Last Wednesday, October 15th, 2025, Midlothian hosted its annual International Baccalaureate (IB) Open House, advertising the program to prospective eighth grade students from Clover Hill, Cosby, Monacan, James River, and Midlothian districts. The event consisted of a warm welcome from volunteer IB students, an information session (including remarks from IB Student President Saylor Narron (12) and the IB Coordinator Mr. Jones!), and concluded with a fair of booths representing various IB classes and departments in the Open Commons. Continue reading to learn more about the event and hear thoughts from Midlo IB personnel about the event and program as a whole!
Before the event began, IB student volunteers congregated in the Closed Commons. During this time, I was able to talk to IB senior Saylor Narron. As the IB President, Saylor wore many hats during the event, giving a speech at its opening session, speaking on the student panel, and volunteering at the booth for the social studies department. Despite her many personal responsibilities, Saylor stated: “Tonight is all about the eighth graders coming to the high school to learn more about IB and to get a better exposure to see if they want to apply”.
IB junior Mira Farhat, representing IB English, detailed how she was excited to be a part of the Open House in a full circle moment from when she first attended the fair herself as an eighth grader, noting “I just like being able to be here and advocate for IB because I really like the program and the people in it.”
In addition, I conversed with English and AP Seminar teacher Mrs. Hoke about her participation in the event advertising her courses. She explained “my goal is to hopefully not intimidate the eighth graders and to make them feel welcome here at Midlo so that they want to join our IB community”.
Community was practically the word of the evening as it was flowing through each section of the event and person within it. As a foundational pillar of what the IB program offers, students and faculty volunteers alike were not hesitant to emphasize the importance of peers and staff support throughout the trajectory of the rigorous program. As Payton Hornkohl (11) expanded, a key part of the community aspect in IB is in how “[IB students] lift each other up and hold each other accountable” through personal and academic pursuits.
Besides exploring the plethora of favorable qualities of the IB program, the evening also served as a vehicle for both prospective IB students and their parents to address any concerns or questions they may have about going into the specialty center at Midlothian. A common theme in many of these questions across the student panel and class booth fair was time management. Panelist Ellie Chervenska (11) shared “time management is a huge thing” in the program and is vital for students to be on top of to succeed. However, despite the dauntingness of this notion, many valuable strategies and practices of the student panelists were shared in how they designate their tasks and time to get the most out of their twenty-four hours in a day, from using free time during the school day to prioritizing sleep. These practices varied from person to person but served to exemplify that many different types of students have the ability to thrive in the program as long as they work hard and are intentional about their learning.
When asked about his role in planning the event, IB Coordinator Mr. Jones noted that it was “a process of really just asking teachers their availability and then asking them to recommend students that they wanted to represent their subject with them at the fair” and what students they would recommend for the panel. At the end of our conversation, he mentioned that while “this year’s Open House was a little bit different” in its format compared to years past, it was still a productive and successful evening, concluding that the “eighth grade applicants seemed really excited to talk to all of [the current student volunteers]”.
