WWW.SHAKER.LIFE | SUMMER 2018 49
The three culminating
events of the International
Baccalaureate Programme
prepare students for taking
action in today’s world.
What Aaliyah Williams remembers most about her field trips to Shaker Heights
High School when she was a student at Boulevard Elementary were the murals that
line the school walls.
“I’ve wanted to paint one ever since,” says the engaging Aaliyah, now a rising
Shaker Heights High School junior. Last year, she made her own dream come true.
For her Tenth Grade International Baccalaureate (IB) Personal Project, she painted
a mural in the High School basement-level testing room, an otherwise ordinary,
uninspired space. “I wanted to leave my mark on the school and to do something for
the students who came after me,” she says.
That notion of taking action to change one’s environment for the better and to
make a difference in the community, and in the world, defines the three culminating
events of the IB Programme: the Fourth Grade Exhibition Project, the Tenth Grade
Personal Project, and the Diploma Programme Extended Essay.
“Each of these projects provides students with an opportunity for a schoolsupported
inquiry where the reins are off,” says Dr. John Moore, the District’s IB
Coordinator and Coordinator of the High School Diploma Programme. “Students get
to be the drivers of what they’re learning. So often today with state standards, adults
are in charge of learning. With these projects, students can learn about something
that’s interesting to them in an authentic way.”
The IB Basics
On the whole, the IB Programme features a global focus and emphasizes creative
problem solving, hands-on projects, inquiry-based learning, and service and action.
Shaker Schools received its first International Baccalaureate designation at the High
School in 2010, and since then, each of the District’s eight schools has earned IB
authorization. Today, the District is one of only eight PreK-12 Districts in North
America to have implemented the internationally recognized IB Programme.
The Programme is offered at three levels in Shaker: the Primary Years
Programme for students in grades PreK-4; the Middle Years Programme for students
in grades 5-10; and the Diploma Programme, an elective course of studies offered
for students in grades 11 and 12. At the end of each of these Programmes students
participate in one of the three research-based projects.
According to the International Baccalaureate Organization, the Switzerlandbased,
non-profit governing body of IB, the number of IB Programmes offered
worldwide has grown by nearly 40 percent since 2012. Beyond the high regard the
Programme enjoys among its followers, educators, and colleges and universities
around the world, the Programme’s culminating events develop relevant soft skills
(like public speaking and collaborating in teams) as well as traditional skills (like
research) that translate seamlessly in today’s working world.
By Jennifer Kuhel
Photography by Jason Miller
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