Tag Sale a great success!

Today was the day of all the big fundraisers. It was a half day and there were going to be four main fundraisers set up - chili sales, tag sale, bake sale, and raffle tickets. Since I was the one who came up with the idea for the tag sale I was also one of the people who sat at the tables to help sell the items.

Oh and you better believe that when we first unloaded the items onto the tables in the back of the school today during break, there were A LOT of items. Each of the three tables was packed full with items of all kinds - books, stuffed animals, household items, kitchen utensils, gardening tools, and anything else you can possibly imagine, and when I took a step back and looked at all of the tables, it was hard to believe I wasn't in someone's attic. The amount of items and the space everything took up was overwhelming. I was worried that people wouldn't want to buy those types of items, that nothing would get sold, and the whole tag sale would have been a waste of time, given how much preparation and thought it took. I didn't want to leave today feeling like all of our effort was a waste of time.

Luckily, the end result was the exact opposite. Of all four fundraisers held today, the tag sale made the second-highest amount of money, with chili sales first of course. I went to the tag sale tables immediately when school let out, because parents were to be coming in right away to talk to their kids' teachers. As parents started coming in, we (Emily, Marissa, Deanna, Kiki and I) began to sell items for the prices that they were marked, depending on their colored tags, with an occasional dollar-off or buy-one-get-one-free here and there if giving a bargain meant the difference between the item being purchased or not. I feel that if we did not do this, people would have not bought as many items, and that a dollar off here or there made all the difference. I learned one of the secrets of selling items - it's better to sell more for less, than to not sell the items at all and sell fewer items for more.

At some point (around 4:00), we had sold at least half of the items on the tables. I didn't realize it until I stepped back and looked at all of the tables and realized that there were so many less items than when we had started out, and the whole area went from looking like a messy attic to a gift shop. It was now that I realized that we had to sell as much as we could in the next two hours and that meant giving items for free if necessary or even charging only $1 for an item or a group of items. Whatever could sell more items and get them out of our faces so that there would be less to cart off to the swap shop later, the better. I also tried to tell the customers that they could have a number of items and tell me what price they thought was reasonable, and I, in a subtle way, tried to convince the customers they needed specific items. "Oh, what a lovely Christmas gift for someone special!" or "Would you like to buy this as a gift for your son/daughter?" were not uncommon to be heard today. This worked pretty well, and by the time the day ended, only about 1/4 of the original amount of items remained, and Mrs. Botsford came and took as much as she could for her theater class, for free.

At the end of the day, around $250 was made! I was proud to see that the tag sale was more successful than originally anticipated and that a lot of items WERE sold. It felt good to know that something I had spent a lot of time planning and trying to make successful had actually been successful. I am glad that I in some way contributed to prom, but of course I can't take all of the credit because everyone who helped today did an excellent job and was just as committed as I was, and I commend their efforts sincerely. I was also glad to see that I can be trusted with responsibilities and that I am able to be responsible for something and to commit to it, because to be honest it was difficult at times to make sure posters got printed and hung up, that items were moved and tagged, etc, because it took up a generous amount of time to prepare. But I like having responsibilities and commitments because it lets me know that I am capable and that I can handle having a lot on my plate and not end up crushed by the pressure and workload. Most important to me is that I helped to make prom a better place, because how boring would it be if prom was just like any other school dance? It has to be special and as the prom committee it's our job to make sure it's en event to remember :)

Bowling - scores spanned a spectrum from 68 to 101.

Today, my scores in bowling spanned the spectrum, with my best game being 101 and my worst, 68. After each week I sit back and analyze and try to figure out what I did well, what I could have done better, and why I did as well or as badly as I did.

