Activity #5

GCS Magnet Fair 2014 & 2015

1/25/14 & 1/14/15

11.5 hrs 

Service (5.5 hrs); Creativity (6 hrs)

Outcome 1 was achieved because I tested my ability to speak in front of people I didn’t know. Public speaking is something I have been working on ever since, allowing me to reach Outcome 2 with this activity. Outcomes 3 and 4 were achieved because I helped my IB coordinator plan for the setup at Page’s booth at the Magnet Fair in 2015. This was a six hour ordeal that ended up working out for the sake of presenting the Page IB program as nicely as possible. Because IB is an international program, I met Outcome 6 while presenting to Guilford County parents information about the program.

I am proud to say I am in the IB program. It sets me apart from other students because it teaches me how to understand what I learn from a global perspective. Because the IB program is available at a few schools in my county’s school system, and it is considered equivalent (or superior) to a magnet program, it is featured at the annual Guilford County Schools Magnet Fair. There, all of the magnet programs, advanced programs, and specialized education programs are put on display by their respective schools. Page High School attends this event every year with the IB program on display for parents, students, and officials to see. My job at the 2014 Magnet Fair was to be present at our stand, hand out fliers, forms and documents, and answer any questions the visitors had about Page’s IB program. Because every school that hosts an IB program has different course offerings, I had to be careful not to present false course availability to visitors, which would have deceived them if they signed up for the program and later found out the classes they wanted weren’t available at Page. I had no responsibility in planning for the setup of our booth in 2014, but for the 2015 Magnet Fair I spent six hours with my IB coordinator developing our trifold board, obtaining materials and documents, and preparing a projector to show a video of Page’s entry to Macy’s “Be True to Your School” contest, a video I was in charge of earlier in the school year. This video would be on loop behind our table so people could see, in addition to the benefits of the IB program, just how much fun our students have at Page. I was there this year to present information as well, just like in 2014, but this time I felt a lot more confident in myself when it came to answering questions and providing information and my outlook on being in the IB program at Page. In both years, however, parents appreciated my role as primary resource on the experience students have when they undertake the program. I gave them stories and memories that they could use to determine if the program was right for their kids, and the majority of the time they determined that the IB program would be a good fit. Of course, some parents disliked a few of the approaches taken by the program, but it was my job to help them realize the benefits those ideals would have on their student in the long run, such as how completing 150 hours of creativity, action and service would prepare them to be active contributors to society, or how completing the extended essay would prepare them for college essays. Ultimately, I was successful in enlightening the diffident parents, as well as their terrified kids, on just how much they will gain by applying for the IB program.