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IB Program This Week

Week of March 10

“Buildings are storytellers. They teach us about our history, good and bad. They tell stories about people.” 

(George Clarke, 20-21st c. English artchitect)

As founder of SOMA BuildHers, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering women in construction, Ziva Salan (’26) authors many, many stories. She’s a builder, indeed—not just of actual houses but of connections between young women, not just of a single project but an entire nonprofit—and her work now inspires and encourages other young women to construct their own future in similar fashion.

Ziva’s work is a classic example of how Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) operates as an integral component of the IB Diploma Program (IBDP). Over the course of two years, IBDP students complete CAS experiences and submit written reflections on them, demonstrating their fulfillment of the 7 CAS learning outcomes. Students must also complete a month-long, collaborative CAS Project which must adhere to one of the three strands (Creativity, Activity, or Service) and follow the stages of CAS development: investigation, preparation, action, reflection, and demonstration.

Ziva’s IB CAS Project—Happy Spaces 2.0—continued the work that she started through SOMA BuildHers, demonstrating sincere commitment to both the IB and George School missions. Happy Spaces 2.0 tells the story of commitment a “better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect” and to being “cheerfully committed…to service and peace.” Moreover, Ziva’s work attests to the IB Learner Profile trait of caring for others to “make a positive difference in the lives of others and the world around us.”

To learn more about all that Ziva works to build, read “Empowering Girls, Building Futures: Ziva Salan ’26 Reflects on her IB CAS Project.”

 
 
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IB Highlights

As founder of SOMA BuildHers, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering women in construction, Ziva Salan (’26) authors many, many stories. She’s a builder, indeed—not just of actual houses but of connections between young women, not just of a single project but an entire nonprofit—and her work now inspires and encourages other young women to construct their own future in similar fashion.

To learn more about all that Ziva works to build, read “Empowering Girls, Building Futures: Ziva Salan ’26 Reflects on her IB CAS Project.”

Through her work with the Jack and Jill of America Foundation, Halaylah Lewis-McGlothan (’25) completes many service projects throughout the year, which she often uses as IB Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) experiences in the Service strand. Recently, Halaylah completed a “sock rolls” project. Each sock roll contains a granola bar, crackers, and, of course, a sturdy pair of socks! Tagged with the name of the person who made the sock roll, these bundles are distributed to the homeless so they can have warm socks and food during the winter months.

With her team, Halaylah made almost 400 sock rolls, only stopping when they ran out of socks! Halaylah’s work is a perfect example of how IB CAS work reinforces the IB Learner Profile traits, in this case, caring for others to “make a positive difference in the lives of others and the world around us.”

As course scheduling gets underway, Senior IBDP students stand ready and willing to answer questions from 9th and 10th grade students. Interested in IB? Just ask students like Phoebe Gunn ('25), Dallan Reimels ('25), and Katharine Coleman ('25)!

Julia Gluschuk (’26)  may not take IB Dance, but nevertheless demonstrates a serious and sustained passion for this art, a passion that is represented through her IB Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) reflections. One of the stipulations for  CAS is that submitted work may not overlap with IB curriculum, such as for an IB subject class, so while Julia studies calculus in classes such as IB Mathematics Analysis and Approaches HL or micro and macroeconomics in IB Economics HL, she also practices graceful turns and lifts at the pre-professional program at The Rock School for Dance Education in West Chester, an after school commitment that reflects many hours of work.

Julia’s dedication to her craft is evident in her her thoughtful explanations of each movement: “In the video, I am practicing turns and lifts with one of the other dancers at my studio whom I regularly partner with during and outside of class. The lift we are practicing is called a “fish,” with the first one being simple—from an arabesque position—and the second being more challenging—from a jump called a tour jeté.”

Starting at age 12, Julia Gluschuk (’26) began dancing under the instruction of Anastasia Babayeva and Denis Gronostayskiy at The Academy of International Ballet and has been dancing with them ever since. Julia may not take IB Dance, but nevertheless demonstrates a serious and sustained passion for this art, a passion that is represented through her IB Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) reflections. 

Julia observes, "The lift in the photo is called a press lift. This is one of the more complex lifts that there is in ballet and it is, along with many other more intricate lifts, still a work in progress.”

Alina Pang (’26) may be an IB Visual Arts student, but her efforts are not contained by the classroom as she frequently creates outside of it. Thus, for a recent Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) check, Alina Pang (’26) submitted a reflection on “Transforming Wing,” a self-portrait done with pastels and completed outside of IB curriculum. Completed over the course of a week, this painting showcases Alina’s commitment to her craft, which transcends curriculum and attests to the holistic nature of her artistic commitment.

