February 2021 | Vol. 21 Iss. 02
FREE NEW INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE PROGRAM COMES TO JORDAN DISTRICT By Jet Burnham | j.burnham@mycityjournals.com
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new kind of diploma program will be available in Jordan School District next year. Any sophomore or junior interested in an academically rigorous, internationally faceted, well-rounded education is invited to apply now for the International Baccalaureate program at West Jordan High School for the 2021–2022 school year. “It will draw students that want a more well-rounded approach with service, extracurricular activity and creativity,” said WJHS assistant principal Jenicee Jacobsen, the administrator in charge of the IB program. The IB diploma is earned in addition to a high school diploma. To complete the program, students take classes from six groups of courses over two years. Classes are academically rigorous and earn college credit, similar to advanced placement and concurrent enrollment college courses. “Most of the IB courses are two years,” Jacobsen said. “But what they do in two years is not to double the amount of content. It’s actually to give more space and time to go into more depth and to explore that conceptual level and be able to really apply it.” IB requirements don’t all take place in the classroom. Students also complete an extensive
essay, service projects and extracurricular activity requirements. “It makes kids think more about their learning as something that’s not just books and grades and tests,” Jacobsen said. “It also rewards students and acknowledges what a lot of our students are already doing.” Some of the requirements can be fulfilled by the teams, clubs, community service and school activities students are already participating in. “Maybe they’re on a team, maybe they’re in a dance group, so why not acknowledge that that is scholarly and that it’s worthwhile and that it’s about their whole overall development toward adulthood?” Jacobsen said. Chandler Bishop, IB coordinator at WJHS, said the program opens minds and opportunities for students. “Because there is a focus on international mindedness, they have a better understanding and a better respect for cultures around the world,” Bishop said. Jacobsen said WJHS is a great home for the program in Jordan School District because students already benefit from the global diversity represented at the school. Students from anywhere in the Salt Lake Valley are invited to West Jordan High School to Continued page 5 receive a new kind of education. (Jet Burnham/City Journals)
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