Creativity, Action & Service (CAS)

Creativity, Action and Service  (CAS) is a framework that promotes learning by doing real tasks that have real consequences and then reflecting on these experiences over time.   Students are given the opportunity to transform what they’ve learned in the classroom to a form of service. The CAS experience encourages students to build relationships with others over time and develop the self-worth of service providers and receivers.  The aim of CAS is to build self-esteem, self-confidence, autonomy, self-reliance, collaborative action skills, compassion for others and awareness of global issues through creative expression, physical activities and service projects.  The Creativity, Action and Service framework encourages participants to become open-minded, life-long learners with a desire to be active agents for progressive change in local, national and global communities.

Students who enter the diploma program are expected to fulfill 150 hours of Creativity, Action and Service over their junior and senior years.  In all aspects of CAS, goals must be set and students are required to reflect on their progress.

In order to receive Creativity, Action and Service credit, all activities and volunteer service must be approved by Peter Wilson.

Main Objectives of CAS requirement:

• Attitudes and values which respect human dignity, transcending race, class religion, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnicity and political stance
• An awareness of humanitarian and environmental issues with a viable, informed ethical position considering local, national and international circumstances
• Self-confidence and modesty
• A willingness to interact meaningfully with others
• A sense of responsibility towards all members of the local, national and international communities and a commitment to contribute valuable to these communities
• A recognition and respect for the human rights of all persons in our global community
• Personal qualities of curiosity, honesty and self-criticism
• An ability to deliberate, reflect upon and learn from experiences
• A spirit of discovery, commitment, initiative, determination and perseverance
• The ability to meet challenges and an awareness of personal limitations
• Practical skills which can be used in the service of others and in a future career

Creativity:

This element of CAS covers a wide range of arts and other activities outside the normal curriculum which includes creative thinking in the design.  Activities include doing dance, music, art and theater.  Students are encouraged to participate in group activities and in new roles wherever possible, however individual commitment to learning and practicing an art form is allowed. 

Action:

This element of CAS can include participation in individual and team sports, physical activities and expeditions outside the normal curriculum.  It also includes physical activity involved in carrying out creative and service projects.  These pursuits will require physical exertion such as camping trips, intramural volleyball or erecting and tending a community garden.  Students are encouraged to participate in group and team activities as well as undertaking new, challenging roles.  Individual commitment to these physical activities is also acceptable.

Service:

Recognized as perhaps the most transforming element of CAS, service projects and activities allow students to build direct links with individuals and groups throughout local and global communities.  This interaction helps to nurture and shape a global citizen who recognizes and respects the human rights of all people.  Students do not simply provide service for others but are doing projects with others, developing a sincere commitment with them in the process.  This relationship should demonstrate respect for the dignity and self-respect of others.  Activities should address community needs; for example, facilitating a clothing drive for families who are homeless in NYC during the winter, teaching English to ELL/ESL students from immigrant households at a community center or working on an international initiative to ban landmines.  Both creativity and action elements are heightened by incorporating the service aspect of these activities. 

Guiding Questions:

The following questions can help a BSGE student determine whether or not an intended activity qualifies as Creativity, Action and Service:

• Is the activity a new role for me?  What is that role?
• Is it a real task that I am going to undertake?
• Does it have real consequences for other people and for me?  What are those consequences?
• What do I hope to learn from getting involved?
• How can this activity benefit other people in my local community?  In the world community?
• What can I reflect upon while participating in this activity?
  

Performance Criteria

• Personal Achievement: ability to meet challenges, consistent participation, showing progress and growth, learning from experiences, helping to address and solve community issues.
• Personal Skills: thinking creatively, organizational skills, identifying and researching community needs, resource management, identifying success and failure.
• Personal Qualities: self-confidence, perseverance, humility, responsibility, punctuality, commitment, reliability, initiative.
• Interpersonal Qualities: adaptability, collaboration, empathy, respect, a sense and understanding of justice, social responsibility.
• Awareness of Global Issues: an ethical appreciation of humanitarian and environmental issues to guide choices of action from a local, national and international perspective, a comprehension and respect for human rights of all people, an internalization of global citizenry.

