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These are 2 important and useful documents for CAS. Please save (print) a copy for reference:
CAS (Creativity – Action – Service) is a framework for experiential learning, designed to involve students in new roles. The emphasis is on learning by doing real tasks that have real consequences and then reflecting on these experiences over time.
The most meaningful CAS experience comes from spending time with others to build relationships and develop the self-worth of both server and served. Appropriate activities might include:
CAS should build self-esteem, self-confidence, autonomy and self-reliance.
Creativity
This aspect covers a wide range of arts and other activities outside the normal curriculum which include creative thinking in the design and carrying out of service projects. This could involve doing dance, theatre, music and art, for example. Students should be engaged in group activities, and especially in new roles, wherever possible.
Action
This aspect of CAS can include participation in expeditions, individual and team sports, and physical activities outside the normal curriculum; it also includes physical activity involved in carrying out creative and service projects. Action may involve participation in sport or other activities requiring physical exertion – such as expeditions and camping trips, or digging trenches to lay water pipes to bring fresh water to a village.
Students should be encouraged towards group and team activities and undertaking new roles, but an individual commitment is acceptable where the general requirements of CAS are met: goals are set and the student reflects on progress. Incorporating the service element can enhance both creativity and action. Students involved in the arts and in physical activities might consider coaching young children, seniors in residential homes, street children and so on.
Service
Service involves interaction, such as the building of links with individuals or groups in the community. The community may be the school, the local district, or it may exist on national and international levels (such as undertaking projects of assistance in a developing county).
Service activities should not only involve doing things for others but also doing things with others and developing a real commitment with them. The relationship should therefore show respect for the dignity and self-respect of others.
Pre-IB students must earn 50 CAS hours from the summer after their 8th grade through May 10th of their 10th grade, and IB students must earn 150 hours from the summer after their sophomore year through April 15th of their 12th grade. Only activities pre-approved and completed during non-school hours may count.
It is strongly recommended that students earn at least 25 service hours in ONE community service project. Participation in such projects enhances the student’s college application.
Guidelines for CREATIVE hours:
Creative activities are those in which the student plans or designs something and then carries it out with a tangible final product. For example, a student can plan a tutoring lesson then tutor, create a sculpture, paint a picture, participate in a musical performance, plan practice activities for a sport and then oversee the practice.
Passive activities such as visiting museums or attending performances are not applicable.
Guidelines for ACTION hours:
Action hours are earned for those activities, which promote physical fitness. For example, dance class, organized sports, karate, participating in a walk-a-thon for a charitable cause, marching band, etc.
Guidelines for SERVICE hours:
Service club projects count, for example: helping to build homes through Habitat for Humanity, green space clean up, volunteering at retirement homes, etc. Service club activities such as meetings, socials, recreational activities, etc. do not count.
Religious activities do NOT count, unless the activity is aimed at providing a service for a deserving group outside of the church group- itself.
It is recommended that students earn at least 25 service hours in one community service project.
Guidelines that apply to ALL CAS activities:
A written proposal must be completed and pre-approved by the homeroom teacher for each activity. The IB office will pre-approve CAS activities during the summer.
Hours earned will not be counted if the form and all activity logs are not submitted within thirty days of the completion of the project.
The Assistant Principal for Magnet Curriculum is the final authority regarding all CAS activities.
Guidelines pertaining to GRADUATION:
The Florida Academic Scholars program requires all students to earn 75 service hours. All IB students who complete their CAS hours will meet this requirement.
Students who do not earn all CAS hours by April 15th of their senior year will be ineligible for the IB diploma. They may still earn certificates in subjects in which they test.
COMPLETION OF THE CAS REQUIREMENT IS ALSO A GRADUATION REQUIREMENT. ANY STUDENT WHO DOES NOT COMPLETE THE CAS REQUIREMENT BY THE DAY OF GRADUATION WILL NOT BE AWARDED A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA.
(Excerpted in part from “IB Diploma Programme Guide: Creativity, Action, Service, August 2001).
CAS stands for C – creative; A – action; S – service. The CAS requirement encourages students to be involved in creative pursuits, physical activities, and service projects in the local, national and international contexts.
The IBO’s goal of educating the whole person and fostering more caring and socially responsible attitudes comes alive in an immediate way when students reach beyond themselves and their books.
CAS should extend the students. It should challenge them to develop a value system by which they enhance their personal growth. It should develop a spirit of open-mindedness, lifelong learning, discovery and self-reliance. It should encourage the development of new skills on many levels: for example, creative skills, physical skills and social skills. It should inspire a sense of responsibility towards all members of the community. It should also encourage the development of attitudes and traits that will be respected by others, such as determination and commitment, initiative and empathy.
Although there are three elements to CAS, it is important not to consider them as mutually exclusive. CAS is about the education of the whole person and the three elements are therefore interwoven. It is the interaction of them all that creates the richness of CAS. The whole of CAS is greater than the sum of its parts.
The service element of CAS is, in itself, the most significant, but the two other elements are also very important, as they provide access, balance and flexibility to meet individual students’ interests and preference.
What CAS is not?
If CAS becomes a points-scoring exercise, rather than an interesting variety of activities that the student finds intrinsically worthwhile and rewarding, and which is mutually beneficial to the student and to his or her community, then its purpose is lost. It is important that the spirit of CAS be considered at all times.
Generally, CAS is not taking place when the student is in a passive rather than an active role. There should be interaction. Examples of activities that at first sight would appear to be inappropriate are listed below.
Any class, activity or project which is already part of the student’s Diploma Program
(The above example can be applied to many other activities purporting to be CAS.)
A passive pursuit, such as a visit to a museum, the theatre, art exhibition, concert or sports event, unless it clearly inspires work in a related activity in which a student is already engaged.
The following questions may help students determine whether or not an intended activity qualifies as CAS.
CAS is a privileged way to build one’s own place. It has transformed the lives of those who undertake a commitment to it. We trust that students will find deep rewards through their participation in CAS.
It is possible to identify a variety of official organizations, both locally and elsewhere, which can provide support for weekly CAS activities and major projects. Examples of such organizations are:
Community Service
Students can often provide very valuable service to the community.
Community Service Projects Incorporating Two or Three of the CAS Elements
Teaching children who have a disability to swim (action, service) - New role: Swimming instructor
Coaching a softball team (action, service) - New role: Softball coach
Teaching the guitar to a younger class (creativity, service) - New role: Instrumental music teacher
Writing for the school newspaper (creativity, service) - New role: Journalist
Clearing a beach of oil pollution, litter and jetsam (action, service) - New role: Environmental worker
Organizing a “Walkathon” to raise money for guide dogs for people who are blind
- New role: Organizer, walk participant, assisting people who are blind
Assisting victims of natural disasters (creativity, action, service) - New role: Charity campaigner
Before starting an activity or project a student might ask themselves the following questions:
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