EMRS Outing Day 2013

In the effort of getting the EMRS Team to bond and know each other better, the DBI students from EMRS Team 3 were given a task to plan out an outing which was held on 25 March 2013, from 9:30am - 4:30pm.

Planning Stage

We were given an approximate of 2 weeks to plan and organize the event, which included brainstorming on what games to play, planning of the program flow, checking out items needed for the games, choosing the food and drinks that the Team preferred as well as recce of the venue.

Actual Day

On the day itself, everybody met at Marina Bay MRT Station around 9.30am. Although there were latecomers, we managed to catch the 9.50am bus, and  reached Marina Barrage at 10am.
After settling down, we started off with the ice breakers games. We played a total of 2 ice breakers which were Tom and Jerry followed by Sing Out Loud.
The purpose of the ice breakers game was to get everybody warmed up as well as getting to know each other better. Other than that, they also learnt to work together as a team and gave their utmost best in whatever they did.

Tom and Jerry!

Sing Out Loud!

After "breaking" the ice, we started off with the briefing of the main game, The Mayor Game. It is similar to the Amazing Race, whereby they were divided into 4 groups and have to complete a total of 5 stations. 
The first station was the "Factory Job" whereby the teams were given 8 mins to sew as many cloth as possible. 

Sewing Work of the EMRS! 

The second station was "Prawning". Each group member was given an option to either open or close their eyes and pick up as many marbles as possible within the given time. 

Trying hard to pick up the marbles!

The third station was " Hard Labour". Each group was assigned to carry a team member from one point to another within 2 minutes. 

The only guy working hard for the team! 

The fourth station was "Blowing time". At this station, the team had to choose 2 members where one of them had to hop on one leg and the other to run on the spot as they blew up as many balloons as they could within 2 minutes.

Blow Blow Blow!

After completing all four stations, each team had to return back to the finishing line where the last station was.         Whichever team that reached the finishing line first, would be able to receive a bigger amount of  "money" on top of what they had earned from the other four stations. The game at the last station was "Bunny Time"  whereby each member's ankle would be tied to each other and the teams competed against each other. 

Station master giving instructions to the teams!

By the time we finished the first part of the Mayor Game, everyone was hungry and it was LUNCH TIME! We ordered Sarpino's Pizza and it was delivered on time. After the pizzas were arranged into different flavors, everyone started to eat and enjoyed their pizzas and drinks!

Nomz Nomz!

After everyone had a  fulfilling lunch, we started on the second part of the Mayor Game! Using the money that the teams  had earned, they were entitled to buy the materials needed to build the house. The materials included ice cream sticks, masking tapes and scissors. Each team had to build a house with a strong base using the materials provided. Afterwhich, a ball would be thrown at the house to see if it breaks or topples over. The purpose of this game is to encourage teamwork.

Team 1!

Team 2!

Team 3!

Team 4!

Teams 1-4 "Ice Cream Stick Houses!"

Upon completion of the Mayor Game, we continued on with a few team games before ending the day. The games included "Tug-Of-War", " Rope Skipping" and " Police and Murderer"

Trying hard to jump!

Police or Murderer? Hmmm...

After all the games have ended, everyone finally got their prizes! Although it was a long and tiring day at Marina Barrage, everyone enjoyed themselves and we are definitely closer to one another! :) To conclude, we would like to thank the supervisors and the students who took part in the outing and made it a success.

EMRS TEAM 2 & 3!

The National Spelling Championship Preliminary Round 2013

To say that the National Spelling Championship Preliminary Rounds 2013 was jam-packed and fascinating would be a severe understatement. Crowds of students, teachers and parents gradually swallowed the grounds of Fairmont ballroom’s interior and exterior. Mascots paraded around established booths, nearly immediately catching the keen eyes of the primary school students who would otherwise think that the waiting area would be drab, dense and dull or maybe even stressful and unnerving without them.

As the ballroom doors opened, participants flourished sporadically through the door and to their seats like a flush of water. Chilly, humongous and anxiety-inducing, the ballroom, decked with milo packets and worksheets welcomed the students to the very first round of the Spelling Bee, along with the MOE representative Mrs Soo of course.

Intensified and mind-tingling, the silence of the ballroom ensued as the first word began. Surveying the room, you could see many types of faces; scared, confident, reluctant or simply brutally confused. Nevertheless, the event went by smoothly, children began to be dismissed, and interviews started almost immediately thereafter. Students retreated to the embrace of their parents, teachers and guardians, in fear and glory as the event concluded.

Atmosphere aside, the team has learnt of the values of planning, executing and performing; a skill that will undoubtedly prove most useful when we are aloft into our own jobs and lifestyles in the future.

Supposedly, some of the more highlighted components we have learnt on planning were that certain variables, like supporting and initial information and time constraints, can change almost instantly, distorting the structure, position and the procedure execution of our plans. Back-up plans, universal processes, measures to mitigate risks through checks and audits and the ability to morph and mould a new form of plan performance were our best friends.

