IB-Workshop 17./18. September

Every year, new IB Students take part in something called the “IB Workshop”, where they learn to use ManageBac and also what CAS even is about. The workshop this year was on the 17th of September. 

It started with a team warm-up game which was quite crazy, some people running around playing the game and others just standing there not sure what to do and watching. After that we started with the first activity where we had to choose between sports activities (ping pong, volleyball and yoga) and a service activity where students helped clean the school yard. Then we started with our first informative lesson about CAS (Creativity, Activity and Service), what it is and what we have to do. We brainstormed in groups and I learned a lot about the people in my group, which we were allowed to choose. Two 12th graders also told us about their experiences with CAS and the Extended Essay. Afterwards we went to the break room and ate some of the snacks, which the service people prepared and also some cake made by a few 10th graders. Finally, we were split into two groups again, one group learning the basics of the ManageBac platform used to monitor CAS, progress on your Extended Essay and other papers and the other group advancing further on the subject of the Extended Essay and what our research question could be. The rest of the day consisted of eating pizza, chatting and singing around a camp fire and watching “The Breakfast Club”. There was a slight problem because there were only 3 vegetarian pizzas, but we managed. 

The next day after sleeping in class rooms and some people sleeping more, others less or not at all (playing werewolf late into the night and taking a walk around the school grounds), we started with breakfast. After cleaning up the rooms we slept in, we went to the sports hall. There we had a 30-minute basketball drill, which even Mrs. Protextor participated in, with Mr. Jones. He is a basketball player who was born in the US, and now coaches and mentors kids. In the end we talked about his experiences with racism and self-growth, as well as our experiences. It was fun to do sports and also very insightful to listen to Mr. Jones and discuss his and our experiences. All in all, it was a lot of laughs and people talking with others, who they don’t often see in class and generally growing into a group. 

We also want to thank Mrs. Protextor, Mrs. Folprecht and Mrs. Reitz for organizing this event.

(Hannah Brandt, 11PH1)