#group reflection

The 5 CAS Stages

Investigation

We researched the value of art therapy, and decided that one of the most underdeveloped parts of our school experience was using creative outlets as a means to handle an overwhelming amount of stress. We had only really encountered art as an academic subject, and being able to use it for a constructive way to deal with stress was something we thought could be very useful for our school’s high stress environment.

Preparation

Throughout the duration of senior year, we had meetings amongst ourselves as well as with our supervisor Ms. Chaputian to discuss ways we could reach the goals of our project. We had to assess our expertise in discussing the issues surrounding the stigma of mental health since we are not professional therapists. Furthermore, as we wanted to provided creative outlets through our workshops and zines, we had evaluate and plan the finances of our ideas.     

Action

We held a mug decorating workshop after school to give BSGE students a space to creatively destress while also talking about their emotions with other people who experience (have experienced) the same sentiments.

We also created a zine that is focused on mental health, offering tips for creative outlets for our stress, showcasing art submissions from the BSGE community, and including destress activities.

Reflection

For our reflection, we evaluated the level of success we had with achieving our CAS project’s goals. We each reflected on the whole projects and posted on our website. Additionally, we asked people who attended our workshop to write to our zine about how the event helped them release stress and learn about how the introduction of creative outlets could be beneficial to our school community.

Demonstration

We created a website open for submissions to our school community, as well as an Instagram page to reach more people as it is a more popular media base. Other ways in which we demonstrate our project are through our self-published ‘zine, as well as pamphlets and posters. During our presentation, we will showcase these things in addition to the mugs we create in our workshop.

7 Learning Outcomes

Identifying strengths and develop areas of growth

Our strength as a CAS group was our personal connection to the importance of mental health and the value of therapy. Through our drive to share the benefits of mental health services with our peers, any task or goal we made was accomplished.

As we planned and executed our project, several areas of growth became evident. Our mission and goals grew as time went on, therefore it became imperative to assign roles and hold each other accountable for our work. An area in which we improved greatly was communication. We each made an effort to hold meetings, in person and online, even when there was no urgent work that needed to be addressed.

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

When a new member joined our CAS group, existing members were forced to rearrange and redistribute roles to accommodate another person. We learned the value of delegating tasks ahead of time and routinely checking in to monitor each other’s progress, especially that of the newer member.

Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS project

Initially, we had to evaluate our main concerns as individual people, and then find a common intersection where the interests of all group members would be represented in the final result of our CAS project. After deciding that mental health and art were two things that were worthy of devoting extended time to, we had to channel this into a tangible project.

Understanding the limitations of our abilities was important, and creating a schedule ahead of time gave us some ease during the process when things became difficult.

Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experience

Our commitment to Creative Arts Peer Support is evident in the numerous ways we reach out to our community in order to inform peers of the benefits of mental health services. Not only have we done outreach on both social media websites and the school newspaper, BaccRag, but we have conveniently provided all our information, goals, and events on a website. Many art submissions to the ‘zine, for instance, were from students whom we reached out to in order to lend a hand.

Especially when the thick of our project landed in the weeks when we had a majority of our IB internal assessments due as well as our art show, we had late night FaceTime sessions to work on our zine and workshop alongside our schoolwork.

Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

Each member took up responsibility for an aspect of CAPS, and as we worked collaboratively, we learned to appreciate the idea of collaboration and learned how to be held accountable for our actions. Each choice we made affected the group members, and so we learned important skills of responsibility as a byproduct.

Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

In addressing the problem of mental health, we had to engage with a conflict that plagues the modern world. This shows a commitment to addressing the problems of many oppressed members of societies, and making the right moral decisions regardless of social stigma. For instance, we realized we were not as informed on the issues regarding mental health on a global scale. Additional research was carried out to determine the best way our school community could benefit from the services we provided.

Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

(By Hannah)

In our last few hours of preparation, we set up our computers and projectors to show our final images and prepare to line them up.

We came across a technical difficult when one of our computers gave us an error we hadn’t seen before. With quick thinking, we sent one of our group members to exchange the PC for another, and finally get them working.

Our completed set up - exactly as we had sketched it with two projectors and two computers.

We even had a few friends come by and play with the exhibit. We all noticed how much fun people had covering the projector and playing with the images.

Down one member of the team, but all really pleased with the outcome!

With half of the screen covered, you can see what truly lies beneath.

I came up with the concept of the final idea is when our group brainstorming for come up with three different ideas, we made a general framework for three different ideas. Which are:    • layering 2 images

   • characters moving on physical objects    • projections on a dress

During we further explore the contents and concepts of idea 2, our group members mentioned that two characters can be added to the storyline, such as a couple of lovers, crossing the obstacles made by physical objects, and finally being together. Then the members began to think about how to arrange the story line to attract the audience's attention, or to send some information to the audience. At this time "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" suddenly popped out of my memory. 

