REIMAGINING OUR APPROACH TO THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE DIPLOMA The New Creativity, Activity and Service Project Is Now a Core Element

By Edward Lisovicz

In its mission to contribute to the world engaged individuals with a passion for learning, a standard of excellence and a generosity of spirit, Newark Academy challenges students to develop both as scholars and as individuals. Now students enrolled in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program are building further on their extra- and co-curricular pursuits through Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS), a reimagined experiential component of the program.

The IB diploma provides a rigorous opportunity for the nearly 60 percent of NA juniors and seniors who pursue it. To earn the diploma, students must complete a challenging slate of courses in six subject groups, the Theory of Knowledge course, a 4,000-word Extended Essay, and the newly invigorated CAS requirement.

“We found that, in the Theory of Knowledge course, students were reflecting on creativity, activity and service, but not doing much to connect what they were learning to their lives,” says Director of Community Service Sarah Fischer. “Using this new model, which has been in development for the past two years, CAS is now its own complete program within the IB, which more cohesively builds on the service learning already happening at NA.”

“CAS is central to what we are looking to instill in our students,” agrees IB Coordinator Neil Stourton. “Just as students taking on the IB Diploma are committing to a deeper and broader intellectual experience in the final two years of high school, they are now also committing to going beyond the ‘completion of hours’ approach of regular community service, to designing, implementing and reflecting on their own CAS project.”

In their junior year, students submit a personal reflection, considering all they do outside the classroom and how those activities might align with aspects of CAS. Then, focusing on those items that best define them and working in pairs or groups, they develop proposals for their CAS projects.

“We felt the group work piece was critical,” says Sarah. “In fact, all of the components –collaboration, project management, research, public speaking and communitybuilding –are crucial skills for success in college, and later in careers and in life.” The new CAS project involves 125 Newark Academy students in the first cohort –60 seniors and 65 juniors.

In her personal reflection, Elena Koestel ’23 considered why, despite making up a proportionally high percentage of the theater industry, LGBTQ+ people and stories are rarely the focus of stage productions. With a goal of highlighting these voices, Elena’s project resulted in the production of three plays written and performed by LGBTQ+ students at Flood’s Hill in South Orange, with all proceeds donated to New York’s National Queer Theater.

“Allowing the CAS project to be a collaborative process transformed the entire experience for me,” Elena says. “Being surrounded by people who are passionate about the same things I am is a gift.”

Dina Drogin ’23 chose to focus her CAS project on Holocaust education. “After my greatgrandmother died, I felt a responsibility to continue to tell her Holocaust survival story,” Dina says. “Because my generation is probably the last generation to hear primary stories, it is more important than ever to give survivors an outlet to tell their stories directly to teenagers.”

Dina partnered with the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ to arrange an event called “Cooking to Keep the Stories Alive,” with Holocaust educator Becca Gallick-Mitchell leading an interactive cooking class featuring recipes from Becca’s grandmother, a Holocaust survivor.

With the confidence and experience gained from pursuing their own passions in CAS, NA students are doing far more than strengthening their résumés for college; they are discovering who they are and who they want to be.