Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS)

CAS stands for Creativity, Activity, Service and is a requirement of the IB Diploma Program. In order to earn an IB Diploma, students are required to complete at least 150 hours of CAS, evenly split between Creativity, Activity, and Service. Students are encouraged to identify a need in the community, plan a solution, and involve others in implementing the solution. Students are required to fill out reflections, including the verification of the adult supervisor of the activity.

How CAS is structured?

The three strands of CAS, which are often interwoven with particular activities, are characterized as follows:

Creativity – arts, and other experiences that involve creative thinking.
Activity – physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle, complementing academic work elsewhere in the DP.
Service – an unpaid and voluntary exchange that has a learning benefit for the student. The rights, dignity and autonomy of all those involved are respected.

In order to demonstrate these concepts, students are required to undertake a CAS Project. The project challenges students to:

show initiative
demonstrate perseverance
develop skills such as collaboration, problem solving and decision making.

What is the significance of CAS?

CAS enables students to enhance their personal and interpersonal development by learning through experience.

It provides opportunities for self-determination and collaboration with others, fostering a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment from their work.

At the same time, CAS is an important counterbalance to the academic pressures of the DP.

The following activities CANNOT count for service hours:

Religious worship or teaching (including Vacation Bible School)
Service for which you are paid
Service for which you earn a grade
Service for family

Need some help getting started with service? See below for some suggestions:

Coaching/volunteering/working concessions for accredited sports or fitness programs and competitions
Volunteering with health services providers, including hospitals, community clinics, nursing homes, assisted living centers, hospices (Examples: Carolinas Medical Center, Presbyterian Hospital, Hospice Charlotte)
Soup kitchens, food banks, food-collection drives
Town-sponsored community events (Example: Matthews Alive!)
Emergency shelters/women’s shelters (Example: Room at the Inn)
Boy Scout or Girl Scout-sponsored service activities
Volunteering for community arts groups (Examples: Children’s Theater, CSYO, Union Youth Symphony)
Participation in charity fund-raisers (Examples: Miles Against Melanoma, Komen Race for the Cure, March of Dimes WalkAmerica, CropWalk, Relay for Life)
Most importantly: find something that is wrong with the world, and fix it! Find someone who needs help, and provide that help!

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