Community service: a necessary evil for embellishing college applications and resumes, or even for impressing your peers and parents. Of course, community service isn’t all bad. In the International Baccalaureate (IB) program students are required to participate in Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS). It sounds like a lot to deal with, and sometimes it truly is. Keeping up with weekly logs, reflections, and evidence can be tedious on top of all of my other assignments, but CAS has helped me stay committed to a task and taught me how to record events for me to reflect on later. It has also highlighted how both the person receiving and the person giving benefit from the act.

Through the International Baccalaureate program offered at Bryan High,students are required to do a CAS project which includes components of community, action, and service. These projects push students to investigate, prepare, take action, reflect, and demonstrate. Although the IB program heavily focuses on academics, it also stresses the importance of creating well-rounded students who contribute to their community. Juniors Keaton Hare, Lucy Raleigh, and Ike Taylor worked with the local Down Syndrome Association to host a sweetheart dance for Valentine’s Day to provide an opportunity for these students while also learning about the process of hosting the event.