Aspen High School seniors Alex and Jeremy Martin ring a bell in Gondola Plaza in Aspen to celebrate their post-grad decisions on Sunday, May 2, 2021. The brothers will both be heading to the Claremont Colleges in California this fall Alex to Harvey Mudd College and Jeremy to Pomona College.
Kaya Williams/The Aspen Times
A bit of rain didn’t put a damper on Sunday’s festivities at Gondola Plaza, when four waves of seniors from the Aspen High School class of 2021 rang a gold bell to celebrate their post-graduation decisions. It was an especially momentous occasion after a school year that students at the event described as “strange,” “hectic,” “interesting,” “a whirlwind.”
Special to the Snowmass Sun
Aspen High School senior and Skier Scribbler contributor Ava Thornley.
Courtesy photo
Courtesy photo
The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme is one of the many qualities that makes Aspen High School the esteemed public school it is.
To earn the full diploma, students must take six IB classes most of which are two-year courses write a 4,000-word essay and participate in a Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) project. Students are required to sacrifice their time, and sometimes their personal activities, to successfully complete the program.
It’s common for juniors and seniors to take at least one IB class, but enrolling in the program in which students can earn a full IB diploma has gained popularity in the past few years. We all hear that the program is the best preparation we will get for college. But is that enough reward to make the commitment worth it?