Nov. 13, 2024
For fifth-grade, I got into Academy of Exploration, which was a very good program. It was a really fun year. But after that, it was time to decide what middle school I wanted to go to. My brother went to Pipkin and he came from Sunshine, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. My brother was also an IB Ambassador here, and because of that, I saw the opportunities my brother had and all the fun things he could do here.
Pipkin has been really good. The teachers are amazing. They’re very welcoming and nice to us, and I enjoy learning from them. I feel like we have a good match of stern when they need to be, but also fun in our classes. Another reason why I choose Pipkin is because I enjoy it here. I’ve made friends at Pipkin. I went from knowing three people in sixth-grade to, I hope, being fairly well-liked.
As an IB Ambassador, it was basically the obvious next step for me. I was already fairly involved in Pipkin. I’m here most of the day and I want to help make it better. I was already a leader in Boy Scouts and choir and had taken leadership positions, and they wanted me to be an IB Ambassador.
The big thing as an IB Ambassador is going to the elementary schools and talking about Pipkin and the IB program, maybe MYP a little bit. It’s about leadership and being a part of the machine that is our community here at Pipkin. That’s not only good for middle schoolers at my age who are finding a purpose that some of us are desperately needing, but we are also helping others find perhaps their purpose by spreading the IB program. That means others might be an IB Ambassador or show leadership qualities that other students might want to emulate, or they’ll come to Pipkin and have this great IB program. We’re kind of changing lives, and that’s very inspiring and wonderful for me to be a part of.
In the IB program, we have a different grading system as well. Even just how we learn in the classrooms is different. Another school might have a simple test, but at Pipkin with IB, we ask more about the why and how of the answer to the question instead of saying the answer. It makes you think more about “why do I know this, why do I think this.” It also helps you learn how to better communicate for the future. That’s a very necessary skill to have, especially as a young person.
I feel like someone who is curious and asks questions, somebody who goes to school, and they’re actually intrigued about what they’re going to learn today and how it applies to their everyday life and future success. Our IB Learner Profile is such a good example of that – being a Thinker, someone who is curious about things and how they apply around the world. That’s just a good way to think about where you fit in, what you are, because you could be multiple things. You could change, but the IB program helps you navigate who you are and what you learn. It’s a very creative environment.
I think students should choose to come to Pipkin not only to have better opportunities for their future or for their middle school years and their overall life, but they should also come to learn about others and how other cultures and people are different. Places are different, and we are an IB World School, so one of the big things is not only how America sees things or in Springfield, Missouri, or how other places see things. A big thing that we learn at Pipkin is perspective, because sometimes people have different perspectives based on what they think. We always look at different sources, multiple sides of the story, and that’s one of the things we learn.
Something I’m currently pursuing, but I hope to finish in the future is getting my Eagle Scout. I’m really driven to do that. The leadership opportunities I’ve had in Scouting and here at Pipkin have really helped me develop into a better person. I hope I get a job this summer to keep working on my leadership skills. But in my future, after high school, I’m probably going to go to college, maybe MSU, maybe to another college. It depends on whether I get scholarships, but I know that I’m interested in taking architecture, engineering, and a job as an electrician in the future. I’m in Advanced Robotics right now, and a part of that right now is designing and working on load prints, which is part of architecture and engineering. We are making dragster cars, and part of that work is designing the shape to specific measurements on a grid pattern, with each side exact. I have to know specific measurements and how to implement them on a grid paper, and that’s helping me learn how to design and make something. I could then hand that sheet of paper to someone else, who could replicate it exactly. That’s the goal of that project, and that skill would help me in architecture to make a design for a building or sculpture. I’m also learning to code, and that would also help me get a job in the field of automation.
Pipkin is preparing me for my future by not only just helping me become a better leader, but by helping give me a better work/school life balance. Pipkin is helping me learn and be ready to have a job. Pipkin is helping me lead now and in the future. I’m a leader, and I love my school. Not only does my school help me be prepared with leadership skills, but Pipkin helps you learn skills that might help you in your future job or career.
Knowing an industry or job exists is cool, but knowing how to do something, build something, make something on your own without a teacher to help you, that’s so fulfilling to me. I don’t want someone having to watch over me or help me my entire life in doing what I want to do. I’m learning skills and knowledge that I can use by myself. I want to do things. I want to explore new thought processes and new ways of doing things, and I want to do something with that. That’s IB.
I’m jealous of the kids who will get a new building for Pipkin, but it’s a great school. We deserve it."
- Griffin Piercy, eighth grade student and International Baccalaureate Ambassador at Pipkin Middle School
