Emailing the right people.

Today was a short class period. Unfortunately we were not able to do very much. However, we did email Ms. Wendy Cook. She is a very important person in our process of getting this project deployed on the campus. She is involved in a lot of the activities that go on our campus. Therefore, it is obvious that she is a very busy person and may not be able to help us as much as we would like. However, we did email her introducing ourselves and our project. We also attached our proposal to that email so that she really got the just of what we really want to accomplish in this project for Kamehameha. We have not heard back from her yet; but, we are hoping that she is able to help us with what we need to do for the rest of this project. Besides emailing Ms. Cook, we began on our Keynote presentation for the final presentation day in the Auditorium. We thought that it would be a good idea, just in case we ended up not having enough time to make it presentable to the rest of the Physics students.

Approved!

Last class (Friday), we got a response from Mr. Blake that Mrs. Martin had approved our project. Now that we got the first step done, we now need to contact the physical resource people to get their approval to do the project. Once we do that then we are finally able to move on to the actual buying and applying of the grip tapes. So far we have had many trials and errors on a couple of ideas, but after a few weeks we are finally back on track and ready to move on. We sent them an e-mail last class and we are just waiting for a response to move on.

Survey

Today we are waiting for Mrs. Martin's approval on our proposal. Right now we are finding ways to collect data for the stair case problem. We are thinking of making a survey to give to people at tech building. We are now in the process of making the survey on surveymonkey.com. Another problem we are facing is that we need to find out from Mrs. Martin if we can apply the grip tape by ourselves or do we need to have some one do it for us. We are also not sure how or when we are going to get the approval or disapproval from her, since we just put the proposal in her box.

Safety First!

Yesterday we came up with another plan. This would be plan c after the first two failed project ideas. Our idea this time is to improve safety. We are planning on putting grip tape on the stair cases going down to tech building. There are four sets of stairs with ten stairs in each set. The grip tape costs about twenty- seven dollars per sixty feet. So far our estimated total comes out to be ninety dollars. Yesterday our group got the chance to talk to Mrs. Martin about our new project idea. She said it was a good idea and now we just need to turn in the proposal to her and our project can possibly be approved. We are still looking for new ideas just in case this plan does not pull through.

Today we came out with the idea that we were going to add grip tape to the stairs by the performing arts building. So first we went on the internet to find the approximate cost of grip tape for the stairs. We then too a meter stick and measured the length of the stairs. And then we went to The Performing Arts room and surveyed the teachers on what they think of our project. When we talked to Mr. Blake about it he said it was a good idea but we should still look for more ideas in lower campus just in case this idea does not work out.

Back To Square One

Yesterday we came back from talking to mama fuj and Mrs. Martin. The conclusion we got from both of them is that our project idea is not possible. So at the end of the day we were back to square one and had nothing to work with. So we then got a little advice from Mr. Blake and he said that we should look at lower campus problems because a lot of the problems in upper campus is already resolved. So now we are in the process of getting more ideas from more teachers and students in lower campus.

Plan B

Today we went to Mrs. Martin office to talk to her about our project about Midkiff. We told her that we wanted to refurbish the furniture in Midkiff. Her response to that was that it would cost too much money, but there is a warehouse that has extra furniture. So we went to talk to mama fuj in Midkiff. When we talked to her, we mentioned reorganizing Midkiff so that it would cost less money and still be efficient.

She then told us that the men that would move the furniture were busy so there would be no time to move anything by the time we needed it buy.

Edited Proposal

This weekend we did not really do much.  We keep discussing how we are going to plan out our design for the project, how we are going to collect data, and our appointment scheduling with Mrs. Martina and other administrative faculty.  This weekend, we finished editing our proposal since we change our idea from the bathroom locks to Midkiff cubicles.  We are hoping to speak with Mrs. Martin tomorrow some time so that we can run our idea by her and see if she will approve or not or if she has any other thoughts on this.  The days our getting smaller until our plan needs to be set into motion!! We are quickly running out of time! We need to finish this work and get things done.

