TIBS provides numerous scholarships and innovative teaching/training grants to deserving students and teachers each year. |
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TIBS 2021 eNewsletter, Spring Edition
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Dear TIBS community,
Welcome to the 2021 Spring eNewsletter.
What a year 2020-2021 has been for everyone! Some of you have done in person teaching since August. Some of you have taught most of your students virtually. And some of you have endured that hybrid method with some students in school and some at home, which is probably the hardest of all. We also realize that many of your facilities were impacted by the winter storms and subsequent power grid failures. It truly has been a year like no other.
Reading the submissions for this eNewsletter has illustrated how dedicated and resilient both IB teachers and students are. We are so impressed by your accomplishments in this most difficult of years. Thanks for making time to share them with us. Our wish for all of you is that better days and an easier school year are ahead.
This edition brings an interesting array of information to your inbox. We received many examples of great service projects and a few submissions about celebrations of milestones. We also received some great examples of how to incorporate IB principles during a pandemic and a fascinating story about a student scientist. Please let us know what other kinds of items you would like to see in this eNewsletter in the future.
We are grateful for your continued support and truly appreciate your inspiring community, classroom, and distance-learning work. Don't forget to keep us updated with your stories, photos, and videos! We can't wait to see them this fall.
Best regards,
Karen Phillips, TIBS Executive Director
Courtney Smith, TIBS Associate Executive Director
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- Scholarship Winners
- What We've Been Up To / What's Coming Up
- Recently Authorized Schools
- 2021-22 Board Members
- 2021 College Fair Report
- Community Service during a Pandemic
- Spotlight on an Outstanding Student
- IB Principles during a Pandemic
- Announcements
- Contact Us
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TIBS DP Scholarship Winners
- Jeremiah Do (Garland High School)
- Denise Dominguez (Uplift Peak Preparatory)
- Alison Fernandez (Thomas Jefferson High School)
- Angel Luna (Heights High School)
- Kate Pimentel (Longview High School)
- Heer Shah (Imagine International Academy of North Texas)
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What We’ve Been Up To:
- TIBS Spring Meeting—Virtual (February 26)
- TIBS Virtual College Fair
What’s Coming Up:
- Longview District Workshops—May 26 & 27
- San Antonio District Workshops—June 22 & 23
- Austin Workshops—July 26-28 & 29-31
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Congratulations to our newly authorized schools in Texas!
We are very proud of all of your hard work. If you are not on this list and have been authorized, please let us know.
- Austin Elementary (PYP)—Harlingen
- Bluebonnet Trail Elementary (PYP)—Manor
- Frisco High School (DP)—Frisco
- Marin B. Fenwick Academy (PYP)—San Antonio
- Mary Huppertz Elementary (PYP)—San Antonio
- Presidential Meadows Elementary (PYP)—Manor
- Sam Houston Dual Language Academy (PYP)—Harlingen
- Woodlawn Hills Elementary (PYP)—San Antonio
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- Linda Buie (At Large) - Longview ISD
- Seby Meloni (At Large) - Houston ISD
- Penny Tschirhart (At Large) - San Antonio ISD
- Katie Biela (DP) - Uplift North Hills Preparatory, Irving
- Margaret Davis (DP) - Alcuin School, Dallas
- Toby Klameth (MYP) - Lubbock ISD
- Kaylene Rudd (MYP) - Westlake Academy, Westlake
- Kelly McBride (PYP) - International School of Texas, Austin
- Ashley Swindle (PYP) - Leander ISD
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Letter of Thanks from Alexx Trevino, a 2018 Scholarship Recipient
Good morning Courtney,
I'd like to express my heartfelt gratitude for being awarded the 2018 TX IB DP Scholarship. I'm happy to announce that I’m graduating this May, an entire year earlier than planned! I was able to achieve this through transfer credits from Humble High School’s International Baccalaureate program alongside summer courses that contributed towards my degree plan. I am excited to conclude my undergraduate journey at the University of Houston with a BBA in Marketing and Management, with a Human Resources focus and Certificate in Sales. I have a cumulative GPA above a 3.5, and will be pursuing my Master of Science in Management and Leadership in the Fall. None of this would've been possible without your generosity and support, for which I am so grateful.
