Program emphasizes global approach

Life

Related Photos

Jan-Michael Stump
Jan-Michael Stump

November 10, 2009

Middle school leads International Baccalaureate charge

By VANESSA McCRAY The Record Eagle Tue Nov 10, 2009, 07:21 AM EST

TRAVERSE CITY -- Bleachers full of cheering students watched attentively as teachers and classmates performed skits during a Cherryland Middle School assembly in Elk Rapids.

Using examples and experiments, teachers emphasized the importance of inquiry. Which basketball would bounce higher? The cold one or the heated one?

"Inquirers want to know," Principal Terry Starr told the students.

The assembly in late October was about more than just encouraging curiosity. It presented a new approach to learning at the middle school, home to about 300 students in grades six, seven and eight.

Cherryland wants to incorporate the International Baccalaureate curriculum at its school.

The educational program is followed in nearly 140 countries and at 19 schools in Michigan. It emphasizes a global approach and well-rounded academic studies. Teachers in Geneva, Switzerland, founded the program in 1968. Today, the nonprofit educational foundation offers programs for children ages 3 to 19.

Becoming an IB-authorized school is an extensive process that requires applications and a site visit and can take three to five years. Cherryland sent teachers to a training session last summer.

One of the biggest changes prompted by the IB program will be an emphasis on foreign language. Currently the middle school offers Spanish as an elective but hopes to have a foreign language for all students starting as early as next school year.

"We need to raise the bar, and we need to create students that have this international-mindedness that prepares them for this world economy," said Starr, who also has the title head of school.

The Elk Rapids middle school is leading the IB charge in the region. The nearest school to offer an IB program is in Midland, which uses it at the high school level, said Sarah Pierson, a Cherryland language arts teacher and the school's IB coordinator.

There is interest in expanding the program to more schools in the area. Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District in August submitted a Project ReImagine Proposal to the Michigan Department of Education that included a plan to establish the IB program for grades five through 10 at schools in its district. The ISD also proposed a "magnet" IB program for grades 11 and 12. ISD Superintendent Mike Hill said the district's proposal made it to the second round of consideration and will learn its fate in December. Selected proposals could receive federal funding to implement plans.

Hill said IB "is an excellent opportunity" to better the district's educational system.

Pierson said the curriculum is a framework that is flexible enough to align with state objectives. Students will also focus on community service, which is a large component of the IB program.

"It draws on their curiosity and their sense of wonder," she said.