First-year IB students had their second of two CAS meetings this morning during CoLab in the Learning Commons. The first meeting was held yesterday for Convent students in the Williams Library. 

The meeting was centered around the CAS experience, where students log extracurriculars or activities that fall under the categories of either creativity, activity or service.

“You have to be really involved in school junior year and put in a lot of effort,” says junior Nina Sanchez said. “But the information helps me to do better overall.”

During the student’s rigorous two-year program, it is essential for candidates to step out of their comfort zone and participate in activities they have always wanted to try, or are passionate about, while still receiving credit for CAS.

“It’s making me think about things I should be doing,” junior Madison Lerseth said. “We should be recording anything we will be doing [for CAS] from October 2019 through March 2020.”

The meeting was headed by CAS coordinator Emily Brenner, a new addition to the faculty, and was attended by a variety of IB students and teachers. 

“[CAS] is a way to be really engaged in experiential learning,” Brenner said. “It allows you to go out in the world and apply what you’ve learned and most importantly reflect.”

First-year IB candidates are just beginning their introductions into CAS, and will soon have group interviews with Brenner to focus on what they are interested in pursuing for their CAS project outside of the IB core curriculum.

“[Juniors] will reflect upon the things that they are doing that interest them,” Brenner said. “They may also reflect on some new skills that they want to learn.”