By Krishana Castro, Joi Arnold and Alyson Grigsby CT Visionary
Since August, Cass Technical High School is an International Baccalaureate program students interested in obtaining the global education offered. This makes Cass Tech the first high school in Detroit and one of 85 schools within Michigan.
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Program is a two-year program created to motivate students in the 11th and 12th grade in a rigorous global program. In grades nine and 10, students are put in preparatory courses to prepare for the program when they’re upperclassmen. A student must apply for the program in November of his or her freshman and sophomore year to be considered a full IB student in the program.
There are three core requirements: The Theory of Knowledge (TOK), Extended Essay and Creative, Action, Service. TOK is a course that encourages students to do a reflection on the knowledge of nature. Extended Essay is required to engage in depth study of questions from a subject as the student does his/her independent research. Creativity, Action, Services is where students do beyond the classroom tasks while learning to combine all three aspects.
“Students should expect academic rigor and an engaging learning experience,” said Sherise Hedgepeth, IB coordinator for Cass Tech. “In total we have 75 full diploma students and 200 students taking ala carte class.”
There are about six courses studied at Cass Tech. Full diploma students must take classes in six different subjects. IB learners strive for 10 attributes: inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced and reflective.
“I think the IB offers a more global perspective for students to be engaged in, because we already had the rigor ... with our AP and advanced curriculums,” said Shar Willis, IB English teacher. “However, this global perspective, that is not just global as far as the world, but as far as the student, we deal with the student in a way that is more comprehensive because we teach the students how to be learners, and not someone who sits in class and gets this stuff.”
After completing the two-year program students take an IB exam. Upon successful completion of the program, the students are then awarded an IB Diploma or certificate along with their high school diploma.
While the IB diploma is inaccessible to those in their senior year, many senior students partake in the elective IB courses “ala carte” such as photography, orchestra, and color and design.
