunity to spot my weaknesses as a individual and also as a team. Overall, there are plenty of new faces that have signed up for this years boys basketball season. None of them I have ever talked with before. The fact that there were more new members to this years team from last years, I think caused a considerable lack of confidence for communication to happen in practice. Communication and collaboration are two main fundamentals that make basketball possible. In order for the the team and myself to improve, communication must take place at all times in practice and in game situations. It is also important that we support our team members in every step of the way until we reach our tournament. I will make a priority goal that I will improve my collaborative and communication skills throughout the season. 

A Little Part-ayy

As the year came to an end, we celebrated the success of the program with a delicious meal of Kentuckey Fried Chicken funded by Yariq Captain. It was a good opportunity for our team to converse with the kids and talk about their personal view on how they felt about their achievements of from the program. Some of them felt rather shy in the beginning, but eventually we got them talking. It was also a good opportunity to talk to the children about about their ideas for the future once they finish school. Almost all of the kids wanted to be a engineer or a doctor as it is stereotypically considered the two common and reputed occupations one can earn in Sri Lanka. At the end of the day everyone enjoyed the event and left with a smile to return next year.

During the party our group members discussed the possibility of providing the children with their school book for their school year. Their education is a matter of global importance and it is our duty that we support the children in what ever way we can. Unlike OSC, students in government run schools are required to purchase their own notebooks and stationary material. So we thought that it would be a great opportunity to provide the children with their school books as we have the adequate funding necessary. While this contribution may have benefited a group of children, it also brings out the ethical implications of only providing the school books to a group of 9 children. There are more children back at their school who could also benefit from the aid of free school books, but did not get the chance. Although it may be out of our hands to provide school books for an entire school, we can be satisfied with the fact that we were able to help at least a minute proportion of that school in what ever way we can. 

Sunset for Sunflower Village

As the semester comes to an end, I can proudly say that I have successfully achieved the objectives I indented to achieve for this semester. I have addressed all 8 criteria in this semester through service itself. One criterion that I have made significant progress in this semester is “engaged with issues of global importance”. As an addition to swimming lessons, we incorporated a 20 minutes session of computer training. In rapidly developing world, technology is a key tool which we utilize in our daily lives. Throughout all provinces of Sri Lanka, computer literacy rates are low as 10%. Therefore we separated some time each Thursday to allow the children get some experience in technology at the most basic level.

Throughout the 20 minutes that we separated for the children in the technology labs, we stuck with the idea of letting them play games that tested their ability to type on a keyboard. At the beginning of the year, we asked the children if they have a computer at home or has used a computer before. Every one raised their hands to having used a computer, but only a few raised their hands to having a computer at home. This also made a significant difference in the variance of those with the skill and ability to type properly, and those with not. Only a few kids were comfortable keeping up with the pace at which they type, but the rest found it rather challenging. 

This coming semester I will focus on helping those children who had difficulty with the newly added computer program. It is essential that they get the maximum out of the available technology that is not available to them back at their own school. As mentioned earlier, being computer literate is a great skill for one to have under his or her sleeve. Having some knowledge at a young age will benefit them in their future.

School Books to The Children

Earlier this month we decided to give school books to the sunflower village children so it spares them the effort, money of worrying over writing material. Today we presented the books to the children in the SMPR. All 9 students arrived to OSC and the books were distributed out to the children. It was a pleasure to provide them with material that will help them in their education and more over, the smiles that they had on their faces were even more satisfying to see as it was a indication of thankfulness and  happiness.

Dissapointment ....

Today, the first week after October break was a dissapointing day because we were unable to carry out swimming lessons due to bad weather. But however we still managed to spend this time productivly in the computer labs. The time that we would have spent in the pool, we utilized in the computer labs letting the kids play educational computer games which would help them develop their level of english at least by a minor ammout and exposure on how to use a computer.

 Terunaga helping a student from the Vidyawardene  school

Yariq heliping a kid find keys on the keyboard

Ravin guiding a student in how open up a program  

Sunflower Village Returns!

