International Baccalaureate Conference of the Americas Emphasizes Service

SAN ANTONIO, July 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the 2011 International Baccalaureate (IB) Conference of the Americas kicks off at the Marriott San Antonio Rivercenter. The Conference of the Americas, July 21-24, is a unique event that brings together educators and officials for four days of learning and discussions about what it means to empower students with a challenging and comprehensive IB education.

This year's conference theme is Service in Action, one of the key elements of IB education.

"A fundamental part of an IB education is the connections that are made between what takes place in the classroom and what takes place across the local and global communities around us," said Drew Deutsch, Director of IB Americas. "As we bring nearly 1,400 educators from across the Americas and around the world together, we will celebrate the idea that service plays a fundamental role in creating this connection between classrooms and communities."

Through the 2011 Conference of the Americas, IB will continue to develop educators and provide them with tools to offer the best education possible for IB students. This year, educators and students will take Service in Action back to the classrooms to encourage efforts dedicated toward their local communities. The Conference has sessions throughout the week along with four keynote speakers, Khaled Hosseini, Maria Nieves, Tapia Craig, Kielburger and Linda Darling-Hammond.

Hosseini, author of A Thousand Splendid Suns and Kite Runner, will present his position on Service in Action and how it applies to students today. "In today's diverse and inter-connected world, young people have a responsibility to take an active part in helping shape the world through service," said Hosseini.

About the International Baccalaureate

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a non-profit educational organization founded in 1968. The IB offers programs for students aged 3 to 19 which help develop the intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world. Recently five IB World Schools ranked in the top 10 according to Newsweek's annual list of America's Best Schools. Currently the IB works within 3,241 schools in 141 countries and reaches over 932,000 students aged 3 to 19 years.

For more information about the IB and its programs, visit www.ibo.org or find the conference program here.

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SOURCE International Baccalaureate