Full Diploma Students participate in IB's CAS Program. Diploma Candidates begin tracking their CAS experiences on the first day of their Junior Year. An ideal CAS program contains a balance of experiences that meet the three strands explained below.

CAS is organized around the three strands of creativity, activity and service defined as follows:

• Creativity: Exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product or performance. Creativity in CAS may include visual and performing arts, writing, film, culinary arts, crafts and composition.

• Activity: Physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle. The aim of the “Activity” strand is to promote lifelong healthy habits related to physical well-being. Pursuits may include individual and team sports, exercise, dance, or fitness training.

• Service: Collaborative and reciprocal engagement with the community in response to an authentic need. The aim of the “Service” strand is for students to make a meaningful contribution to their community.

Examples of CAS Experiences

These are just some ideas! Almost anything can count as CAS.

Creativity

• Learning origami

• Painting images that promote Black Lives Matter

• Learning to play a new musical instrument

• Learning to speak a new language

• Starting an artistic photography Instagram page

• Learning to cook international cuisine

• Teaching your peers how to knit, then donating hats and scarves to Armed Forces members (combined with Service)

• Partnering with Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture to create immigrant-centric artwork for display around the city (combined with Service)

Activity

• Creating a home-workout plan

• Learning yoga

• Developing a weekly running routine

• Joining a school-based or community-based sports team

• Learning to kick-box

• Running the Philadelphia Marathon

Service

• Volunteering at the MLK day of service

• Volunteering at Philabundance

• Creating newsletters for community organizations

• Volunteering at the Philadelphia Marathon

• Participating in school clean-ups

• Fundraising to meet the needs of classrooms devastated by natural disasters

Where do I go to get Started?

CAS Begins with a “YES”!: A guide to determining whether

an experience can be counted as CAS

1. 1. Is this an activity for which you will not be paid?

Yes No

2. Is this activity something that is not a requirement of any element of the Diploma Program?

Yes No

3. Can this activity be considered a creative, physically active, or service endeavor, as based on

the definitions above?

Yes No

Which strand(s) do you think this activity fits under?

4. If this is a Creativity experience, will there be a finished product?

Yes No

What will the finished product be?

5. If this is a Service experience, is there a genuine need for the service?

Yes No

What is this need?

6. If this is an Activity experience, will there be an element of physical exertion?

Yes No

How will you engage in physical exertion?

7. Does this experience meet at least one of the Learning Outcomes as outlined in Managebac?

Yes No

Which Learning Outcome do you think this activity addresses?

8. Will you have fun?

Yes No

If you answered “yes” to all of the above questions, it’s time to go post this experience to Managebac in order to get Ms. Rowe’s approval!