“Unless you take seven AP classes, we place every other student’s academic rigor below IB Diploma Candidates,”

 Bob Carignan, Assistant Head of School is my guest blogger this week.

We just returned from the college counseling trip and, as always, it was very exciting.  Students had the opportunity to look closely at six schools.  We were treated very well by all of the admission staff and students that met with us.  It proved to be a wonderful experience that allowed us to show off our very gifted students, in short they were wonderful traveling companions and enjoyable guests who were capable of engaging people of all ages in meaningful conversations.  Their behavior and people’s reaction to them made me pause and reflect on how special a student body we have.

Of course, students heard a great deal about how valuable the IB program is in the college selection process – “unless you take seven AP classes, we place every other student’s academic rigor below IB Diploma Candidates,” is how one admission counselor put it.  They heard about studies that track college success rates for IB students, and how professors ask admission departments to “get more of these students.”  At Pacific University, they have identified attracting more IB students as a cornerstone to making their undergraduate population and their university a stronger place – they had professors and the Dean of Arts and Sciences eat lunch with our kids.  After the kids had left, they couldn’t stop telling Alex Ide and I what engaging and interesting lunch companions they were, and this is what made me realize that it is more than the IB that makes our kids special.

Because of our small and caring environment which can’t be replaced at large IB schools, our students are valued for who they are.  They are challenged to rise above the societies love of the inane and to appreciate what a privilege it is to be thoughtful, and how this is a cornerstone of being strong citizens – this came across when they were discussing current issues with each other and the professors.  They are good conversationalists and active listeners; we heard examples of this in their day-to-day conversations in the van, and with college students on their tours.  Because they have to work together every day, they are able to understand that having mutually beneficial relationships and collaborations with people who are not their best friends is what the real world is all about – we saw this in their comfort sitting anywhere with anyone and still enjoying themselves in conversation.

Our students are so much more than just IB students; they are reflections of what our community holds dear and the extent to which the small, personal Riverstone experience shapes lives.  Ask anyone whom we met with last week about their impressions of not just these students but also any of our students who have visited in the past and like me, you will feel a strong sense of pride in what is happening at Riverstone.    

Bob