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TIBS 2016 eNewsletter,
Fall Edition
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Dear TIBS Community,
Welcome to your 2016 Fall eNewsletter!
We hope your 2016-2017 school year is off to a good start! We know you are looking forward to the upcoming winter holiday break, as you are all deserving of some rest and recreation.
This edition of the newsletter includes information about the Socktober project many of you have just finished on behalf of LIMBS and some other activities that you submitted to highlight. We are always impressed by all the good things that are happening on our IB World School campuses.
We are grateful for your continued support, and we truly appreciate your efforts to provide the students in your schools with the best possible educational opportunities. Don't forget to keep us updated with your stories, photos, and videos! Send them any time, as it will be time for the Spring eNewsletter before we know it.
Best regards,
Karen Phillips, TIBS Executive Director
Courtney Smith, TIBS Associate Director
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IN THIS EDITION
- What We've Been Up To / What's Coming Up
- Recently Authorized Schools
- Soctober Update
- Texas IB Schools 2017 College Fair information
- Spotlight on IB World Schools
- TIBS' Website
- Contact Us
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WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO / WHAT'S COMING UP
What We've Been Up To:
- Summer 2016 Workshops:
El Paso (June 9-10): 162 trained (MYP/DP)
Dallas (July 19-20): 655 trained (PYP/MYP/DP)
Austin (July 24-30): 1,111 trained (PYP/MYP/DP/Cont)
Houston (August 4-5): 428 trained (PYP/MYP/DP/Cont)
- IB Conference of the Americas—Toronto, ON (July 14-17)
- Workshop Providers Meetings—Bethesda, MD (September 15-16)
- Gifted/Talented Fall Conference—Baylor University (October 1)
- Fall Seminar—Austin (October 15): 114 attendees
Diploma Extended Essay
MYP Authentic Assessment
PYP Teaching Trandisciplinary Skills Through Technology
- IB Higher Education Symposium—Tufts University, MA (November 9-10)
- TAGT Annual Conference—Dallas (November 30-December 2)
- Central TX PYP Roundtable—Leander (December 3)
What Is Coming Up:
- TIBS Spring Meeting & Seminar—Houston (February 10-11)
- Rice Spring IB Workshops—Houston (February 9-11 & March 12-14)
- SXSWedu—Austin (March 6-9)
- TAGT Leadership Conference—Houston (April 9-11)
- TIBS College Fair—Hurst (April 5)
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RECENTLY AUTHORIZED SCHOOLS
Congratulations to our newly authorized schools in Texas!
We are very proud of all the work you did in order to earn this authorization. If you are not on this list and were recently authorized, please let us know.
- Cunae International School (PYP)—The Woodlands
- J.T. Hutchinson Middle School (MYP)—Lubbock
- Scott Elementary (PYP)—Temple
- The Woodlands Preparatory School (MYP)—Tomball
- IDEA College Preparatory Academy (DP)--Brownsville
- Sci-Tech Preparatory (MYP, DP, & IBCP)--Austin
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SOCTOBER UPDATE
The national Soctober program provided 200 legs, and over 14,000 pairs of warm socks were donated to local communities. Thanks to the Texas IB Schools who participated in Soctober!
(See information about the Soctober projects at Westlake Academy and Klein Oak High School later in the newsletter.)
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TEXAS IB SCHOOLS 2017 COLLEGE FAIR
The Texas IB Schools 2017 College Fair will be held on April 5th, 2017 at Hurst Conference Center in Hurst, TX.
Session 1: 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Session 2: 1:00-5:00 PM
Registration for students will open in January. Questions? Contact Margaret Davis at davis.margaret@verizon.net or margaret.davis@alcuinschools.org.
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RECENT INFORMATION FROM TEA
November 16, 2016
TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:
SUBJECT: Texas Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate Incentive Program— Funded Components for the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 School Years
The Texas Advanced Placement (AP)/International Baccalaureate (IB) Incentive Program was originally enacted in 1993 by the 73rd Texas Legislature to emphasize the state’s commitment to high academic performance. As a result of this initiative, AP and IB academic programs continue to grow at an impressive rate across Texas.
2015-2016 School Year Updates
Funding allocated to the Texas AP/IB Incentive Program by the 84th Texas Legislature and the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) AP Test Fee Grant Program will enable the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to fund the following components for the 2015-2016 school year.
