Home › Education › Education
New Rio Mesa program has global view
Download this story as a podcast!
STORY TOOLS 
More from EducationStudents at Rio Mesa High School will have the opportunity to participate in the campus' new International Baccalaureate Diploma program beginning in the fall.
Under the program, juniors and seniors will be able to focus on six areas of study — literature, French or Spanish, history, math, experimental sciences and the arts — but with curriculum that stresses a global perspective, said Principal Rene Rickard.
Rio Mesa joins Newbury Park as the only high schools in Ventura County that offer the program.
"We are in the 21st century and we are a global society," Rickard said. "Nowadays, our students need to be prepared to work in the world we live in, and this gives our students that opportunity. It will be rigorous, but it will be meaningful for the kids."
The International Baccalaureate Organization is a nonprofit educational foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland. The group works with 2,217 schools in 125 countries to develop and offer three challenging program levels to more than 596,000 students, according to its Web site.
Rio Mesa applied for the program in June. International Baccalaureate representatives met with school officials, students and parents in September, and school officials recently found out about the approval.
Teachers already have attended numerous training sessions on the new curriculum.
Under the program, students will take International Baccalaureate-approved courses. For example, instead of a regular math class, students will learn to dissect math problems and concepts with an international viewpoint.
"Even in their math class, they could talk about global warming, how a math concept translates into the study of global warming and how someone in Europe would also solve this issue," said Lori Wrout, Rio Mesa's International Baccalaureate program coordinator.
Outside of regular classes, students also can participate in a course called Theory of Knowledge, which will be taught like a Socratic seminar where students will use what they learned in other International Baccalaureate classes and discuss its impact through a global perspective.
"It will be a very unusual and fun program," said Richard Kennedy, who will be teaching the Theory of Knowledge class. "I get to teach the kids to be as seditious as they want to be. I want them to think and question everything around them. It's something we don't often teach in schools right now."
Students in the program also must write a 4,000-word essay on a subject matter of their choice and perform 150 hours of "creativity, action and service" in the community.
"They will have to be out in community doing service and will have to show evidence of their creativity in their effort," Wrout said.
Students who complete the program will receive a separate International Baccalaureate diploma.
Parents and students interested in the new program are encouraged to attend informational meetings. Dates will be posted in March on the school's Web site at http://www.ouhsd.k12.ca.us/sites/rmhs/rmhs.htm.
Posted by frank14 on February 14, 2008 at 5:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
That's an interesting educrat take that math seems to change depending on what country is involved. I suppose thinking and questioning global warming will get an F grade. Is it too much to expect Rio Mesa to focus on the basics like Speech, Drama, Calculus and Chemistry that might prepare the students for college or preparing them for a trade in the construction industry? No, we must have a class of the Theory of Knowledge. If teachers have all this free time to waste on liberal pap, how about teaching kids how to do a tax return, trade stocks and understand why they need to purchase a home to accumulate wealth? Looks like Rio Mesa is going down the politically correct drain.
Posted by Stang on February 14, 2008 at 6:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Frank14, i did attend Rio Mesa (class 04), and yes...they do teach us how to do a tax return, trade stocks and why we need to purchase a home...it's a class called E C O N O M I C S that every student HAS to take. Teachers never bragged to us about "liberal pap" and i honestly think that it hasn't changed.
mmshoot...1 plus 1 may not equal 2! Simple fact...numbers are but a symbolic speculation of a quantity ;). Now that's theory of knowledge.
Posted by Oranges on February 14, 2008 at 7:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
MM & Frank-
I can't wait for my kid to take some of these classes. Maybe Ms. Wrout used an example that doesn't agree with you or I but the idea of how we look at things globally is paramount to success in the 21st century.
Your perception of Rio Mesa is indeed warped. This is one of the best academic schools in the county. Do some reasearch and compare sub-groups. This campus is clean and vibrant with tons of parental support. A peace officer friend of mine says the only differance in campuses is "the farther south you get the kids have better drugs and more of them."
Congradulation Ms. Wrout and Rio Mesa on bring in a progressive program for the students. Remember MM and Frank, your kids are welcome to apply.
Posted by VenturaCountyRox on February 14, 2008 at 7:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It’s great to see thinking “Globally” is starting at the High School level. In my professional career, the world has become much smaller in the past 5 years, and I find myself increasingly doing work with people in other countries and cultures where understanding the differences matters in making things happen. Call it what you will, but it is happening like it or not. It’s clear to me that for my kids to be successful in this changing and smaller world they need to understand this as well. I’m pretty confident 5 years from now, this perspective at the High School level will start to get more attention in a “reactive” way – congrats to the two Ventura County schools that took the proactive approach.
Posted by VenturaCountyRox on February 14, 2008 at 7:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It’s great to see thinking “Globally” is starting at the High School level. In my professional career, the world has become much smaller in the past 5 years, and I find myself increasingly doing work with people in other countries and cultures where understanding the differences matters in making things happen. Call it what you will, but it is happening like it or not. It’s clear to me that for my kids to be successful in this changing and smaller world they need to understand this as well. I’m pretty confident 5 years from now, this perspective at the High School level will start to get more attention in a “reactive” way – congrats to the two Ventura County schools that took the proactive approach.
Posted by Math2Cool on February 15, 2008 at 2:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It would not take me long to show you that 1+1 almost never equals 2. That's pretty much true only in the simple world of elementary arithmetic. For example, if you see through only one eye you have no depth of field, but with two eyes you do. Something that neither eye has individually and only happens when you add them together: 1+1 > 2. I am one of the two IB math teachers at Rio Mesa and can assure you that we will not be influenced by the myopic view points of the uninformed - Steve Worth - Math Dept Chair - RMHS
Posted by carvergrid on February 15, 2008 at 3:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To mmshort and Frank14 (and any other suspicious minds out there)...learn more about IB (www.ibo.org) before you judge it. The IB program is an awesome opportunity that colleges LOVE - some colleges actually give automatic acceptance to a student who completes the entire diploma, and all colleges look highly upon students who take IB courses. It is an excellent alternative to AP courses - one of the main differences is that IB stresses internationalism, and another is that the courses focus on depth rather than breadth (i.e., quality of work versus quantity of work).
The only "agenda" that IB has is to develop students who are "internationally-minded" - that doesn't mean liberal or conservative, it means students who think about issues from a global perspective. In addition, IB students are strong analytical thinkers, and have an excellent education in the subject matter they're studying. IB schools must administer various assessments which are graded at the IB offices, thus ensuring that all IB students are receiving a consistently impressive education. In short, IB prepares kids to actually succeed in our world.
(Requires free registration.)
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.