Churchill IB Alumni Testimonials
I am a sophomore in Mira Loma High School and graduated from Winston Churchill Middle School. I was a part of the IB Middle Years program and really appreciate being in it as it helped prepare me for my high school experience. The rigorous classes really set me up for the courses at Mira Loma. The Areas of Interaction also helped me to become more aware of the community and society around me. ?Thank You!
… I remember being the odd kid out in elementary school. Sure teachers always loved me but none of my classmates would talk to me. When I went to the IB program at Churchill I found kids who would accept me for who I am not for the grades I get. I got to meet people with different ideas, thoughts, and beliefs. I feel like the IB program opened up my eyes to a new world with new perspectives. I've learned how to be accepting, to look at things from a different cultural view, and met so many new people I still smile when I think about Churchill. Middle School is hard for everyone but with the IB program I felt more accepted and respected by my fellow classmates. I hope everyone has an experience like mine.
… I know that without the Churchill MYP/IB program I would not have the current passion for learning that I have now. Churchill helped to teach me the value of open discussion style classes which best prepared me for the Mira Loma IB program, where I discovered my love for all aspects of knowledge. Churchill began to open my mind to just how interesting school can be if one is given the right environment and the right tools with which to explore the world and what it has to offer.
… The International Baccalaureate Program is amazing. It truly teaches you how to think. Without a doubt it provided me with the skills I have needed to excel at the University level and in my life. In my case I have found that the IB program was actually more demanding and rigorous than my college coursework.
... I am a Churchill IB alum. I graduated from Mira Loma's IB program and am now attending The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I chose to come to Churchill's program in the seventh grade, which made me "the new kid." Although I missed out on the sixer experience, I believe that my Churchill years greatly affected my future academic choices. I spent countless hours on my schoolwork, which prepared me for the intensity of the Middle Years Program, which I completed at ML. Success at Churchill gave me confidence for Mira Loma. Also, the opportunities to take Spanish and other advanced classes gave me a good foundation. A really important part of my Churchill experience though was my involvement in Science Olympiad. I competed on the Mira Loma team, and went to Nationals all three years. I am proud to have begun this experience at Churchill, where I think we all knew how to have fun with our academics. Ok, so I know this probably sounds a bit dry, but what did Churchill really mean to me? It was a place where I met many of the friends I kept throughout high school. It was a place where I learned to interact with many new people. It was a place where I was first introduced to academic competition. Churchill for me was the first step on a long road of choosing the difficult option, simply because it held a greater challenge. It was a key stop on my road to MIT.
… The IB program at Churchill Middle was a motivating and enriching experience. Even though IB students in high school do not necessarily come from Churchill, I must say that to study with rigor and high goals from a young age as I did at Churchill forebodes success. The study strategies and synthesis of ideas experienced through note-taking, historical document-based questions, and scientific lab experiments are unforgettable. I now understand the vitality of a challenging education throughout my academic life, for I am able to implement the ideas introduced in my work ethic today. More than anything else, IB has induced me to think about the world from many perspectives - thanks to the famous Areas of Interaction. By connecting everything we learn with its relevance and application to other ideas, knowledge becomes both invaluable and fun. This is the message I have extracted from my IB middle years experience at Churchill.
… You can ask anyone who has been in the IB or Middle Years Program and they will tell you that it is an experience you must go through yourself to really know what it's like. It is not a program for the weak-hearted. It takes a lot out of you mentally and physically, but in the end, you have a feeling of accomplishment and self pride for having completed a series of challenging tasks. There is always a feeling that something is never over, but that's the point; the program was made to challenge. But through my many experiences, I've learned that if you stick with it and put a 100% into what you do every time you’ll get through it, and believe me it's worth it.
… I was one of the earliest students to go through the IB Program at Churchill, having attended school there from the fall of 1999 through the spring of 2002. The years I spent in the program helped me to develop very good study habits that I have used throughout the remainder of my education. The program forced me to learn to manage my time efficiently so that I would not end cramming for exams and finishing projects the day before they are due. To this day, I have never procrastinated on any projects or papers, and I believe that it is because the IB program helped me to manage my time and learn good study habits. It is funny because I am now a sophomore and the University of Southern California and many of my friends here have yet to learn the importance of staying on top of their school work. Consequently, they often stay up all night studying for exams the day before the test while I review a little bit every night during the weeks leading up to it. In my opinion, this is what makes the IB program such a good investment for middle schoolers. The classes are more difficult, but they build skills that allow students to be very successful in high school which in turn allows students to go on to good colleges and have successful careers.