CAS Reflection #8

Over the course of the last couple months I have experienced a lot with my CAS project. I started out very well in the past year as I was immediately able to contact the GVAS and started planning project ideas right away. Immediately, I started working at the property at Connected Lakes and started to clean up areas filled with weeds. Over the course of a month I cleaned out several large areas filled with tumbleweed and kochia so that the space could be used for its original purposes. However, I wished to expand off of just accomplishing manual labor and adding an environmental study aspect to it. I desired to fuse together both manual labor and study so that my project had multiple areas which I could contribute to. Research would also give me ideas for future projects because I would see data about the status of the environment at Connected Lakes. This would allow me to try to alter negative aspects of biodiversity and allow Connected Lakes to become a better home for birds and a better environment for all aspects of the community. However,just as I began to establish a firm hold on the project, communication became an issue. Susie did not respond to my emails and text-messages so I had no way to know the steps to take next. This challenged me to become a better communicator and more independent and eventually I did so. I had to push my ideas while not becoming overly aggressive. Even though Susie took a while to respond to my ideas, I believe that my project will get back on track soon. I have a meeting scheduled in which I am going to plan what I can accomplish over the summer and set ideas in stone. I am excited to fully develop my project as I now know that I can be assertive and push my ideas through. I still need to make sure that I follow-up and make sure that I am on the same page with people. This will assure that things run smoother and that more can be accomplished. However, I have became a better communicator which has helped make sure that my project has gotten back on track. I hope that at this time next year, I can look back and be proud of what I have accomplished.

CAS Reflection #7

Susie finally contacted me back and I scheduled a meeting for May 11th. At this meeting I hope to nail down specific areas in which I can focus. At the moment my project is very unorganized and has led me down many different routes. While there are many different things I have done and am in the process of doing, it can be hard to get stuff down efficiently with so many different options available. For this reason, I would like to focus on several large projects, that not only make a large impact, but can be worked on for a long period of time. If I am able to slowly chip away at these projects, I believe that I will be more efficient and my project will be able to run much smoother.

CAS Reflection #6

I still have not received a response from Susie, so I think I will have to change my CAS project. I still want to have a project that revolves around the environment and biodiversity. One idea that I had would be to talk to my sister who works at the Mesa Land Trust. I feel like they would have a need for me in some aspect and that I would be able to contribute in some sort of way. I may consider contacting other Nature oriented organizations and see if I could add on a project to their already existing goals. There are several options that exist and I will search them out over the next several days. Hopefully, Susie will contact me back or I will be able to tweak my project to get it started up again.

CAS Reflection #5

Susie still has not contacted me back so I have not been able to do much as of late. I am going to try to contact her once more and will see if she responds. If Susie does not contact me back, I will struggle with knowing the help that the GVAS needs. I may be able to do some manual labor at Connected Lakes which I know can be done. I also may consider altering my project slightly so that it is more independent, as I mentioned earlier. One of the ideas that I came up with would involve building bird houses and posting them across the Grand Valley. This could tie into my work with the GVAS as it has an obvious focus on nature and deals with issues of biodiversity. This would also work well for me because I could do it on my own time and would not rely on other people to find time for me. It would be at my house and I could work on it on a daily basis. I am not sure if this will work, but I am going to mention this to Susie in my next email in order to see if this could tie in, in some way. Hopefully, I will be able to resolve this issue of communication and get my kick started again.

CAS Reflection #4

These past few weeks have really gotten away from me as I have had a busy schedule with school and all of my other activities. Communication has also been an issue for me because, Susie, the lady who has been overseeing my project and aiding me throughout the course of it, has cancer and has been experiencing several health issues. I have contacted her via email and text but she has not responded. She is experiencing a very hard time in her life and I do not want to force an issue if she is not able to help me. I will await further information and may try to contact other members of the GVAS board to see if they may help me. However, Susie may be hard to replace for my project as she had an incredible drive and was very interest in helping me when no one else at the organization would. I am also going to consider ideas for which I can alter my project slightly so that it does not place such a  high demand on Susie. This would make the project more independent so that I am able to work on my own and would not require Susie to oversee everything that I do.

CAS Reflection #3

I have been in contact with Susan Rittenhouse and we have narrowed down the projects which I will be able to pursue throughout the course of the project.

Area's of work and study could include:

1.  How to clean/restore/recondition the kiosks. 

2.  How to clean/restore/recondition the viewing blinds 

3.  Rake up tumbleweed and kochia. Research and decide what to do next spring to stop them from coming up again.

4.  Where did all the dead fall trees come from?  There are a lot of accumulated dead trees and  small branches in a wide area of the property on the north side of Dike Rd.

5.  Wire fencing needs to be placed around cottonwood trees to prevent beaver impact.  Learn about this and do it.  Likewise, it you notice that a tree has the wire tightly around it, learn what to do at this point.

6.  With a hard-timed rake work on the new parking and shed area.  Fill in  the low areas.  Smooth out the sides.

These areas are volunteer opportunities which I can get started with in the near future. The property at Connected Lakes needs a lot of work and has a lot of potential to be turned into something better than it already is. I am excited to get started!

CAS Reflection #2

This weekend I spent time volunteering at the Connected Lakes property owned by the Grand Valley Audubon Society. This volunteer work was mostly manual labor that involved weed-pulling and restoring trails that had been in bad condition. Weeds on the property had begun to grow onto the trails and were very invasive. This time proved to be a good opportunity to meet with members of the GVAS board. These people included the president, Frank Coons, and the person I will be in contact with for the duration of my project, Susan Rittenhouse. I was able to discuss their goals and my goals in regards to the project. More specifically, we were able to target areas which I could volunteer within the organization. I spent about 4 hours volunteering and was able to clean a large section of trail free of Kochia and Tumbleweed. I will meet with Susan Rittenhouse at the property later so that I can narrow down areas of work.

CAS Reflection #1 August 2014

This month I began planning my I.B. CAS Project. I have always had an interest and passion for protecting and preserving our environment. This drove me to consider a CAS project that revolved around an appreciation for the environment. I value diversity in ecology and understand the need for there to be a wide range of species living in a healthy habitat. In order for future generations to enjoy the environment in the same way that I do, I know that I must do my part in protecting, preserving and conserving. I have also had a life-long interest in bird-watching and am a member of the Grand Valley Audubon Society. I know that the Grand Valley Audubon Society owns a property by Connected Lakes. This increases the volunteer opportunities that I will have because of the land protection and preservation that can take place. I am excited to begin my CAS project and my next step will be to contact members of the Grand Valley Audubon Society board. I will email them to set up a time in which I can meet with them to establish further goals and plans.