2015-2016 Test Fee Subsidies—TEA will provide a $30 state test fee subsidy for each AP or IB exam that was taken by eligible Texas public school students in the 2015-2016 school year. As a result of a grant from USDE, TEA will also provide a federal test fee subsidy of $16 for each AP exam and $65 for each IB exam taken by an eligible public school student. To be eligible for a test fee subsidy, a student must have taken an authorized AP or IB course in the 2015-2016 school year or have been recommended by the principal to take the exam and must have demonstrated financial need as determined in accordance with guidelines adopted by the State Board of Education that are consistent with the definition of financial need adopted by the College Board or the International Baccalaureate Organization. For eligible IB exams, TEA issues the state and federal subsidies to individual campuses in the form of a reimbursement. For eligible AP exams, TEA pays the subsidies directly to the College Board. In order to receive the credit for these subsidies, each district/campus must have submitted a copy of their AP exam invoice reflecting the number of exams administered to eligible students. 2015-2016 Teacher Training Reimbursements—TEA will provide teacher training reimbursements (TTRs) for approved training that took place during the 2015-2016 school year. Districts wishing to apply for TTRs for approved training must apply to TEA. Applications and information for the 2015- 2016 teacher training reimbursement are now available on the TEA website at http://tea.texas.gov/index2.aspx?id=25769807494. The deadline to submit an application for reimbursement is December 16, 2016. TEA will fund reimbursements for teacher training taken during the 2015-2016 school year for the cost of the training up to $450 per eligible teacher. Teachers must complete a 24-hour or longer TEA-approved Pre-AP or AP training or a 15-hour or longer TEA-approved IB training. The amount of the teacher training reimbursement will be dependent upon the total number of eligible applicants and the amount of funding available after the payment of exam fee subsidies.
Please note that teachers will be eligible for this reimbursement only once every two years. Teachers who qualified for and received a TTR for training completed in the 2014-2015 school year are not eligible for reimbursement this year. Teachers eligible for TTRs include those who teach approved AP or IB courses at any grade level, as well as teachers of grades 6–11 who teach a course that meets the following criteria:
Goes beyond the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) in depth and complexity Is appropriately rigorous to prepare students to be successful in AP or IB courses Is part of a vertical system of courses that ends with a specific AP or IB course (i.e., a Pre-AP English course that leads directly to AP Language and AP Composition) TEA cannot reimburse trainings for administrators or counselors or trainings for program implementation. Trainings that are based on the Common Core State Standards are also not eligible for reimbursement. 2016-2017 School Year Funding Funding allocated to the Texas AP/IB Incentive Program by the 84th Texas Legislature, the U.S. Department of Education AP Test Fee Grant Program, and the USDE Title IV Grant Program will enable the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to fund the following components for the 2016-2017 school year.
2016-2017 Test Fee Subsidies*—TEA will provide a $30 state test fee subsidy for each AP or IB exam taken by eligible Texas public school students in the 2016-2017 school year. As a result of the grants from USDE, TEA will also provide a federal test fee subsidy of $16 for each AP exam and $65 for each IB exam taken by an eligible public school student. The same eligibility rules described above for the 2015-16 school year also apply to the 2016-2017 fee subsidies. 2016-2017 Teacher Training Reimbursements—TEA will fund reimbursements for teacher training taken during the 2016-2017 school year for the cost of the training up to $450 per eligible teacher. The same eligibility rules described above for the 2015-2016 school year also apply to the 2016- 2017 teacher training reimbursements. *NOTE: The USDE grant that provides subsidies for AP/IB exams expires in 2016-17, and the grant award for the final year was insufficient to fully fund the $16 subsidy. However, to ensure that eligible students are not adversely affected for the 2016-2017 school year, the TEA will use its Title IV funds to offset this gap in funding. The TEA will work with districts and charter schools to create a cost-sharing strategy for future funding of AP/IB exams, so that the exam subsidies can continue to benefit eligible Texas public school students (beginning in 2017-2018). District personnel with AP/IB program responsibilities may wish to join the AP/IB Incentives listserv bulletin in order to stay informed about program requirements and the latest incentive developments. To join the listserv bulletin, please visit https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/TXTEA/subscriber/new and select AP/IB from the list of subscriptions under the Curriculum & Instruction section.
