“IB Mindful,” an event for junior participating in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program was held to emphasize on respect on March 20.
IB Mindful was held at Boys Town and allowed students to discuss their differences and get to know each other better.
According to IB coordinator, Cathy Andrus, the IBDP staff organized the event and was run by teachers Ron Moore and Ferial Pearson. “Taking time to be mindful of other people and their differences and reflecting on what that means is an important part of IB. Spending a day doing that is time well spent,” said Andrus.
For the IB students themselves, some have a slightly different take on the whole situation.
Juniors Crystal Carney, Michale Galeski and Luke Koesters are three students who attended the event.
The students emphasized that they hadn’t known anything about IB Mindful until only a short time before it was set to take place.
“They didn’t give us a ton of information,” said Galeski. They were notified about two weeks before the event.
Although short noticed, all three students said IB Mindful was useful and that they came away with something that they can use in their daily lives.
“The first judgment you make on someone shouldn’t be said,” said Galeski.
Koesters said he realized how important understanding others’ point of views.
“It’s gonna help you be mindful [and] talk to people outside,” said Carney.
Activities at the event allowed students to see their differences and similarities as well as allow them to bond closer together. For example, Carney explained a game that required students to step forward from a line of other students. The student would step forward if the orator asked, for example, if they had been called a racial slur before.
Despite Andrus saying that IB Mindful was only for “taking time to be mindful of other people and their differences,” the three students had slightly different ideas.
“[For] us two—we—a lot of people in IB are friends with only IB kids,” said Galeski about himself and Koesters. In contrast, he added that students don’t have too much of a problem with befriending kids outside of the program.
“IB is secluded from everything else,” said Carney. [It can be] cliquey.”
But problem with cliques isn’t everybody’s problem.
“I’m not involved with them,” said Koesters. Galeski agreed.
Aside from any “clique” problem, students enjoyed the activities, even if it was similar to something they have done before.
It was similar to activities the junior class participated in last year on a half day and Koesters explained that the speaker present at IB Mindful talked to student council beforehand and told the same story.
Overall it was a good experience for them. “[It was about] respect, we need to respect, “said Carney.