PACIFIC BEACH – On Oct. 28, six students representing Pacific Beach Middle School and Mission Bay High participated in the first West Coast International Baccalaureate Day at the Orange County Department of Education in Costa Mesa.

Mission Bay senior Graham Allen, and freshmen Ellie Nelson, Brooke Sattler, and Helena Leachman, along with eighth-grade students Emma Steinberger and Catherine Miller, accompanied by PBMS IB coordinator Ashley Hensen, were featured in various presentations that highlighted their success in developing and implementing a variety of community service projects.

Developing a strong community service ethic is the cornerstone of a school’s IB program. In the Mission Bay Cluster, there are three IB schools: Sessions Elementary, PBMS, and MBHS.

“October was a sensationally successful month for the IB program at PBMS. First off, we received our five-year recertification as an IB middle school,” Hensen said. “Second, PBMS was selected as a California IB Middle School Years Programme Spotlight School and invited to present at the West Coast IB Day.”


Students answer questions about the value of community service projects at the first West Coast IB Day in Orange County on Oct. 28. (From
left) panel moderator Crystal Kinser, Mission Bay senior Graham Allen, Mission Bay freshmen Brooke Sattler, Helena Leachman, and Ellie Nelson, and Pacific Beach Middle students Emma Steinberger and Catherine Miller. (Photo by Juliana Ruzante/Special to Beach & Bay Press)

Middle school students Steinberger and Miller spoke about their current community service project. Working as a team, with fellow eighth-grade students Esther Owolabi and Marin Busby, they will be presenting at a school-wide mental health awareness assembly in January.

“When I was at the conference, I was thinking a lot about my project and how I can find ways to continue it after I leave middle school,” said Miller. “Mental health is such an important topic for teens of all ages, because it is what contributes to who you are becoming.

“I hope our group’s mental health awareness project can become a legacy project that future eighth-grade students will take on, or continue when I am no longer at PBMS,” Miller said.

Three freshmen from Mission Bay — Sattler, Leachman, and Nelson — presented their community service project, Climate Crochet, at IB Day.

The inspiration came from the climatology research conducted by Professor Ed Hawkins starting in 2018 at the University of Reading in Berkshire, England. The climate crochet tapestry that was produced last spring for their project shows the horizontal colored stripes representing the change in global temperature from 1908-2023.

“Our larger tapestry shows the average temperature rise in San Diego, and the smaller tapestry represents the average temperature rise globally,” Leachman said. “The difference in size of the two tapestries is from the different style of crocheting.”

At IB Day, Mission Bay senior Allen described his ongoing community service project started four years ago.

“My community service project was called the Surf-Off Series, which is a fundraiser surf contest for all ages. The first year of the event, I knew I wanted to raise proceeds for Autism Tree, a nonprofit that helps the autism community,” Allen said.


Mission Bay High senior Graham Allen, at the conclusion of the fourth annual Surf Off Series, raised $10,000 for Urban Surf 4 Kids.
(Photo by Leah Allen/Special to Beach & Bay Press)

“I had volunteered for them quite a bit in the past, working with kids on the spectrum to get more comfortable in the ocean. I also had a huge love for competitive surfing, and thought I could somehow combine my passion for surfing and volunteering into a single event. That’s how the Surf-Off Series was born.”

In addition to the panel discussion, local students participated in a video as well as a podcast. It will be on both Spotify and Apple Podcasts for fellow educators to learn from.

“My experience at the IB Day was a one-of-a-kind moment that I will never forget,” Steinberger said.

Sattler agreed. “This whole experience was extremely motivating because I was able to see the effects of our project on a large audience. It was also inspiring to see how long Graham kept doing his project.”

Allen found IB Day motivating. “I felt acknowledged for my hard work, and I felt like I was surrounded by a community that understands the value of community service and what it takes to implement a community service project,” he said.

“I was incredibly proud of our students,” Hensley said. “To watch them speak so eloquently in front of 200 educators was a highlight of my 22 years as an educator.”

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