Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/91307
Sarasota News Leader November 2, 2012 said in a Sarasota County Schools news re- lease. The Open World pilot program remedies that because it does not require a large group of students or new instructor training, the news release noted. According to Paul Gallagher, Riverview High's IB coordinator, it can take two years for a school to become authorized to offer the full IB program. A school needs to be big enough to maintain such classes, he pointed out. The IB program began at Riverview in 1999. Nook said she is thrilled to have the collabo- ration with Booker High. "It is an absolutely amazing opportunity for our two schools," she said in the district news release. "I'm re- ally, really pleased." Page 42 how the initiative was working for the Booker students, and what, if any, problems they had encountered. Eleven students are active in the Booker IB program. The number is expected to expand next year, Shelley said. With their IB classes online, the Booker stu- dents can find themselves working with other young people anywhere in the world. Film Studies student Cindy Allen, an 11th grader, said she loves logging in to take the class, in part because of the creativity of the site and course design. She added that the di- versity of the students with whom she inter- acts is one of the highlights of the class. You are pioneers, true pioneers. … This is really big, big, big for the IB program. "While the other [IB] schools are still devel- oping strategic plans or else have had few students participate, Booker has seized the opportunity," Gallagh- er told the Booker students on Oct. 29. "You are the first cohorts [of this new program] in the world. You should be proud of yourself." Head of Online Learning Development International Baccalaureate program Denise Perrault Booker High junior Angelo Buenano, who is studying Manda- rin Chinese, said he is honing his skills in all aspects of the lan- guage: speaking, lis- tening, writing and reading. "I love the Asian culture, and I already speak Spanish fluently, so I really wanted to take Chinese," he said. And the eagerness of not only Booker's ad- ministration and students but of those in Riv- erview's IB program to reach out and inter- act was important enough to bring IB leaders from around the world to Sarasota on Oct. 29 to meet with the Booker students and staff. One of the major purposes of the get-togeth- er was for those IB representatives to learn He records himself speaking Mandarin, then submits them to his teacher, who is in the Philippines; they meet face-to-online-face, al- lowing for active involvement in the learning process. "A lot of people are very interested in your ex- perience because you represent the first-time the IB has opened the doors to say if you're not able to have the full IB experience, here's