Midkiff Cubicles

Today we had class, but Mr. Blake was not in class.  We knew our detailed design was also due today, but we needed to change our proposal.  Kawai and I tackled changing our proposal, and Shawnie and Cory took on the challenge of forming our detailed design.  Since we haven't gotten much approved yet and we haven't fully committed to a certain plan, it was difficult for us to form our detailed design.  As we were on google docs, we had the chance to chat with Mr. Blake about our plan and what we were doing in class today.  He told us that we should just commit to one plan, even if it doesn't work out in the end, or to think of a Plan C.  We decided on committing to our Plan B: Midkiff Cubicles.  We need to immediately need to schedule and appointment with Mrs. Martin so we can swing this idea past her and get her approval.

The Detailed Design

Today, we did not have class again.  We talked a little bit more about the two plans that we have been contemplating and how exactly we would set either plan into action, how much it would cost, how we would collect data, and how it will benefit Kamehameha.  We still have not found a better solution to collecting data for Plan A.  Plan B seems to be a more efficient problem to tackle and it seems to cost less too!  Tomorrow our detailed design is suppose to be due.  We hope that Mrs. Martin will check her email and get back to us so that we can meet with her and introduce our 2 problems and see which she would approve of or what her thoughts our on what we have come up with!  We haven't quite yet started on our detailed design because of the setback of Plan A's data collecting issue.  As soon as we meet with Mrs. Martin, our detailed design will be worked on and finished.

Possible Change of Plans

http://www.flickr.com/photos/liltree/408572701/

Today we were trying to figure out if we should just go with our original plan or change it up.  Since Mrs. Martin hasn't emailed us back yet, we decided to think of a Plan B incase that we are unable to come up with a way to collect data for Plan A.  Our Plan B is to rearrange the tables and cubicles in Midkiff so that it can become a better studying environment for more group projects.  We were either just planning on rearranging the tables or buying a couple rectangle tables in replacement of the cubicles.  We don't plan on shifting every cubicle in Midkiff, but in the areas that more kids usually occupy.  We talked to Mama Fug today and she said she was all for the idea.  She suggested that we should just save the money and not buy anything but if we can think of a plan of rearranging the seating area then that would be perfect! So we basically need to sketch an outline of how we would like Midkiff to look and we need to get Mrs. Martin's approval.

Data Collection

Today in class, we met with Mr. Blake and talked about our proposal.  He warned us that the asking permission part of our plan might be difficult because it must go through many people to get approved.  After he let us know about this he also wanted us to try figure out how we are going to collect the data.  The data and approval are an extremely huge part of this project.  We need the approval to set our plan in action, but we also need to data to prove that this problem we are trying to fix is beneficial.  After we talked to Mr. Blake, we discussed what we will be doing for the rest of the week.  We also discussed how we will be getting our data.  Cory brought up the idea of some type of counter for the number of people that go into the bathroom.  We thought this might be a somewhat good idea, but that would only collect the data of how much people use the bathroom.  We need to figure out an idea that we can use to have more efficient data of how this problem (after it is fixed) is beneficial.  We rethought our ideas and we also came up with rearranging the cubicles and table setup in Midkiff.  We need to talk to Mama Fug about this first though. This is going to be tough.

Start to a Busy Week!

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=permission&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=N&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbnid=komC5ze0kaS3fM:&imgrefurl=h

ttp://www.bammel.org/blog/permission&docid=hcFnNHnujj4UJM&imgurl=http://www.bammel.org/download_file/view_inline/268/&w=650&h=544&ei=Ii6NT8bjC-vZiAKxkdmgCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=627&vpy=51&dur=1988&hovh=205&hovw=245&tx=66&ty=119&sig=104488398233626975887&page

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Today we did not have class.  As a group, we decided that we should make the appointment tomorrow in class.  We felt that it is better to explain what our project is and how we are going to change Kamehameha into a better place by changing the locks of these bathrooms to Mrs. Martin.  Today we just talked briefly about what we will be doing this upcoming week so that we can put our project into play and hopefully everything works out for the best! Also, tomorrow after we introduce our project to Mrs. Martin and ask for her permission, we also plan on talking over how we will get data, and if we have time, start collecting that data.

