ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 13, 1996 TAG: 9602130108
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
For Ayanna Thompson, it was a typical week of academics. In history, she wrote a paper on the causes of the Civil War. In English, she wrote an analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter." She also had to write a paper in her Spanish course.
For the weekend, she had to read 140 pages of French novelist Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" for her English class. After the junior at Roanoke's William Fleming High School finishes that, she'll read Russian novelist Feodor Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment."
Thompson is enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program, a rigorous academic course with international standards of excellence for college-bound students.
Ayanna, 16, and her twin sister, Kaila, are among nearly 200 students who are participating in the baccalaureate diploma program at Fleming and a preparatory program at William Ruffner Middle School.
School officials said student response has been excellent to the international academic course of study that enables students to earn advanced credits at many colleges and universities. The program began unofficially last year, but this is the first year at full strength.
William Fleming is one of only three high schools in Western Virginia with such a program. The others are Lee County and Salem, where the program is in its fourth year.
The courses are challenging, but they don't dominate the students' lives, Ayanna said.
"We're not nerdy kids, all with straight A's. The majority of us are normal people who work hard," she said. "We also have fun in the process."
Kaila said a key to success in the program is good study habits and keeping up with studies. "If you get behind," she said, "it's hard to catch up because there is so much to do."
The twins said their reasons for enrolling in the courses were practical as well as academic: They hope to save their parents money by winning scholarships and earning college credits. More than 400 universities and colleges, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Virginia, and William and Mary, give advanced credit to graduates of the program.
The twins would like to become medical or occupational therapists. They are considering UVa, James Madison University or Hampton University.
Even if the twins don't win scholarships, they believe the international baccalaureate program will give them a strong academic foundation that will better prepare them for college. They said they had no anxiety about enrolling in it.
Shelia Balderson, coordinator of Fleming's program, said the courses help students think for themselves, analyze problems, reach logical conclusions and communicate effectively in oral and written forms.
"It is a comprehensive program that develops a lifelong quest for learning," Balderson said.
William Fleming has joined about 500 high schools in 71 countries, including about 200 in the United States and Canada, with this type of program. Europe has about 150 schools, and the rest are distributed throughout the world.
The program was started by the International School, a private institution in Geneva, in the 1960s. It prepared students of many nationalities for advanced-placement tests for colleges and universities.
The International School and several similar schools developed a curriculum and battery of exams that could be taken in any country. All exams for the program's diploma are prepared and graded by an international board of examiners.
At William Fleming, students in the program take courses in English, math, history, biology, French or Spanish and art/design. They also take electives if time permits. The classes are small and are specifically designed for students in the program.
Balderson said the school's faculty has been trained in the baccalaureate program's curriculum and methods.
Students are also required to take a course called "Theory of Knowledge," which explores the relationship among all disciplines and requires students to engage in critical thinking. Students must also write a 4,000-word essay on an approved topic and complete 200 hours of community service.
The final examinations in the senior year last about 25 hours over a two-week period. College and university professors give the oral examinations and grade the written tests.
A visitation committee of educators from the program evaluated Fleming and spent three days at the school checking on curriculum, faculty and other academic issues before approving its application.
"They run you over the coals, checking out everything. They interviewed students and teachers, too," Balderson said.
The school system has established a preparatory program at William Ruffner to help get students ready for the high school courses. Students can begin the preparatory study in the sixth grade.
Eileen Tully, coordinator of the Ruffner program, said 108 students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades have enrolled. Sixty-three students have enrolled in preparatory courses in the ninth and 10th grades at Fleming, and 22 juniors and seniors are in the main program.
Tully said the large enrollment in the preparatory courses bodes well for the diploma program at Fleming in the next few years.
As magnet schools, Fleming and Ruffner attract students from outside their attendance zones. Balderson said 18 percent of Fleming's students in the program and 34 percent of Ruffner's live outside the schools' attendance areas.
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. William Fleming High School juniorsby CNBAyanna (left) and Kaila Thompson are twin sisters enrolled in the
International Baccalaureate program, which is designed to give
students a leg up on academics before they go to college. color.