I was very tired when I woke up this morning, around 7. Bowling starts at 8. I stayed up a bit too late last night, until 2 in the morning, when I should have thought, "I have bowling in the morning so I should go to bed early so that I have the energy tomorrow when I need it" (yes, it does require energy to some extent). I was tired when I arrived at the bowling alley and I feel that if I was less tired, I could have been more alert and coordinated, and I would have been able to aim the ball right down the middle of the lane a lot better than I did today, or at specific pins if there were only a few to be knocked down in order so that I'd have gotten a spare. My final game was a 101, and by that time I was much more awake. Now that I have seen first hand what happens when I have too little energy to function at my best, I will be going to bed much earlier on Friday nights from now on.

My average is 89, and two of my scores today, 89 and 101, were therefore average or better, which is good as far as I am concerned. My first game was a 68, which could have been because I was tired, and because usually, my first game each week is my worst. I did get some practice last night, because I went bowling with two of my good friends. I also scored 101 on one of my games last night, and 109 on another, but these don't count for the purpose of this activity since they took place on my own time.

I decided to take this week as a learning experience instead of only seeing that a 68 is lower than the rest of my games. I will make sure I go to bed early enough on Friday nights so that I am awake and alert the next morning. I also want to go bowling again during the week for more practice, which I feel did help me.

Key Club/Turkey Drive/Food Drive, November 19, 2009

I have consistently been going to Key Club every week, and I am determined to find time to do some of the weekend community service work as opportunities present themselves in the future. So far I have not been able to attend many due to a packed schedule, with other CAS activities over the weekend (such as bowling) and work, however I did trick or treat for UNICEF for Halloween and this week, I helped to coordinate a food drive for Thanksgiving. It is by the Community Action Committee of Cape Cod & Islands, and it is where food items such as canned goods, frozen turkey, or a gift card for $25 can be brought in as a substitute for the frozen turkey.

My job was essentially to spread the word to the different advisories and encourage them to participate. On Tuesday during advisory, I went to each advisory and checked to see who was participating and to encourage advisors to participate, and I made a list so that today, I could go from room to room and remind the advisories that said they were participating that on Friday, canned items can be brought in and on Monday, any perishable items can be brought in no later than noon. I made that much clear, and I also said that items were to be brought into the supply closet near the front office by Monday, but they could also be brought in on Friday. I went and talked to Ms. Carman after I did this, she asked me if I told the advisors that their advisory's collection of food items needed to be placed in a box specifically for their advisory's items before being brought to the supply closet. I forgot to do this, and I had 5 minutes before class was to begin and advisory to end. In a flash I ran to each advisory a second time and checked to see that each had their own box or bag so that their items could be kept separate and not mixed in with other advisories' items, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was already taken care of.

I learned something very important today. READ THE HANDOUTS I AM GIVEN VERY CAREFULLY before spreading the word. Of course, I did not pass on any inaccurate information but because I was in such a rush because of the time constraint of advisory, and the fact that some advisors kept me longer to ask questions so I could clarify, I was in a rush and forgot to mention about the boxes. Next time I volunteer to help plan something important, I will make sure I am 100% informed before I attempt to spread the word, to prevent any confusion for the people I introduce ideas to, and to save myself time so I don't have to explain more than once or go back and add in points that I forgot to mention the first time. It was a careless mistake on my part but luckily this time, my mistake didn't have any impact on any of the advisors or the good work their advisories have done - there were A LOT of people participating and items have already been brought in. I will just make sure that I read the handouts more carefully in the future, to increase my own understanding of the event in question so that I can pass on accurate information to others.

One of my learning objectives is #5, which is to maintain commitment to the activity. I have been trying my best to do this with Key Club, which is difficult at times because often times on Monday, I'd MUCH rather go out to lunch than go to a Key Club meeting, but I have not missed one meeting yet and I don't plan to. I have a busy weekend schedule and I cannot always participate in weekend activities, but I make sure I do as much as I can during the school week which is why I volunteered to help with the food drive. I wanted to make sure that I'm not a useless Key Club member and that if there's any way I can help, I will. I will try in the future to find a way to fit the weekend activities into my schedule, which is difficult, but it will help me in the end in terms of how I prioritize and can fit a lot into my day to day schedule. Learning objective #6, which is to engage in issues of global importance, is carried out here because the food drive is helping the less fortunate, and I want to do as much as I can to help those less fortunate. I take for granted all I have and I feel that I should be more sympathetic toward those in need, and what way is better to do that than to help them as much as I can?

