Summarize the purpose of your Genius Hour project in 140 characters.
The purpose of our Genius Hour project was to raise money for the Almost Home Animal Shelter. It originally started as raising money for different charities every three months but quickly changed to just raising money for the animal shelter. As a group of animal lovers this was an easy decision to make. We all wanted to help the animal shelter in any way we could. As a group, we raised over $200, and applied to volunteer. To accomplish this we sold multiple kinds of bath bombs, and had two bake sales in our school. The bake sales were our major contributors, but the bath bombs were still a good investment and managed to raise us some money. The purpose was to raise money for the animal shelter in hopes to help the shelter out as much as we possibly could.
Explain the process of your Genius Hour project. Be reflective. Be contemplative. Explain and describe your journey. (No Less Than Three FULL Paragraphs.)
At the beginning of this project we were a group of two, but soon formed into a group of four. Our main goal has always been to raise money for charities in our area. We originally were raising money for different charities but we soon began raising money for just the animal shelter. As a group we all decided, unanimously, to raise money for the animal shelter only.
We started off slowly by researching different items we could make and sell to raise the money. One friday we finally found something doable -- bath bombs. We looked up the supplies and started to make some bath bombs. We started with a recipe that called for Cream of Tartar instead of citric acid, because it is easier to find Cream of Tartar in stores locally. Unfortunately, they did not fizz whatsoever. It was back to the drawing board for us. We looked back upon the recipe that called for citric acid and decided to look into it. On amazon.com we found five pound bags of citric acid for around fifteen dollars. We decided to order them. When the package showed up we made some more bath bombs. These bath bombs turned out, in means of fizz, perfectly. They fizzed up and stayed fizzy for around five minutes. The only problem we had with them was the color -- they were not leaving any color in the water. We decided to add more food coloring, being cautious in fear of staining bath tubs, and it worked out just right.
When we were finished establishing the bath bomb recipe we began to take orders. You could order, pretty much, any color desired but the scents were limited. People began ordering the bath bombs and we began making them. On the nights we made the bath bombs we all gathered at Paige’s house and worked on it as a group. Depending on the amount needed, we could make up to around twenty bath bombs a night. You have to allow the bath bombs to dry completely before attempting to take them from their wrappers, which was supposed to take around eight hours but we allowed them to dry for a couple days. We began selling the bath bombs for three dollars each. It was just enough to start our project off.
Flash forward to a couple months from that. We were now preparing for a bake sale. One of the group members came up with the idea to do a bake sale at our lunches to raise money. To put this idea into action we began by expressing our thoughts to our English 10 teacher, Mrs. Sutton. After we were told it was a good idea we began preparing. We went to the main office after school and picked up a form to do a bake sale at lunch. One of our group members filled the sheet out and turned in the paperwork to the office. It was now only days before the said date of the bake sale, no signs on the walls, no talk about it, it seemed almost like a dead idea. It was after school on a normal day and we decided to check on it. We walked to the office and asked if it had been approved -- it had. We began putting up posters and telling people about it. This bake sale was successful and helped us raise one hundred and forty-nine dollars and fifty cents.
Flash forward a couple more months. We were looking into doing another bake sale since the last one was so successful. We talked to Mrs. Sutton about it, and then grabbed a form from the office, again. The same group member filled out the form. After the form was filled out two group members walked down to the office to submit it only to be surprised by talking to the principle. He asked us what it was for among other common questions before agreeing and signing the paper. We were now set to do another bake sale. We began by creating posters/signs to hang in the hallways. This time we were even more prepared. The bake sale ended up being even more successful than the first one.
After raising all the money we possibly could for this project we decided to go together and donate it. One Saturday afternoon we all ventured to the Almost Home Animal Shelter and handed them the check. They were very pleased to be receiving this donation. We insisted on a picture, for our Weebly pages and they put it up on their Facebook page. If I was to redo this project I would not do it any other way. I think we handled situations very well and raised a good amount of money for the animal shelter.
The intention For Genius Hour is NOT only to learn, but ALSO to share your knowledge with others who can and will benefit from your learning. How did you share your learning? What do you hope the result might be? (No Less Than Two Full Paragraphs.)
I think that we used our knowledge to the best of our abilities to find ideas for raising money. We showed people that people do still care about the animals. We used our resources to look up ways to make money. We made the bathbombs as well as the treats for the bake sale. We put our knowledge to work.