Thank you so much for allowing me to receive all of the scholarship funds that I was initially awarded, despite the unexpected accelerated timeline. My Certificate in Sales was awarded by the Program for Excellence in Selling through the Steven Stagner Sales Institute, the top sales program in the nation. This year, I was the most active member of the UH Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and while on the Corporate Relations Committee, I gained so many connections through my experiences. Last academic year, I volunteered over 250 hours with various nonprofit organizations across the local Houston area, earning the Gold President’s Volunteer Service Award.
I can’t wait to see what exciting opportunities and experiences are in store for me as I pursue my graduate degree. As a first-generation college student, this scholarship alleviated the constant worry of how I would be able to afford college, and I was able to focus on my academics more diligently. Please feel free to share my message and story with others in your organization. Thank you so much for providing me with this opportunity!
Sincerely,
Alexandra Trevino (Alexx) | Future HR Professional
University of Houston | C. T. Bauer College of Business
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College Fair 2021 Was/Is Virtual! |
College Fair 2021 was scheduled for April 21, 2021. With continued limits on travel, we wanted to continue to connect our wonderful IB students to colleges and universities. So, Texas IB Schools, in partnership with the Texas Council for International Studies, again created a virtual college fair sponsored by Johns Hopkins University Office of Admissions, University of Texas at Austin, and Southern Methodist University. College Fair 2021 "went live" virtually on April 21.
On the website, students can listen to messages from universities recorded especially for IB students. Visitors can also access the university websites and mailing lists. Universities will be added to the website as they come in. Here is the link: http://www.texasibcollegefair.com.
For our second virtual college fair, these enhancements have been added for 2021:
- having the link for students to use to join a university’s mailing list on the same page as the university’s video
- having the links to all the university websites together
- providing a calendar of events hosted by participating universities
- housing recorded presentations of general interest submitted by universities
College Fair 2022 has been scheduled for April 28, 2022. We hope to see you and your students there in person!
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Coordinator Meetings
February 26th
All coordinator meetings this year have been virtual. A recording of each of the breakout sessions remains available on the homepage of our website: https://www.texasibschools.org/
Links to the sessions from November remain on the website as well.
Texas IB Schools thanks our friends at Toddle not only for providing the technology which made these meetings possible, but also for providing us with wonderful guest speakers.
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Research, Adaptability, and TikTok Make Plano East Student a Star
Parisa Vaziri is a graduating senior at the IB World School at Plano East. Since 2018, she has been conducting neuroscience research on fruit flies. When she obtained some exciting results, she was invited to research at a lab in UC Berkeley, and she was the first high school student to ever work in that facility. Here is her description of what followed:
"When I wanted to return in the summer of 2020, I was unable to do so due to pandemic lockdowns. In an effort to adapt and improvise, I transformed my bathroom into a makeshift neuroscience lab, so that I could effectively continue my research. I made a TikTok video about turning my bathroom into a lab, and it went viral, gaining over 1.1 million views and bringing me over 70,000 new followers in just days. Since then, I have been featured on media outlets such as NBC News, NPR, Forbes, Disney Channel, The Atlantic, American Public Media, and the Society for Science. Additionally, I have been recognized by the United States Congress five times for the findings that I have made inside of my bathroom lab. In January of 2020, I was named a finalist in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, which is the oldest and most prestigious science competition for high school students. I was one of forty people in the country to earn this honor and a $25,000 award, and it all came from the research that I conducted in my bathroom lab over this past year, where I discovered a combination of genes that protected the brain against neurodegeneration and increased the lifespan by 50% in fruit flies. The applicability and benefit of my research is that all of these genes that I worked with in flies also exist in humans, so it is likely that they can prevent human neurodegeneration and aging as well through gene therapy, which gives us a potential solution to a notoriously unsolvable problem. From this experience, I've learned that science isn't about fancy equipment and facilities; it's about reapproaching old problems to reach new solutions.