The commitment to educational excellence by Texas educators and students is evident in the growth and success of the AP/IB Program, and we hope that the funding of these components strengthens programs even further. For more information about the program and the funded components, please visit http://tea.texas.gov/index4.aspx?id=3822 or contact Monica Brewer, Statewide Coordinator for Gifted/Talented Education, by telephone at (512) 463-9581, or by email at monica.brewer@tea.texas.gov.
Sincerely,
Quentin Suffren
Executive Director
College, Career, and Military Preparation
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SPOTLIGHT ON IB WORLD SCHOOLS
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William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, author of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Speak in Austin
To launch the new Trailblazer Speaker Series at the International School of Texas, Hudson Bend, Austin, students were fortunate enough to be visited by William Kamkwamba and author Bryan Mealer. William's life was documented by Bryan in the book The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, the tale of how as a boy, too poor to attend school in famine-stricken Malawi, William studied books from his local library and built a wind turbine to power his village, using scrap materials that he gathered from the local junk yard.
Last year, Grade 5 students had studied this book and decided to take action by trying to get him to visit here in Austin. He came to speak to our school community (students, teachers, parents and friends were all invited), and we were all so impressed by his story of resilience, determination in adversity, and compassion towards others. He relayed his story to us all and also completed a question and answer session with the students, as well as delivering many useful words of wisdom, such as, “If you have an idea, share it! Work hard to accomplish your dreams and you will do great things.”
It was a really memorable day, the message of which will stay with all participants for a very long time.
Submitted by Eleanor Mitchell, Coordinator at the International School of Texas at Hudson Bend in Austin
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IB Visual Arts Student
Hanlu Zhang of Humble High School Takes First Place
As part of her artistic research for IB, Hanlu created a set of five tarot cards: The Fool, The Hermit, The Hanged Man, The Emperor and the Empress. They were submitted as a set to the Texas Renaissance Festival's 2016 Student Art Competition, for which Hanlu was awarded the First Place ribbon in the Drawing Category. Hanlu hopes to create a full set of tarot cards in the future. She was inspired by traditional manuscript illumination practices as related to her focus on the history of art.
See images of her pieces below:
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Submitted by Christopher Stanley, IB Diploma Coordinator, Humble High School
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Students at Westlake Academy Advertise Their Soctober Campaign.
Many IB schools in Texas participated in the LIMBS International's Soctober project. Students in the schools sold packages of colorful socks, and for every 75 packages of socks sold, LIMBS will provide an artificial leg through their partner clinics around the world as well as contributing warm socks to be distributed locally.
See the clever advertising from the students at Westlake Academy below:
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Submitted by Maria Busico-Flight, Technology and CAS Coordinator, Westlake Academy
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Klein Oak High School Students Have Taken Action to Help Raise Funds for Amputees
From the Houston Chronicle
The Klein district is participating in "Socktober," a campaign to provide those in need with socks. According to the Socktober campaign, every night in the United States, an estimated 600,000 people live on the streets. The campaign's goal is to show how small acts of love, such as donating a pair of socks, can make a difference in the lives of those who are homeless. Klein Oak High School students in the International Baccalaureate Program decided to make their participation in Socktober unique.
Students in the IB Program at Klein Oak High School are working hard to raise funds for the Socktober Campaign so that for every 75 packs of socks sold, as part of the campaign, LIMBS International would provide one prosthetic leg to an amputee in need around the world. The high school students have been helping to provide prosthetic legs to people in countries such as Bangladesh in the past three years.
"What I like about LIMBS International and "Socktober" is that it gets the whole Klein Oak community involved in a cause that changes lives of people living in third world countries," said Karoline Thomas, IB senior.
LIMBS International's mission is to raise awareness of amputees in the developing world and their living conditions, empowering students via community service and classroom learning to make a tangible difference in the lives of amputees as citizens of the global community.
"Socktober is a great fundraiser because it helps both globally and locally. Globally the funds pay for prosthetics to be sent to those in need, and for each package of socks purchased LIMBS donates a pair of warm socks for KO to donate to a local charity," said Linda Garner, IB Coordinator. "In addition to this fundraiser for LIMBS, students participated in a school wide homecoming carnival raising funds for both Houston Children's Charity and LIMBS. Overall, the goal is to raise $7500 by the end of the school year for LIMBS International."
IB students take part in programs of education that have the possibility to lead them to some of the highest ranking universities around the world, and the program encourages students to think independently and drive their own learning.
