Creativity, Activity, & Service (CAS)
About
CAS (Creativity, Activity, and Service) is an essential and central part of the IB Diploma Program. It is designed for students to explore their varied interests, develop their creative capacity, care for their body & mind, and serve the greater community. These components are intended to make graduates reflective, curious, collaborative, ambitious advocates on ethical issues of great significance to our world.
The Washtenaw International High School Creativity, Activity, and Service Program is designed to develop well-rounded, socially engaged students who are well-prepared and empowered to make change in the world around them.
Since our first graduating class in 2015, WIHI graduates have completed over 93,000 hours of CAS experiences.
For questions about CAS, please contact the Service Learning Coordinator, Mr. Fox.
Graduation Requirement
Participation in the three strands of Creativity, Activity, and Service within the (CAS) program encourages candidates to be involved in creative pursuits, physical activity, and community service work.
The IB takes seriously the importance of life outside the world of scholarship, which is why CAS is at the core of the Diploma Program(DP) along with Theory of Knowledge(ToK) and the Extended Essay(EE).
Starting on the first day of class junior year and extending over the next 18 months, students are required to complete and catalog a minimum of 16 monthly CAS experience reflections averaging 2-3 hours of various experiences each week. In addition, all students must complete at least one CAS Project. The CAS Project is a collaborative, self-initiated project of significant duration (at least one month) that connects with one or more of the CAS strands.
These monthly reflections and the project form a portfolio of CAS experiences with supervisor verification and/or photo evidence and thoughtful reflections focused on growth toward seven learning outcomes.
The hope is through these experiences students will develop a CAS lifestyle--one where our graduates are healthy, creative, and engaged citizens in their communities and our world.
CAS Experiences
Regular engagement in CAS experiences on a weekly basis, averaging 2-3 hours per week. CAS begins the first day of school junior year, and the students reflect upon and provide verification of their CAS experiences on a monthly basis over an 18-month period ending in the spring of the senior year.
Monthly CAS Reflections & Verification
CAS experiences and the CAS Project must be independently verifiable. Photographs, videos, screenshots, and verification letters from adult supervisors all work well as verification. Reflection upon activities can be recorded in a variety of forms, but are usually written, and should focus on how the CAS experiences or CAS project brought about growth across the seven learning outcomes below.
Learning Outcomes:
- Increased awareness of strengths and areas for growth
- Undertaking new challenges & developing new skills
- Planning and initiating activities
- Working collaboratively with others
- Showing perseverance and commitment
- Engaging with issues of global importance
- Consideration of ethical implications
CAS Project
Students must also complete at least one CAS project, which must be a self-initiated, collaborative project that is of significant duration and put together in consultation with a CAS mentor or CAS coordinator.