Appointment Time

After speaking with Mr. Blake about our project, he told us we have to talk to Mrs. Martin about what we’re trying to do. We probably have to make the appointment with her tomorrow considering that we don’t have much time till our project has to be out in the open and such. As a group I think we also need to decide how we are going to collect data. We’re probably going to end up having to sit in the bathroom during our free’s or something. But after talking with the other groups, like the automatic paper towel dispenser group, we’re not going to be the only ones camping the bathroom.

All Turned In!

Today the seniors went to their senior picnic meaning that Kawai isn’t here. That’s okay because we finished our Proposal yesterday in class. Today in class we turned in our Proposals both digitally and in card copy form to Mr. Blake. As a group, we hope that our proposal is accepted! We’re sure that the most our expenses would cost is $90, which is just under the budget that Pauahi gave to us. We are very thankful that we don’t have to pay for everything ourselves. We are not entirely sure though as to if we’re getting the locks from Home Depot, City Mill or if we’re ordering from a catalog like Mr. Blake said.

The Proposal

Today in class my group started and thankfully finished our Proposal on Google Docs. We separated and color coordinated the questions and we had brief discussions on them. After that we got to work and answered all of our questions. The most difficult question we had to answer would probably be the physics related one. We related our project to people flow or the efficiency of how the bathroom operates. We also researched prices and sizes of the bathroom locks but we still think we need to ask the custodial staff about what’s the correct one to use.  Everything is going well so far and we’re glad it’s going smoothly.

Bathroom Stalls

Today I went to go check out the Konia second floor bathroom to see how many stalls actually don’t lock properly as people gave me weird looks for going into every stall. Come to find out four out of the twelve stalls don’t lock. That’s a third of the stalls! From previous experience I know that the girl’s first floor bathroom’s in Konia don’t lock as well. In fact three out of the five stalls don’t lock, but they fixed 2 yesterday. -_- So in between classes when girls are trying to use the bathroom there is either a line or girls having to awkwardly open the door to the stall when someone’s using it. Actually looking at which stalls work and which don’t make me want to fix them even more so.

Presentation

Today in Physics class we all presented our ideas to the class and Mr. Blake. My group presented about the two interviews we had which was Bailey Matsuda and Kumu Kawika. They had many good ideas but not a lot of them were fixable, especially with the amount of money it would cost. I found it to be similar with the other groups interview results. I really enjoyed the group that shared about the automatic paper towel dispensers. I thought that was a really smart and fixable problem that would benefit a lot of people. I also enjoyed the group that was trying to get homestyle chicken back for us Kamehameha Students. That is much appreciated. 

Daily Blog 5

After our class on Thursday, we as a group planned to make a GoggleDoc for the composing of our proposal. We have figured out what we are going to be doing for our project as I explained in the last posting. Since we do not see each other very often and we have to finish this proposal by this week, we thought it would be the easiest and most efficient way to involve all of us in the making of this assignment. We each will have something to add to what needs to be said in the proposal and GoogleDoc is the best place for us to collaborate on what we have to say. Over the next few days we will have to be very diligent with what we are doing during our class period when we are actually able to speak with each other. 