After three consecutive delays, the kids finally arrived for their first swimming lessons on 22nd of September. Our expected number of kids was around kids, but ended up with 8. Never the less, we accepted the challenge.

As planned, we assembled in Miss. Abeyawardene's room for a brief 15-20 minutes to get to know each other.

We noted down their names and introduced ourselves to them. Afterwards we took the kids down to the pool for the first lesson. The grater majority of the children have not even been a swimming pool before which made it bit of a first time experience for some of the kids.

To begin with, we decided to make the kids walk across the width of the pool to make them feel more comfortable being in the pool. Afterwards, with little support from the swimming pool lifeguard we managed to conduct our first swimming lesson. Some of the kids had difficulty with the most fundamental skills such as blowing bubbles and kicking their legs straight holding on to the side of the swimming pool. This indicated a changeful future for us as trainers.

In order to make sure that each of the 11 kids were performing the skill taught properly, we divided the group of kids so that the 5 students from OSC would get 2 kids each to monitor. Almost all of the students from OSC have experience from last year’s group, so it was not difficult to get along with the kids.

As an addition, we have incorporated an extra segment to the course that is to teach the kids the fundamentals to using a computer. We found out only 3 kids owned a personal computer out of the group of 11 and that is one of the reasons why we decided to incorporate this new segment to the program. It also gives a new dimension to the project so that it will not bore the kids just purely learning how to swim every Thursday afternoon.

By the end of this year, I hope to see the same level of success as last year’s group with this lot. Although I will no longer be in charge by the end of this school year, it would be a great deed for me personally to see that these kids get the maximum of what the students of OSC has to offer.

After three consecutive delays, the kids finally arrived for their first swimming lessons on 22nd of September. Our expected number of kids was around kids, but ended up with 8. Never the less, we accepted the challenge.

As planned, we assembled in Miss. Abeyawardene's room for a brief 15-20 minutes to get to know each other.

We noted down their names and introduced ourselves to them. Afterwards we took the kids down to the pool for the first lesson. The grater majority of the children have not even been a swimming pool before which made it bit of a first time experience for some of the kids.

To begin with, we decided to make the kids walk across the width of the pool to make them feel more comfortable being in the pool. Afterwards, with little support from the swimming pool lifeguard we managed to conduct our first swimming lesson. Some of the kids had difficulty with the most fundamental skills such as blowing bubbles and kicking their legs straight holding on to the side of the swimming pool. This indicated a changeful future for us as trainers.

In order to make sure that each of the 11 kids were performing the skill taught properly, we divided the group of kids so that the 5 students from OSC would get 2 kids each to monitor. Almost all of the students from OSC have experience from last year’s group, so it was not difficult to get along with the kids.

As an addition, we have incorporated an extra segment to the course that is to teach the kids the fundamentals to using a computer. We found out only 3 kids owned a personal computer out of the group of 11 and that is one of the reasons why we decided to incorporate this new segment to the program. It also gives a new dimension to the project so that it will not bore the kids just purely learning how to swim every Thursday afternoon.

By the end of this year, I hope to see the same level of success as last year’s group with this lot. Although I will no longer be in charge by the end of this school year, it would be a great deed for me personally to see that these kids get the maximum of what the students of OSC has to offer

Goals For This YeAr!!

One of my major goals this year is to focus more on activities which involve the creativity aspect of CAS. Last year, there were plenty of occasions where I had the opportunity to express the action and service components but not so many for creativity.




Alongside, I would like highlight the following components of the 8 criteria listed below in more specific than the others because they were not successfully met compared to the remaining 5.

• Considered ethical implications of their actions

The main purpose of this programe is to help those children in the local community to develop their swimming skills whether it be from scratch or improvement of what they alredy have. We have the blessed privilage of a swimming pool where we can learn how to swim. These cildren however, do not and have to rely on natrual enviroments to engage in swimming activities. By providing this program to the local comunity who lack these facilites that we sometimes take for granted, probably is amogst the greatest morally ethical sevice we as the community of OSC can offer. In this manner the very service of the Sunflower Program has tought me the importance of ethical implications to the society around the walls of OSC. 