Tagging tag sale items is actually sort of fun!

So it's been a little over a week since items started being brought in for the tag sale, and many more items have come in than what I initially expected. There are now several boxes (at least 7) in the school basement of items that have been labeled by price (with little colored tags that represent a different price) ready to go for the tag sale. It's surprising that so many items could be tagged in about an hour, but it took a lot of teamwork to get it done.

I stayed after school with Mrs. Hyer and three of the girls from Prom Committee and we first took the items out of the boxes and made a key with the different stickers (red, blue, green, and yellow) and the price that each sticker would represent on an item. A $5 item would be tagged red, a $3 item would be tagged yellow, a $2 item would be tagged blue, and a $1 item would be tagged green. A white sticker would represent an item that is over $5 and the customer can bargain with us for a price over that amount, and items that were not tagged at all were under $1 and customers can also suggest a reasonable price for the item there too. I was told to tag only the very valuable items for $5 because we want to sell as much as we can for affordable prices and that we should sell items for less if it comes down to it. There were a lot of items and a variety of items too, with everything from pillows to pants, to coffee makers to books, and even vases, cups, mugs, containers, and more. Some of the items will probably sell fast, such as some of the mugs, books, and electrical appliances such as coffee makers and the hair straightener that someone brought in, but some of the other items might not sell, such as clothes and pillows, in which case those items will be sent to a swap shop. I tried to price most of the items for $1 or $2, but some items, such as some of the bigger books and vases and mugs I felt were more appropriately priced at $3. I rarely marked anything $5, but a good number of items were marked for that price.

After all of the bags and boxes of items were emptied and marked, we got boxes out and put all of the items marked $5 in one box, all of the items marked $3 in other boxes (more than one was needed), and the items marked $2 and $1 are now in a few boxes, and the boxes were moved closely together so that people who go in the basement will see that the items belong together and are for the same cause, so that nothing gets moved or misplaced before the tag sale.

Every time I contribute to Prom Committee I always remind myself why I joined in the first place. One of the reasons I joined was so that I can make some new friends who share a common goal (in this case, fund-raising), so that I might learn how to take on new challenges (learning objective 2) and so that I can learn to work collaboratively with others (learning objective 4 right there). I have definitely been trying to achieve both of my goals, and I am doing it more and more week by week. Today I was forced to work collaboratively with others, and to get a job done within a specific time constraint (an hour). We got the job done relatively quickly and were all on the same page and were determined to get it done. Two of the people I worked with today, Emily Setzko and Rachel Crafts, I have never really spoken to them much and wasn't sure what to expect, but they both turned out to be really nice. Before deciding on the price for an item, we checked with one another to see if we agreed as a group, and we worked together to place all of our tagged items in the same place in an organized manner. I am also taking on new challenges because the tag sale was my idea and I am ultimately responsible for its outcome. Without my commitment and hard work it would not happen, although I am not about to take all the credit as I have had much help from others, which I appreciate. This experience has helped me learn to be a leader and to step up to the plate and get a job done, and I am looking forward to the outcome of the tag sale, which I will make sure is a success. In addition, today was sort of fun!

I can honestly say that I didn't expect it to be as successful as it has been, but with my hard work and the hard work of everyone else involved, it has been successful.

Bowling, November 14, 2009 (Good consistency in scores)

While there was no dramatic improvement in bowling scores this week, my scores were still some of the better scores I have received and they are pretty consistent with my scores from last week. This week, they were 99, 109, and 117.

