Goshen High School has now been declared an International Baccalaureate World School, and, if all goes well, students could be graduating as early at 2010 with the coveted IB diploma.

School officials received the authorization letter Thursday, earlier than expected.

“We were expecting it to come some time in March, so we’re really excited and ready to go,” said Shelly Wilfong, IB coordinator for Goshen High School, who has been working for the past three years on the program application process.

According to Wilfong, the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program is a demanding, two-year program of curriculum and service that meets the needs of highly-motivated secondary students.

“With the IB program, there are actually two different things our students can do, one of which is the full diploma, which is what we encourage them to do,” Wilfong said. “With this option, students are required to take rigorous classes in six different areas — English, world language, social studies, math, science and then either visual arts, music or another of the five previous IB areas.”

In addition to the classes, Wilfong said that students must also write an extended 4,000 word essay on a topic of their choice.

“The essay can focus on literature, or on a historical topic. Some write one on visual arts, and some may choose to write one on biology or physics,” Wilfong said. “It’s really up to the student to decide what topic is most interesting to them, and what they want to research.”

A second core component of the diploma program is what Wilfong calls CAS activities, short for Creativity, Action and Service.

“Basically what this involves is a project of 150 hours or more that combines these three elements,” Wilfong said. “Volunteer activities, literacy programs and participation in theater or musical productions would all be considered CAS activities, and again that choice is something that is very individualized, depending on the student.”

The third and final component of the diploma program is participation in a Theory of Knowledge course, which, according to Wilfong, is an interdisciplinary requirement intended to stimulate critical reflection on the knowledge and experience gained inside and outside the classroom.

“This is where the students bring together all they’ve learned in the other six areas,” Wilfong said. “This is more of a seminar-type class, where the students figure out how to relate to each other, and examine the knowledge they have received in their other IB courses.”

Other options

While pursing the complete IB diploma will be the goal of most participating students, Wilfong said that their are other options for those students who wish to complete only portions of the IB program.

“If they want to just get a certificate in English, or in history, they can do that as well,” Wilfong said. “That option is what I would consider equivalent to taking an Advance Placement exam, where students can pick and choose what subjects they want to focus on.

“The big difference though is that in IB, there is no multiple choice, whereas the AP exams rely much more on multiple choice questions. There is a lot more critical thinking involved with the IB exams,” she said.

Wilfong noted that IB courses differ from AP courses in other ways as well, such as requiring that students be tested throughout the entire season, instead of just at the end of the course.

“With the AP exam, you have the end of course exam, and that’s it. It’s sort of a one shot deal,” Wilfong said. “With IB, you take exams throughout the entire session, which is another reason we really like this program.”

Reasons for diploma

As for why a student should pursue an IB diploma over a regular high school diploma, Wilfong said that the choice really depends on what the student is looking for.

“For some, it’s the challenge that the program provides,” Wilfong said. “With IB, the students have to really analyze and use a lot of critical thinking skills, skills that are often not as big a focus in a typical high school classroom.

“Also, the IB diploma is considered by many to be equivalent to what a student would get in their first year of college,” she said.

Wilfong also noted that for those students wishing to attend a very selective university, IB courses and diplomas are often seen as the gold standard among admissions circles.

“For most universities, the acceptance rate for those with IB diplomas is quite dramatic,” Wilfong said. “Even the naval and military academies, which are typically very difficult to get into, really look at these students as people they’d like to have as part of their programs.”

In addition to the application benefits, Wilfong added that IB diploma recipients are often awarded grants and college credit by many colleges and universities.

“Some schools will automatically give them sophomore standing, and others will allow them to skip typical introductory courses so that they can move right into the more interesting courses,” Wilfong said. “Also, a lot of IB students will be able to fit in a double major in four years if they wish, where other’s usually take five years.”

Prerequisites

When it comes to prerequisites for the program, Wilfong said that while some schools do have limits on who may apply, officials at GHS are of the mind that any student who wishes to pursue the diploma should have the opportunity to do so.

“Typically these students will be in the honors courses their freshman and sophomore years, but that’s not necessarily the only ones who will participate,” Wilfong said. “If a student really wants to do it, we will do whatever we can to see that they get the chance.

“We don’t want to be a gatekeeper for kids. We want to push these kids to take really rigorous classes, and to challenge themselves as best they can,” she said.

As for the cost of the program, Wilfong indicated that a student wishing to take the full IB Diploma program must pay a total of $627, which includes a registration fee of $123, the six area exams at $84 per exam, the assessment fee for Theory of Knowledge and the extended essay.

Those students not interested in the full program, but wishing to obtain certificates in one or more areas, must pay the $123 registration fee and then $84 for each desired certificate.

But Wilfong added that it is the goal of the school to never have to turn away a student from the program simply because they cannot afford the fees.

“If a student is on free or reduced lunch, we will find the money somewhere,” Wilfong said. “We have a very supportive community that I’m sure would help out if a student really wanted to try for the diploma, but couldn’t afford it.”

One way in which the school is already pursuing this goal is through the possible creation of a student-led tutoring program.

“What we’re trying to do is set up a tutoring program that will help pay for some of those exam fees,” Wilfong said. “Through the program, an IB student will be assigned to a freshman or sophomore student who needs tutoring. By participating in the tutoring program, those students will then get credit off of the IB testing cost, so that it wouldn’t cost them anything other than the time it takes to tutor a fellow student.

“We’re just in the beginning stages of that process, but regardless of that, we won’t turn away a student who is interested in pursuing the program just because they can’t afford it,” she said.

And according to Wilfong, there has already been plenty of interest expressed in the new program.

“Actually a lot of students have expressed interest in doing it,” Wilfong said. “We have been fortunate I think in that we started very early in talking to parents and students about the IB program.

“We generated a lot of excitement about it, and I really think we’re going to be hitting the ground running,” she said.