Fab 5: PHS grads among the latest to benefit from opportunities created by school’s IB program

Graduates all over the Mat-Su Borough School District walked across stages toward their future this week. For 16 years, Palmer High has been producing International Baccalaureate Diploma graduates. Palmer High students received more scholarship offers than any other MSBSD high school last year and topped that number again in 2019.

Palmer High School Principal Paul Reid attributes the success of Palmer High students in continuing their education to the IB program. The graduating seniors at PHS received more than $7.8 million in scholarship offers, and the five IB graduates alone received over $2.5 million in offers.

“It’s a rigorous program. It’s not hard, it’s rigorous, and coaching them through how to handle all of that I think is something that we’re particularly good at,” PHS IB coordinator Nichelle Henry said.

Palmer High School graduated five female IB diploma students this year. Kaitlyn Theonnes will attend the University of California Berkeley. Kiani Kalander, who won the Horatio Alger National Scholar Award, will attend Brigham Young University to study piano and organ performance. Katie Zielger will attend Hamline University in Minnesota to double-major in Philosophy and biomedical science. Valedictorian Jocelyn Zweifel will attend Puget Sound University to study microbiology, and Julia Safarik will attend Colby College.

Before the five had finished their IB diploma program, Reid and Henry attended a school board meeting in September of 2018 to present on the progress of the IB program. When Henry told the school board that the 10 diploma candidates from 2018 received over $3.7 million in scholarships and accepted over $1 million, they were in shock.

“The IB program prepares you not only academically, but as a person, which I think going into college and as an adult is sometimes the more important part, because you learn about self discipline and determination and how to deal with not doing as well sometimes,” Kiani Kalandar said at graduation on Tuesday.

The IB program was introduced at Palmer High School in 2003, and West Anchorage is the only other Alaskan school that has followed. Students can take IB classes based on their own interests or participate in the full diploma program consisting of six different courses.

“The focus of the IB program is really to develop critical thinking skills, time management skills, research skills and then we have a learner profile of 10 traits we want to develop in our students and in ourselves,” Henry said to the school board.

Henry said that the purpose of the IB program is not to give the students knowledge, but to teach them how to find it themselves. Henry said that 46 percent of low income and minority students enter college and that number jumps to 79 percent with an IB diploma. The national average for a student to graduate from a four-year university within six years is 56 percent, which jumps to 83 percent for IB students. IB grads also graduate faster, completing a four-year degree at 79 percent.

Theonnes, a diploma candidate at the time preceded the PHS staff at the podium, speaking during public comment at the school board meeting. Theonnes said that she needed to be pushed and she found that at PHS.

“You need to ask for help and that’s okay because sometimes that can be really hard for students who are used to knowing everything in the class, and if they don’t that can be a roadblock,” Theonnes said.

Safarik, a fellow diploma candidate, followed suit to thank Palmer High for the opportunity she had as an IB diploma candidate.

“When you get to the IB program, you actually do find that you have to study; and so, you have to find those stress management skills and those time management skills and be able to go to your counselor and say something isn’t right here,” Safarik said.

Safarik chose the IB program to get closer to her goal of becoming a pediatrician. Safarik said she breezed through her first two years of high school, and that honors classes were not hard enough.

“I think the IB program is fantastic and I think everybody should do it because it’s probably one of the best steps I’ve ever taken in my life,” Safarik said.

Reid said that the popularity of the IB diploma is growing. The environmental systems studies class was reintroduced this year, and the interest was great enough to require it to be offered for two class periods. Reid said that the IB program offers an opportunity for students from any background to apply themselves and earn an opportunity to attend college.

“I think education is a great equalizer, but if you’re a kid that is coming from a family that is low income and can’t afford to send yourself to college, it’s an avenue for that for those kids,” Reid said. “Understand that this is an opportunity that can change your life if you choose to embrace yourself in it.”

Reid said that one of the struggles of the IB program is not the effectiveness or the popularity, but the advertising. Last fall, MSBSD Public Information Officer Jillian Morrissey sent a blanket email to all middle school parents with information on the IB program. PHS has done outreach to middle schools to try and get the word out about the success of the program.

“I think we’re doing a lot more purposeful branding of the program and selling the program, and I think the fact that last year we drew in more scholarship opportunities for students than any other high school has been really good talking point for branding the program and what the program can provide for kids. This year we’ve actually topped that number by a lot, $7.85 million this year,” Reid said.

Reid hopes to push the narrative away from the days when it was believed that a student could not complete the IB program and have a social life outside of school. Each of the five IB grads in 2019 are well-rounded individuals with a wide variety of extracurricular activities. Henry is particularly amazed at how different each one of the five ladies are from one another.

“They’re all ladies. They’re academically driven, I think just in general driven in life to take on a lot and achieve a lot and I think they will all be very successful at whatever they choose to do,” Reid said of the five IB diploma candidates.