The Atlantic: (unreleased - comes out in the summer)
American Public Media: (unreleased - comes out in the summer)
Parisa, you have made the folks at Plano East as well as all of us at Texas IB School very proud! Keep up the great work!.
Submitted by Karen Stanton, DP Coordinator, Plano East High School, Plano ISD
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Seniors at Imagine International Academy Send Letters to California Prison
Students of the class of 2021 (Seniors) took up the challenge of facilitating a letter-writing initiative for people who are incarcerated at a state prison in California and have contracted COVID-19. This is an ongoing project where the group of students is involving their peers and the local community in this effort.
Submitted by Hannah Nayakanti, Diploma Coordinator, Imagine International Academy of North Texas
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Plano East Students Conduct
Outreach Program
The IB Student Service Association at Plano East Senior High School (PESH) has been conducting a new Outreach Program with the hopes of furthering IB’s mission of global mindedness, as well as connecting with new friends during this time of isolation. Through this program, PESH students have been able to meet other IB students from schools all over the world, from Costa Rica to India.
Throughout the year, students have been able to learn about the differences in IB programs in other schools, dispel stereotypes, and discuss global issues while working on service projects like writing storybooks for local children’s hospitals together over Zoom
Submitted by Karen Stanton, Diploma Coordinator, Plano East High School, Plano ISD
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Garden Renewal at Imagine International Academy
Students from the Class of 2022 (Juniors) took charge of the Kindergarten Garden. With Students being both in-person and online, the Kindergarten team could not keep up with the garden maintenance.
A small group of juniors saw this as a perfect opportunity to serve our K-12 community. They spent an entire weekend cleaning up the weeds, planting new vegetables, and they will take care of the garden over the summer.
Submitted by Hannah Nayakanti, DP Coordinator, Imagine International School of North Texas
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Students at Geneva Heights Volunteer at Jubilee Park and Recreation Center
As a part of our 3rd grade “Sharing the Planet” unit at Geneva Heights, the student action piece is to create a non-profit or an event related to a problem they want to solve. To see how events work, the students volunteered at Jubilee Park and Community Center during their Health and Prevention Expo 2021 in Dallas, TX.
The students were a part of the cheering section and handed out board games. With this experience they now have a better understanding of how non-profit events are behind the scenes and are ready to put this learning into action. Go Cougars!
Submitted by Rhonda Barnwell, PYP Coordinator, Geneva Heights Elementary, Dallas ISD
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Serving During a Pandemic
At Imagine International Academy of North Texas, just like everywhere else, we have felt the strains the pandemic has placed on us as educators; however, our MYP has worked hard to continue two IB capstone experiences that happen each year: Personal Project and Community Project.
Despite everything, our sophomores were ready at the beginning of the school year with great ideas about what they could do for their Personal Projects. With the guidance of Abby Stapp, tenth-grade Design teacher, our students learned how they could create a multi-faceted service project that not only served a particular community, but also educated others about how they could help the same community. Some examples of the projects include a global campaign to raise awareness of the plight of Afghan Sikhs. This student produced a documentary, gave presentations at gurudwaras throughout North Texas, and initiated a letter-writing campaign to senators who serve on influential committees.
Another student used a family food truck to raise money to purchase oral hygiene kits for homeless children throughout Collin County, TX.
Meanwhile, our eighth graders embarked on their Community Project, which is all about service to their communities. Despite the limits that Covid places on all of us, our eighth graders found ways to make baskets of school supplies for a local shelter, distribute boxes of food for a local agency, and many more terrific projects.
Submitted by Pamela Hinterscher, MYP Coordinator, Imagine International Academy of North Texas
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Grandview Hills Students Raise Library Funds for Mason World School
When our IB sister school's library suffered serious damage due to a pipe bursting during the winter storm, a substantial portion of the books were damaged. The students at Grandview Hills in Leander ISD are promoting an online book drive to provide new high quality books to Mason. They reached their goal of $500 in less than one week and are now aiming even higher with a goal of 100 books. Students are taking action through social entrepreneurship! What a great way to help a sister school!
