Gulf High School pins first IB class

This article appeared in the Suncoast News on March 20, 2008.

By KLINT LOWRY

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - As a rule, schools usually don't hand out achievement awards until after the "finals."

But special circumstances and special students call for special measures, and Gulf High School was about to embark on a first in its long history.

Gulf High School's first class to go through the International Baccalaureate program is nearing the end of its first year. So on Wednesday, the day before IB testing was to begin, the school held an early morning ceremony awarding pins to the 29 juniors who had thus far stuck with the program.

"We wanted to draw attention to it and to them," Principal Thomas Imerson said prior to the ceremony.

The pinning ceremony was meant to be a pat on the back for a job well done as well as a pre-exam vote of confidence, Imerson said.

International Baccalaureate is an educational program based in Geneva, Switzerland, Founded in 1968, IB now has participating schools in 126 countries.

Its aim is to promote not only academic achievement but an awareness and sense of unity among the best and brightest young minds around the world.

Part of the way in which IB sets out to accomplish this is by setting an academic standard that is challenging in its breadth and scope. Unlike more traditional advanced placement programs that tend to focus on a particular topic, IB students are expected to perform at an advanced level in several disciplines, including arts, science and humanities.

IB students must study a second language and are encouraged to participate in community service activities.

"This is a total program," Imerson said.

Though the actual IB program takes place during their junior and senior years, this day was already three years in the making. From the time they are freshmen, Imerson said, promising students are tested and put in special advanced classes to prepare them for IB.

When a school decides to participate in IB, it means a commitment by teachers as well as students. The teachers who conduct IB-level classes have to take special training.

As this first crop of students has moved through the program at Gulf High, the staff has become personally invested in their progress.

"I feel like Michelangelo right now," said Deborah Lepley, a Gulf assistant principal and the school's IB coordinator since late 2004, as she opened the ceremony.

"He would get a big block of marble and say, 'There's someone inside that marble,'" Lepley said, comparing the IB program to a statue by the Renaissance master.

It has been a challenge, IB student Steven Chiu said, especially when exam time rolls around, but it has been worth the extra effort.

"Some people complain about it, but if you have the determination and desire to succeed, it's fun," he said

The reward at the end of next year for Steven and the other students who completed the program is an IB diploma.

"That puts them in better standing with colleges and universities," Imerson said. "That IB diploma is recognized all over the world."