A “special group” of International Baccalaureate Diploma Program candidates were honored last night in front of family and friends.
Notre Dame Prep’s IB Diploma Program candidates are, from left, Addison Bellows, Sophia Pauwels, Alexander Light, Christian Piechocki, Gavin De Young, Diego Betancourt, Isaac Konja, Michael Kenny and Ryan Wells.
On Monday, April 22, Notre Dame Prep seniors enrolled in the IB-Diploma Program assembled with family and friends in the St. Peter Chanel Library to celebrate their candidacy for the IB Diploma and to accept the special sash they will wear on graduation day.
Katrina Sagert, NDP’s IB-DP coordinator and English/social studies teacher, said this year’s group of candidates was extraordinary.
“What a special group of people these students of NDP Diploma Program’s Class of 2024 truly are,” she said in remarks to the students before the ceremony began. “At a moment in time when everybody else was pulling back and being cautious, you hit the gas, full throttle into the most rigorous academic challenge a high school student can face.”
She added that the IB Diploma candidates will be leaving Notre Dame Prep with an arsenal of professional academic artifacts that demonstrate diligent research, critical analysis, creative thinking and inspired conclusions.
“I wish I had the words to convey my professional pride in watching all of you tick off these accomplishments one-by-one until this moment where you stand with your toes behind your final high school starting line.”
Visitors at Monday’s event also were able to review the students’ work on their extended essays, which are 4,000-word research studies, or “mini-theses,” on a topic of their choice deemed to be of global significance and using at least two of the six IB academic subjects.
This year, students wrote on subjects as varied as the effect of 9/11 on country music; how technology affected the cobalt mining industry in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; feminist themes in the Twilight book series; and how violence in video games may have the potential to increase the level of aggression within adolescents, among other interesting and compelling topics.
Christian Piechocki accepts his IB sash from Katrina Sagert, NDP’s IB-DP coordinator.
The essays are sent to IB officials rather than be graded at Notre Dame Prep, making the project a real chance to “think globally.”
Sagert said this year’s group of IB-DP students was a great representation of the essence of NDP as a Catholic and Marist school.
“When I look back on this IB class of 2024, I will remember a group of students who took care of each other — in every way,” she said. “You brought those IB learner profile traits off the page and into your lives. Of course, you learned content. You conducted labs and research. You became experts in international economics, The Trolley Problem, Greek tragedies, the Fundamental Attribution Error, and a few World Wars. But I hope that what you take with you is the importance of inquiry and curiosity, ethics and principles, open-mindedness and caring for others, and the balance and reflection it takes to discern right from wrong.”
Also at last night’s celebration, all of the candidate were given special sashes that will identify them as IB Diploma Program candidates when they graduate from Notre Dame Prep next month. IB-DP candidates typically are notified of their scores on assessments in July of their senior year.
Sophia Pauwels gets her IB sash from Sagert.
NOTRE DAME PREP’S IB-DP CLASS OF 2024 AND THEIR EXTENDED ESSAY TOPICS
Addison Bellows
Higher Levels: English Literature, History, Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches
Standard Levels: Spanish, Economics, Environmental Sciences
Extended Essay: How did country music influence patriotism in the United States after 9/11?
Diego Betancourt
Higher Levels: English Literature, Spanish, History
Standard Levels: Environmental Systems and Societies, , Chemistry, Mathematics: Applications and Interpretations
Extended Essay: To what extent did Simon Bolivar contribute to the success and independence movements in Venezuela and Colombia?
Gavin De Young
Higher Levels: English Literature, Spanish, Biology
Standard Levels: Environmental Systems and Societies, Psychology, Mathematics: Applications and Interpretations
Extended Essay: To what extent do the technological innovations outweigh the societal consequences of the cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
Michael Kenny
Higher Levels: English Literature, History, Biology
Standard Levels: Chinese, Economics, Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches, Visual Arts
Extended Essay: To what extent did Europe and the United States of America influence Japan’s government, military, and culture during the Meiji Restoration?
Isaac Konja
Higher Levels: English Literature, Spanish, History
Standard Levels: Economics, Environmental Systems and Societies, Mathematics: Applications and Interpretations
Extended Essay: How has China used censorship to influence citizen’s mindsets and spread their ideals?
Alexander Light
Higher Levels: English Literature, History, Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches
Standard Levels: Spanish, Economics, Chemistry
Extended Essay: How did increased media attention influence competitors and the popularity of the sport of golf?
Sophia Pauwels
Higher Levels: English Literature, History, Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches
Standard Levels: Spanish, Economics, Environmental Systems and Societies
Extended Essay: To what extent are third wave feminist themes present in the Twilight book series?
Christian Piechocki
Higher Levels: English Literature, History, Biology
Standard Levels: Spanish, Economics, Mathematics: Applications and Interpretations
Extended Essay: How do popular mafia genre films depict Italian-Americans and how does this depiction affect Italian-Americans?
Ryan Wells
Higher Levels: English Literature, History, Biology
Standard Levels: Spanish, Economics, Psychology, Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches
Extended Essay: To what extent does exposure to violence in video games have the potential to increase the level of aggression within adolescents?