When the bathbombs were not putting off enough color to the water we all used our knowledge to solve the problem. We knew that too much food coloring could result in dying of the bathtub, but not enough would result in a pretty lame bath bomb that isn’t worth the money. Because of this project animals at the shelter will live a little better life. They could get new toys, food, treats, etc. All because we helped them. We didn’t donate a tremendous amount, but it was enough to help out a little bit. When you are running such a large place with so many living animals to take care of inside it’s hard to have enough money all the time. We also shared our bath bombs. Yes, they were boughten, but they still provided people with joy. I hope the result of all of our work is the animals having better lives. I hope that the little amount of money we were able to donate helps the shelter provide for the animals.
If you could do anything different with your Genius Hour project what would you do differently and why? (No less than two full paragraphs.)
What would I do differently? I would coordinate the bake sales a little better. The first one seemed kinda rushed, and we were minorly unprepared. We did however make a good amount of money. Other than that I might look into other projects we could have done to raise a little bit more money. The bath bombs and bake sales did raise a good amount of money, but I think we could have raised a bit more money for the shelter.
I think that our group worked very well together. We tended to get a good amount of work accomplished when we met up for Genius Hour. Because of that, I would not change my group members at all. We all played a part in raising the money for the shelter. We worked as a team. Paige and I were the main leaders of the team. We planned general things, made sure we had enough supplies, and set dates to work on the project outside of school. Amanda and Carlee did help us make the bath bombs, posters, and helped with the bake sales. Our group worked well together, and I wouldn’t change our group. Overall, I think we did a pretty good job on our Genius Hour project.
Reflect on what you did well during this Genius Hour process? Note your successes and accomplishments. (No less than two full paragraphs.)
I believe that I helped lead our group into the right direction. When we needed supplies I tended to go purchase it. (We did have a system in which we were refunded our money from the group. Nobody lost any money.) Paige and I were the leaders of the group. As I mentioned above, we established guidelines for the various projects and worked on the main ideas of the project.
As a group we did well, and as individuals we tended to do well. There were times when some of us got off track and we had to push each other to do the best we could. I think we raised a small, but good, amount of money for the shelter. As a whole I believe we did well. As individuals I think we did okay. Some of us needed a bit more convincing than others, but it worked out in the end.
Include any videos, pictures, presentations, or artifacts that will document your journey.
The purpose of our Genius Hour project was to raise money for the Almost Home Animal Shelter. It originally started as raising money for different charities every three months but quickly changed to just raising money for the animal shelter. As a group of animal lovers this was an easy decision to make. We all wanted to help the animal shelter in any way we could. As a group, we raised over $200, and applied to volunteer. To accomplish this we sold multiple kinds of bath bombs, and had two bake sales in our school. The bake sales were our major contributors, but the bath bombs were still a good investment and managed to raise us some money. The purpose was to raise money for the animal shelter in hopes to help the shelter out as much as we possibly could.
Explain the process of your Genius Hour project. Be reflective. Be contemplative. Explain and describe your journey. (No Less Than Three FULL Paragraphs.)
At the beginning of this project we were a group of two, but soon formed into a group of four. Our main goal has always been to raise money for charities in our area. We originally were raising money for different charities but we soon began raising money for just the animal shelter. As a group we all decided, unanimously, to raise money for the animal shelter only.
We started off slowly by researching different items we could make and sell to raise the money. One friday we finally found something doable -- bath bombs. We looked up the supplies and started to make some bath bombs. We started with a recipe that called for Cream of Tartar instead of citric acid, because it is easier to find Cream of Tartar in stores locally. Unfortunately, they did not fizz whatsoever. It was back to the drawing board for us. We looked back upon the recipe that called for citric acid and decided to look into it. On amazon.com we found five pound bags of citric acid for around fifteen dollars. We decided to order them. When the package showed up we made some more bath bombs. These bath bombs turned out, in means of fizz, perfectly. They fizzed up and stayed fizzy for around five minutes. The only problem we had with them was the color -- they were not leaving any color in the water. We decided to add more food coloring, being cautious in fear of staining bath tubs, and it worked out just right.
When we were finished establishing the bath bomb recipe we began to take orders. You could order, pretty much, any color desired but the scents were limited. People began ordering the bath bombs and we began making them. On the nights we made the bath bombs we all gathered at Paige’s house and worked on it as a group. Depending on the amount needed, we could make up to around twenty bath bombs a night. You have to allow the bath bombs to dry completely before attempting to take them from their wrappers, which was supposed to take around eight hours but we allowed them to dry for a couple days. We began selling the bath bombs for three dollars each. It was just enough to start our project off.
