Most students know at least something about the International Baccalaureate Program here. And maybe a few people know about the service hours program they have to complete in order to graduate with an IB Diploma—but few people know that, in addition to the 150 CAS (Creativity, Action, Service) hours IB students are expected to rack up, they also participate in a global charity project once a year.

This year, the IB students at Klein Oak are organizing a variety of projects to raise money for LIMBS International; a non-profit organization dedicated to providing amputees in impoverished nations with advanced, low-cost prosthetic limbs.

“LIMBS is an exciting humanitarian effort,” said Scottish Rite Hospital for Children Director of Prosthetics Don Cummings. “It infuses engineering ingenuity into the world-wide imperative for creative, low-cost solutions for impoverished people who have lost limbs due to conflict, disease, injury, or disaster.”

The project is organized entirely by the IB senior class, from choosing the charity to determining how the money will be raised.

“The fact that the CAS committee is led by seniors—and we never have a teacher present to help direct the conversation or guide our plans—stresses how our future is in our hands,” IB senior Elise LeBovidge said.

This emphasis on independence and global perspectives exemplifies the values of the International Baccalaureate Program and its students.

“The goal of IB as a group is to create a global learner,” IB Senior Jacob Grunwald said. “I think this global project is yet another way to create different perspectives of the world for the IB learner.”

The success of the Bill Dowling fundraisers earlier this year has encouraged the IB students to set an ambitious goal.

“Seeing just how successful StuCo was in their efforts to raise money for an important cause makes us want to push ourselves even more,” LeBovidge said.

However, at the end of the day it’s not about the money, but about whom the money is helping.

“This project helps people become their own person again,” Grunwald said. “Of anything, the most important thing about this project is how life-changing it is for all involved.”