IB World School

An SGS senior has used the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme to explore the meaning of characters created by a major Spanish author.  

EE Highlight: Senior Cambrie Rickard is writing her Extended Essay on the book Caperucita en Manhattan (Little Red Riding Hood in Manhattan) by Carmen Martín Gaite, one of the most important and influential Spanish authors of the 20th Century.  Cambrie is writing about the representations of freedom (libertad) and solitude (soledad) in the novel as portrayed by some of the characters, especially Miss Lunatic. 

CAS Project Highlight: Reagan Ivey and Adelaide Lennemann will be starting a clothing drive to donate clothes to the Teen and Kid Closet. They will promote the drive with posters and other means and will deliver the donations to the closet. The drive will run for 2-3 weeks. Details will be coming out soon. 

CAS Experience Highlights: CAS experiences for all of our Upper School students (in the US and in China) include  the lifetime fitness class, learning to sew, skiing on Mt. Spokane, learning about human trafficking and making care packages w/ Spokane Girl Up Club, OUR, and International Network of Hearts, restarting the writing center, skiing, setting up Christmas lights, building a snowman, playing ping pong, doing Among Us drawings, painting a picture, and creating a game server.

IB Question of the Week:  What is the IB doing about exams during the pandemic?
The IB continues to release updated guidance for schools regarding assessment since the pandemic started.  Their documents aim to supplement the subject guides and existing teacher support material (TSM) for DP subjects and to share guidance and advice on how teachers can support students working remotely to undertake this work.

Last year, the IB established a non-exam route as a result of the pandemic and came up with a course grade for students using their Internal Assessments (IAs), predicted grades from teachers, and past predicted grade reliability.  

Schools who tested in November 2020 were given the guidance that they could opt in or out of exams.  If they opted into exams, a student’s course grades would be based on their exams, IAs, predicted scores and past predicted grade reliability.  If schools opted out, course grades would be based on IAs, predicted grades and past predicted grade reliability, like in May 2020. 

The IB has not yet sent official and final guidance for the May 2021 cohort. They have told schools to look at the guidance given to November 2020 schools for what to expect.  Schools have been told by the IB to expect an official guidance to be released in late January/early February.  So far, for the May 2021 cohort, it is official that all IAs will be sent to the IB examiners, and not just a sampling as in a normal year.  We are waiting to hear about the exam and non-exam choices and routes. 

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. 

One aspect of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service).  SGS Upper School students (in the US and in China) performed a wide variety of CAS experiences during the holiday break.  

CAS Experience Highlights: Delivering cards and gifts to nurses, cleaning up their neighborhood, making a Cindy Lou, participating in Operation Christmas Smile, dog walking, learning breakdancing for fun, participating in the US door decorating, teaching themselves to play Stairway to Heaven, playing tennis, skiing at Silver Mountain, a week of exercising a dog, debate tournament, participating in the 2nd Harvest Food drive, making Christmas cookies for friends, picking chrysanthemums, visiting a Panda base, mentoring, making a grocery basket to donate, learning a new gymnastic drop using silks, wrapping gifts, decorating advisory doors, going to a barbershop and learning about a new culture.

IB Question of the Week:  Are there any YouTube videos that help students/parents further understand the IB and also that help students navigate IB courses?  
Yes, often times IB alumni will post YouTube videos, either explaining the IB or helping students with certain tactics they learned when taking certain courses and studying for exams.  All ages can benefit from watching these videos because KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!  Here are some relevant videos:
> Ivy Lilia’s video on “IB EXPLAINED | everything you NEED TO KNOW about IB” can be found here: https://youtu.be/6mRI6Mcp5hM.  Ivy has lots of IB videos out there so check out her channel.
> One student who got a 45 (the highest score you can get) explains her top ten tips here: https://youtu.be/dk4y0jWdKgI
> Diana Ang gives her tips from “a realistic IB student” here: https://youtu.be/jq7ZGRbOxzw

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.  

An SGS senior has used the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme to explore a topic of particular interest to him -- heavy metal contamination.

EE highlight: Senior John DeForest chose to write his extended essay on a topic in Chemistry, a subject he is passionate about.  His EE question is: How is the rate of diffusion of iron through hydrated sediments affected by the presence and properties of solid layers?  His advisor, SGS chemistry/biology teacher Ian Townley, and partners at Kaiser Aluminum are helping him.  What inspired John to pick this topic?  “I read an article in a local online newspaper about heavy metal contamination in nearby Lake Coeur d' Alene -- scientists were concerned about rising fertilizer runoff into the lake and surrounding tributaries causing heavy metals from decades of mine tailings to release from their resting place in the sediment.  Nowhere in the article did it mention just how fertilizer was causing the heavy metals to leach out, and I was intrigued by this.  Thus began a long process of digging through the literature, calling local tribes and researchers, and connecting with local manufacturing companies to find answers." 

"I discovered that it was more of a biological process than a chemical one," John says.  "Bacteria eat the iron that stores the heavy metals, releasing them into the sediment and water column.  I reassessed with my advisor and decided that the release process was too complex in both scope and equipment, so I turned to a different factor that affects heavy metal release.  Layers of ash from the Mt. St. Helens eruption appear to have blocked the movement of heavy metals complexed in the iron (which would prevent them moving to areas with bacteria).  So I am designing an experiment to discern the chemical and physical properties of sediment layers that block this process.”

Once again, we love to see how the process of choosing a topic comes to be and evolves with research.  We cannot wait to read this full EE in January.

CAS Project Highlight: Five graduates from the DP program, in places spread all over the world, reflect on the values and benefits of CAS in this article: https://blogs.ibo.org/blog/2019/11/01/cas-service-benefits/

CAS Experiences Highlights: CAS experiences for all of our Upper School students (in the US and in China) this week included participating in the mentor program, making videos for Lower School students, raking leaves for the Ronald McDonald House, making cards for the police and sheriffs, cleaning up a yard for a cancer patient, creating flyers, skiing, adopted family Christmas shopping, taking a CPR, BLS and First Aid class, curating a cheese board, tutoring, 

IB Question of the Week:  Why is it important to choose an extended essay topic that a student is passionate about? 
DP graduate Stephanie Stan, from Bloomfield Hills High School, offers her advice on how to make the extended essay transform from just an assignment to a project that expands upon your own knowledge of a topic.  See her article here: https://blogs.ibo.org/blog/2018/05/02/extended-essay-topic/

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.