It’s safe to say that the experience from planning the preliminary rounds has challenged and propelled our ability to adapt to new, fresh situations into in an ever-changing environment. One example, is the drastic increase to the number of students we had to accommodate, which increased by more than 100, changing our zone allocation, registration list and floor plans. Even then the list continued to change, requiring us to make amendments on the spot, as the time grew short and the event was on the horizon.

Teamwork-wise, we can strongly vouch for the fact that we have worked extremely well together for the Spelling Bee Preliminary Rounds, being both effective in our doings and efficient in our resource management. There were absolutely no heated arguments, mainly because we took votes to certain key points, like the structure of the registration list and sticker allocation process. We shared our thoughts, implying the possible scenarios, boons and banes; and in the end, share a single consensus and decision, with a little bit of help and direction by our teachers and supervisors too, of course. After all, a well-oiled machine gives good results, right?

Above everything, the event was a success. Taking note of the more prominent problems faced last year, mainly the registration bit, we had the necessary knowledge and means to find and tailor our own structure and procedure. Despite the tight quantity on manpower, especially male manpower, we have been able to ascertain majority of the problems and scenarios we have assumed through planning. But of course, nothing is perfect; a few components in our process, such as asking for EZ-link cards for registration and the lack of ushering strength have proven as challenges. Nevertheless, it tested our wits and has possibly enhanced our spontaneous solution thinking. Despite the bits and bobs strewn about as a result of our mistakes, the event was planned competently and proficiently. I’m sure we can all recall when an SPH representative told us at the end of the event that ‘the results and performance this year was 200% better than last year’, which naturally made the pressures and stress of planning all the more worthwhile.

Though only 2 weeks have passed, and only 1 event was done, we can confidently say that the next 2 rounds of the Spelling Bee will be much more viable for us to do, given the skills and mistakes we have picked up from doing the first. Above that, these skills, and memories will carry on with us, even when we leave and conclude our stopover at EMRS. Looking forward to the next few weeks we have together. Contented, hopeful and satisfied.

Spring Hues Mini Roadshow

To kickstart TEP, EMRS Team 2 was assigned to organize a mini-roadshow at the linkway outside the Shopping Arcade to sell both MSC and Cheers products. The roadshow was held on 05 March 2013 from 10.30am to 3.30pm.

Planning Stage

We were given approximately 1 week to organize and plan for the mini-roadshow, such as   advertising, coming up with the logistic list, and selecting the products to be sold. The ICs for the events were Andrew Leong as the overall IC, Crystal as IC for A&P, Mia as IC for Finance and Ying Li as IC for Logistics. Our team also includes DBI students, who joined us only a day before the event. We were given a budget of $30 to prepare for the whole event and we spent $24.05 from the budget.

During the product selection, the team initially wanted to select items from MSC only, thinking it would be easier to achieve the sales target with their higher-priced items, as compared to Cheers. However, after a few discussions, the team decided to take up both MSC and Cheers products due to the shortage in students and staff during the term break.

Some of the products taken from MSC and Cheers

For our A&P, the team chose a SPRING theme for the mini roadshow. The designs of our banner, poster and price tags were done according to the spring colours. We had placed our posters at 4 different locations, where we felt that we could attract more people.  The dress code for our team was spring colours for the guys and floral prints for the ladies.

Our poster with some of the promotion items.

Events Day

On the events day, our team’s initial meeting time was 8:45 a.m. However, due to latecomers, we had to wait until 9 a.m. before setting up our booth. The team was split into half, where one group was to collect the fixtures and the other half was to collect the products.

 The team taking the fixture and products and setting up the booth.

Since we are planning to sell chilled drinks, we took one of the plastic containers to store the drinks in. Unfortunately, disasters do happen! The plastic container that we stored the chilled drinks in, had a huge hole and caused a lot of leakage. 2 of our members went back to the fixture room to change the container for the storage.

The members and Ms Choo going back to fixture room and the other member drying the floor.

Selling Time

Its 10.3O am and it’s time for sales! The team started to split according to planned outline, the 1^st team of mobile sellers took a trip down to the SIT block. They managed to sell off most of the products. As for the booth, it was a bit hard to get customers to our booth at that time as it was the school holidays and there weren't many customers walking about. However during lunch time, sales were good as the team managed to attract customers with the promotion products.

Customers at the booth and the mobile seller.

The second team of mobile seller were sent to the SBM block but there weren't much teachers in the staff room as it was still lunch time. The team then decided to walk all over the nearest block and managed to sell off most of the products.

Time check, it’s 2.00pm, sales for our hot selling items Redondo and Pepero are running low. Informed by our supervisors that we can restock the products, we decided to resumse our mobile selling with the replenished products. Sales at the booth were still slow so the team managed to encourage their classmates to buy.

The event ended by 3.30pm and we managed to clear our booth by 4.00pm. Even though we were exhausted, we had fun managing the booth and sales.

The team members and supervisor.