This stage involves identifying interests, skills and talents to be used in considering opportunities for CAS experiences, as well as areas for personal growth and development. Students should investigate a plan of action and determine the purpose for the CAS experience. The Project must be global service based, meaning how does a global issue manifest in our local community. It should be clear and understood which community being addressed and for what purpose.
Here are some points to include in your Investigation:
Making a difference comes from carefully determining a need in yourself, your community, or your world.
Find out how this issue exists in the world, inside your community, inside yourself. Delve into some thoughtful research. Self-awareness is a crucial part of this stage to form an appreciation and critical understanding of one’s identity and worldview in determining personal perspectives and biases while developing deeper relationships with diverse people and communities.
MISO Method of ACTION Research to authenticate a need
Media: Maps, internet, books, newspapers
Interviews: Community members, experts, stakeholders
Surveys: In-person or forms data collection
Observation & Experience
The Western Academy of Beijing realizes that, as global citizens, we have a responsibility towards the world around us that extends outside the classroom. Being global citizens is about making a difference.
There are four Global Competencies that you may want to demonstrate in your project:
When I started thinking about my CAS project, I wanted to create something that combined my interests in psychology, storytelling, and design. I’ve always been fascinated by how games can be both fun and meaningful, so I decided to explore how a board game could help raise awareness about mental health challenges faced by students.
Through conversations with Ms. Smith, I identified the purpose of my project: to help students recognize the balance between academic pressure and emotional well-being. I also wanted to create a tool that encourages students to talk more openly about mental health in a way that feels safe and engaging.
Mental health is a global issue that affects millions of people, especially young people and students. According to the World Health Organization, anxiety, depression, and burnout are among the top factors affecting youth well-being worldwide. While these challenges are global, I noticed they also have a strong local impact in our school community. Many students at WAB face high expectations and heavy workloads, often feeling pressure to achieve without always having time to care for their mental health. This inspired me to design something meaningful and accessible for our local context — a game that sparks conversations and normalizes talking about emotions.
To better understand the need for this project, I used the MISO Model for my investigation:
| MISO Element | What I Did |
|---|---|
| Media | I read online articles and watched YouTube videos about mental health awareness and game-based learning. I also reviewed resources from psychology websites discussing stress and anxiety among high school students. |
| Interviews | I interviewed my CAS supervisor, Ms. Smith, and spoke with a few classmates about what causes them the most stress at school and what helps them cope. Their responses gave me real insights into how the game could reflect everyday challenges students face. |
| Surveys | I created a short Google Form to ask students how they manage stress and how comfortable they feel discussing mental health. Many said these topics are hard to talk about, which confirmed that a game-based approach might make these discussions easier and more approachable. |
| Observations | I observed how students interact during breaks and advisory sessions, noticing that most conversations revolve around academics and not well-being. This helped me see how mental health often stays “in the background,” even when stress levels are high. |
Through this investigation, I realized that mental health is both a global concern and a local need. Students everywhere struggle with stress, but each community like ours, has unique pressures. This reinforced my motivation to design a project that connects awareness, empathy, and action. My purpose became clear: to design a board game that encourages players to reflect on their mental health, learn coping strategies, and build empathy for others.
Example Investigation Documentation
Community Addressed: Students and teachers at Mingde School, rural Shanxi Province, China
Description:
For my CAS project, I’m joining the Mingde School Service Trip. This project connects WAB students with a rural school community in Shanxi Province. Our main goal is to bring creative, engaging, and meaningful learning experiences to Mingde students, while also learning from their culture and perspectives. We’ll be teaching English, art, PE, and environmental activities, and working together on shared projects like gardening and murals. I see this as a chance to build genuine relationships and learn how to serve in ways that are thoughtful and reciprocal.
Global Issue Addressed:
This project addresses the impact of internal migration in China, where many families move to urban areas for work opportunities, leaving children to grow up in their “left-behind” rural villages with grandparents or other relatives. This has created a significant rural–urban education gap, where students in rural communities often have fewer educational resources, extracurricular opportunities, and exposure to global perspectives compared to students in cities. By collaborating with Mingde School, our goal is not to “fix” these challenges, but to build meaningful connections, exchange ideas, and create shared learning experiences that value both communities’ strengths.
Interests, Skills, and Talents:
I’ve always been interested in education, cultural exchange, and sustainability, and I enjoy working with younger students. I’m good at communicating clearly, working in teams, and thinking creatively. I also like problem-solving and adapting plans when things change, which I think will be important during this trip.
Areas for Personal Growth and Development:
Through this project, I want to become more confident in leading activities, especially in new environments where things might not always go as planned. I also want to improve my inclusive teaching strategies, making sure every student feels involved and valued. Another area of growth for me is intercultural understanding—learning how to collaborate respectfully with a community that has different experiences and resources than my own.
Media:
To prepare, I read through past trip reports, blog posts, and photo journals from previous Mingde visits. These gave me a clearer idea of what kinds of lessons work best (like hands-on art, interactive games, and environmental projects) and what the school environment looks like. I also learned more about China’s internal migration patterns and how this affects rural schools, which gave me important context for understanding the global issue behind this project.
Interview:
I talked with students and teachers who joined the trip in past years. They shared useful tips—like how to keep lessons simple, use lots of visuals and movement, and stay adaptable if something unexpected happens. They also talked about the meaningful relationships they built with Mingde students, which motivated me even more.
Survey:
As part of the preparation, our group collected input from Mingde teachers through WAB coordinators to better understand their needs. We learned that they appreciate lessons that focus on basic English vocabulary, creative activities, and physical movement, and that they’re excited about continuing sustainability projects like gardening. This helped shape the kinds of lessons we’re planning.
Observation:
In our planning sessions at school, we practiced teaching mini-lessons and observed what strategies worked best with mixed age groups. We also looked at photos and videos of the school, which helped me visualize the spaces where we’ll be teaching and what materials will be available. This made me more aware of the need to design lessons that are easy to set up and don’t rely on technology.
The purpose of this CAS experience is to create meaningful learning exchanges between WAB students and Mingde students, while exploring real global issues like migration and educational inequality. Our plan includes:
Ultimately, I want this project to be more than just “teaching.” I want it to be about listening, learning, and connecting, while also understanding my role in addressing complex global issues in a respectful and collaborative way.