The head of regional development for International Baccaluareate (IB) America visited Holmes High School on Monday from the program’s headquarters. Paul Campbell met with new Superintendent Alvin Garrison, Holmes Principal Dennis Maines, Holmes Middle School Principal Sean Bohannon, faculty, and business leaders such as Oakley Farris, as well as representatives from the offices of Senator Rand Paul and Congressman Thomas Massie.
“The meeting was unique because education, business, and political leaders were all at the table together to discuss the future success of the IB program and what that could mean to future generations of students at (Covington Independent Public Schools),” said Carrie Cox, an alumna of the Holmes IB program, in a news release.
Holmes had considered eliminating the IB program last school year until it was convinced to retain it Cox and other graduates, at least in the near future.
Camobell suggested that CIPS start the IB program in the middle school to ensure preparedness for high school and that they merge the Holmes 180 concept with the IBCC curriculum, which combines the best in technical education with IB diploma candidacy, thereby challenging more students to reach for excellence, the release said.
Campbell explained to the group that IB can provide resources to help the school be successful, including flying in consultants to train the teachers to help lessen the cost of training. He also indicated that IB would work with the school to help offset some of the cost of implementing the program. He then laid out a compelling argument about how IB is transforming communities in other areas like Chicago, Illinois; Hammond, Louisiana; and Nashville, Tennessee. The IB curriculum is also being adopted as the national education system in the country of Ecuador.
“When you have a strong educational foundation you attract business and families to the area thereby growing the economy,” the news release said.
Holmes High School has had the IB curriculum since 1983 making it one of the oldest IB programs in the country. The program used to attract students from outside of the district, who paid tuition to attend the school, which helped fund the IB program.
Today, with more options available through IB for more students, the impact on students at Holmes could be greater than ever, especially if the program was implemented in the middle school, the news release said. It could allow students to explore career clusters while adding advanced courses.
Paul Campbell reminded those present that a student doesn’t have to get the IB diploma to benefit from the rigors of the program. IB research indicates that students were more college and career ready just by participating in the program. An additional finding of this same research showed that teachers had greater job satisfaction from teaching the curriculum. They got 15 additional hours of training and additional support teaching the IB curriculum.
Superintendent Alvin Garrison has committed to a larger public forum discussion about the program in the near future. Oakley Farris left the new superintendent with one thought, “If you let us help you will put Covington Independent Public Schools on the map and you will go down in history as an extraordinary man! Let us light a fire under you and lift this school up!”
Source: news release
Photo: Holmes High School football field/RCN file