The big spell zonal

Spelling Bee Zonal rounds

A horde’s worth of about 1400 students has now been compressed into that of about a hundred plus. In addition to the vast change of participants to cater for, the dynamics, agenda and requirements has also been remoulded. Fortunately, the time span we were given was about a month, a less taxing and less burdening time constraint compared to the rushed 2 weeks we were given for  the preliminary rounds.

Not too long ago, the Diploma of Business Informatics (DBI) students joined us, on 4^th march. Not only a steady form of manpower for us to repurpose, they also turned out to be valued company. We learn from them just as much as they have learnt from us too. Shuffled and merged, the class seemed ever noisier, but ever more fun too. Social circles enlarged and conversing outlets opened up as we melded in with our new surroundings.

Essentially, the EMRS class, now compromising of about 25 people had to be split up into 4 zones; North, East, South and West, with about 6 per zone. Not only did we need to prepare for a new set of stickers, participant bibs, with self-formed designs, and other miscellaneous components, we had to prepare and jot out 4 different venues’ floor plans and deployment. Suffice to say, we were glad that we had much less students to accommodate for, but in turn, had to cater for the manpower branching.

East-side Zonals

With our new donned level of adaptability and acute precision from the preliminary rounds, we tailored a new system and structure, stitching up the loose ends here and there, in pursuit of a more impeccable performance for the Zonal competitions.

With the assumption that the structure of various items, like presentations and registration lists, had to be similar for all 4 zones, we had to closely check against the other ‘zone teams’ to ensure that we are all on the right track together. A single mistake or difference gone unnoticed and discovered too late would not confuse, but it would also cause inefficiency. We guess you can say it was important to uphold clarity while communicating well. In a sense, we had to be a little more perfectionistic.

As for the event itself, we proceeded to our own destination; namely, Tampines’ Library.

Overall, everything panned out well, the registration bit was a breeze, with all attendances accounted for, and all bibs placed quickly and properly. The kids enjoyed their freebies and Koko Krunch while their parents engaged in a little chit-chat. Surprisingly, the participants seemed quite calm and collected, given the impending competition.

Onto the allocated library hall where the event took place, audience members and participants alike began to fill up the seats. Eager and beginning to get anxious, they were warmly greeted and slightly entertained by the emcee. Soon thereafter, students got up, lined up and proceeded onwards. The event had commenced in unison with the other zones.

Throughout the competition, we noticed a couple that had been constantly mouthing letters of listed spelling words for one contestant in particular. After reporting, the student was eliminated, with the couple sent to the back of the hall.

One by one, students were gradually eliminated, descending back to their seats in heart-shattering tears or overly-bashful smiles until the last 2 students remained, competing for the east-zonal spelling title. After a short string of wrongly spelt words, a St Hilda’s student emerged the victor, assuring him a spot in the Finals for the Spelling Bee.

More focused to our duties in the hall, we believe that we carried them out well, as all the needs of students, parents, supporters, and judges were accommodated for.

Overall, everything went impeccably. Winning participants reigned victorious while those who lost retreated to their parents in some humiliation and disappointment. On task with fluent execution, there was no remarkable issue reported, which implied meant that the team had worked well and effectively together.

North-side Zonals

Students began to flow in rapidly even before 8:30am, our designated registration time. Nervous and queued up, we synced with each other and registered the participants, who all turned up for the occasion, quickly and on time before their briefing.

Some of the parents wanted to pin the bibs on their own children out of a little overprotectiveness, complaining that the pins were rather small and difficult to use. In any case, this sped up our registration process, regardless.

With the exception of one missing student, participants were embraced by the unusual warmth of the library, prepped to listen in to their briefing. In addition to minor problems encountered, one of the participant’s bib was torn by its safety pin holes with that safety pin missing. Easily rectified, we fixed the bib up and sent all the students to get ready for the start of the event.

Emcees nullified the nervousness of participants and the audience by entertaining them with comically-induced sarcasm and jokes. For example, the emcee wanted to entertain everyone by singing a song, only to be sadly rejected by one of the participants who confidently said “No, thanks”.

With that, and the introduction of the officials by the front row, the event began promptly. Words continuously became larger and more confusing, what’s even more surprising is that the contestants successfully spelt them with ease.

Throughout the event, microphone adjusters, ushers and the time keeper did their jobs flawlessly, causing no delay and proving ourselves competent.

Anti-climactic as it is, the champion was quickly decided upon as the other two contestants had spelt their words wrong. What made it even more anti-climactic was that the second and third place took forever to derive.

Through it all, we think that we did a good job and the event went well with very few problems.

