IB Corner
November 2022
Coordinator’s Message
Hello IB students, parents, guardians, and people with interest in hearing about IB,
Season’s greetings to you all. Growing up in a family with parents of Ukrainian roots, December is a special month for me for many reasons. Christmas holidays bring warm memories of food, family, and traditions. This year, during the holiday season, I will undoubtedly be overindulging in my mother’s classics - traditional bread, cabbage rolls, and a peculiar sort of wheat pudding that comes as an acquired taste.
With a presence in over 150 countries and territories and over 5,000 World Schools around the globe, IB students and teachers celebrate a diversity of cultural events and traditions. While many of our students celebrate some version of Christmas or Hanukkah over the break and, to varying extents, participate in family traditions, others may not. Some students, for instance, have already celebrated Diwali or will celebrate Kwanzaa in addition to, or instead of, Christmas.
At Bellerose, as is the case in and among IB schools worldwide, our strength is in our diversity. I encourage you to reflect on your family traditions with pride this holiday break and consider how they help form your identity and values.
My thoughts are especially with those of you dealing with the sickness or loss of a loved one over the holidays. May you all find times of joy and happiness with your families, and I wish all of you a restful break and warm feelings.
All the best,
Clayton
IB Award Winners
Each year, Bellerose recognizes the achievements of IB programme students with two prestigious awards, the Hans Van Kessel IB Medal and the Donna Powell Learner Profile Award. On November 6, we gathered at Bellerose’s annual awards night to celebrate our winners.
Hans Van Kessel was a long-time and much-beloved science teacher at Bellerose. In 1996, Hans won the Prime Minister’s Teaching Excellence Award for developing new teaching methods and ways of assessing problem-solving and scientific skills.
Donna Powell was a long-serving steward of education in St. Albert. After teaching in the district, at the time, known as St. Albert Protestant School District, Donna became a vice-principal at Bellerose Composite High School. During her tenure, she served as IB programme coordinator, developing the innovative Bellerose IB Youth Mentoring Program that Mrs. Angela Thompson spearheads today.
The Hans Van Kessel IB medal is given annually to the graduating IB student with the most total points
earned towards their IB diploma.
The Donna Powell Learner Profile Award is received by one grade 10, 11, and 12 student each year who best demonstrates the qualities of the IB Learner Profile: inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, and reflective. Each grade level winner is determined by consensus among DP teachers.
This year, as always, it was difficult to decide the winners.
Nadia Baxandall and Alyssa Wong, Bellerose’s two IB diploma holders, shared the Hans Van Kessel IB Medal!
Cole Van Wyk, the awards night MC, Samuel McClenaghan, and Alyssa Wong took home the Grade 10, 11, and 12 Donna Powell Learner Profile Awards.
We are very proud of each of you and thank you for your contributions to the Bellerose IB programme.
Upcoming Events
IB in the News
IB student wins the International Children’s Peace Prize 2022
Diploma Programme (DP) student Rena Kawasaki, a senior at Osaka International School of Kwansei Gakuin, is awarded the prestigious International Children's Peace Prize for 2022 by the KidsRights foundation for her pioneering work to get more young people to participate in politics, the environment and society.
IB partners with Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots
United by the mission to promote leadership skills, teamworking, critical thinking and compassion in young people, the IB’s Festival of Hope is partnering with Roots & Shoots.
More money not a fix for ‘drastically overworked’ teachers
The director-general of the International Baccalaureate, Olli-Pekka Heinonen draws on his time as minister for education in Finland and explains why he believes teacher development and workload reduction will help boost recruitment and retention more than simply hiking pay
Upcoming Deadlines
Jan 15, 2023 – End of late candidate registration period
Mar 15, 2023 – Submission deadline for the upload of EEs, TOK essays, Group 1 Higher Level Essays, and Visual Art Comparative Studies
Mar 15, 2023 – Deadline for requesting examination rescheduling
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Call for Submissions
Did you know that Bellerose is about to celebrate it’s 25 th anniversary as an IB World School!? Are you a current or former Bellerose IB student or parent who wants to share about their experience in the IB Diploma Programme at Bellerose and how it might have helped you in your life? We would love to hear from you. The IB corner wants to listen to your story in a couple of sentences, stanzas, drawings, etc. If you are interested in contributing to future versions, please:
- Email ibc@spschools.org your contact information, when you did/will graduate from Bellerose, and what you would like to share.
- Converse with us via email to ensure your story is portrayed how you wish.
- Your story will be featured at the beginning of the next month!
Bellerose Composite High School International Baccalaureate Programme
Email: clayton.wowk@spschools.org
Website: https://www.ibo.org/
Location: Bellerose Composite High School, Giroux Road, St. Albert, AB, Canada
Facebook: facebook.com/IBO.org
Twitter: @iborganization