More than 100 IB schools across the country are participating in the Socktober campaign. Texas has more than 150 IB schools. Houston comes in as the largest number in the state with 29 IB schools.
Through the years, Klein Oak High School IB students have raised approximately $24,000 in their efforts with partnering with LIMBS International. The IB sock fundraiser will be running until November 18th.
"Klein Oak has been an amazing partner school for LIMBS International over the past four school years," Trevor Bergman said, executive director and director of learning at LIMBS. "During that time, they have provided over 80 legs to amputees across the globe giving hope and mobility to those who would not have it otherwise."
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Submitted by Linda Garner, IBDP Coordinator from Klein Oak High school
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Meredian Teacher Says Thank You
Mark Rogers utilized a TIBS $1,000 Innovative Teaching Grant to purchase a 14-piece model human brain for DP math, biology, and Theory of Knowledge classes. The brain also assists in implementing the MindUP curriculum meant to encourage mindfulness and positive social and academic outcomes through the lens of neuroscience.
Students see how the amygdala interacts with the prefrontal cortex in decision-making in addition to physically interacting with the hippocampus to imagine how long-term memory is stored. This knowledge helps Meridian students understand and control the potentially harmful effects of anxiety on academic performance.
Thanks to TIBS, students have the opportunity to interact with a sophisticated model typically only seen in medical schools. We appreciate your support!
Submitted by Mark Rogers, IBDP teacher, Meredian School in Round Rock.
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Denton High School IB Student Reflects on IB World Student Conference, 2016
The Farm to Fork July 2016 IB World Student Conference at Denver University was truly a remarkable experience that helped me understand more about my role in food sustainability, the lives and cultures of others, and the power of the IB program.
The topic of food sourcing, production, and consumption could not be more universal as it concerns something as intimate and necessary as food. Guest speakers throughout the week gave presentations in the auditorium about genetically modified organisms, local produce, water rights, food waste, leadership, and the consumer’s role, yet my favorite part was when we would disperse into small classrooms with our GAT (Global Action Teams) groups, where we held ToK-like discussions guided by our GAT leader. These sessions allowed me to share my own knowledge and research with others, much of which I learned or was inspired to learn more about from Dr. Corsi’s IB Environmental Systems and Societies class. As a GAT group, our goal for the week was to create a presentation for action we could take to solve issues in food ethics, essentially making it the framework for a CAS project.
My group was most motivated about solving the issue of food waste after watching the film Just Eat It (which I highly recommend), so after a bit of brainstorming, we decided upon targeting food waste in schools. It was quite evident that food waste was the most poignant topic from the presentations, as the conversation carried over into the dining halls where students became observant to the amount of food that was left on the disposal belt. With students from New Zealand, Ecuador, and Japan in our group, we were able to have an international perspective on the topic, all of whom had something to contribute to the development of our project that we may have not considered before.
Learning also went beyond the classroom at the conference, as we took a day trip to Colorado Springs on retired school buses (2 of which broke down) to see a small farm that grew vegetables, raised animals, and specialized in cheesemaking. The farm trip enriched my appreciation and understanding of small farms, plus I got to taste the most delectable strawberry of my life, picked straight from the vine. All of the presentations and discussions empowered me with new knowledge that I can use to make an impact within my own community and better the world.
Beyond the topic of food ethics, the week was mixed with lively activities such as a trip to Garden of the Gods nature center, a stroll around downtown Denver followed by a Rockies baseball game, a campus tour, ice skating, and an IB GAT talent show (although I argue that you can’t top the Denton IB retreat talent show). All of these activities emphasized what I feel to be one of the most important components to the world conference: getting to know amazing students from all around the world. Never before had I been able to connect with and befriend others so quickly and learn about their diverse backgrounds, interests, and aspirations, all connected by the IB program. It was one of the most beautiful and inspiring experiences to see ambitious, likeminded students from all over the world come together to genuinely make the world a better place, and I am forever grateful to have experienced this.
Submitted by Beth Hughes, IBDP Coordinator at Denton High School.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
TIBS IB Regional Training in Austin is set for July 23-26, 2017 for Session 1 and July 26-29, 2017 for Session 2. Registration will open in January.
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CHECK THE WEBSITE
Resources and Project Ideas is updated frequently. Check there for some great teaching ideas.
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CONTACT US
We'd love to hear from you with any questions, concerns, or feedback:
To share your school's stories, accomplishments, and projects, please email us at
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