Submitted by Ashley Swindle, PYP Coordinator, C. C. Mason World School and Grandview Hills Elementary School, Leander ISD.
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Students at Lamar Academy in the News with CAS Projects
Students at Lamar Academy have had local coverage of two CAS projects this school year. Olivia Gonzalez organized an IB Debate Forum, which planned a debate for the mayoral election. This was a way to learn more about local politics and hopefully to increase voter turnout in McAllen. See full story below:
Junior Gabby Markle, as her CAS project, began a group called the Crochet Circle after she learned to crochet in 2020. The group eventually connected to a non-profit in McAllen, which donates handmade projects of many kinds. Through this non-profit, students have begun crocheting breast prostheses to donate. See the full story below:
Submitted by Vivian Tamez, CAS Co-Coordinator, Lamar Academy, McAllen ISD
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Forest Park Middle Students Use
Creativity to Complete Community Service
During the pandemic Forest Park Middle School was creative in order to complete community service obligations this year. We completed the following:
- The life skills classes collected over 300 pairs of socks that were donated to three nursing homes
- Donated non-perishable items to JStar Ministries to assist area residents who were affected by the snowstorm
- Collected feminine products to assist families with essential care products.
Despite our struggles this year:
- Students competed in UIL competitions
- Teachers were recognized during the Lamplighters awards for making a difference in a student’s life
Submitted by Sonya Taylor, MYP Coordinator, Forest Park Middle School, Longview ISD
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R.E. Good Elementary Holds United Nations Meeting of the Minds
The United Nations can certainly use the help of 4th graders at R. E. Good Elementary, IB World School! These young delegates connected learning to the central idea: conflict can alter the world. The curious researchers selected a problem in the world that has led to a conflict or is contributing to a current conflict today. They investigated a myriad of details surrounding the conflict. They explained how a particular problem or issue has led to a conflict, how personal beliefs and values are connected to conflicts or peaceful resolutions, and how conflict impacts people and boundaries. Using their communication skills, students took action throughout the United Nation Meeting of the Minds to promote diplomacy and negotiation through discussion and peaceful dialogue.
Speeches were given, and an exchange of ideas was had by all participants. Countries shared resources, collaborated and cooperated to help solve real-world issues such as the spread of Covid, insufficient food supply and more! After the meeting, these delegates reflected about how they can take responsibility to resolve conflicts in their personal lives. With these compassionate delegates acting for all humanity, the world is in good hands!
Submitted by Allison Elliott, PYP Coordinator, R. E. Good Elementary School, Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD
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Kramer IB World School Kindergartners Get Organized
Kramer kindergartners completed their “How We Organize Ourselves” unit about how jobs fulfill a want or need in a community. Students were asked to research a career that they were interested in. Presentations included models of buildings where they would work and wearing the uniform of the career they chose. The classes formed cities with their buildings, representing the wants and needs of a community. Parents came to view the community and ask students about their future jobs. Students learned that there will be responsibilities associated with a future career and that a well-organized community will thrive if it meets the wants and needs of its citizens.
Submitted by Kim West, PYP Coordinator, and the Kramer Kinder Team at Kramer World School, Dallas ISD
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"Journey to the Reef" at Wilson Elementary
The students of Mrs. Cunningham's 5th-grade class present "Journey to the Reef." When Mrs. Cunningham purchased a 5.5-gallon saltwater aquarium for her classroom, little did she know the impact it would have on her students.
The class discussions have ranged from the physical properties of matter to how change affects the ecosystem. The little tank that includes two clownfish, a few corals, and a new bubble tip anemone has now been nicknamed “the reef.” Her students are taking action on their learning by inviting the other students of Roscoe Wilson on an educational tour.
This tour has imbedded all the standards for their upcoming STAAR test to help them review along with providing fun for other students.
