The Wonderful World of CAS
Welcome students, parents and guests to a new year at the Stockholm International School! As you may or may not know, students in eleventh and twelfth grade follow a program called the International Baccalaureate, also known as the IB. Throughout these two years, students must not only focus on their six mandatory classes, but they must also participate in creative ‘experiences’, be active and do community service. This program is called CAS. Students should do around 50 hours in each strand of CAS, which actually stands for Creativity, Activity and Service. The 11th graders are required to be involved in ‘experiences’ for both a short period of time, and a long period of time (over a month). Here are a few examples of experiences they can do to be active in the community, as well as become or remain balanced individuals.
A few eleventh graders are currently participating in clubs or activities within school.
Isabella Ö. is part of the Model United Nations, the school newspaper, the student government, Amnesty International, and participated in the Colour Run on Friday the 9th of September. Another service experience that students an be part of outside of school is the Stockholm Film Festival. Many SIS students have volunteered in the past, and say that it is a lot of fun. This experience gives you an opportunity to meet many new people as well as helps you complete your CAS.
Although Stockholm International School offers many clubs, it is not always easy for eleventh and twelfth graders to participate as they have longer days than the rest of the school. To meet activity experience requirements, many students join a gym, and keep a diary of their gym sessions, but you could do as Angela W. is doing, and start taking swimming lessons. There are also many students in Stockholm, not only at SIS, who take horse-back riding lessons.
Also take a look at Ms. Smith’s CAS blog, for many exciting CAS experiences that students can participate in locally, globally, indirectly, and even online. Don’t leave it to the last minute, do it now and have fun!