Passions.
In the first week of every new school year classes ask you to pinpoint
one activity as what you find the most interesting and why it makes you
special. My response varies from a standard “I don’t know” to a casual
“I’ll pass”. Just my luck when the question resurrected in the middle of
the year. I’ve been able to skid by without giving a direct answer but a
seven week assignment is a little much to invest my time into for a
fake passion. I tried to think of the basics like dance and piano but
the activities gave me little desire to improve immensely. Then I
reached a point in decision making where there is really only one thing
left to do... I asked my mom. She told me that the only time she ever
really saw me have real energy for something is when I’m trying to make a
change. This really got me nowhere. I’ve raised money in the past and
planned fundraisers so I wasn’t about to delve so deeply into something I
already had. But, then I realized that the charitable work I’ve never hit is the type for the
emotional aspect of helping people out. I have never created something
that makes someone feel like they have the ability and are in the
position to do the same for someone else. I wanted to campaign a pay it
forward (http://www.payitforwardfoundation.org/). Though I have put much thought into it, I
have found it is would be nearly impossible to track the actions if it
was done throughout the school. So, I will produce the pay it forward on
Facebook as a way to counteract cyber-bullying. A new Facebook account
called "Wissahickon Compliments" will be created and people can message
in something positive about a friend or someone they think needs it,
anonymously, and it will be posted by the account. If someone writes
about you, you write about someone else, portraying the pay it forward.
What I will really be teaching myself is how to campaign this in and out of school
and learn how to motivate people intrinsically to get involved. In the end, I hope to reach a point where almost every member of Wissahickon High School is friends with the account on Facebook and every participant has been written about and has sent out a message. I was also contemplating asking teachers if they think they saw a change in certain student's moods and feelings towards school. Just an idea.
Now that
you know, you have to keep it in the gifted classes that the account
was created by me. Knowing who’s behind the account ruins it a little
bit, sorry. Anyway...Friend me!
How to reach my goal:
Weeks 1, 2, and 3- create the account and see how the school responds to the idea. Watch for who sends in messages and who receives them. Learn who embraces the idea and who to target a campaign towards
Week 4- Create a campaign. Send out virtual posters, physically try and convince people to get involved, and other means of connecting to the teenage mind.
Week 5- Watch for changes from the campaign. Were more people involved? Were different groups of people interspersing? Maybe interview some teachers to see if the virtual positivity transferred to the real world.
Week 6- Compile the data. Find every compliment sent in and analyze who sent it in, if the person "paid it forward" and maybe even make a collage of the messages to hang up in the school.
Wow! I think that your project is amazing! Sometimes people feel beat down and what your doing is a truly great way to help others. Sometimes, after a bad day, it is nice to receive a compliment.
ReplyDeleteI have a little bit of experience in marketing; as the assistant yearbook editor I know just how hard it can be to campaign successfully. My advice to you would be to spread the word. If people know about your Facebook page I think they will want to be a part of it. I know that Facebook offers adds/banners for free if you have a Facebook page. I am not sure if this would work for you but setting up advertising on Facebook directly could be a great way to inform people of your cause.
I wish you the best of luck!
I think this is a really neat idea. It would be interesting to get people to participate. I think hearing compliments from your peers would be a great way to cheer up! Also, I think Facebook is a great idea for this, because almost all of us have Facebook accounts and often spend quite some time on Facebook socializing with our friends. Great idea to get lots of participants!
ReplyDeleteHey Chloe! Out of all the projects I have read about, yours is definitely one of the most unique ones. The idea students sending and receiving compliments through Facebook is something that I'm sure has never crossed through most students' minds. Most students are too caught up in looking cool on Facebook, and they often do this by putting down other students. I agree with you that this needs to be put to an end, and what better way to so then to create an account that sends comments anonymously.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that I worry about that might go wrong is if only "popular" kids end up getting compliments. There would have to be a way that everyone receives an even amount of compliments. Or the compliments could be in-boxed so that only the receiver can see them. Anyways, good luck. I'm sure this will turn out great!
BABY CHLOE
ReplyDeleteWell I think your project is flawless. Despite what Bryce said, your facebook persona is going quite well. There are a diversity of kids getting compliments which actually surprised me a lot. However, I strongly suggest you actually to go and friend most of the students from WHS in order to actually achieve your ultimate goal. Other than that, I'm excited for your TED talk and wish you best of luck in your end project.
Chloe, I think that what you've chosen to do for your project is simply unique and great! The idea that what makes you truly passionate is improving the lives of others is one that's hard not to warm up to. I've already taken up friending the "Wissahickon Compliments" page, and I'm impressed to see that a good portion of our school is already aware of it. If I were to make just a small comment, I'm curious to see how you'll handle extending to compliments not just to certain "groups" of people or friends within our school, but to everybody. I think that a well-run campaign can really make a difference. Anyway, best of luck!
ReplyDeleteChloe, this idea is amazing and very creative. I can definitely tell that, knowing you, it is the perfect thing for your personality and your dedication. Additionally, I find it awesome that you are actually following a suggestion of the school and trying to counteract cyber bullying, because it is a very real and prevalent issue, even at Wissahickon. I also love the fact that you admitted that you talked to your mom. Sometimes other people know us better than we know ourselves, and I think that was a great move. If people don't really react to the site, even the advertisements, do you plan on trying some other way to get the word out? Do you think possibly you could get Mr. Perlman and Mr. McDaniels involved in spreading the word?
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, this is just a suggestion, but maybe you could try to branch out from compliments and offer a reward or motive for people to possibly go out and actually say something nice to another person face-to-face. Good luck and I am excited to follow your progress!