Community And Service/CAS Activities

Cross-Age Tutoring: Students work with elementary-school age children once a week, helping them helping them improve their reading comprehension skills.  Participants act as mentors, providing academic growth and encouragement.  Students will learn how children learn to read, plan for their tutorial sessions, keep journals to record the child’s progress and collaborate with their peers on strategies to be more effective tutors.  The curriculum is centered around the seven reading methods for literacy: monitor for meaning, creating images, activating schema, making inferences, determining importance, asking questions and synthesizing information.  The BSGE staff coordinator for this initiative is Juanita Kumar.

Helping Hands Committee: Students meet regularly (twice a week) during lunch to develop and coordinate school-wide initiatives to benefit others.  Service projects include canned food drives, coat drives, penny harvests, toy drives and tending community gardens.  Through their volunteer efforts, students have raised funds, supplies and awareness around critical issues like homelessness, HIV/AIDS, poverty and education.  Peter Wilson is the BSGE facilitator.

Sunnyside Community Center Events: Throughout the year, Sunnyside Community Center sponsors events that require volunteers on premises and in the local area.  Students and their families can volunteer their time and effort at any or all of these events:

• Thanksgiving Day Lunch: from 9:30am to 2:00pm, volunteers help serve lunch to members on site or deliver meals to members at home as part of the Meals On Wheels initiative.
• Christmas Day: from 9:30 to 12:00pm, volunteers deliver meals to members at their homes in the local area. 

TASC Programs at P.S. 150 or P.S. 199: As part of Sunnyside Community Services after-school programs, from 3:30-5:30pm, participants tutor younger students, from kindergarten to fourth grade, on various school subjects such as English, math, science and history.

The Beacon Program at I.S. 5: Also a part of Sunnyside Community Services after-school programs, volunteers assist instructors, do clerical work and provide homework help for students.  The Beacon is also open on Saturdays.

Mouse Squad: Through a program run by Making Opportunities for Upgrading Schools and Education, a corps of student volunteers learn the skills needed to troubleshoot technical problems in classrooms and computer labs.  The Mouse Squad handles requests involving paper jams, log-on issues, installing hardware, cables and software as well as creating directories on networks.  As the squad grows and develops, the members will learn how to manage school-wide networks and take over the day-to-day management of the BSGE instructional network.  BSGE staff coordinator is Madeline Brownstone.

BSGE Tutorial: As part of BSGE’s Academic Intervention Services Program, students can provide tutorial assistance to their peers for English, Mathematics and Chinese.  Schedules are coordinated with BSGE faculty for tutoring after-school or during lunch periods. 

BSGE Student Council: A group of 13 elected students represent the school’s advisory classes in a student council, meeting once a week.  Students create the agenda, facilitate the meetings and keep and publish minutes for review by the entire school population.  The group’s goal is to act as a service council, diagnosing and addressing issues that affect the entire school community.  There are no limits as to what the council may accomplish.  Their only self-generated parameter is that they keep all of their activities within the best interest of the students they serve. The council is facilitated by BSGE staff members.

Global Action Project/Youth Empowerment And Human Rights Collaboration: Every Tuesday and Thursday after school from 2:45-5pm, students from the Youth Empowerment and Human Rights Elective work with two facilitators from the Global Action Project, learning how to develop, shoot, edit and produce a video on a particular human rights issue/concern. At the end of the semester, participants will screen their video for their peers, parents and other invited guests.

Global Action Project’s Urban Voices: On Wednesday and Sunday afternoons, Global Action Project hosts a pre-professional training program for high school-aged youth.  Urban Voices TV participants produce documentaries, PSAs and fictional narratives about critical social issues.  The youth producers present their videos in screenings and workshops as well as air them on their monthly television show on Manhattan Neighborhood Network.

