Casita Center PYPx Showcase Highlights Deep Learning, Students Taking Action, and a Guest From the UN
Fifth-graders at Casita Center Elementary in Vista took the spotlight on Thursday, March 6th, with the school’s annual PYPx event, a showcase of the students’ capstone project for the International Baccalaureate (IB) World School Primary Years Program. A collection of nearly 30 different projects highlighted the deep critical thinking and exploration of the students as they combined personal interests with academic research and tangible outcomes and actions.
Topics covered included reducing food waste, addressing the needs of unhoused people, the gender pay gap, and greater accessibility for persons with physical disabilities. The topics were guided by the IB focus on the UN Goals for Sustainable Development.
Capstone Project For Deeper Learning
Casita Center Principal Jenny Chien explains the projects. “Part of being an IB World School is that we have this capstone experience for our eldest grade, and we have this exhibition. The kids embark on this journey and study the United Nations Sustainable goals.
“They learn about each [goal] over the course of the first trimester,” says Chien, “and then they pick topics that they really care about. It could be, ‘I'm really concerned about the unhoused individuals in my community, or no poverty. Some students are really worried about things like extinction or deforestation or anything like that.”
Once students have a chance to explore the UN goals and match them to their own interests and passions, they form groups to explore the topics more deeply. Casita makes the selection and team-building process an event by holding a “draft day” type event for the students.
Drafting Projects and Teams; a Guest From the UN
Modeled in part on professional sports events like the NFL draft, students declare their areas of interest and are organized into teams of two to four classmates for the project. Each team is also paired with a teacher-mentor who will guide the team through the process. Teams also seek out “expert witnesses” in the area of their studies to gain deeper knowledge from experienced practitioners in each subject field.
This year’s Draft Day event included a special guest, Shannon Mulholland, an HR Specialist with the United Nations Population Fund, who spoke to the fifth-graders via a Zoom call.
The connection was made through a Casita Center parent who knows Mulholland.
Teams, Mentors, and Expert Witnesses
With the draft complete, students set out to dig deeper into their chosen topics during the school’s second trimester. Explains Chien, “The students have mentors, and they start doing research. They meet with their mentors once a week for about an hour and go over their research. They also work on acquiring an expert witness that they're going to interview.”
As students and mentors work on the research aspect of the project, the school’s STEM specialists meet with and guide the teams in showcasing their projects through the lens of art and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). This component connects the students’ deep learning with ways to visually express and explain the work.
Taking Action
Beyond the research and creative reporting, students must also include a way to take action to address their groups’ projects. “Our students are going to be expected to take action in some way or shape or form,” explains Chien.
“I have a group that's studying differently abled people, how physical and mental disabilities can affect someone, and how to create a more just society by bringing awareness. So the group interviewed our school psychologist as an expert witness to learn more about the trends that she's seeing and what we can do as fifth graders to take action.”
That group is programming a virtual reality world to let participants experience what it can look and sound like if someone is being teased or made to feel unwelcome, as well as responses to advocate for and support those being impacted.
“Another group’s action is they're writing a storybook,” says Chien, “and then we're going to try to publish it. Then they're going to read that book to the younger kids to teach other kids about empathy, to create more of a just world.”
Other project actions include things like beach cleanups, creating a board game around a study topic, and guides for responsible consumption. Each group will showcase the entire process from concept to tangible action.
The event kicked off with a performance by the school’s steel drum band, which will be featured in April during VUSD’s Performing Arts Under the Stars at Moonlight
Terrace. After remarks from students, Chien, and VUSD Director of Transformation Dr. Eric Chagala, parents and family members visited the project stations where each team presented their work.
Says Chien of the event, “It's a fun-filled night. My heart is always warmed because the students are such change-makers at such a young age. It's a beautiful journey.”