LDSS IB Program producing some amazing results

Editor’s note: This is the second installment in a series of highlights of the LDSS IB Program.

LEAMINGTON — Students enrolled in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Leamington District Secondary School have been busy with projects geared toward creativity, activity and service.

The IB program requires students to deal with global issues and have a broader look at the world through the three main strands — creativity, activity and service. These are mandatory core components of the IB program, which is in many high schools across Ontario.

Hima Patel led a team that included Anna Dawson, Lily Macleod, Ryan Ciliska and Heidi Janzen, among others. Her team consisted of eight students who decided to tackle social awareness issues.

“I found it was beneficial to students who weren’t aware of the issues,” she said. “It was good to raise awareness.”

Among the issues they tackled were five main strains: racial injustice, sexual harassment, religious discrimination, mental health and climate awareness.

The students were made up mostly of members of the Social Justice League at the school.

Over the course of the project, which began last school year, Hima said lots of change took place.

“We had to change things quite a bit,” she said. “We switched to online and held a campaign the first week of June.”

They did posters and held meetings and campaigned through social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat.

Through all of that, lessons were learned.

“We discovered that nobody is born hateful,” she said.

Hima Patel displays her mural creation, ‘The Colours of Pride’ in the LDSS atrium.

Hima herself, created a mural that will hang in the school atrium, which is called ‘The Colours of Pride’, which combines the theme of many of the social awareness issues with the school’s longtime nickname, Lions.

“I’m thankful to Mrs. McLeod, Mrs. Klemens and all of the students on the committee,” said Hima.