Daily Blog 4

Today in class, our group finally decided on what we are going to do for this project. We are going to fix the locks on the bathroom stalls in all bathrooms. We came to the conclusion that it would make the most sense and be more reasonable than the other ideas that we came up with. Making the Akahi lunch line more efficient and less crowded was another idea of ours that we were considering; however, we thought that there may have been another group from either our class or period 6 that had already come up with that. Fixing the bathrooms also seems reasonable because of the budget that we have for this project. We think that it won't cost much to fix all the stalls that need to be fixed, which is about 2 or 3 per bathroom. Some of us also know of people that have experience with construction and fixing stuff up so we have people to ask for help and assistance. My uncles and papa know a lot about fixing things and construction. Shawnie also said that her dad knows a lot and has tools that we can use to fix the stalls. Overall, I think that we made a good decision on what we are going to do to make Kamehameha a better place. It will take a lot of teamwork and a lot of cooperation to get it done in the next 29 or 28 days, but I know we can do. Finally, I took pictures on my phone of some bathroom stalls that needed fixing but it wouldn't upload to my computer so I have the picture below instead. These are some of the tools that we will be using to fix the locks on the bathroom stalls.

http://www.fordf150.net/articles/idx.php/0/029/article/How-To-Replace-A-Power-Door-Lock-Actuator.html

Daily Blog 3

Today during our class period Shawnie, Cory and Melody decided it would be a good idea to go and interview Bailey about some ideas he might have to help us with our project. Some of the ideas that our members and Bailey came up with from the interview concerns the bathroom, shuttle bus schedules, vending machines, bell schedules, and Akahi lunch lines. We, as girls, noticed that there are a lot of doors in the bathroom with locks that don't work at all. The door doesn't stay closed so no one uses those stalls which makes less bathroom stalls for the girls to use. It doesn't make it very hard for our bathroom to be effective; however, it would help to have more stalls to use especially in bathrooms with fewer stalls. Catching the shuttle bus to get from class to class is sometimes a hassle for students because the teacher of the class that they are headed to is always on them for being late to class. Most of the time it isn't the students fault that the bus arrived at Konia late from Paki. We haven't figured out solutions for this problem and the others listed but we are narrowing down our ideas to a few that may be good to use. The past few days we figured that it would be easier if we made a schedule for our blog assignments. We thought that it would be easier to assign each member by week instead of doing a day to day assignment.

Daily Blog 2

Yesterday on April 3rd, I had an interesting conversation with Kumu Kawika. I wanted to ask him about his thoughts on what could be change to better Kamehameha Schools, particularly the high school campus. He told me some very interesting ideas on what he thought needed to be changed. I think that last year he was a part of the group of people that had the idea to make blue benches and put them in the Konia hallway to decrease the crowd that there is particularly in the morning and during lunch periods. I remember him walking through the halls last year and reminding students to keep their feet off of the benches. I liked that they came up with that idea because it really helped to lessen the build up that there was in the morning and instead of having to sit on the dirty ground, students were able to sit on a comfortable bench. This year Kumu Kawika had new ideas to better the campus. He thought that it would be a good idea to have some type of curtain or drape to cover the openings of first floor Konia. It would help to keep the sun out of the eyes of the students who sit on the benches and it would also keep the rain off of the benches so it will allow the students to sit even if it is raining. However, there is a problem because some students like to be able to see what is going on on Konia field and see the people passing by and be able to talk to them. Figuring out a way to still be able to see people on the field and have a covering for protection may be a challenge in doing this idea. Overall, Kumu Kawika was very helpful in giving ideas and suggestions to help us further our project.

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/8305377

Daily Blog

Today in class we went over our deadlines for the project and also covered the information in the packet we were given. We also had a few minutes afterwards to speak and discuss with our group. We talked about different ideas that each of us had for our bug list. Some ideas came up about making the system at lunch better at Akahi. Ideas about making the lunch line more efficient and making the dining hall less crowded. We also had ideas about making the student parking a bit better and maybe being able to have more parking if possible. The hard part about coming up with ideas is coming up with ideas that will possibly only cost as much as a hundred dollars because that is the budget that we were given. We haven't made our final decision on what we will be doing; however, we are going to be speaking to teachers today and tomorrow about things that they have that might need to be fixed or need to change.