IB students form impactful ideas in Creativity, Activity, Service class

September 10, 2025

International Baccalaureate Diploma Program students like Marione and Everett are using creativity, activity and service as sparkplugs for their educational engines.
 
The Lincoln High seniors are driving on positive learning highways in the Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) class. The two-year course is a core part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Lincoln High, which is designed to prepare students for success in college and beyond. CAS activities teach them lifelong skills such as problem solving, organization, self-reflection and generosity.

 
Marione said it has been fulfilling to work on her CAS ventures. She has coded a Lincoln High-based computer game, crocheted plush animals for Toys for Tots and organized a physical fitness contest at a school pep rally. She felt her experiences and projects have shown her why perseverance is so powerful.
 
“I think what I’ve enjoyed the most about doing all of the projects is seeing the end result of your work,” Marione said. “Especially for the coding one, there were a lot of hiccups, and I was like, ‘I don’t know if I should keep doing this.’ But eventually I was able to pull it all through, and that was a really good feeling.”

 
Everett said his CAS activities have also made a major impact on his life. He has volunteered at Lincoln City Mission, sewn together thrifted clothes, analyzed his tennis skills and developed leadership abilities as a marching band drum major. He said the three CAS components have helped him connect the IB classroom to the greater Lincoln community.
 
“I think those are all three very important things to build a good community, and that’s what CAS is focused on for me,” Everett said. “It’s doing things out in the real world and then reflecting on it to see how it changes you as a person and how you can move forward with it. I’ve enjoyed talking about that a lot and taking these concepts and applying them.”

 
Joe Pahr has led CAS classes at Lincoln High for the past nine years. He has watched students gain confidence from trying new things and stretching their comfort zones through the program. Ideas have ranged from building a wheelchair ramp for a person’s home to creating computer games for fellow Links.
 
“For me, personally, it’s just satisfying,” Pahr said. “It makes me feel good when somebody does something and they say, ‘Wow, I didn’t think I could do that,’ or ‘That really had an impact on me.’ It’s part of their growth. It’s fun to see that.”
 
The class – which is a mandatory part of the IB program – is based on the three CAS strands of creativity, activity and service. Creativity is defined as exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product or performance. Activity is defined as physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle, and service is defined as engagement with the community in response to an authentic need.
 
IB is a two-year focus program designed to develop well-rounded, globally-minded students. In addition to CAS activities, the program also features extended essay and theory of knowledge elements. Students are encouraged to think critically, reflect on their learning and work with others.
 
Marione, Everett and other students design all of their short-term and long-term CAS activities. Pahr guides them through a process that includes setting SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused and time-bound) goals. They create detailed timelines, solve logistical questions and learn about cooperation.
 
Marione turned her passion for computer coding into one of her CAS enterprises. She invented a game called “Links Lunch Rush” for fellow students. Players are tasked with steering a line of connected blocks across a floor plan of Lincoln High’s cafeteria. They score points by guiding their lines over food items that pop up at different spots in the lunchroom.

 
Marione said it was rewarding to launch the completed game for the first time. She felt the challenging process would benefit her in many future life moments.
 
“You push through it and you realize, ‘Wait, that wasn’t that bad,’” Marione said. “And once you figure that out, you keep going and keep going. You’re able to find comfort in the uncomfortable.”
 
Everett relied on his musical background to complete one of his CAS missions. He was one of Lincoln High’s drum majors in the 2024 marching band season, and he and two other 2025 drum majors wanted to improve their talents for this fall. They went to a summer leadership camp and created videos of themselves conducting others. They then studied the tapes to see what they had done well and what they needed to work on.

 
Everett said he was happy with the personal growth he experienced in several CAS areas.
 
“For me, that was partially creativity, because conducting is a creative thing, and it also relates to service,” Everett said. “I see being a leader as being a type of service, because you’re trying to help everyone around you.”
 
Everett said the self-evaluation skills he and other CAS students have learned have also been invaluable. He felt that would help them accelerate into successful futures as IB graduates.
 
“I’ve never been someone who wrote journals or anything, but for this, it’s almost kind of like that, where after the fact I’m looking back on what I’m doing and seeing, ‘Okay, what did I learn from this experience? How can I take lessons from what I did?’” Everett said. “It’s been really good. I think being reflective on what you’re doing each day is a very powerful thing.”
 
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Program at Lincoln High has helped hundreds of LPS students flourish inside and out of the classroom. Explore how you can customize your high school experience through the IB program at home.lps.org/ib.
 
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