 

West-side Zonals

With our venue decked up with the necessary preparations placed the day before, coupled with our months’ worth of preparation for the occasion, we were ready and eager to get it through and over with.

With clear knowledge of our tasks

and time spans, we took a good one and a half hour to wrap up the registration, ending at about 9am. As such everyone was punctual and we had accomplished everything we needed to in our designated time span, causing no delay.

As the entrance to building and the location of the event, the EDUtorium, were relatively far apart, an usher was placed to ascertain the direction of supporters and students to the venue.

Eager and jumpy, the students quickly went to their seats, with their parents trailing and sitting behind them. Interviewers and media leered closely to the competition throughout to get the scoop they needed.

As the south zone took the longest to get ready, given the quantity of their students, everyone had to wait a short moment patiently. After the somewhat quiet wait, the students were brought up to the stage in an orderly manner.

Starting at 10am sharp, words were issued and spelt correctly, mostly that is. With the ticks of the clocks and minutes that pass by, students drained back to their seats in a flood of unhappy emotions. The stage became increasingly vacant as did the pressure of the remaining contestants.

2 hours had passed and it had finally come down to 2 students. Knowing it was going to end soon, the students had plastered smiles on their faces, summoning all the knowledge they had. In the end, a Unity primary school kid won and beaming with pride he accepted his triumph and secured his position in the final rounds.

Roles were executed well and overall, it was a good and memorable experience spent with both my team-mates and supervisor.

South-side Zonals

Equipped with the skills that we’ve picked up from all the previous events that we’ve observed and partaken, we planned an executed the zonal round in the south side with a banked readiness and steadiness.

Taking place in our own school, Nanyang Polytechnic, TFA, we’ve had to hand prepare the venue from scratch, an ironic ‘home advantage’.

Naturally, among the 4 zones, we took the longest to register and usher as we had the most amount of students to cater for, 44 students. Nevertheless, the process was swift and the venue became swarmed with people.

The manpower was vigilant just as the students were confident; rounds by rounds were cleared, with not a single person eliminated till the later rounds. Imaginably, one would think that it would have taken forever to finish this round of the spelling bee. Honestly, it did, it ended 2:30pm from 10am.

As the students slowly got eliminated, emphasis on the ‘slowly’, it finally came down to 4 finalists, competing for the first and third place. Tension built up and burst into applause as the winner emerged from Catholic High Primary.

All in all, it was a good event. Despite its lengthiness, it was fun and rather worthwhile. The roles were relatively easy and was simple to plan and handle.

Conclusion

Overall, on all 4 sides, everything went impeccably. Winning participants reigned victorious while those who lost retreated to their parents in some humiliation and disappointment. On task with fluent execution, there were no issue reported in any of the 4 segments, which assumedly meant that the teams have worked well and effectively together.

It’s been about one and a half months already, and the DBI students have come to the end of their stay with us. Though their stay was but two-thirds of ours (6 weeks), you can say that it’s good that they came along when they did. We definitely needed the help. The fun, cheers and laughter were but valued perks. In such a short time, we’ve learnt to collect ourselves and unravel. Not too long ago, this pool of noisy EMRS companions was, believe it or not, silent, docile and awkward classmates at the start. Whisking past the short-term reminiscing, everything on this end seems pretty awesome; the people, the tasks, the event results, and of course, our lessons and companionships. One final event waits on the horizon, finals. Till then, we remain gratified and delighted.

EMRS bonding session (11/03/2013)

In the effort of getting the whole of EMRS to bond and know each other better, Hee Jin from Team 3 and Jia Ming from Team 2 were tasked to organize a bonding session on 11 March 2013, from 2:00pm - 4:30pm.

Planning Stage

We had to think of appropriate games taking into consideration the safety, fun and venues. We prepared a list of games with instructions and the logistics required.

We played games like...
1) Whacko, so that the participants will be able to remember each other’s’ names.

 

2) Bang game, to let participants be familiar with each other.

3) Balloon popping, it was most enjoyable game out of all the games it also helped to cultivate pair teamwork among the participants.

4) Straw game, helps to cultivate teamwork.

5) Human knot, cultivate creative thinking and teamwork

6) Captain’s ball, cultivate teamwork

Challenges we faced

For preparation of the game, we needed to estimate the amount of logistics so that we could have sufficient amount for games. But we had prepared well and games went smoothly without any delay.

And around 4pm, we played the last game on our list, which was captain’s ball. Initially we thought that the weather would get better at 4pm, but it did not. Instead, it became even hotter. Because of the sun, we had to cut short our game from half an hour to fifteen minutes. We took precautions by asking participants to keep themselves hydrated at all times.