My first game (99) was due to in the last frame when we have three balls, I went too quickly and the ball ended up going into the gutter, causing my score to be one point away from 100, while the other games were more typical in terms of my recent scores. I have kept track of all of my scores up to this point and my averages for each week and after bowling ends in the spring, I am going to make a graph so I can see how my scores got better or worse (which hopefully they will not) from the beginning to the end. My capabilities have improved significantly since I began bowling but it's also due to the fact that I was able to identify where I was doing well and where I was not doing well in the beginning. I still have areas to improve, and I acknowledge that. That's what learning objective 1 that I chose for this activity is all about - identify areas of strength and areas for growth. My areas of strength are increasing because in the past I was able to identify my areas for growth and I have been working to overcome these areas for growth (which in the past were the flicking of my wrist, the fact that I have recently realized I was putting the wrong fingers in the holes in the bowling ball, and my concentration), and now that I have improved those aspects of my performance, I know where I can still improve now.

Most of the more experienced people that I bowl with are able to make the ball curve and I still would like to be able to do this. It'd improve my scores tremendously, and I have been studying their motions when they bowl so that I can do the same thing when it's my turn. I don't know exactly what it is they're doing, because from my perspective it LOOKS as if they flick their wrist, but they can't be flicking their wrist in the same manner that sends the ball into the gutter. I need to talk to the instructor/coordinator, who is herself very good at bowling, and see what she has to say that can help me learn this technique.

I would also like to touch on something else - my social skills are improving week by week. Learning objective 8 - learn new skills - doesn't necessarily have to only be about the bowling itself. I have been learning to adapt to working with new people, as they switch us around every week. I am forced to be with people far more experienced than I am, of different ages, although now they're placing me with kids my own age. I used to be afraid that I'd look like an amateur or like I was really inexperienced or shouldn't even be there since I barely knew what to do, but now I am more comfortable being around people that I don't know at all, who may be watching me and criticizing in their minds. I have opened myself up to the opportunity that I might even make some new friends, and I have been much more successful the less nervous I have become. My growth as a person from this activity is not only related to bowling skills, but my social skills as well. It's easy for me to be myself around people I have known for a while, but it's more difficult for me when I know no one, causing me to be much more quiet and reserved. But slowly, this is changing and I am opening up a lot more.

Prom Committee update, November 12, 2009

I was thrilled to see the number of tag sale donations brought in, they were piling up and there were MANY more items than I had initially expected! I was also excited because the tag sale was my idea and it looks to be having a successful start, but I also keep in mind that if I want the outcome to be successful and I want to sell a lot of the items and make a decent amount of money to contribute to prom, there is a lot more work that needs to be done, by me with some help from others as well.

There are more items that were brought in since lunch today, after the large majority of the donated items had been moved to the basement, so I volunteered to help move the remaining items down to the basement during break tomorrow, and I think I can handle it on my own. Next Monday I also agreed to help Mrs. Hyer tag the items according to price, and someone is making a poster that serves as a key so customers will see a certain colored sticker and know that means the item is a specific price, so it is easy to keep track of when choosing items that they want to buy. With a lot of commitment and effort on my part, and with some help, I am sure the tag sale will be successful, and I am excited for it so I can see whether or not my idea and our planning in prom committee for the event as a whole was successful.

I honestly can say I didn't expect that coordinating the tag sale would take as much work as it is, and I didn't even expect people to bring in that many items. I am actually happy that it's more work than expected because I get a sense of accomplishment when I do something well, and this experience is helping me learn how to better cooperate with other people and to incorporate my ideas into others' ideas and vice versa. I also like taking on responsibilities and getting things done, and seeing these ideas pay off in the end for the group as a whole. If there's any way that I can help make next year's prom a good one, I am more than willing to help in any way necessary :)

Bowling, November 7, 2009 (continuous improvement)

Today I got my best scores in bowling yet, and my scores were 112, 107, and 121 (my all time best score).