 “This painting is a reflection of transition between cultures,” Alina wrote. “The butterfly symbolizes the transformation. The backgrounds are sites that show my experience in touch with different sides of the world.”

First page of the PDF file: StephaniePerraisIBteacherandartist

IB Faculty engage in Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) work, too!

Stéphanie Perrais, IB French teacher, shares her love of learning with her students by modeling the life of a committed academic, someone who brings her artistry and deep knowledge into the classroom. To learn more about Stéphanie as a teacher and artist, read “Creativity takes flight for French Teacher and Artist Stéphanie Perrais.”

In addition to all her IB coursework and other school obligations, Fiona Simek ('26) sustains a major commitment to ballet, regularly submitting Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) portfolio reflections on this work in both the Creativity and Activity strands. A dancer since she was 3 years old, Fiona trains 4 times a week, demonstrating that she is adept at balance (one of the IB Learner Profile traits) in more ways than one! 

Recently, Fiona performed the challenging major role of the Sugarplum Fairy in the Ballet Arts of Bucks County "Winter Wonderland" Performance!

IB Faculty hold regular meetings to review program policies and guidelines and to allow teachers to support each other in their work. Here's the 2024-2025 IB Faculty cohort gathering for a meeting on Wednesday, January 8!

Dallan Reimels ('25) was accepted Early Decision to Cornell's Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy where he will no doubt continue the kind of work he's completed through his IB Global Politics HL course! Congratulations, Dallan!

Victoria Opiatowski ('25), Everett Mamousette ('25), Cecilia Li ('25), and Shrihith Talapaneni ('25) won top prize for their work on the IB Science Collaborative Project!

Their project was entitled, "Can the pain from eating hot peppers be relieved with milk?"  As seen through a MythBusters-style video shown in assembly, the group tried three types of peppers: Shishito (mild), Jalapeño (medium) and Habeñero (hot). Everett drank lemon juice after each bite, Victoria drank water afterwards, Shrihith drank milk, and Cecilia did not drink anything. As Cecilia explained, "[We] realized that milk doesn't help relieve the pain!"  and the group subsequently proved this through the science.

This might have been a painful lesson for Everett, Victoria, Shrihith, and Cecilia, but it was a great myth to "bust" for everyone else!

Senior IBDP students show off their IBDP t-shirts!

IB Visual Arts HL student Ellie Remus ('25) designed this year's Senior IBDP t-shirts. Her thoughtful design honors the spiritual heart of our community, Meeting for Worship.

Cecilia Li ('25) and Peter Tang ('25) show off their Senior IBDP t-shirts!

Avery Frank ('25), Anaiya Patel ('25), and Bimby Olaleye ('25) are pleased to receive their Senior IBDP t-shirts!

Fiona Simek ('26) and Madison DePalantino ('26) take a break between classes.

Extended Essay (EE) Coordinator, Carly Wassel, is the go-to resource for all questions related to this major IB Core component!

IB for all time!

Lin "Pappy" Parker (seated), George School's first IB Coordinator (1985-1995), remains supportive of our IB program and faculty. Pictured here are Melaina Young (IB English A Literature), Pascal Lanciano (IB Biology), Valerie Greaud (IB Math Applications), and Jo Adachi (IB Visual Arts).

IB faculty unite!

Marie-Laure Epaminondas (IB French B), Lily Yang (IB Mandarin ab initio), and Julian Angulo (IB Spanish B) get together at the Faculty and Staff of Color gathering hosted by Justin Brandon (Head of School).

Marie-Laure even wore her 2023 IB t-shirt!

IB Learner Profile award! Arthur Dao ('26), Jagat Singh ('26), Khalilullah Saidu ('26), and Chino Achebe ('26) earned mini animal squishies for being great communicators!

The other IB Learner Profile qualities are: inquirer, knowledgeable, thinker, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-taker, balanced, reflective.

Despite missing a few folks off on service trips, the Junior IBDP cohort was as vibrant as ever at the meeting on Wednesday, October 23.

Junior IBDP students show off the snap bracelet prizes they earned to honor timely submission of the EE Prospectus!

Haviland Brown ('26), Anne-Catherine De Ghellnick D'Elseghem, Lois Lowry ('26), and Kai Howell ('26) try on the snap bracelets they earned for timely submission of the EE Prospectus.

Junior IBDP students show off the prizes--bubbles!--they earned for submitting their EE Reflection #1 on time.