I unwittingly read the Chinese version of this short story about two or three years ago. Obviously, this is a very thought-provoking story. After reading it, I also think a lot about it. No matter it is from the angle of the description of the story itself or from the social perspective behind the story, I feel sorry for the little boy or the group he alludes to. So when our group members mentioned that there will be two roles in idea 2, even if it is fictitious, I still want to give the poor boy a better ending: a girl has successfully surmounted and rescued the little boy from Omelas.

Originally, I came up with this idea for idea 2, but in order to cater for the two characters' frame, it is somewhat farfetched to imagine a girl who doesn't exist in the story. The most important thing is that when the members of our group know the story roughly together, it feels that it is more suitable to be displayed in the form of idea 1. It is because the happy land built by the author is too perfect that readers will be infected by the joy atmosphere of Omelas, which makes the turning point of the story more devastating after the audience finds the source of this joy.

When the narrator mentioned that "no one in Omelas is guilty", the reader's subconscious reaction may be: because they are foolish enough to be unsympathetic. It was not until later in the story that every resident living in Omelas knew the existence of that little boy, and that they were not guilty of a deliberate calculation. After they accurately weigh the pros and cons, they chose to sacrifice one's rights for the interests of the majority's (Sustana, 2017). The comparison between before and after the twist to the story can be very clear by two projectors overlap the tableaus to show / express. And I'm glad that our group members are willing to choose this story as a concept.

(Storyboard written by Chong Keng Fatt)After envisage about three different ideas, our group has developed each of them further. I'm going to reflect on the development of the second ideas in this blog and explain why we didn't choose it at last.  

The second idea was to set a path to the role, making the role look like moving over some physical objects, and these objects may be boxes, coloured glasses, or cellophane. Because we expected that might create some amazing abstract visual effect through these materials. Our group also considered whether this idea was meaningless or lack of storyline. After the tutorial, the tutors gave us the advice is that the viewers probably are looking forward to get some feelings, information and ideas from the work. Therefore, we started to think what is the concept and what kind of information we want to convey to the audience.

The concept of the developed idea is it’s a work which is for public good, specifically in caring physical health. All of us were give the ideas and solutions about it. We cast aside the idea of use the cellophane and glasses to create colourful reflections, and considered to use the cigarette packets, alcohol bottles and something looks like drugs instead. The character climbed and jumped over them is to represent an effort to get rid of the difficulties that need to be overcome.

For the visual effect, we expect that audience could focus on each bad habit one by one, thus the decision is to separate the image into three columns, the light will follow the character's motion and be projected on each object respectively.

(Storyboard written by Hannah Hyde)

Bao walks into the museum.  He walks around and sees an interesting piece. He catches a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. He approaches it with caution.

There is a projector hanging from the ceiling angled towards the opposite wall. Against the wall are objects representing the vices of humanity. They are placed on top of individual stands/columns.  First there is a wine bottle standing upright. Then a foot away on the 2nd stand is a box of cigarettes and then three individual cigarettes pointing upright. Then a foot away is the third object - an item representing drugs.

Bao looks at the three items. Bao has a pretty clear idea of what is happening and can immediately identify the items.

There is a character on the far bottom left. The background starts at sunset. He starts walking and the first panel lights up. He has to climb over the wine bottle. Then he makes it to the second level, and the first panel goes dark. He now has to walk and jump across the cigarettes, balancing on each one. Then he makes it to the this level, where he has to waddle slowly through white powder and then pull himself out at the end. Then the sun is rising and he is able to greet his companion. They walk off screen happily hand in hand to the right.

Bao feels a sense of suspense while watching the character struggle through the obstacles. He is rooting for the character to succeed. He also feels a sense of triumph when the character does succeed and walks off with his companion. He understands the piece is showing the difficulty of addiction and trials of life.

After we developing all the three ideas, we voted and chose the first idea. The following is the reasons why we did not choose idea 2: • It is not that necessary to use physical objects to express the information. • The meaning is not as deep as idea 1. • Lack of challenging than other ideas.

How successful were you in doing what you set out to do? If you fell short, what factors prevented you from reaching your goals?

We have been relatively successful with Intervention so far. There is, always, the factor of time to consider, and as we go into our last two weeks, it is necessary that we use our time as efficiently as possible. We’ve definitely been successful in teaching skills (i.e. sewing and soldering) to the DCH students as well as keeping them engaged. We hope that by the end of this week, we will have a working prototype of the rechargeable heating pad that can be utilized by the students.