IB Introduction Welcome and Introduction Lisa McCahon, IB Coordinator
Congratulations to our IB graduates. 302 seniors participated in 967 IB courses. 64% are BIPOC (Black, idigienous, students of color), 37% are low income, and 49% are bilingual. Congratulations to the 45 IB Diploma students who participated in 6 IB courses plus the IB Core consisting of TOK, the Extended Essay and the CAS Program. Congratulations to the 50 AVID seniors, many who will be the first in their families to attend college. Congratulations to our Health Academy students, all who participated in IB English. Congratulations to our IB BIPOC students, and our IB first generation students. Congratulations to our IB LGBTQ/ non-binary students. Congratulations to all our IB Course students in the Class of 2021. What does it mean to you to be an IB student? What challenged you academically or emotionally in IB that you endured? What risks did you take? How did you step out of your comfort zone? What did you think was undoable but you did it? What did you learn from your IB journey about yourself? About the world? Yes, you worked hard to study for tests and write your IAs. But that is not all IB is about. You had to think for yourself. You had to be creative. You had to think like the professionals in the real world. How does a scientist set up and conduct an experiment? How does a historian ask important questions, gather research and present their findings? How and why does an author make choices in their texts, whether that text is a novel, poem, blog, podcast, music lyrics or an advertisement? What choices do businesses make as they create their business plan and why? How does an artist hang a show and present their artist perspective to the viewers? You did all that. More important than finding the answers, you learned how to ask questions. And that is what I hope stays with you. Pay attention to what you are curious about in this world. Push yourself to learn more about that. Know that true learning is not the end product, but the journey that requires you to ask questions. To do this, you must take risks. Many of you may feel scared to ask a question, afraid you will appear less intelligent to your peers, wondering if what you ask or say will further the very stereotypes you may be combating from a world full of institutionalized racism and social inequalities. Please know that the questions are what demonstrate your ability to learn and grow. They show you care about making sense of the world around you. I can’t emphasize enough how much value you all bring to the IB classroom. You all have unique and interesting ideas because they are rooted in your individual experiences and perspectives. I commend those of you who took the risk to share those ideas. I recognize the patterns of often oppressive historical structures in education that may have prevented some folks from feeling safe to share. I challenge all of you to trust your voice and share those ideas with the world. I challenge those of you who often share to also remember to create space for others. To listen. Some of us are extroverts. Some of us introverts. But we all have questions to ask. We all have ideas to share. And we all have things to still understand. So know when it is time to push yourself and let your voice be heard. And know when it is time to stop, remain quiet and really listen. This is not an individual pursuit. You are part of a larger community and we all do better when the collective group does better. It’s our hope that the IB program helped you better see your own value as well as the value of those in your community. 2