Flash forward to a couple months from that. We were now preparing for a bake sale. One of the group members came up with the idea to do a bake sale at our lunches to raise money. To put this idea into action we began by expressing our thoughts to our English 10 teacher, Mrs. Sutton. After we were told it was a good idea we began preparing. We went to the main office after school and picked up a form to do a bake sale at lunch. One of our group members filled the sheet out and turned in the paperwork to the office. It was now only days before the said date of the bake sale, no signs on the walls, no talk about it, it seemed almost like a dead idea. It was after school on a normal day and we decided to check on it. We walked to the office and asked if it had been approved -- it had. We began putting up posters and telling people about it. This bake sale was successful and helped us raise one hundred and forty-nine dollars and fifty cents.
Flash forward a couple more months. We were looking into doing another bake sale since the last one was so successful. We talked to Mrs. Sutton about it, and then grabbed a form from the office, again. The same group member filled out the form. After the form was filled out two group members walked down to the office to submit it only to be surprised by talking to the principle. He asked us what it was for among other common questions before agreeing and signing the paper. We were now set to do another bake sale. We began by creating posters/signs to hang in the hallways. This time we were even more prepared. The bake sale ended up being even more successful than the first one.
After raising all the money we possibly could for this project we decided to go together and donate it. One Saturday afternoon we all ventured to the Almost Home Animal Shelter and handed them the check. They were very pleased to be receiving this donation. We insisted on a picture, for our Weebly pages and they put it up on their Facebook page. If I was to redo this project I would not do it any other way. I think we handled situations very well and raised a good amount of money for the animal shelter.
The intention For Genius Hour is NOT only to learn, but ALSO to share your knowledge with others who can and will benefit from your learning. How did you share your learning? What do you hope the result might be? (No Less Than Two Full Paragraphs.)
I think that we used our knowledge to the best of our abilities to find ideas for raising money. We showed people that people do still care about the animals. We used our resources to look up ways to make money. We made the bathbombs as well as the treats for the bake sale. We put our knowledge to work.
When the bathbombs were not putting off enough color to the water we all used our knowledge to solve the problem. We knew that too much food coloring could result in dying of the bathtub, but not enough would result in a pretty lame bath bomb that isn’t worth the money. Because of this project animals at the shelter will live a little better life. They could get new toys, food, treats, etc. All because we helped them. We didn’t donate a tremendous amount, but it was enough to help out a little bit. When you are running such a large place with so many living animals to take care of inside it’s hard to have enough money all the time. We also shared our bath bombs. Yes, they were boughten, but they still provided people with joy. I hope the result of all of our work is the animals having better lives. I hope that the little amount of money we were able to donate helps the shelter provide for the animals.
If you could do anything different with your Genius Hour project what would you do differently and why? (No less than two full paragraphs.)
What would I do differently? I would coordinate the bake sales a little better. The first one seemed kinda rushed, and we were minorly unprepared. We did however make a good amount of money. Other than that I might look into other projects we could have done to raise a little bit more money. The bath bombs and bake sales did raise a good amount of money, but I think we could have raised a bit more money for the shelter.
I think that our group worked very well together. We tended to get a good amount of work accomplished when we met up for Genius Hour. Because of that, I would not change my group members at all. We all played a part in raising the money for the shelter. We worked as a team. Paige and I were the main leaders of the team. We planned general things, made sure we had enough supplies, and set dates to work on the project outside of school. Amanda and Carlee did help us make the bath bombs, posters, and helped with the bake sales. Our group worked well together, and I wouldn’t change our group. Overall, I think we did a pretty good job on our Genius Hour project.
Reflect on what you did well during this Genius Hour process? Note your successes and accomplishments. (No less than two full paragraphs.)
I believe that I helped lead our group into the right direction. When we needed supplies I tended to go purchase it. (We did have a system in which we were refunded our money from the group. Nobody lost any money.) Paige and I were the leaders of the group. As I mentioned above, we established guidelines for the various projects and worked on the main ideas of the project.
As a group we did well, and as individuals we tended to do well. There were times when some of us got off track and we had to push each other to do the best we could. I think we raised a small, but good, amount of money for the shelter. As a whole I believe we did well. As individuals I think we did okay. Some of us needed a bit more convincing than others, but it worked out in the end.
Include any videos, pictures, presentations, or artifacts that will document your journey.
Above is a picture of all of us when we went to give the shelter the check. (From left to right; Amanda, Carlee, Diane, Tianna, Paige)
Tianna Fiorucci | [email protected]