Everything (Well, Almost Everything) You Need to Know for CAS
- Mrigayu Ghosh
- May 8, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 1, 2020
CAS stands for Creativity, Activity, & Service. The International Baccalaureate wants to see that you’re balanced through your creativity, by being healthy, and by giving back. Please read through these important guidelines to familiarize yourself with CAS.
- Fulfilling the CAS requirements is necessary for graduation and your IB diploma. If you don't complete CAS, you will not graduate.
- You can start CAS the day after the last day of sophomore year. In other words, you can start CAS on May 23, 2020. The CAS process lasts 18 months, and everything for CAS will be due on December 31, 2021.
- You need a total of 150 hours of CAS minimum - at least 50 hours of Creativity, at least 50 hours of Activity, and at least 50 hours of Service. Getting these hours is easy, but students often have trouble logging them into ManageBac, so make sure you follow the instructions listed later on how to log them in. You must also complete 36 total reflections (2 per month during the 18-month period).
- When you get to TOK in the second semester of Junior Year, completing CAS hours and reflections are monthly test grades.
- Remember to keep evidence (a photo, documentation, records, etc.) of your activities.
CAS Definition & Examples:
Creativity — exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product or performance. This does NOT have to be artistic. Planning events (for example in student council and in committees) and writing personal diaries in journals also count as creativity. Other examples of creativity include but are not limited to after-school theatre, photography, dance, and music (instruments, vocal, etc.).
Activity — physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle. The big thing to remember is that Activity = Movement. Something as simple as going for a walk can be considered as Activity. Sports, athletics, and personal exercise count as well.
Service — collaborative and reciprocal engagement with the community in response to an authentic need. The big thing here is giving back (to a community). This can be school-wide, community-wide, or worldwide. Examples include Agua Unida, blood drives for HOSA, picking up trash, or anything that contributes to society.
Important Details to Keep in Mind:
- CAS activities CANNOT be for a grade or for money.
- Proselytizing (converting others to a set of religious beliefs) does NOT count towards CAS. Going door to door and handing out flyers will not count. However, religious activities such as teaching Sunday school or singing in a religious choir can count as long as you are not actively trying to convert others.
- A supervisor is required for all CAS. Often, your parents can be your supervisors. If you complete a CAS activity that is more personal that you do not feel comfortable sharing with your parents, you can ask Mrs. Schulte to be your supervisor. However, you must have evidence (a photo, documentation, records, etc.) for Mrs. Schulte to approve your activity.
- Service activities from ninth and tenth grade do NOT count.
- CAS is continuous throughout the 18 months. This means that you can't complete all 150 required hours in the first two months and stop there. You must continue logging hours even after the required hours are completed. Plus, it'll look great on your college resume, and there's many opportunities for service scholarships!
- When you enter CAS activities on ManageBac (more details below), you will no longer use SA to enter hours. Instead, you will start using CAS. If you start on CAS over the summer, keep record in another way (write it down or keep a Word document) because ManageBac may not be updated to show that you are a DP student.
The CAS Project
- A minimum of three students (including you) need to work together to plan and execute a CAS project. These three students need NOT be in your TOK class, and they don't even need to go to North Hills. You can work with peers who attend other schools, but you MUST document and provide evidence.
- The project must last for at least one month.
- The CAS project must be completed within the 18-month period. You should try to get it done your Junior Year or the beginning of your Senior Year (at the latest).
- Only one CAS project is required, but often, we may find ourselves doing multiple CAS projects throughout the 18-month period.
- Examples of CAS Projects:
Planning & Executing Club Events such as JWAC members organizing Agua Unida or Student Council and the Prom Committee organizing prom. Planning and executing Haunted House is another example. However, keep in mind that merely volunteering for an event does NOT count as a CAS project. Only the leaders who fully planned and executed the event can count it as their CAS project.
Babysitting children and tutoring them
Writing a Book of Poetry, Publishing It, Selling it on Amazon, & Donating the Proceeds from the Sales to the UN
Tutoring Primary Students
Sometimes, problem-solving is part of the process. If your original plan was to go to a refugee center and tutor them, and you learn that the refugees do not speak English, don't give up! You can adjust your goal to teaching the refugees English, and that can be your CAS project.
Entering CAS into ManageBac:
1) Add CAS experience.
2) Enter the Activity Name.
3) If your activity is a CAS project, check the box for that.
4) Select the necessary checkboxes for the following: is the activity ongoing (something you’re regularly involved in such as a sport or other extra-curricular you complete on a weekly basis)? School-based or community-based? Independent?
5) Select Creativity, Activity, and/or Service.
6) If you select Service, select whether it was direct (directed towards someone specific or interacting directly with people), indirect (e.g. raising money for a worldwide organization - you didn't directly interact with the worldwide organization), advocacy (promoting a specific organization or cause), or research (for a cause, contributing information to society, or completing research for a certain activity). Research is very rarely selected.
7) Enter the number of hours each of Creativity, Activity, and/or Service. If your activity entails elements of multiple CAS, then split up the hours evenly. For example, if I started a YouTube video where I made recipes and shared my recipes with the world, I could count that as Creativity and Service. Let's say that I spent 5 hours working on this. Since it's both C and S, I would enter 2.5 hours for C and 2.5 hours for S.
8) Select one or multiple learning outcomes. Throughout the 18-month period, you must have selected each learning outcome at least once (preferably twice) - i.e. not for the same activity, but throughout the totality of your CAS. Each learning outcome you select must be affiliated with a reflection.
Did you grow and develop as an IB learner?
Did you plan ahead?
Did you collaborate with others?
Did you make the ethical choice? For example, did you choose to go out with your friends or live up to your commitment of volunteering at the homeless shelter?
Were there challenges?
Were you committed towards achieving your goal?
Did you make global engagement? Global engagement can also include global issues at a local level. Trash pickup, exercise, and cooking can all be considered global activities because even though you complete them locally, they have global implications.
9) Enter in a few sentences for the description of the activity and your goal.
10) Enter your Supervisor's Name and Email. The Supervisor Title and Contact Number are not necessary. If your supervisor doesn't respond, ask Mrs. Schulte to approve it. However, you must provide evidence.
11) Hit Submit. Then, go to the Reflections & Evidence tab, and add reflections based on the learning outcomes you selected. Include anything you may need to demonstrate to IB that you learned something in the process.
Other Resources:
- CAS Details on ManageBac: https://subjectcentre.managebac.com/diploma/cas
- NHP CAS Student Guide (Also Available on Mrs. Schulte's Website under Helpful Documents)
Comments