Global Kids Leadership: Every Friday from 4-6pm, Global Kids hosts a leadership group consisting of students from all over NYC to engage in interactive workshops focusing upon international issues and their direct connection to the world around them.  Students are able to discuss, deliberate, debate and share their varying opinions on a host of topics such as racism, gender expectations, labor rights, class division, ethnic conflict, media control, sustainable development and human rights.   Through leadership, students build leadership skills, awareness of global issues, a sense of social responsibility and become empowered.

Council on Foreign Relations: One Wednesday a month, Global Kids invites students to attend a discussion on a current global event.  These forums are held with members of the Council on Foreign Relations and other informed speakers/activists who offer their expertise and insight on particular international issues.

Alley Pond Environmental Center: participants help the Center and their community and further their own environmental interests, concerns and knowledge.  As a volunteer, students can be involved with animal care, maintaining the grounds and trails, clerical work, maintaining organization of library, assisting in presentation of lectures and guided walks, working at the gift shop and helping with special events.  Volunteers must be between the ages of 13 and 18.

Astoria Performing Arts Center: Internships are offered during performing season, September through May.  Interns will learn how to build sets, lighting skills, marketing skills and other technical duties during performances.  Participants will also interact with actors, directors and other professionals in the APAC Repertory Company.

Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens: supervised by hospital staff, volunteers will assist with filing, answering phones, faxing documents, greeting visitors, photocopying documents, rendering physical assistance to patients and tending to various hospital duties.

Museum Studies Program at The Museum of Modern Art: participants will work behind the scenes at one of the world’s most famous art museums, organize an exhibition of student art works and meet and work with museum staff.

Museum for African Art: students can volunteer in the Education, Curatorial, Development and Human Resources Departments performing duties such as answering phones, making photocopies, mailing, filing documents and other general department support.

New York Hospital of Queens: participants can engage in a number of volunteer opportunities including the bedtime story program, the child life program, patient care, assisting at the gift shop or clerical duties.  Participants must be at least 14 years of age.

Queens Public Libraries: various library branches offer students opportunities to volunteer, including assisting with filing, shelving books and educational materials and assisting with library tours and programs.  Students must be at least 14 years of age.

YMCA Leader’s Club (Long Island City Branch): members are given opportunities for leadership training, personal growth, service to others and social development.  One of the YMCA’s most intensive and comprehensive teen programs, participants meet weekly in small groups, working with their peers and a counselor on skill and character building activities as well as planning and organizing club projects.

Crosslands Youth and Family Outreach Center: volunteer mentors are matched with children on a one-to-one basis, engaging in homework assistance and recreational activities.  Volunteer mentors must be willing to set aside some of their time to spend time with their mentee (at least 4 hours per month) and meet with the coordinator to discuss the mentor/mentee relationship.  There is a 12-month period commitment.

The Unwanted Times: a magazine created by BSGE students focusing upon human rights issues, students can contribute articles on appropriate themes.  Participants are encouraged to attend weekly editorial meetings to research, rewrite and assessment their peers’ work.  Magazines are then distributed to the BSGE students, staff, parents and the extended community to help keep us informed of critical world issues and concerns as well as inspire action as global citizens.

Volunteer Service: Students may receive credit for volunteer service they provide for respective local community organizations or agencies in their neighborhoods (i.e. soup kitchens, community centers, community gardens, health clinics, etc).  Students must provide a letter from the organization/agency   describing their volunteer service, the amount of hours they contribute and their weekly or monthly schedule.   At the end of each semester, participants will also be required to submit an evaluation from their supervisor regarding their performance.  All activities must be unpaid and without religious affiliation and/or intent.

For volunteer service contact information, please see Peter Wilson in room 114.

For more volunteer and community service opportunities, visit: www.volunteermatch.org or www.ny.com/community

Suggested Reading: Richard Mintzer’s Volunteering in NYC: Your Guide to Working Small Miracles in the Big Apple