Bubbles! Harry Degnan ('26), Madison DePalantino ('26), Kai Howell ('26), and Fiona Simek ('26) enjoy a moment of levity at the Junior IBDP Meeting on October 23 as they show off the prizes they earned for submitting work on time. 

Anne-Catherine De Ghellinck ('26), Ziva Salan ('26), Oliver Rudiak ('26), Kai Howell ('26), Elspeth Rudiak ('26), Laith Abu Tahoun ('26), and Margaret Massengill ('26) hold up the mini Pokemon figurines they earned for early submission of EE and CAS work!

At George School's Open House event, Lois L'Oiseau ('26) stands ready and willing to answer questions!

Team 4, also known as "Brad's Pitt," prevails! The winners of the Class of 2025 Senior IBDP GS Quizzo--Victoria Opiatowski ('25), Dallan Reimels ('25), Victoria Phillips ('25), and Halaylah Lewis-McGlothan ('25)--show off their prizes--punch balloons, of course!

Justin Brandon (Head of School) was a #1 draft pick for all Quizzo teams so naturally we had to settle this the old fashioned way...with some Rochambeau (also known as the ever popular Rock, Paper, Scissors)!

The second round of an epic Rock, Paper, Scissors game to determine who had the honor of getting Justin Brandon (Head of School) on their Quizzo team.

Bimby Olaleye ('25) and Hollyn Formato square off in one of the final rounds of an epic Rock, Paper, Scissors match to determine who had the privilege of selecting Justin Brandon (Head of School) to their Quizzo team. 

(Hollyn won Justin for her team!)

Team 1 of Senior IBDP GS Quizzo. Grey Fraser ('25), Shrihith Talapeni ('25), Alex Puisor ('25), Keshav Sabapathi ('25), and Marcus Huang ('25) may or may not have been more interested in eating lots of pizza than in carefully writing down Quizzo answers, but still put up a good fight by the third round.

Senior IBDP GS Quizzo with Justin Brandon (Head of School)! Hollyn Formato ('25), Eli Sonn ('25), Charlie Pfalzgraf ('25), Peter Tang ('25), and Elise Dehlin ('25) put forth a valiant effort but unfortunately could not prevail over Team 4 despite having won Justin for their team.

Team 3 of Senior IBDP GS Quizzo. Anica Bush ('25), Phoebe Gunn ('25), Simone Orloff ('25), Katharine Coleman ('25), and Cecilia Li ('25) put forth their best effort but could not overcome Team 4.

Team 5 of Senior IBDP GS Quizzo. Gabriella Harris ('25), Vera Kim ('25), Willa Wang ('25), Ellie Remus ('25), Anaiya Patel ('25), and Bimby Olaleye ('25) won the second round but could not overcome Team 4.

One of the questions in round 3 was even about one of the team members: At the very first IBDP meeting at the beginning of this senior year, this individual won the top prizes for being royalty of time management.

If you guessed Gabriella Harris ('25), you'd be correct!

The winning Quizzo Team 4, also known as "Brad's Pitt," celebrates the victory with punch balloon prizes!

A question from the second round of the Class of 2025 Senior IBDP GS Quizzo: Who is the incredible Registrar who not only assists with IB registrations but works tirelessly on student schedules and even helps set up for senior IBDP meetings?

If you guessed "Val Fusco," you'd be correct!

The epic Class of 2025 Senior IBDP egg race begins...

The madcap ending to the great Class of 2025 Senior IBDP egg race...

Winners of the Class of 2025 Senior IBDP egg race! Charlie Pfalzgraf ('25), Marcus Huang ('25), Keshav Sabapathi ('25), Alex Puisor ('25), Daniel Gluschuk ('25), Grey Fraser ('25), Shrihith Talapaneni ('25), Hollyn Formato ('25), and Elise Dehlin ('25) make a formidable team.

Justin Brandon (Head of School) reveals the aftermath of the egg race. His team's egg survived the race...barely.

A good egg, indeed...Though they didn't win, Dallan Reimels ('25) and his egg race team helped their egg come through the race relatively unscathed.

The winning egg race team shows off their prizes--mini pumpkins for the Halloween season!

One of the members of the winning egg race team, Hollyn Formato ('25), wasted little time turning mini pumpkin prize into a jack-o-lantern!

Take a moment to scroll through the happenings of our IB students and their accomplishments!

IB Announcements

The IB at GS is a lived experience. 

Learn how current students are "letting their lives speak" through IB with their Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) and Extended Essay (EE) work.

CAS SPOTLIGHT

EE SPOTLIGHT

Class of 2026

Class of 2025

Incred(IB)le News

IB Mission Statement

"The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right."