CAS: Creativity, Action & Service
For those of you that are new to IB schools, CAS stands for Creativity, Action and Service. LCS has a very strong CAS program for secondary school students in grades 6 through 12. The purpose of the program is to balance the rigors of a challenging academic program by providing experiences that also challenge students in other areas. The CAS program encourages students to follow their passions and to push themselves beyond their comfort zones of prior experience. The program encourages students to express themselves creatively and physically, and to perform a service in school and in the local community. CAS activities happen outside of the normal academic day.
As part of the schools’ commitment to offer a broad and challenging program, LCS has established graduation requirements that include expectations for students to successfully complete specific CAS expectations as well as academic requirements. These requirements are outlined below.
LCS CAS Hours Requirements per grade |
Grade |
Creativity |
Action |
Service |
Total |
12 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
75 |
11 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
75 |
10 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
45 |
9 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
45 |
8 |
* |
* |
* |
40 |
7 |
* |
* |
* |
30 |
6 |
* |
* |
* |
30 |
Notes:
- 11th and 12th grade students must accumulate 150 CAS hours during 11th and 12th grade. No hours prior to 11th grade will be counted towards the required 150 hours.
- 12th grade students must accumulate at least 50 CAS hours during 12th grade even if their hourly requirement was fulfilled in 11th grade (the 2008 senior class is grandfathered in at 30 hours).
- It is recommended that students in grades 6 – 8 are involved with creative, action and service projects, though there is no requirement in each category.
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To help students fulfill their CAS requirements, they can participate in a number of creative, action and service activities after school. LCS offers a wide range of after-school activities in three different activities modules throughout the year. Some samples of creative activities would be choir, guitar club, creative writing, African drumming and dancing and performing in plays. LCS offers all the major sports including soccer, basketball, volleyball and other activities which develop both physical strength and mental clarity such as karate and yoga. Students are guided in their choice of activities to provide a balanced program of co-curricular experiences.
Of special note are the CAS Wednesday service trips where students go to different places in and around Accra where they work with those who are less fortunate than themselves. The school arranges regular trips to a local orphanage, a school for the mentally disabled, daycare centers for the children of young, single mothers and to various places to work with and educate people about HIV/AIDS.
Secondary students also have the opportunity to participate in a number of weekend trips that take place throughout the school year. LCS has a close relationship with the Rita Marley Foundation and has worked with the foundation to paint a medical clinic and school buildings in a small village about an hour outside of Accra. LCS also has a close relationship with Habitat for Humanity and sponsors five or six weekend trips a year where students build houses from scratch – which includes making the bricks! Throughout the year there are also other opportunities which may include the Walk for Hunger, the Clean Up the World campaign and the countrywide immunization program.
The CAS program builds on prior service experiences so that students are capable of meeting the challenge of the IB CAS requirements for 11th and 12th grade. Here is how the program is set up:
Grades 6 - 8 |
Each grade adopts a class service project(s). This project will be the service focus throughout the school year. Students have the option of going on CAS Wednesday and weekend service trips |
Grades 9 – 10 |
The emphasis in these grades is to try many different CAS Wednesday and weekend service trips. The experiences from this grade will help students discover their personal area of interest. |
Grades 11 - 12 |
The emphasis here is on a sustained commitment over time to a good cause. Students are expected to fulfill 80% of their service requirements from regular CAS Wednesday service trips. Additional requirements can be fulfilled via weekend service trips. |
These field trips are truly transformational experiences for everyone who attends – students, teachers and parents. Many people that attend CAS service trips find that these experiences are a highlight of their time spent here in Ghana.
Community and Service:
Community service is expected of all students from Pre-Kindergarten through Grade Five. The goal of the LCS Community Service Program is to foster a lifelong commitment to service in all of our students.
Elementary students learn about community and service through their PYP Units of Inquiry, therefore it is integrated directly into the curriculum. Students participate in the 'Action' component of the PYP program and focus on areas that will enhance their understanding of what community and service means.
At the end of grade five, all students participate in a trip to the mountains of Ghana where they either camp out or stay in rustic accommodations to learn about the natural environment of Ghana. Students climb the highest mountain and hike to the highest waterfall in Ghana as part of the weekend trip. At night, students experience the richness of African drumming and dancing around the campfire and the next day make a positive impact on the environment by planting native Ghanaian trees. The trip is certainly a high point of fifth grade!
Terrence Donohue,
Community Action & Service (CAS) Coordinator
Phone number: 233-21-774018 ext. 230
Cell Phone : 233-244-335040
Fax: 233 21 78 09 85
Email: tdonohue@lincoln.edu.gh |
