Trip to Abbey Kelley Foster Charter School- Reflection

On August 20th I traveled to Worcester with a group of Sturgis students who had volunteered to speak to a class at Abbey Kelly Foster Charter School. This school has decided to adopt the International Baccalaureate program, so it was hoping that we would be able to help its students understand what they would be doing for their Junior and Senior years of high school. When we arrived at the school, we had lunch in the cafeteria with the students who would be participating in the IB program. We introduced ourselves to them then and got to know them a little better. They seemed to be genuinely interested in the IB, and they had plenty of questions to ask us. After lunch, we moved to a lecture hall where we could more formally speak to them about their future education. The subjects of the discussion ranged from basic information about CAS, Internal Assessments and the Extended Essays to what we think about our education so far and what advice we would give to people interested in the program. Some of the advice we gave was to resist putting off work and to keep trying no matter how difficult school becomes. The students and teachers of Abbey Kelly Foster Charter School thanked us for taking the time to come speak to them, and they seemed to be very excited and even a little nervous about what they would be doing next year. I felt that we gave them the best advice we could give, and I think that they should be more prepared for the IB now. I also think that I, along with the other Sturgis students, gained a better understanding of our own education, having described our experiences to others for the first time. Because this was the first time I have done something like this, this activity was a new challenge for me. It was difficult trying to put my feelings about my education into words, but I am glad that I was able to do so, as it was very revealing to myself in addition to being hopefully helpful to the other students. Also, I often do not speak as much as I would like to, so talking to these people felt very helpful towards developing the skill of communicating with large groups of people. I am very glad that I went on this trip. The people at Abbey Kelly Foster Charter School seemed very nice and I am sure that they will make the most of their IB education.