North Carolina Newspapers

Volume 74 No.7 Grimsley Hi 801 Westover Terrace Greensboro, NC27408 May 8,1998 CSX? Grimsley students recently competed in the 1998 Summer Special Olympics. Students participated in swimming, walking, and run ning contests. Grimsley’s participants won 10 gold medals, 4 silver medals, and one bronze medal, and 3 fourth place ribbons. Grimsley’s orchestra won its third consecu tive superior rating at the North Carolina Western Region Orchestra Contest Festival Eleven members were selected to participate in the Western Region All-State Orchestra and 26 students were involved in the All- Guilford County Orchestra. Grimsley’s Army JROTC Battalion received score of 92 out of a possible 100 points dur ing a recent In-Ranks Inspection and mili tary Review. The Alpha (A) Company won the Best Company Award. The 1999 Guilford County Junior Miss Scholarship Program is now accepting appli cations from rising high school senior girls Applications are available in the Guidance Office. Grimsley students Ben Burnside, Van Har ris, and Lauren Jenkins recently received lo cal recogniton for their participation in a con test sponsored by the Junior Woman’s Club Burnside and Jenkins also received district awards in the areas of short story and art, re spectively. Grimsley students in Ms. Hitchcocks’s Early Childhood Development class are participat ing in the Baby Think It Over program, a parenting simulation. Students have enthu siastically participated so tar and tmd it vei beneficial. LB. program continues to gain interest By Matt Hodgin Reporter Since its institution into select high schools in 1970, the International Bacca laureate (IB) Program has gained a reputa tion as being the most strenuous and de manding set of classes offered to students in the 11th and 12th grades. Despite this in timidating reputation, the IB program con tinues to grow and re ceive more partici pants each year at Grimsley. The en rollment of Whirlie upperclassmen in the program has more than doubled since 1996. the first year the program was of fered at Grimsley. About 20 rising jun iors are expected to enter the program here next year, ac cording to Dr. Steven Kee, who is the IB co ordinator at Grimsley. The most likely reason for the huge growth of the pro gram is its difficulty classes in her Junior year. “I want to take some IB courses because good grades in those classes will look good on my college resume,” says Pearman. But students should be warned that dif ferent colleges across the country treat IB credit differently. “When the program first came to Grimsley, many students thought The IB program is for well-rounded stu dents who want to prepare themselves for college more by taking hard classes in ev ery subject area,” says Dr. Steven Kee, who is the IB coordinator at Grimsley. This challenge may be exactly what’s at tracting underclassmen at Grimsley, par ticularly sophomores who will be eligible to become diploma candidates at the start of the next school year. “The harder IB classes set you apart from your peers, which makes you look more impressive,” says sophomore Elizabeth Fenn. The attention that an IB diploma can help a graduating senior receive from pres tigious colleges has helped to gamer the program more interest and participation. That’s the main reason why sophomore Laurie Pearman chose to take a few IB Students in Ms. Beaie’s I.B. English 11 class share an amusing moment. The challenging course is attractive to many students. that they could automatically get to go to Harvard, which is not the case at all,” says Dr. Kee. The truth is that having an IB di ploma can dramatically increase the chances of getting into a school of choice and maybe receiving a scholarship as well. To get an IB diploma, a student must complete two years of IB courses in En glish, Foreign Language, Science, Math, Individuals and Societies, and an IB elec tive. While taking these classes, an IB di ploma candidate also has to complete the Theory of Knowledge course, take several written and oral exams at the end of their Junior and senior years, take part in creativ ity, action, and service activities, and write an extended essay due in his/her senior year. Another thing about the IB program that makes it so attractive compared to other types of courses like Honors and A.P. is that its classes are the same around the world. This means that the IB math classes at Grimsley are the same as those offered in China, where students are taught and be come familiar with more advanced math ematics at a younger age than most Ameri cans. “One of the things that I like best about the program is that its classes are the same around the world because of the fact that its an inter national organiza tion,” says Dr. Kee. Another thing that Dr. Kee thinks is unique about the program is the fact that participants must take an IB course in every sub ject for their final two years in high school. This means that a student’s weakest subject ar eas become even more difficult for him/her because these weak subject areas are taught at such a fast rate with more depth than an honors class. “The main difference between the A.P. classes and the IB program is with A.P. classes a student can choose to take maybe one or two classes in their strongest subjects, but in the IB pro gram, a participant also takes IB level classes in their hardest subjects,” says Dr. Kee. Most diploma candidates will not deny how rigid their school and home schedules have become after signing up for the program. Junior Ryan Rubio, who is in the first year of the program, says “On an average school night. I’d say that I get about 4-5 hours of homework.” Despite this, the program should, and is, expected to grow and receive more partici pants in the next few years as it becomes known as a cohesive and more challenging set of classes than what had previously been available to students. Whirligig photo n Q \_j Girls’ soccer seeks another state title Senior Spotlight The last ’Sdnfdd" page 4 page 3 pages