First off is the International Baccalaureate Program, also known as the dreaded IB program. The IB program is not necessarily a malpractice of unnecessary education. The program helps everyday students into reaching their full potential in intellectuality and creativity. Everybody can survive through the four years of torture, if they are prepared to step into the unknown. The teachers and faculty at St. Petersburg High School, St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.A., is one of the many reasons how students can survive through the IB program. Wonderful teachers, just to name a few, like Mr. Samuel Davis (10th grade History), Ms. Judy Musgrave (Chemistry Higher Level and Standard Level), Mr. Robb Townsend (Mathematics Standard Level Math Methods) and many more have helped ordinary students realize their full potential in all of the areas of education.

        If you don't know what the IB program is, then I will explain, if you do then you can skip down to the next section... STAR WARS! The International Baccalaureate Program is a study program, in more ways than one, to prepare you for college. For those of you who are looking for a bright future in education by becoming a doctor, an engineer, a job in computers, or you know you are going to college, then this program is for YOU!! Those of you who are willing to get the least out of life and do NOT want to receive the experiences of a well paid career, or just an influential life in general then IB is NOT a place for you. The IB Program is stationed throughout the world, that is why it is known as the "International" Baccalaureate. The IB program introduces the freshman class of high school into two years of "Pre"-IB. The "Pre" is a set of classes from which prepares the individual student in the hard work ahead for the final two years of high school. For those students who have difficulty in the first two years, "Pre"-IB, then the student will realize that IB is not for him/her. Within the first year of "Pre"-IB there is a mini-extended essay that is needed to be completed. The essay is only 1,500 words long, but that will be a "no sweater" after you are done with the program. The topic of the essay can range from anything that the individual student wants to write about. This is a neat way to get introduced to the library systems in your local community, or to the library systems of your local Internet Provider. Most students choose the latter because they are lazy and don't want to experience the real world and actually do RESEARCH. The first year of "Pre"-IB is fun and rejuvenating to the mind. You get to meet new people that are interested in the same things as you and also your mind gets a bit of exercise to test the knowledge that is stored up in your brain. The second year of "Pre"-IB is more demanding in writing more essays and going more in depth into each of the five required subject areas (Mathematics, Science, Social Science, English, and Foreign Language).
 
 

       English is the most demanding in the second year because the teachers have to make sure that each student knows how to write essays, commentaries, and know how to give group and individual orals. Mathematics is another demanding subject because two regular year-long courses (Geometry and Trigonometry) are crammed into one year (one for each semester). That is a lot of mathematics to comprehend in one year. Once you get past the second year of "Pre"-IB you are READY for the long haul of the actual IB program. At the end of the second year your teachers must recommend you to either a standard level (SL) or higher level (HL) for each of the six courses you will take during the next two years (five of the required subject areas and one more social science). You need to have three SL courses and three HL courses to continue on to the next two years. Once you get approval of your subject areas then be afraid.....be very afraid, IB awaits you around the corner.
 

        During the summer in between your sophomore year and your junior year you have to start on CAS. This is another subject area from which I will explain later, so be patient and enjoy the ride. The junior year is very hectic, but not as troublesome then the dreaded SENIOR year. The junior year goes completely in-depth in all of the subject areas and intense studying should take place......"should" take place. Depending on what your HL and SL courses are, they will determine for you if you will have an easy two years or an intense mental workout (breakdown) for the next two years. In your junior year, the individual students learn what Guided Course Work (GCW) is. GCW are reports, essays, labs, experiments, and orals that are required to graduate from IB. Some of the GCWs are graded internally (the teacher), while other are graded externally (IB examiners around the world). All of the work at the end of the senior year along with the IB exams, all accumulate into one graded score. I will talk about that later. You MUST complete and turn in all GCWs in the allotted time or the faculty of IB at the individual school has the right to view your past work and decide to either give you an extension or to KICK YOU OUT.
 
 

        The IB program is NOT to be taken lightly. Your Senior year is the most work. No matter what other people say, take it from a survivor, the senior year was the toughest and fastest to go by. The Senior year is the toughest because the teachers and faculty expect more from you. With three years under your belt, they expect you to be masters of education. Even though it is impossible to know everything, the teachers can only hope that at least the important things are stuck in our minds. One of the most frightening two words you can say to an IB student is "EXTENDED ESSAY." The Extended Essay is also know as "4,000 words of pain." The Extended Essay is a 4,000 word paper that is written about any topic, which the student chooses. The Extended Essay is graded internally, then checked and regarded externally. The Extended Essay, along with your Theory of Knowledge (TOK) papers (you must do two TOK essays in your Junior year) can offer you bonus points for the IB diploma.
 
 

        GROUP 1 - Language A1 First language, including the study of selections from world literature. GROUP 2 - Language A2, B or ab initio Second language GROUP 3 - Individuals and Societies History, Geography, Economics, Philosophy, Psychology, Social Anthropology, Business and organization, Information Technology in a Global Society, History of the Islamic World. GROUP 4 - Experimental Sciences Biology, Chemistry, Applied Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Systems, Design Technology. GROUP 5 - Mathematics Mathematics HL, Mathematical Studies, Mathematical Methods, Advanced Mathematics SL. GROUP 6 - The Arts and Electives Art/Design, Music, Theatre Arts, Latin, Classical Greek, Computer Science, a third modern language, a second subject from group 3 or group 4, Advanced Mathematics SL, a school based syllabus approved by the IBO.
 
 

        As you can see from above, there are several pieces of a puzzle that need to be completed before receiving the IB diploma. Up top there is a mention of Language A1, in other words "English." Lang. A1 is made up of four parts, all of the parts are a mixture of novels that need to be read and there are several grading techniques for each part. For one, you are graded orally (informally), which the teacher grades, in another part you are graded orally (formally), where your oral of a passage is tape recorded and sent over seas to be graded, another part you are graded by two essays of Compare and Contrast that are graded externally, and then the final part is the actual written IB exam, which is one essay and one commentary.
 
 

        The second piece of the puzzle is called Language A2 (B), which refers to the foreign language that you take during the four years. You must complete 4-5 informal orals, which the teacher grades, 1 formal oral, which is graded externally, and the IB exam. There isn't much for foreign languages like there is for Language A1 because you are not expected to know everything about the language and culture.
 
 

        The third piece of the puzzle is the History and/or Psychology. There are different GCWs required for each one, since I only took Psychology I know nothing about the History requirements. For Psychology, you have to do one experiment, one non-experiment, and depending if you are HL, you must do one observation study. Also, for HL students you must study two option area topics. The final requirement for Psychology is the IB exam.
 
 

        The fourth piece of the puzzle is the Science topic area. The sciences range from Chemistry, to Physics, and to Biology. All of the sciences must complete lab work, which is graded internally, a Group 4 Project that the students create, and finally the IB exam.
 
 

        The fifth piece of the puzzle is Mathematics. There are three different levels of Mathematics; Math Studies, Math Methods, and Higher Level Math (Calculus BC). As you can probably guess the first two are both SL topics, but the Math Methods goes more in depth and introduces Calculus AB to the students. Now, for all three there are GCW work required to do, which is graded internally. For the HL students they have to do mathematical labs. Once again, the final task is the IB exam.
 
 

         The last topic area is the Arts and Electives Topic. Depending on what your elective is (History/Psychology, I.T.G.S., Art, etc...) there are different requirements of GCW work. I do not know them all, so contact the IB program nearest you to find out which elective is right for you!!