• Engaged with issues of global importance.

When we started the Sunflower project this year, we considered the aspect of including issues of global importance. A great deal of the worlds population that lack access to computer technology. Those populations are mainly located in either less economically developed countries or developing countries. Major humanitarian organizations have made it a priority that people are literate in such areas for the benefit of the future of the nation itself. Therefore it is important that we contribute to this process in the least possible way. We live in a country where its development has boomed in the past 3-5 years. Alongside this development, there are those communities who have little exposure to the changing modern world. Where technology takes another step each day. Our school is a fruitful, loaded with some of the latest technology one could ask for. Having these facilities available makes OSC a significant resource for all service projects not only Sunflower Village itself.

• Increased awareness of their strengths and weaknesses

Addressing these criteria in specific, I will have addressed the greater majority of the 8 criteria throughout 2011. If aim to accomplish these three goals by December break (1st semester), then I would have fully accomplished the 8 criteria related to Community Action and Service. Of course there may be some interference with the scheduled dates for swimming due to bad weather or the children not showing up on a particular day, but it is an obstical that must be faced.

End of Year Reflection

As the school year comes to an end, I have successfully accomplished three main goals of the 8 criteria. Being in charge of Sunflower Village as the student body, has enabled me to develop and proceed with showing perseverance and commitment towards the activity, enabled me to work collaboratively with others and develop new skills.

When we started the program for the first time, I was inexperienced and somewhat nervous of what to do. The first day when the kids arrived from the school, I was confused of what to do. I was in charge of a team of 5 people from OSC, and had to train 12 kids how to swim, which some of them hadn’t even been in a pool before. It was somewhat a difficult task to get them all in the pool as some of them were afraid even with our help. It was also not the case where I sit outside the pool and boss my team around, but instead this is where working collaboratively came into play. It meant that I myself was in the pool, partaking like any other member of the group. No ranks, no bossing around, no disputes but to simply make things flow the way it was supposed. And that involved collaboration from all my team members. Most of my group from OSC could speak Sinhalese, which made it easy for me to work systematically to get the kids in the pool and kicking. This also enabled me to understand which person from our school was able to handle certain kids better. Thus made the operation inside the pool mush better.

Throughout the service, I kept a consistent reputation of being committed to my duty. Other than days which I was physically ill, I attended all the lessons on every Thursday afternoon. Amongst this there were times where we fell short of members in our team. Either they were absent to school or the service itself. This demanded me to manage a group 12 kids with almost half the number of OSC students. Nevertheless, we managed with the assistance of the swimming instructors. This again shows reflects my collaborative skills takes into account dealing with problems which appear through the course of the year.

Speaking in terms of new skills which I learnt during service, there is one in particular. And that is, the ability to lead a service program first hand with no previous experience. I found this much of a strength which I had within me, that I was not quite sure I had. It is somewhat a big deal for me being the leader of the activity where I once was the one in the pool taking instructions from others.

Overall, I honestly must admit that this year was a success for myself, my team, and the kids themselves. And that is purely because of the fact that we had kids who didn't even know how blow bubbles underwater and at the end of the year, they were swimming full lengths of the OSC pool from what we had taught them across the deep end. Their eagerness to learn instead of play during the time which we provide them as "free time" is another reason for us to feel as a successful program! 

The Opening of Key Club at OSC

Key Club International

Today the 24th of February 2011, the official opening ceremony of Sri Lanka's first key club took place at OSC in the secondary SMPR. The anointing of the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and board of directors was amongst the highlights of the evening.

• President: Damien Martin
• Vice President: Harini Liyanage
• Secretary: Annie Gillstedt 
• Treasurer: Terunaga Tamura

The Key Club is a part of the "Kiwanis Club International". Key Club is the high school  leadership program initiated for students. Its purpose is to provide service, build character and develop leadership skills in students.

