Ian Bartimole finds respite from the deep thinking required in his
philosophy courses at Earlham College by playing Ultimate Frisbee,
keeping that all-important balance between work and play.
With a rigorous curriculum already in place, which
includes 22 Advanced Placement classes in
a wide variety of subject areas, would the Diploma
Program catch on at Shaker? Would students be willing
to embrace the extra work required – such as the
4,000-word Extended Essay and 150 hours of community
service? And perhaps most important, would that
extra work pay off in the end?
The short answer to those questions is “yes.”
Despite its newness at Shaker – and for some,
because of it – 25 trailblazers from the class of
2012 elected to pursue the IB Diploma, persevering
through the challenging two-year program. Their
experience provided the positive momentum that
continues to attract like-minded students to enroll.
(As with AP courses, enrollment in the IB Diploma
Program is open to all students at the High School.)
“Advanced Placement courses and the
International Baccalaureate Diploma Program both
provide rigor for college, but they are different in the
way instruction is delivered,” explains Principal Michael
Griffith. “In the Diploma Program, students tend to be
the owners and architects of their learning, while the
teacher is a facilitator/partner in the learning process.”
Whereas Advanced Placement offers an à la carte
course experience, the IB Diploma Program is a unified
course of study across multiple subject areas. The IB
Diploma Program also requires students to take an
epistemology course called Theory of Knowledge, to
write a self-guided 16-page thesis on a topic of their
choosing, and to complete a substantial community
service project.
“We have plenty of students who are attracted to
both styles of learning,” says Griffith, “so having both
approaches allows us to offer the best of both worlds.”
History teacher Tim Mitchell, who coordinates
the IB Diploma Program, says this about the students
who have enrolled: “What impresses me about the IB
Diploma students is their passion for learning, which
goes beyond the academics. They recognize the world
beyond Shaker Heights, beyond the United States. They
bring an unusual degree of compassion for one another.
And they are so articulate by the end of the program.
They are unusually sophisticated young people.”
Here, four Shaker alums from that pioneering
IB Diploma cohort in the class of ‘12 share their
take-aways from the experience, and some words of
wisdom for others who would follow.
46 SHAKERONLINE.COM | SPRING 2014