I have really enjoyed my genius project journey so far. I have worked closely with my mentor, Ms. Chrisman, the Sage Creek High School Dance Teacher, for advice. I also have received helpful suggestions from my accountabilibuddy, Ms. Brown, the Sage Creek High School Swim Coach. I have emailed and talked in person with both of these awesome teachers.
This trimester I worked on the logistical aspects of my project. I created a schedule of my dance classes where I have planned out the times of warm-ups, across the floors, and learning the choreography. My one hour dance class will have fifteen minutes of warm-ups, fifteen minutes of across the floors, and thirty minutes of learning the choreography. I also created a flyer for my dance program that I will be posting around the elementary school and sending to all of the parents via email. The flyer states all the import information parents need in order to sign up or contact me. It also states the program duration and practice times. My next steps for my project is meeting with the elementary school principal to discuss when my dance program can occur and where it can take place. I would like my program to last from one to two months. It would be amazing to be able to dance in their gym or auditorium because of the wide indoor space. Something else I am still working on is the potential liability of my dance program, which is another topic I need to discuss with the principal. My accountabilibuddy, Ms. Brown, suggested I contact the Parent Teacher Association at the elementary school to determine if they would sponsor my dance program. I am so excited to continue my genius project journey.
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Ms. Chrisman, my high school dance team coach, has been one of my mentors from the very beginning. Throughout my genius project journey, Ms. Chrisman has been a very helpful mentor who has given me great advice. She is the person who got me thinking about potential genius project ideas that would make a difference through dance. My first genius project idea was to host a dance camp for young kids over the summer, at my high school. She liked my idea, but advised me to chose a projects that would further benefit my community and leave a lasting impact. After a meeting with her to brainstorm different genius projects, I decided I want to run a dance after school program at a title one elementary school in my community, for kids who may not have the opportunity to take dance classes. Without the help of Ms. Chrisman, I believe my project would not have as much significance, in terms of impacting my community.
Another insightful mentor I have been able to work with is Ms. Brown, my high school swim team coach. Although Ms. Brown is not a dancer, she has helped me through the logistical aspect of my project. For example, Ms. Brown mentioned the potential liability with teaching on an elementary school campus, but suggested how I could overcome that obstacle by contacting their Parent Teacher Association to determine if they would sponsor my dance program. Also, Ms. Brown has helped me edit and revise draft emails I plan to send to school officials. Since the last time I blogged, I have talked to my mentor, the Sage Creek High School Dance Teacher; Ms. Chrisman, who gave me great advice. She advised me to keep my idea of a dance camp, but suggested I make a bigger impact. Her advice made me ponder how I could help people in the community through dance? Could I provide an opportunity to people who may not be able to afford it? I then thought of the idea to do a dance program at a title one elementary school in the community. A title one school is a school that receives special financial assistance due to a high number of children attending the school that come from low income families. There actually is a title one school in my community, Jefferson Elementary School. Over the summer, I was not sure how to go about contacting the administration at Jefferson. Now that school has started, I am planning to go speak to the administration. I will pitch them my idea and the impact I plan to have. My genius project, more in depth, is going to be a dance program that consists of an hour dance class, once a week, for several weeks. I will teach them beginning level technique, across the floors, and dances choreographed by me. Luckily, I have great friends who have agreed to help me manage and teach the kids, since that can sometimes be stressful. My brother has also agreed to help me document the dance program through videos and pictures. I am attempting to put on the dance program in the school gym or auditorium, after school. This will be beneficial to their families, for not all parents have the time to drive to a location for the dance program, especially working parents. At the end of the dance program, I am hoping to put on a performance of all the dances the students have learned, for their families, friends, and school staff.
My Genius Project Pitch: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1lOiRZH0KNOkdshmbGdR4CBGOBrwim0J2FdW54-uYD8w/edit?usp=sharing Last night, I attended the Sage Creek High School Genius Project Symposium. The Genius Symposium is an nice event where students, families, school staff members, and others in the community listen to speakers who were voted as having the best genius projects. The speakers all did amazing, even explaining many obstacles and failures along the way. Failures including: laziness or busyness due to senior year or difficulties when trying to contact adults. I will be mindful of the challenges ahead of me and how to overcome them, as the symposium speakers did. They all ended with an inspiring message, such as to continue to persevere and always follow your dreams or passion.
Next steps for my project, would be to contact title one elementary schools and homeless shelters with kids in the community. I would like to ask if I am allowed to teach a free one hour dance lesson, once a week, throughout the school year. I know a possible challenge may be my age if I am not allowed to teach as a minor. This would be a difficulty, but I know I can overcome it with a solution. As noted in my previous genius blog post “Genius Project Reflection,” I debated between 2 genius project ideas. Ultimately, I have chosen the Sage Creek Dance Company fundraiser dance camp for elementary school kids. Since I decided, I have begun to outline all the details and develop a project timeline. In class, we speed dated about our ideas; giving and receiving feedback from peer to peer and from a few experts as well. This experience was very helpful, in that I was asked questions I had not thought of previously. I gained more knowledge about my project due to the probing questions I was asked. One of the questions I was asked was: what is the target on how many kids attend? I am targeting a goal of 30-40 elementary kids. Another question asked was: how long will the camp be? I would like the duration of the camp to be 3 hours, potentially from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m, over a week. There is a long list of possible obstacles to tackle, but what I am currently focusing on is: publicity, insurance, and waivers. I am in process of developing a flyer that can be approved by the Carlsbad Unified School District and posted at all of the Carlsbad elementary schools. It would be important to post the flyers around March or April so parents can schedule ahead when making summer plans. I still need to research more on insurance, liability, waivers, contracts, and all paperwork required to host a camp for elementary schoolers. I understand their will be a lot of necessary paperwork, so this will also be my next step.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my genius project process and experience. I currently have two potential ideas for my genius project. One idea is a dance camp for elementary and middle school girls. This camp would take place at Sage Creek in the dance room, where I, and some of my teammates would teach the girls technique, such as across the floors and dance routines. I would split the girls into two or more groups, based on ability and level. The girls could perform the routines they learned at the end of the week for their parents, possibly in the gymnasium. Dance is something I have been passionate about since the fifth grade. I have trained in several dance styles and still currently do. I am an inaugural member of the Sage Creek High School Dance Team and have helped grow and develop the team from the beginning. This dance camp would bring awareness to the Sage Creek High School Dance program and potentially build a pipeline of members. Since the dance program has only been running for three years, many people still are not aware Sage Creek has one. Not only does the camp create more attention to the dance program, it also does Sage Creek. I would love to brainstorm with an amazing choreographer and studio owner, Kenny Wormald. He has opened a popular studio in Los Angeles, Playground, where I hope to take a class in the future.
My other possible genius project idea is a schoolwide “no makeup day.” This day is where I would encourage all girls at Sage Creek not wear makeup for a day. For extra encouragement, I would not wear makeup for the entire week. This project’s messages are: everyone is beautiful in there own way and wearing makeup is a choice, not a standard. I am passionate about the idea that what matters is on the inside, not on the outside. A very successful photographer in a male dominated industry, Annie Leibovitz, would be awesome to brainstorm with and share ideas. She did an expose on all different women and their personal stories that is very inspiring to me. I am debating between these two ideas and feel passionate about both. |