Week Without Walls 2011

The last and final week without walls for all the years in OSC takes place today the 24^th January 2011. A six hour drive down to Hambantota from school starting at around 7:50 to arrive at the hotel at 3ish. The remainder of the afternoon was spent on recreational activities. 6:00 was rendezvous at the lobby to discuss the coming day where we set off officially for service on the two preschools. At this point we were to come up with personal goals in which we are supposed to constantly keep referring to and acting upon. Working collaboratively with all my peers at the schools and in the whole trip was one of my majors. It may seem simple and easy to judge, but however it is rather challenging goal one can set them self with. You always tend to lean to your friends which you regularly communicate and interact with. But once you do actually set foot on the tasks that are assigned to you, the idea of not working with a friend seems to disappear and the mind set of getting the task completed shifts into the primary. This is one of the reasons why our grade as a whole was able to accomplish more than what we expected to and more.

As a whole this week without walls program was not the worst, nor the best “perfect”. It had its ups and downs, good times and not so good times. In terms of personal goals, they were met to a certain extent and in some cases fully. Although we did the best possible for the schools in the time which was provided to us, I still think that there is room for improvement. Improvement in the sense not from what we do at the schools, but what we take with us. The purpose of the pilot trip was to estimate the requirements and needs for the schools and at the same time, give us an idea of what we are going to be faced with. All the necessary information was noted down and addressed upon at the time, but however none of the materials which the schools requested was provided to them. For example one of the requests was a new whiteboard for the classroom because the prevailing one was in bad condition. It was agreed upon that it is possible to provide a new one but however a whiteboard wasn’t amongst the list of material we took along. I think that it was a waste of time of the pilot trip if these materials were not addressed or given to the schools as the main purpose was to organize such order. It would be best if all that is done on the pilot trip is taken into account and used wisely to plan ahead rather than showing up to the schools with nothing that they requested for.

SAISA Baskeball

October 4th, the 2010 Saisa Basketball commenced. After a long time, almost about a 8 months since the last saisa, i really was out of shape. Yes there were times when i played during lunch times, but thats was not enough to keep up with the intense practice. We started with some typical streches and cardio workout. It was not until the last part of practice when we had to run suicides up and down the court did it really started to hammer me down. 3-4 sets of suicides with only about 30 second breaks, It was Intense! Since the start of the basketball season I can personally say that I have improved my skills and fitness. Each day we learn a new plays and setups. Basically each practice is something new. Coach is pretty serious about people who miss practice for that perticuar reason. As of for me, up to now i have not missed a single practice and have been commited throughout the season. As a result, I sucessivly made the team this year.

The Sunflower Project

This Thursday, a local school just outside OSC showed up at the pool for swimming lessons. We couldn't just randomly get in the pool and teach kids we didnt even know their name. So we assembled in Mr. Simms's room for a while to get to know them. We introduced ourselves and got to know know them a little. We asked them to write down their names on a piece of paper so we could remember each of their names.


After that we divided the group of kids into two groups; the ones who have some background in swimming and have previously been to OSC from last years lot. And the other group consisted of the kids who have no idea how to swim. Because we divided the groups into two, we were able to organize what we do. Teru, Yariq, and I were in charge of the kids who couldnt swim with Mr.Stanley giving us instructions on how to get a start.


In some cases, there were kids who have never got in a pool before and this made some of them scared to get in. Seeing the fear of each kid gettting in the pool for the first time, told us that it was going to be a lot of work. And we were right about it.


As of for the programe, it consists of the first half hour or so, us giving them swimming lessons. Then the remaining time we give them freetime. During this time we play water polo as a whole so kids don't end up on their own. This enables us to communicate and interact with the kids better than when were are teaching them. Out of the group there are some prefer to keep working on their swimming skills although it's free time and they are free to do so because it makes it better for us and them.


Untill now, we are able to see visible progress of the kids as they learn new skills every Thursday. About half the porportion  of the kids who couldnt swim previously, are now at least swimming 5 meters. This may not seem as much of a distance but for a kid who was afraid of getting in the water at first, it is a significant progress.