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Exams that open doors

For students who spent years in an intense IB program, much is riding on three weeks of essays. College cash, for instance.

By ELISABETH DYER
Published April 29, 2005

OLD SEMINOLE HEIGHTS - The International Baccalaureate program is the Mount Everest of high school academia.

To make it to the top, participants have to work harder than traditional students, often forgoing sleep and social activities to get good grades.

Some can't stand it and drop out during the first year. Those who survive join an elite group of overachievers worldwide.

For 117 IB students at Hillsborough High School, Thursday was their last day of regular classes. Next week they begin three weeks of essay exams, the final step in their four-year quest for an IB diploma.

"Everything boils down to this," said Troy Jimenez, a 12th-grader in Hillsborough High's IB program who lives in Lake Magdalene. "The cumulative of the last four years, all the work, the strife we've gone through, it could all be for naught if we don't pass these exams."

Last year, 89 percent of Hillsborough High's IB students earned the diplomas. The world average was 82 percent.

"We're doing very well," said Donna Scheirer, Hillsborough High's IB coordinator.

Results for this year's graduating class come out in July. "It's a huge ordeal," she said. "Every year we hold our breath because you just don't know how they'll do."

An IB diploma opens doors. The rigorous program, which includes 200 hours of creative projects, activities and community service, is taught in 119 countries. Local degree holders often go on to Ivy League schools and vault into public Florida colleges as sophomores or juniors.

IB students across the world take exams on the same dates. Colleges accept them based on their high school grades and grant credit once test scores are released.

Senior Jeremy Teblum of Citrus Park said the experience was worthwhile, even if he doesn't pass the exams.

He didn't always think that way. Watching friends not in the program goof off while he studied made him wonder, "Is this really what I want to be doing?"

Graduating with a 6.139 GPA, he's glad he stayed.

Students who don't score high enough to earn the diploma may still earn IB certificates for the courses they passed, which translate to some college credit.

"I definitely think it's been worth it," said senior Josh Proper of South Tampa, who came to the program after attending Tampa Preparatory School. "A lot of the kids in the IB program get into better colleges than the kids at Tampa Prep do. The reputation is a little bit higher."

The IB program began in 1968 in Geneva as a way to establish a common curriculum and university credentials for high school students moving from one country to another.

Ralph Cline, who was involved with the IB program at St. Petersburg High School, started the program at Hillsborough High - the county's first - in 1990. At the time, district officials hoped the program would lure smart students from across the county to the urban school to maintain racial diversity and restore pride in the county's oldest high school.

"One way to do that was to put ... the most prestigious academic program into the school," said Cline, now the head of school services for the IB Organization in New York City.

IB has grown like bamboo in Florida since the program began at St. Petersburg High in 1983.

Hillsborough County's second IB program began at King High School in 1993. Since then, students who live west of Nebraska Avenue go to Hillsborough; those who live to the east go to King.

"Florida has more IB students than any other state," Cline said. "The typical size of graduating classes worldwide is 16."

Hillsborough High and St. Petersburg High each have 117. King has 118.

Last year, Hillsborough High ranked 14th in the world for the school that had the most students take IB exams. King was 17th.

Cline credits the high participation to Florida's efforts to promote and recognize the program.

The state pays for the program and accepts IB diplomas in place of state-issued diplomas so IB students can bypass some state-required courses, such as physical education. Students with an IB diploma automatically qualify for a Bright Futures Florida Academic Scholars Award, which pays full tuition and fees at any public university in Florida.

Most Hillsborough IB graduates go to the University of Florida in Gainesville, said Scheirer.

Getting into the IB program is based solely on merit.

That was a crucial selling point for senior Joe Holliday, who lives in Lutz with his mother, a grocery store manager who couldn't have afforded private schooling.

"I'm the first one in my family to actually go to college," said Holliday, who plans to major in engineering at UF. "We're kind of in the dark about this."

Holliday credits the teachers as the main difference between traditional high school and IB programs.

"They're definitely passionate about what they do," he said.

They earn the same as other teachers but are devoted to the advanced curriculum. IB students do not take classes with the rest of the student body.

In January, more than 400 eighth-graders applied for next year's class at Hillsborough High, Scheirer said. Just 145 were accepted. They are ranked according to standardized test scores, grades from their core classes, a writing sample and teacher recommendation.

During the first two years, students focus on the basics, including math, English and science. Ninth-graders take an Inquiry Skills class to learn how to research information and write a paper. Eleventh-graders take a philosophy class called Theory of Knowledge. In order to graduate, students must write a senior thesis and research papers related to their classes.

Students' commitment is high. Many do homework past midnight.

"My parents think I work too hard," said Hasini Ediriweera, who wants to be a doctor. "I put more pressure on myself than they ever have."

- Times staff writer Anne Arsenault contributed to this report. Elisabeth Dyer can be reached at 226-3321 or edyer@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 28, 2005, 08:32:07]