Here is a link to the video Lubbock ISD made about this journey:
Submitted by Megan Cunningham, 5th-grade teacher, Roscoe Wilson Elementary School, Lubbock ISD
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Units of Inquiry
Foster Elementary School
In the year of continual change, my kindergarten team has worked diligently to align the district planning requirements with the conceptual ideas in our units of inquiry. They have unpacked the concepts in the central idea in kid-friendly language to allow for learning transfer. Each line of inquiry provides transdisciplinary evidence of the learning journey to help students to better make connections between content areas and ideas.
Personal connections were made with the learner profile attributes, so students had a clearer vision of how to apply them to their everyday lives. In all, the team worked together to create a vibrant and rich unit of inquiry that reflects the elements of the PYP.
Submitted by Lu Gerlach, PYP Coordinator, M. E. Foster Elementary School, Houston ISD.
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Diversity and International-Mindedness Celebrated at Las Colinas Elementary
Las Colinas Elementary appreciates international-mindedness and diversity. This year the school celebrated various cultures and events such as Hispanic Heritage Month, Chinese New Year, Black History Month, Holi, Ramadan, and Cambodian New Year. Students made connections between their own cultures and the cultures of others. Students took agency and created questions to ask Mr. Sorya about Cambodian New Year and created rangolis to decorate the sidewalks around the campus to welcome guests. It was truly a beautiful process to watch the faces of students light up when they discussed similarities we have as human beings. All stakeholders in the learning community were involved. Enjoy reading the testimony below from Ms. Ignacio, PYP Educator at LCE.
“This is my first year teaching at an IB school, and I can’t speak enough on how impactful it has been incorporating IB inquiry and discussion into the classroom. The IB programme has introduced my students, including myself to different cultures, traditions, and celebrations around the globe. I recently had the opportunity to share about my Cambodian culture and our New Year traditions with our school. I never imagined seeing students learning about Cambodia, because it's a small country in Southeast Asia, and it was never brought up when I was in elementary school. It just shows how amazing the IB programme is in making connections beyond our own borders to celebrate and represent all ethnicities/cultures.”
Submitted by Allison Elliott, PYP Coordinator, Las Colinas Elementary, Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD.
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Earth Day Video
Adriana Rodriguez shared her released video “El planeta llora/ The planet cries”.
We’re celebrating Earth today. As an educator, making and sharing curriculum is one way. This video talks about how the planet needs us to save it. Ours students learned how grateful we are to get air, water, food, shelter, and everything from mother nature. Let’s encourage our children to save our earth from environmental issues such as pollution and global warming We should keep the earth green by planting trees and save earth's resources by reusing and recycling old items.
As educators our role in teaching our youth to save the planet may be the most important lesson we can teach.The lessons we learn as children remain throughout our lifetime.
Submitted by Adriana Rodriguez, Head of School, Austin Eco Bilingual School
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Celebrations at Imagine in 20-21
College Day – Class of 2021
Seniors decorated their uniforms to reflect their college selections. The day started with socially distanced breakfast, including guests from area universities zooming in to provide a chance for the soon-to-be graduate to see notes and signs of encouragement from PYP and MYP students.
Winter Celebration – Tradition with a Twist!
This was a day where in-person and online DP students collaborated in teams to compete and make the best ginger-bread house following instructions that were written in Spanish. Teams had a combination of both junior and senior students who were both in-person & online.
Homecoming
PYP students created posters and decorated the halls for the seniors, which helped to connect students from multiple programs and grade levels enhancing our K-12 family culture. With our traditional family groups not being able to meet in person, PYP students were excited to be able to encourage seniors.
Submitted by Hannah Nayakanti, DP Coordinator, Imagine International Academy
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UPCOMING EVENTS:
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Registration for the TIBS Austin workshops (Session 1 and 2) is here. Remember: the IB organization and Kent State University have partnered to offer graduate credit for PYP, MYP, and DP training. Click here to find out more!
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We'd love to hear from you with any questions or concerns.
If you have feedback on the newsletter, please contact Judy Chapman.
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