Henry mentioned Allison Groseclose and Kelsey Schober as IB Diploma grads who used the program to get a quality education and launch successful careers that have brought them back to The Last Frontier. Groseclose attended Pacific Lutheran University after using her IB credits to skip her freshman year. Groseclose later received her Masters from the London School of Economics in political theory and has returned to work in the community that raised her for Alaska Family Services in Palmer. Schober grew up in Sutton and attended Bates College in Maine where she earned her bachelor’s degree with a major in dance, psychology and political science. She was one of 40 students nationwide to receive a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, and returned home to direct digital communications for the Stand for Salmon campaign. She will be attending the University of Alberta this fall for a Master’s in Political Science.

As a 2012 IB diploma grad, Schober did not accept many of the large scholarships she was awarded, including a scholarship for half of her tuition from Union College that would’ve allowed her to enter as a sophomore and receive free room and board. Schober said that she appreciated the rigorous courses and without the IB program, her high school experience wouldn’t have prepared her for college in a meaningful way.

“The IB program provided the opportunity for me to be accepted into colleges I wouldn’t otherwise have had access to. Especially as a first generation college student, the IB program allowed me access to a college that likely otherwise would have been out of reach,” Schober said. “I thoroughly believe that my success in entering college as a first generation college student with the limited opportunities provided by the MSBSD can be attributed to graduating as an IB diploma student. Ultimately, my post-graduate successes can be traced to my alma mater—a relationship that wouldn’t be possible without the IB program at PHS. I advocate strongly for the program and it’s continuation at PHS.”

Groseclose was a 2013 IB Diploma graduate.

“She got a great education. She didn’t have to spend a lot of time doing it. She didn’t have to spend a fortune to do it and she’s home being part of the same community that raised her. I think that’s wonderful,” Henry said.

David Dahms put each of his four children through the IB diploma program. Dahms estimates that his family saved more than $300,000 for college in scholarships. Kiersten, Bryan, Jesse and Daniel all finished their undergraduate degrees without any college debt. Dahms said one of the additional benefits of the IB program is for students who want to travel abroad. Dahms said that each of his four children began to complain about the workload, and he related it to paying themselves to work towards their future.

“It’s off the charts. It is the deal. I’m not saying that what Colony does with AP isn’t equally good, but the thing about IB is that if you get the certification, it opens the world up to you,” Dahms said.

Dahms is not the only parent who has pushed their child to enter the IB program. Katie Ziegler earned more than $1 million in scholarship offers, and will be accepting more than $200,000 to attend Hamline. Katie’s mother, Kim, was amazed at watching her daughter grow as part of the program.

“Watching over the last two years her growth and her ambition and her self motivation have just been amazing,” Kim Ziegler said.

Henry said that the Palmer High staff has worked hard to become more familiar with the program. About half of all PHS teachers have IB professional development training.

“Regardless of whether they teach an IB class, they’re IB instructors because they’re part of this program that’s teaching these kids and so I think that staff that really understands the IB program and how, what we’re doing in any given class builds to the IB program, I think that’s a part of it,” Henry said.

Henry missed the opportunity to earn an IB diploma at PHS by a few years. The first time IB classes tested students was 2003. Henry has served as coordinator since 2010 and during her time as coordinator, Henry said that participation has grown from 30 percent of seniors to 50 percent of seniors taking IB classes. Henry mentioned the mosaic of students that take IB classes, from those that have always taken honors classes to average students looking to be challenged. Henry noted the prevalence of colleges accepting IB courses as credit. The 30 for 30 program allows a minimum score of 30 to receive 30 credits. In 2018, the group four project was held at the UAF experimental farm. A student from each of the different IB science courses grouped together to go out into the field, collect data, analyze and present their findings all in one day. The research will be shared with UAF to add to their understanding as well.

Henry mentioned that the group this year is all unique from one another. Theonnes took college classes while completing her IB diploma. Calendar offers her piano playing services at a number of venues as a hobby. Though the group of 10 graduates last year received over $ 5 million in scholarships, they were bested by the class of 2019. Kalander, Zweifel, Theonnes, Ziegler and Safarik will accept over $700,000 in scholarships.

“One of our biggest flaws is that we’re kind of modest and we don’t toot our own horn very well. We praise our kids to our kids and to their families but not necessarily to the community at large. So yes, the scholarship offers I think are only growing for IB students,” Henry said.

The scholarship offer numbers are gaudy, but not all IB diploma candidates accept large scholarships. Some are benefited by being accepted to prestigious schools, like Kalander.

“Sometimes you don’t get a big scholarship, but sometimes you get into Berkeley,” Henry said.

Henry said that she does not miss her former IB students, because her job is done and they have launched from Palmer High out into the world. While graduation is a special moment with each student, there is one moment each year that she takes pride in.

“It happens at different times for different kids in the hallway during passing periods, seeing my diploma candidates come by and saying how are you doing? There’s always a point for each kid where they stop like looking at me with this expression of being so overwhelmed and they start being able to say it’s fine,” Henry said. “That’s what you hope they get out of it. The college credit is great, the massive scholarship offers is great, advanced placement in college classes is great but able to take on challenges at whatever level they are ready for, that’s rewarding. That’s harder to teach and so accomplishing that I think is really more rewarding but it’s also a reflection of the work done by the team at the high school.”

Contact Frontiersman reporter Tim Rockey at tim.rockey@frontiersman.com.