Minnesota Association of IB World Schools (MNIB)
Our MNIB mission statement:
"We are courageous leaders supporting those in the IB community who are implementing IB programs, building connections, removing barriers, and creating systems that increase access for all.
By doing this, young people, families, and educators in the IB community will have a voice, engage in meaningful learning, cultivate their geniuses, and celebrate their successes."
Key information from our December Association meeting
- We're looking for President-elect candidates (to become president Fall ‘25). Contact anyone on the Board or Jon Peterson to apply or to nominate someone.
- 2025 IB Global Conference MNIB scholarship Form - IB’s submission form - We offer a scholarship to MNIB members encouraging them to share their expertise with the Global IB Community. The scholarship is for Conference entry (~$1000) plus another $1000 toward travel/accommodations. Due January 3rd.
- 2025 Summer Conference pre-planning - Survey Help us plan for the 2025 MNIB Summer Conference by suggesting sessions and/or offering your own expertise.
Park across Stinson in Lot C and enter the door you see here.
We moved!
Our remaining 24-25 MNIB Association meetings are scheduled for March 6, and May 22 will be held at the Minnesota Department of Education.
Our next Association meeting is Thursday, March 6th at MDE.
Coffee, tea and treats at 8:30 - begin at 9:00.
Past meeting notes
Check out the new section of our web page featuring our MNIB Mission and the work we are doing. You can link to the podcast detailing the process and see some of the first things that our members want to do using the mission as our guide. Go to the 'Living our Mission' page.
Our Roundtable and IB Training season is in full swing
The new conference center at the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is a great place to meet.
Check out our future sessions on the Event Registration page. Remember, events are free thanks to our partnership with MDE!
Our first meeting of the year was Wednesday, September 25th
You must be a current MNIB member to take advantage of the MDE partnership and get free admission to all our roundtables and workshops
Summer Conference 2024 is in the books !
What a great return to the MNIB Summer Conference!
Our Focus: Equity in an IB Setting
Thanks to the volunteers and everyone who attended. We had 5 official IB workshops and another set of 13 full-day or half-day workshops hosted by local MNIB presenters. Over 230 teachers, administrators, counselors and school board members attended the three day event. We plan to make next year even better! Stay tuned for more.
MNIB Proud!
Congratulations to Danielle Vanderlinde and Sami Peterson for their wonderful presentation 'Humanizing personalized learning in the MYP' at the 2024 IB Global Conference in DC. Their session was full and very well received. Look for links and a future podcast describing their work.
MNIB Proud!
Congratulations to Hoonseok Oh for his presentation 'Optimizing the MYP Personal Project with student-led mentorships' at the 2024 IB Global Conference in DC. Hoonseok shared some great stories of student collaboration and inspiration!
Baker Center
209 Page St West
St. Paul, MN
Our recent Association meeting was May 22nd
We'll be featuring student speakers, Summer Conference registration details, and collaborative work around building connections in our communities.
Be sure to check out the
for the latest openings. Two leadership positions posted this month!
Exam reimbursement forms now available
2023-24 IB training and DP Exam Reimbursement forms are now available!
IB training reimbursement form
The IB-related section begins at page 15
Baker Center
209 Page St West
St. Paul, MN
Marcia Howard
Our recent Association meeting was March 7th
Guest Speaker - Marcia Howard
Marcia Howard is an IB DP Language and Literature teacher at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis, MN, where she has taught since 1998. She challenged us to be the soil in which young people can grow and thrive, raise a bouquet of children, and remember that we are not in the business of pruning!
Our winter Association meeting was December 5th at the Baker Center in St. Paul.
Our focus was on 'Action across the IB continuum' and how we could better honor the IB mission to create a better and more peaceful world through our use of 'Action in the curriculum'.
Next meeting will be March 7th
at the Baker Center
September 27 Association Meeting
Our September meeting was amazing with nearly 60 coordinators present!
The big news at our September meeting was that, thanks to a new partnership with the MN Department of Education (MDE), all our events are sponsored by MDE and are offered free to MNIB members!
Our 2022-23 MNIB Leadership Award goes to
Dr. Winston Tucker of Highland Park Senior High
Dr. Winston Tucker receiving his MNIB Leadership award
Pictured: HPHS MYP coordinator Marissa Bonk, DP Coordinator Lee Stagg, MNIB Director Jon Peterson, and Principal, Dr. Winston Tucker
Excerpt from Dr. Tucker's nomination:
"When it comes to supporting the IB in St. Paul, Dr. Winston Tucker takes a lead, not only at Highland Park, but in the three IB high schools in our district. He has been a long-time advocate for our teachers at Highland and is dedicated to promoting our IB program with students, teachers, support staff, and our larger family community. Dr Tucker communicates regularly with our partner school (Highland Park Middle School) to promote a fluid 6-12 program. He really understands that as an international IB school, we don’t put our program ‘on the back burner,’ but showcase this valuable asset as much as possible."
New VP Board positions for the 2023-25 terms
VP positions (CP, DP, MYP, PYP)
CP - Christopher Baker-Raivo (Roosevelt HS)
DP - Lee Stagg (Highland Park HS)
MYP - Kate Andrews van Horne (Olson Middle School)
PYP - Anne LaLonde Laux - Peter Hobart Elementary
Continuing officers through 2024:
Secretary - Jennifer Poncelet - Hopkins West JH
Treasurer - Jon Eversoll - Park Center HS
President - Sarah Wernimont - Roosevelt HS
Our spring meeting was May 24th
We heard from amazing students as they talked about their projects, CAS and service work. We also reacted to our latest mission draft and celebrated our own successes as we completed another year of supporting our students - and each other.
