Taekwondo

Taekwondo is going great! I am attending more practices, and my techniques are getting better. State is in two weeks and I am so excited and nervous. I haven't done a competition since I was a kid, so its like memories floating in my head. Having a metal around my neck for something that awesome will be such a great reward. I am doing blue belt form for forms for state. I am pretty good at it, minus the fact that my balance is shaking when making turns. I really need to work on that, and most importantly my ending foot jump stomp. It still hurts my foot injury, so I have to find a good balance of technique and lack of pain.
For state I am also doing board break where I come up with a routine, and do break about 5 boards. I decided to do hammer head attack to break my first board. (couldn't find picture) Then for my second board I plan to to an elbow strike.

Then I will reverse my body and do a normal punch to the third board.

Then I will break the fourth board with my favorite kick; an axe kick. It it where you kick your leg straight up, but when you bring it down, it is even faster.

Biggest one of all, I want to break the fifth one with my head, which I have never done before. EVER! It sounds like such an adrenalin rush, and I want to do it, but I need to practice it first of course. http://youtu.be/GI5y53y0NoI

It looks painful, but im excited. I decided that before I perform in front of people for the first time in years, I should perform it in a small crowd. Last Friday I did my church talent show, and I did my blue belt form, and my friend helped me with 3 step sparring. It was good to perform in front of people again, before the big scary STATE!



Keep You Posted!
Ciara

BIGGER AND BETTER!

BIGGER AND BETTER things are happening for Shimmer, Sparkle, Shine. It is currently going through the paperwork to be non profit which is amazing! I have people interested on being on the Board of Directors, and the by-laws and articles of confederation are written. Now its just the approval and IRS Tax Exemption Form. So exciting that I am only 17 and can make this kind of difference. Its alot of hard work, but yet I am learning so much.
The biggest problem is that it is going to cost over $700 to get tax exempt status from the IRS. So that led me to a great idea! This place I love to paint at with my mom and my friend is called Canvas and Cocktails. It is so fun because they teach you step by step how to paint the picture you signed up for, and it actually comes out nice. There is also a bar for people old enough to drink, and fun instructors and music. In the past they have held fundraiser nights, where all they money made goes towards the charity for the night. They make a lot of money doing this too!
I decided to go on a whim, and ask them if they could host a fundraiser night for us, so that we could have the funds to become a non-profit and they said yes! It will be some time in June, and I am so excited.
A logo is also being created for Shimmer, Sparkle, Shine which is exciting as well!
I also have another SSSP event scheduled for in May. It is going to be for the girls at my Taekwondo. Its going to have some similarities and differences then the last event. The biggest changes is first the fact that we are going to incorporate the tenants of Taekwondo into it, which are like values.

Boost books will still be done, along with group discussions, but instead of glamour shots they will be motion shots. Instead of them doing hair and nails with older girls, they are going to get dressed in their Taekwondo uniform, and get pictures done of them doing taekwondo so that they can see themselves in power! Plus, motion is hard for me to do in photography, so this will be great practice!
They also love to play Taekwondo games with Master Andre so some of that will be in there as well. Going to be great!

On a personal note, I decided that Shimmer, Sparkle, Shine Project is my life calling. I feel a burning in my heart every time I go to do it, or think about it. This is why I am here, to make girls happy about who they are. So I decided to go to collage to pursue this. I want a minor in non-profit management, and a major in sociology of physiology. Have to do more research on that aspect, but who knew that CAS would help me find my life calling!

Reflection for the Shimmer Sparkle Shine Project Event 1

My first event for the Shimmer, Sparkle Shine Project went AMAZING! I am so glad to have the opportunity to spread the message that girls should love themselves. When I started out with the Shimmer Sparkle Shine Project I had two goals for my learning outcomes. Through the first 3 girls on an individual level, and planning the first event I achieved these. The first was to Engage in An Issue of Social Importance and the second was to Collaborate With Others.

Before I get into my reflection, I want to give an outline of the event, and Shimmer Sparkle Shine's ways to help raise girls self esteem.
The first thing we did was start off with a discussion and get to know you. It started off with all the girls having to introduce themselves along with one thing that they like about who they are. Then Carleigh and I both had power points on things we find beautiful. I talked about my mom along with other family members and friends. I also discussed how I find keys beautiful. My theory behind that was that a key is like a person. Each key is different and unique and is different then other keys. Each key is different, and serves a different purpose. It can also unlock different doors or "opportunities" that are unique to that key or person. I some how want to incorporate this into Shimmer Sparkle Shine.



The next activity was "Boost Books" which I got as an idea from the Dove Self Esteem Campaign. The whole point of the book is to put things inside of it that can cheer you up when you are down like pictures or quotes. I covered basic notebooks in paper before hand, then at the event the girls were able to decorate them with stickers and paper to be unique for them. The volunteers also all brought in an insperational quote to put in the girls gift bags to have them put into their Boost Books.




After that was games, then lunch. The girls enjoyed a Nacho Buffet, then snacked on cupcakes that were made and donated from the Bagel Bakery in Thornton.