After the event

During debriefing, we asked participant whether they had enjoyed the bonding session and overall rate was ‘’good’’. The first reason we could not get ‘very good’ was because they found that few games like the straw game was not fun. The second reason may be because of the challenge we faced, the hot weather. Overall, participants were satisfied with the games we had prepared and they had fun together. We believe that through this very first bonding session, we had opportunity to spend fun time together to know about each of everyone and bring everyone closer together.

Customized Study Path(CSP)

The Customised Study Path (CSP) was held on 9^th April 2012. Team 2 did the planning for this event and both team 2 and team 3 were involved in the execution process. The objective of this event was to ensure that the entire process of the registering of modules for students was smooth and also to expose EMRS students to better understand crowd control management.

We had about a week to plan for this event so there were changes in coordination. We took reference of the powerpoint slides, layout and signages from the previous EMRS Team who has also done the CSP Registration. But we came up with new designs and ideas for our queue numbers, signages and powerpoint slides. Prior to the event we have already prepared the queue numbers and signages to ensure that they will still be in good condition. We also went round clearing the rooms needed to ensure that they are spick-and-span for the actual day. Along with a fellow team member Meng Jun, we also went round the rooms to arrange the furniture needed for the event.

All the manpower was briefed a day before on their job scope. Also there was a briefing conducted by a lecturer on how to use the software necessary for the registration of modules which was attended by EMRS students who were tasked to  station at the computer labs, including the 2 OICs.

An hour before the event kicks off, The OICs, with the help of Ms Choo and Ms Quek, went around preparing all the necessary rooms needed for the event by screening a slideshow which gave students instructions on how to proceed after each procedure. After lunch, the EMRS team members were deployed to their respective rooms to kick start the registration. The team members were deployed to their respective rooms 20 minutes before the event started.

 Our Room ICs were given queue numbers and registration lists for the diplomas they were assigned to. As the number of students expected to turn up for CSP are different for the various diplomas and specializations, some of the rooms were more. We managed to complete the event by 5pm sharp.

Key Takeaways

Both of us learnt the importance of time management through this event. Also we learnt to use proper title for the signages. Even though it is a small-scale event but we both had fun planning for this event. This event made us appreciate the importance of teamwork and collaboration. While checking the rooms we also saw how diligently everyone was carrying out their tasks which really impacted us a lot.

Overall, the event was a great success as most of the students managed to register their modules on time before the printing room closes. Huge thanks to EMRS Team 2 and Team 3 for all of your supports in ensuring the success of the event! 

Specialist Diploma Graduation 2013

27th March 2013 was an important date for the Graduants from Specialist Diploma in Supply Chain Management, Specialist Diploma in Hospitality and Resort Management and Specialist Diploma in Fund Management & Administration.

EMRS Team 3 was tasked to assist this event. Two weeks before the event, Mr Chan, the Lecturer in charged of this event gave us the overview of this event and assigned us our respective roles which included registration, ushering of the graduants and VIPs as well as handling of logistics. 

One week later, we went through another round of dry run on what to expect on the actual day of the event. We rehearsed a few times before the event commenced! As we are first timers handling such important event, we felt nervous as we wanted to put on our best performance and to avoid hiccups.

When the actual day arrived, all of us reported an hour earlier before the registration commenced. We did the final dry run and everything seemed to go on well. We were given the chance to role play as graduants queuing up and collecting the certificates. After a few rehearsals, we became more familiar with the whole process and were more confident.

Registration started at 2:30p.m whereas the official proceedings started at 4:00p.m at LTD-2. Though there were a total of 80 graduates this year, only 50 of them turned up. 

Registration~

Waiting for the Directors to arrive~

When the Directors, who were also the VIPs,  arrived, a video presentation was played reminiscing the times the graduants went through. We could tell that they enjoyed the video as they were laughing at some of the shots showed on the screen. Following that, was a speech given by Mr Henry Heng, Director for School of Business Management, Nanyang Polytechnic.

Mr Henry Heng gave speech to the Graduates.

The highlight of the event was the distribution of Certificates to the graduates.

Joanne passing the Certificates to the Director.

After the event ended, the Directors and graduates were asked to leave first for the photo taking session. Light refreshments were provided for the graduates and their families.

Getting ready for photo taking.

Refreshment time!!!

Queuing up for food!!

At the end of the event, we were all tired. But there was a sense of achievement in us as the lecturers who were at the event were satisfied with our performance and praised us for doing a great job.

It was an eye opener for us as we learnt the importance of teamwork. We would like to thank Mr Chan and the Supervisors for giving us the opportunity to be involved in the SD Graduation. We really had a great time! :)

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.