PYP Early Years roundtable tour
PYP Music teachers' roundtable
We hosted two
PYP Mini-roundtables
in April
The first session was for PYP music educators April 12
The second was for Early childhood educators looking to see the Early years PYP in action at the Fridley Community Center April 19th.
Michael Clifton in a Q & A with MNIB members
MYP Coordinators in their afternoon programme meeting
Our March Association meeting was Thursday, March 2nd
We heard from Beth Barsness from MDE and from Michael Clifton of the IB Americas office. We'll also looked at an early draft of our MNIB mission document.
Our last MNIB 2022-23 Association meeting will be May 24.
We meet at the Baker Center, 209 W Page Street St. Paul, MN 55107
Be sure to check out the latest IB Associations Newsletter for great examples of integrating IB in regions around the world. Open the newsletter here.
PYP Exhibition Workshop
Our PYP Exhibition Workshop included 40 teachers, coordinators and media specialists attending two days at Peter Hobart Elementary in St. Louis Park.
The workshop was led by Kirstin Wickman on the afternoons of January 12th and Jan 26th.
Are you wondering what makes International Baccalaureate education unique?
Check out this video to hear from students and teachers in all four programmes about their experiences in the IB.
Our winter Association meeting was December 6th
We featured Dr. Dave Webb who helped us look at better decision making.We also looked at how to help our IB school leadership make the most of our existing IB programmes. Thanks to MNIB Secretary, Jennifer Poncelet, for the thorough set of minutes linked below.
Our 2022 MNIB Leadership Award goes to...
John Leininger
Principal of Matoska International School
From his nomination letter:
John Leininger was chosen for the MNIB Leadership Award because of his outstanding and longstanding advocacy for the International Baccalaureate in his school district and community.
John has been the principal of Matoska International since their initial candidacy and authorization in 2010. His was the voice that made the case for including IB in his northeast metro suburb, and he consistently represents the IB perspective as the administrator of the sole IB program in District 624.
As a building leader, John sincerely supports the staff in the pursuit of lifelong learning and a balance of professional and personal development and he models this in super cool international explorations that he pursues with his own family.
He is a strong advocate for all students and diligently works to make Matoska International School a community of globally minded life long learners.
Our first Association meeting was September 28th and it was wonderful to see you all!
Thanks to Phil Evans, a long-time friend of MNIB and an IBO staff member, for coming to Minnesota and introducing the IB for all initiative he is spearheading.
Did you attend the September meeting? You may download a copy of the CEU document here. You will be asked to 'make a copy'. Just add your own name to the document.
Here is a link Phil provided to learn more information about IB for all in the DP and CP.
Back-to-school resources for new and experienced staff
The ATL series was published in the summer of 2022. Use this link or search IB Matters wherever you get your podcasts.
Listen to our new series of podcasts featuring the
IB Approaches to Learning (ATL) Skills
In this 8-part series we are exploring the IB Approaches to Learning Skills known as the ATL’s that are at the core of all four International Baccalaureate Programmes.
With John Harvey, we will try to give you a coherent, sustainable, values aligned strategy to implement ATL Skills in your school. We want to help you build your team of coordinators, teachers, librarians, and support staff. All ATL episodes are available now!
New IB teacher resource: IB 101
When returning to school each year one of the most important jobs in an IB school is getting new teachers up to speed with the nature of the IB Programme(s) featured in their school. We also want to support the important relationships that IB Coordinators form with all the teachers in their building.
With that in mind we developed brief introductions in the form of self-guided tours of the basic elements of the IB and all four Programmes.
If you are a coordinator looking for a resource where your new teachers can learn the basics, send them to "Intro to the IB Programmes". They will be exposed to the common elements of all IB Programmes and then be directed to the specific Programme(s) in your school.
They are encouraged to complete a Reflection Journal along the way and to reach out to the coordinator for more resources.
Congratulations to the most recent MNIB school
to be authorized as an IB World School
Sejong Academy
is now an authorized MYP School!
Congratulations to their entire staff for this well-deserved accomplishment!
We had a great time celebrating with you at your pre-school workshop on August 15th!
IB is making it easier to schedule online workshops that are specific to your school's needs
"Wherever you are in the world, you can participate in an online workshop for a high-quality learning experience and the same teaching concepts that you would explore in a face-to-face workshop. Participation in our cost-effective online workshops will also contribute to your school’s authorization or evaluation process to become an IB World School."
There are more than 400 online workshops to choose from and these are offered throughout the year. If you are not available when your choice of online workshop is scheduled, you can complete the request form linked on the website above. Schools have the option to request workshops to be delivered as part of a global cohort or exclusively to their own school. Online workshops delivered exclusively to one school have more real time interaction and therefore, resemble a virtual in-school experience. If you would like to know more about online professional development (PD) and how it works, please visit our page.
Please listen to this podcast featuring four outstanding MNIB voices of compassion and support as they share their feelings after the killing of George Floyd in our community here in Minnesota.
Anne Lalonde Laux, Chad Owen, Jenny Magdal, and Angela Wilcox speak of how they hope to help students and teachers make lasting changes in schools after the terrible events of the past weeks.
We recorded several podcasts related to online learning in response to the COVID-19 outbreak
Please contact us at IBMatters@mnibschools.org if you have something about online teaching to contribute on the podcast.
Click the icon to access these episodes.
Looking for a past article or minutes from a past meeting?
