By Julia Kim

Staff Writer

April 12 marked the end for half of the International Baccalaureate (IB) students in Visual Arts. Students in the class completed their final assessment, a compilation of works and documented research, for the program and will send a copy of their works to Greece to be moderated.

Allen High School IB Visual Arts teacher, Susan Tadlock, visited Coppell High School on Tues. to assess the works of students in Standard Level (SL) Visual Arts. As an official IB examiner, she interviewed only nine of eighteen art students, while the remaining half will be interviewed in their second year of art. Tadlock has taught the Visual Arts programs for ten years and really enjoys teaching it.

“I am [a member] of the North American IB Visual Arts Committee,” Tadlock said. “I teach other teachers how to teach students in the [program] and [currently], I am helping a teacher from Canada and Brazil. I absolutely love it.”

IB Visual Art has two compulsory parts that students work on during the year: studio work and investigation. Studio work is the practical exploration of concepts in art through the production of artistic works. Students chart their research through the Investigation Workbook which involves both visual and written independent critical research and analysis in more than one culture.

At the beginning of the year, students had the option to take SL option A or B or Higher Level (HL) option A or B, the latter being a two year course. While SL is a one-year course, HL is a two-year program that requires more works and research to be completed. While the option As are focused on studio work, the “B” option is focused on the Investigation Workbook, the research done by the student and documented in a workbook.

However, the highlight of the IB Visual Arts program is the interview process associated with the works produced by students. Visual Arts provides students with the opportunity to verbalize their ideas and clarify meanings presented in their artwork through a 30 minute interview.

“I really liked talking with Ms. Tadlock about my artwork,” junior IB Visual Art student Sindhu Keepudi said. “It wasn’t exactly difficult, but she asked me questions about each one of my works. She made me feel really good about my artwork because she made [frequent] compliments.”

Over the past two weeks, the students in IB art worked diligently in compiling a Candidate Record Booklet (CRB) and assembling their exhibits which were open to public viewing in the library. The CRB, a record of the works made by the student, is a photographic documentation of works made by the artist and of pages from their Investigation Workbooks; it is sent to be moderated by official IB readers who make the final adjustments to calculate a student’s grade. Scores range from 1-7, 7 reflecting excellent work.

“The [two weeks] were extremely stressful,” junior IB Visual Art student Mitali Sathaye said. “I had to work on finishing my last [piece], and at the same time, I had to finish taking photos and scanning pages from the [Investigation Workbook]. But now that that’s all done, there’s just one less thing to worry about for next year amidst all the [IB] exams and papers.”

Students will receive their scores in July. Until then, IB Visual Arts teacher Monica Winters plans to experiment with photography, prepare an activity for the Sustainability Expo and begin on senior overalls.