Pre-IB and IB Students Bond at Pizza Social
Ms. Racheal Brooks serves pizza to Pre-IB students.
Pritika Paramasivam ’19 answers a question from a Pre-IB student.
Shea Li Dombrowski ’19 explains an IB concept to Pre-IB students.
Ms. Racheal Brooks reads the roster for the Pre-IB Pizza Social.
Pre-IB and IB students met together for a pizza social on Thursday, Oct. 26 and Friday, Oct. 27, where they were able to indulge in good food, socialize, and talk about their experiences in the IB Diploma Program.
“Even though some of the stuff that came up was about IB, our main goal was to just know people better,” IB Coordinator Stephanie Childress said.
To clear the confusion about IB, upperclassmen shared their experiences in the program.
“I wanted to get across to the sophomores that it was feasible for them to have a four-year high school plan that included the IB Diploma,” Tanya Chen ‘19 said. “Through the IB diploma, [students] explore different extracurricular and academic areas and expand [their] horizons”
Though the Pre-IB community is still solidifying and finding its place, committee leaders also want the Pre-IB community to find its connection with others in IB.
“I think for upperclassmen, it’s a lot more unified,” Katya Lopez ‘20 said. “For Pre-IB, I feel like we still need to make it a little bit more intimate, [to] get that same relationship so we don’t have to create [a relationship] as we go into IB.”
As many students of different grades will be taking IB SL (Standard Level) classes together, the organizers of the event wanted to introduce these inter-grade relationships earlier to make the transition from Pre-IB to IB easier.
“[We’re] gonna be sharing a lot of time and class work with [sophomores],” Shea Li Dombrowski ‘19 said. “[Socials make] the jump from the Pre-IB Community to the IB Community less of a shock.”
To tighten bonds between different grades, the Pre-IB community also hopes to organize more events such as holiday-themed gatherings.
“Next is the IB Grateful Gathering, which is on November 17,” Ms. Childress said. “All parents, all 9-12 graders, and all IB teachers are invited, so [this] is a big community event.”
The event was able to satisfy many underclassmen’s hunger for information regarding the IB program, as well as offering them the opportunity to meet with their future classmates.
“During the social, I got to interact with a lot of my friends and upperclassmen in IB, all while eating pizza,” Harsha Rajesh ‘20. “It made me realize that taking IB would lead me to building more friendships and being part of a community.”
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