Community Focused: McKemy Academy IB Project Showcase Creates Lasting Impact

It’s McKemy Academy for International Studies’ annual 8th Grade Community Project Showcase and Kathryn Gannon beams with pride as she walks through the school’s cafeteria browsing students’ presentations. 

Gannon is the school’s International Baccalaureate (IB) Coordinator, so tonight is especially significant. The Community Project Showcase serves as the culminating event for McKemy students who have been working on their chosen project all year. This project epitomizes the IB philosophy that students have been focusing on throughout their middle school journey.

“The heart of IB is thinking mindfully, being globally-minded, and considering others, along with all the curricular activities that a normal school does,” Gannon said. “The goal of the project is to generate students’ passion, what they really care about, what they want to help in the community, and to make the world a better place.”

McKemy students Aletheia Dupey and Eleanor Zehring focused their project on a local domestic violence shelter for women and children. The duo made blankets for the families with blank squares so they could personalize them.  

“We wanted to make a memory for them, make it be… a new starting place for them in their life after going through those traumatic events,” Dupey said.

Zoe Ackley also focused her project on serving community members who were going through a difficult time by holding a toy drive to benefit children at Banner Children's at Desert. Ackley appreciated the opportunity to take her classroom education to the next level. 

“I liked that it gave us a chance to be independent,” she said. “We had parameters, but we really got the opportunity to be ourselves, to be creative, and to use our own thoughts.”

Taking a different approach, Zedry Abdi allowed his love of learning about new places to guide his plan. During his project, which he named “Beyond the Map,” Abdi presented lessons on three different countries to his McKemy peers.

“I like learning about different places because although they seem different, they're all connected,” Adbi said. “I hope that my classmates were able to understand that, as humans, we should try to learn more about each other because we all live on the same planet. We should want to be more familiar with where we are.”

For Gannon, the variety of topics students chose for this capstone assignment is what makes the showcase so meaningful. It also highlights what makes McKemy Academy such a unique place for students to develop both in the classroom and beyond. 

“You can see the IB philosophy embedded from all their classes in their projects,” Gannon said. “It's very beautiful to see. I'm very proud of them.”

 

 

About McKemy Academy of International Studies
McKemy Academy of International Studies is designed for academically bright students in grades 6-8 who thrive in an intellectually rigorous learning environment where they utilize cutting-edge technology tools to solve real-world problems and create a better, more peaceful world. McKemy supports the adolescent learner living in the 21st Century by helping students make connections between life in school, life at home, and life in the real world. Learn more about McKemy Academy of International Studies.