On Tuesday, Oct. 3, Robinson’s International Baccalaureate (IB) Class of 2025 gathered in the auditorium for their IB pinning ceremony to celebrate the turning point in their IB education. This ceremony grants weary juniors the long-awaited recognition they deserve as they officially enter the IB program.

The ceremony was accompanied by the elegant background music of Robinson’s orchestra and an impressive performance of the national anthem by Robinson’s band. The stage was held by IB Coordinator Eduardo Escudero, IB Guidance Counselor Lesley Morter, IB English Teacher Eric Smithers, IB Theory of Knowledge Teacher James Buchanan and IB Math Teachers Joshua Saunders and Steven Smith. After a brief introduction, several senior IB students gave brief statements about what it means to be in IB.

While many juniors did not think they would make it to this monumental moment, where almost half of their original classmates were gone, they are grateful that they stuck with the program and have seen positive results.

“As an IB student, I think that being able to participate in this program has helped me learn how to be a better student in preparation for college and has shaped my values for the better,” Sophia Accordino (’25) said.

Later in the ceremony, students were called up alphabetically to receive their pins and a handshake from each teacher as a last congratulations for their hard work.

“IB has been an extraordinary program,” Rishi Kamdar (25′) commented. “It has been very challenging, but it has taught me how to work hard, stay dedicated, ignore distractions and improve myself as a person. The ceremony felt like the halfway point, the intermission, where it’s like you’ve put in a lot of work, keep it going. Don’t hit the breaks and you’ll be rewarded in the end.”

After the ceremony had concluded, the students filed into the cafeteria to eat dessert, chat and celebrate the beginning of their IB journey.

“The event, the IB pinning ceremony, is a pretty big event for our IB students,” Principal David Brown added. “This is because even though they’ve already been in the program for two years, they officially don’t become IB until their junior year. They started with probably 150-160 kids and now this junior class is down to ninety so that’s a testament to these ninety people who have not only worked hard academically but they fit that profile of being very well-rounded. So it’s a big event that we take time to celebrate them and welcome them to IB, and of course, their next event is getting them that diploma.”