What I did this week was make sure I used the same ball every time for consistency, which was something I did not think to do in other weeks. I also made sure to bowl slowly and carefully and follow through every single time, and learn to stand in a certain place so that way I could send the ball right at the pins I wanted to knock down, rather than always standing in the middle and trying to aim that way. I am good at sending the ball in a straight path, so I used this to my advantage today when trying to knock down one pin in the corner - I am now able to do this WITHOUT sending the ball into the gutter.

I have not had any of the problems I had in past weeks and by now it's definitely a habit to release the ball correctly and not flick my wrist, and I also have become more confident in my abilities and less worried about what the people around me will think. I'm also adapting well to the fact that they put me with a different group of kids every week, and I don't let this make me nervous or intimidated.

My goal for next week is to try and raise my scores even more, and try and beat my highest score of 121. I also still would like to learn how to make the ball curve, but I have several weeks ahead of me to learn :)

Key Club update & Trick or Treat for UNICEF

This is my first time blogging about Key Club in a while (although I have attended every single meeting), since I had not been able to participate in any of the weekend activities (of which there have so far been two on two different occasions), but I was finally able to participate over the weekend by trick-or-treating for UNICEF.

The goal was to collect money to send to Uruguay to help underprivileged children, and this money was to be collected in UNICEF donation boxes on Halloween. I took three of the boxes and my goal was to go with my neighbors when they went trick-or-treating and to collect money rather than candy. I figured that it'd have been rude of me to cause my friends to wait, since it would take longer for people to go and get their wallets to get some money than to just hand candy, so I went around my neighborhood by myself before meeting up with my friends, and I collected about $15, plus the $5 of my own money that I put in there before I left the house. I noticed that my neighbors were very eager to donate a dollar or two once I explained what I was collecting for, and it was great to see how eager they were to donate.

Each of my friends who I was going to go trick-or-treating with, donated a dollar and there were 9 of them, so by the time the evening was over I had about $29 total, plus some change that my neighbor's mom had that she wanted to get rid of. The truth is that none of my friends actually wanted to go trick-or-treating as we had originally planned, so that was the extent of my collection for the evening. However the next day at home I looked for change around the house and asked my family (mom, grandmother, aunt) if they had any spare change or money they wanted to donate and between the rest of us, about $20 more was collected, a lot of it was change. I filled all three donation boxes and I was glad that I collected enough money to make a difference, even though some of it was my own.

Today in Key Club, we had the option to make a card for a sick child in a hospital, and the names were written on the board. I decided to make one, because I feel bad for the children who are terminally ill and can't enjoy their lives and time with their friends, and I wanted at least one child to know that there IS someone out there thinking of them and who wants to make even the smallest difference in their life. I decorated my card and made it look nice and wrote a nice message inside for a girl named Heather, and then gave the card to Hyanna so it could be mailed out with the other cards. :)

One of my learning objectives is number 5, which is to demonstrate commitment to the activity. I have been showing up to every meeting, even if I am not able to participate in that week's activity due to a busy schedule, but I am going to make time for future activities, like I did for this one. I was originally scheduled to work on Saturday but to enable myself to have the time to go trick-or-treating to collect donations for UNICEF, I switched shifts with someone and ended up working Friday instead to give myself Saturday off, to have the time to participate. In the future I am going to make time for key club activities the best that I can.

My other learning objective is to engage in activities of global importance or importance to the community, which is objective #6. I did this in two ways (collecting money and making a card for a sick child) but I would like to continue participating in activities in which I am able to either help those less fortunate, or do something that is giving back to the community. I am fortunate to live in a decent community and to not have to deal with some of the misfortunes that others go through in poorer countries (such as Uruguay in this case) and I want to do my best to better the lives of others. I feel so ungrateful sometimes knowing that I have everything handed to me and if I can help to improve the lives of those less fortunate, I will feel good to know that I did the right thing but I will be even happier to know that the other person's life has been improved. I am normally selfish and only worried about myself and by continuing to participate in these activities, I hope to become less selfish and more grateful for what I have, and aware that others may not have as much as I do.