As a veteran of International Baccalaureate at Pensacola High School, I feel eminently qualified to address its qualities. I was an English teacher here when the idea of applying to host an IB “school within a school” germinated, and I observed the first group of students who entered in 1986. Then, in 1988-89, I started teaching eleventh-grade English, switching to twelfth grade in 1998-99, and in 2007, motivated to bring continuity to the program’s leadership, became the program coordinator.

My involvement with IB extends to the role of IB parent, as well. My son Matt, class of 1998, is an assistant state attorney in Pensacola, and my daughter Mandy, class of 2000, is an art teacher in Georgia. They both credit their experiences as IB students as essential to making them the people they are today.

The IB Program at PHS has accrued an enviable record of high performance. We always have the largest number of students in the area recognized by the National Merit scholarship program. We have consistently been among the top 50 of Newsweek magazine’s Best High Schools in America. As of July 2008, 1040 graduates earned the prestigious IB diploma. Our students are accepted at the most selective universities and are awarded breathtaking dollar amounts in scholarships. Better than any of these accomplishments, though, the accolade I most treasure is the number of students who return to express appreciation for the preparation they received for college and to relate how they are contributing to society. Our motto, “Quality Education for a Better World,” is a statement of truth as well as the mission to which we aspire.

IB kids are special. They are, of course, bright. They can be profound thinkers. They’re (sometimes annoyingly) energetic and inquisitive. They are sensitive, both for themselves and for others. They are youthful but capable of amazing maturity. They challenge their teachers, requiring that we prepare ourselves thoroughly if we expect to elicit the high caliber of work that the IB curriculum demands of them. To teach them is incredibly rewarding, albeit exhausting.

The IB Support Foundation deserves much credit for enabling our students’ achievements. Its members truly live up to the organization’s name, providing support through efforts mundane and exalted. From the brownies that make staying for an IB faculty meeting bearable for teachers, to the t-shirts and picnic given seniors in celebration of finishing their extended essays, to supplementary teacher planning materials that facilitate the delivery of IB subject matter, to helping to monitor internationally standardized examinations, all the way to purchasing two state-of-the-art photocopy machines, IBSF makes it possible for the IB Program at PHS to function at the level of which we are justifiably proud.

As coordinator, I am very grateful for the existence of the IB Support Foundation. Its membership is comprised of dedicated parents who are not only delightful to work with but also valued participants in providing students with the benefits of an International Baccalaureate education.

Contact Information: (850) 595-1500 ext. 245