IB Highlights: Nordic Skiing & Condors
Two SGS seniors have used the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme to explore topics of particular interest to them -- winter sports and scavengers!
CAS Project Highlight: Senior John DeForest centered his CAS project around something he loves… Nordic skiing. For his project, he helped Mr. Tuck plan and set up the Middle School Nordic Day last winter. “CAS has both encouraged me to extend my learning into projects I enjoy," says John, "and at the same time reflect on my extracurricular activities more deeply.” Full diploma students, such as John, complete a CAS project that includes an 18-month portfolio and multiple reflections. His project's learning outcomes included demonstrating initiative, planning, developing skills, and working collaboratively.
CAS Experiences Highlights: CAS experiences for all of our Upper School students this week included a self-care diagram, styling an old hat, geocaching at Otis Orchards, helping at a food bank, writing for The Round Table, selling old clothes, creating a group of people to play strategy games with, pumpkin carvings, and working on SGS community nights. All Upper School students (pre-IB grades 9-10, full diploma candidates and course candidates) complete CAS experiences with reflections.
EE Highlight: One of our seniors, Erika Piotrowski, has picked an Extended Essay topic involving condors. Her research question is, “What role do different scavengers play at a carcass and how do their different roles lead to the overall dynamic at carrion site?” For those of you who don't know, a carrion site is the location where she places all the meat to attract the scavengers. Seniors spend a year researching and writing a 4000-word essay on a topic of their choice.
IB Question of the Week: Who is the head of the IB?
Dr Siva Kumari. She started her tenure as the seventh Director General of the International Baccalaureate (IB) in January 2014 and is the first woman to hold the post. Read more about her at This Link. Email elizabeth.tender@sgs.org with any IB questions you'd like answered.
IB Overview: The Diploma Programme (DP) curriculum for grades 11-12 is made up of six subject groups and the DP core, comprising Theory of Knowledge (TOK), Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) and the Extended Essay (EE). (Please refer to our IB webpage and to the IB Resources page in PowerSchool Learning for detailed IB information.)