Followed by lunch was fun makeover time. All of the volunteers did the girls hair and makeup for their photoshoots. This gave a more one on one aspect between the girl and volunteer with a big sister like relationship. The volunteers and girls seemed to match up perfectly together and create a relationship. It was great to see all ages bonding together and involved.




Followed by this was a photoshoot done for each girl by Carleigh and myself. This way each girl had photos of them to take home that they could have too look back on and reflect on how their real beauty shines through. ( critique of photography to come later)


After that Silver (a volunteer) entertained the girls with games. Then it was closing all the girls came in front of the group one by one and shared what they learned, and received their goody bags with girly stuff donated from Clairs and others!

My first goal was to focus on an issue of global importance. Everything described above sums up how I did it. From here I plan to continue the process of making it a non profit this summer to effect even more girls.

The second goal defiantly came through as a learning outcome which was to collaborate with others. Initially I thought of this as communication between me and the girls, but it went in a different direction. It first started off as way of communication between Carleigh and myself. Carleigh was the one who helped me plan the event. I had to make sure that I wasn't overpowering and that I included her ideas as well. I also had to make sure to include her in the decision making process. We are both very involved people, so it was hard to get together alot, but we made it work.

The next form of collaboration was between myself and the volunteers. I needed help from them to make it all possible. They all helped with the set up, running the actual event, the makeovers, and clean up. It is sometimes hard to put yourself out there with a need for help but it went amazingly well. Every volunteer was excited and had a positive mind frame about the project. Some girls had amazing ideas for us to incorporate in. The volunteers also learned just as much about themselves and their self esteem in my opinion. For myself personally I help myself when I help others, and I think the volunteers were the same way. Some of them were emotional through the day because of the impact we had on the girls. It was great to have the volunteers.



The last collaboration was with Clairs in 16th Street Mall. We contacted them with our idea, and the manager along with the others at that location donated jewelry, makeup, and hair pieces for the girls gift bags. It was amazing!




Another key element was not only the service portion, but the creative side as well. It was just like throwing party planning. Decorations had to be made, goodie bags, and games.




The last goal was to improve my photography. Lighting is sometimes an issue for me, and I really wanted to improve that element. I also like focuses on zooms in of the face, because I find the face a beautiful element to be focused on, and is overall what Shimmer Sparkle Shine is about. It is difficult to work with some girls over others. I just had to figure them out, and get to know them so I could make them comfortable to be themselves and take pictures that reflect them. I did take pictures of my first little girl who has glasses, and after wards I was going through the photos and noticed that her glasses reflected in the photos. That is something I have to be aware of for the future, and learn how to avoid the reflection. Each picture below is my favorite from each girl I photographed.











This is only the start of Shimmer Sparkle Shine. It is going places, and is going to effect a lot of people. Exciting!
Ciara

Reflection for Project Valentine

Project Valentine went great this year and I am so grateful to have had the chance to be apart of the magic. The weekend before Valentine's Day was Assembly day to put all the gift bags together. It was amazing to see all of the gifts that were donated!





I also was offered the chance to deliver the bags to the Thornton Rocky Mountain Cancer Center on Valentine's Day, but I was sick with a cold, and I didn't want to infect anyone. My mom and my uncle went in replacement of myself.

My two learning outcomes for Project Valentine 2012 was Planning and Initiating Activities along with Developing New Skills.

For Planning and Initiating Activities I had my church group help me along with my family. My church group made Stress Balls along with Valentine's Day Cards. I also rallied my family together to make a total of 400 cards and 100 pair of earrings. I learned a lot just from putting these few minor activities together.

My second learning outcome of Developing New Skills was used in the creative portion, and the communication aspect as well. I took 2 classes from my local bead store (Ally Cat Beads) to learn to make earnings and an intricate twined necklace. Both of these classes required that I use metal and metal tools. I learned new methods of working with metal that led me to help make earrings for the gift bags. Another skill I learned was communicating with others in a sophisticated manner by both email and telephone. Both are very important skills to have in the workforce. I learned communication through email with talking with the founder of Project Valentine; Rita. When I finally met her in person at one of the Project Valentine Inventory Events, she complimented my passion and voice that was coming across in email. In addition I had to call the Cancer Center to find out how many patients they were expecting that day. It was hard to get in contact with the coordinator, but I made it happen. I get really nervous on the phone, so this was good for me to do.

It was great to see the satisfaction from the people in charge of Project Valentine for all of the donations that not only came in from me, but other people and companies. The people in charger were very kind, and humble. You could tell that they had a passion for what they were doing, and had their whole heart into it. It only inspired me to want to help as well. It was amazing to see how someone's attitude can effect other people as well.

I am a firm believer that we need to find a cure for cancer, and continue cancer research. I also believe that something needs to be done in the mean tine to help the people that have cancer, and that is what Project Valentine does. They don;t get the luxury to have a "cure" before they experience cancer, so we need to help them live a more comfortable life. Project Valentine for 2012 turned out great!
Ciara