Creativity Action Service (CAS)
User Links →Creativity - Activity - Service (CAS) is at the heart of the IB Diploma Program and it is one of the three essential core requirements, together with the Theory of Knowledge course (TOK) and the Extended Essay, which students need to complete to receive their diploma. CAS is a comprehensive program that constitutes the IB Philosophy- in- action. The purpose of CAS is to allow Students plan for experiences and activities, and learn through experience in order to meet seven learning outcomes and grow holistically: academically, emotionally, and socially.
The outcome of the program is a CAS portfolio consisting of a series of CAS experiences and reflections, through which students demonstrate their engagement and learning in all three CAS strands of creativity, activity, and service:
- Creativity experiences provide students with the opportunity to explore their own sense of original thinking and expression. Creativity will come from the student’s talents, interests, passions, emotional responses, and imagination; the form of expression is limitless. This may include visual and performing arts, digital design, writing, film, culinary arts, crafts and composition. Students are encouraged to engage in creative endeavors that move them beyond the familiar, broadening their scope from conventional to unconventional thinking.
- Activity in CAS aims to promote lifelong healthy habits related to physical well-being. Pursuits may include individual and team sports, dance, outdoor recreation, fitness training, and any other form of physical exertion that purposefully contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Students are encouraged to participate at an appropriate level and on a regular basis to provide a genuine challenge and benefit from the experience.
- Service engagements are for students to understand their capacity to make a meaningful contribution to their community and society. Through service, students identify needs, develop and apply personal and social skills in real-life situations involving decision-making, problem-solving, initiative, responsibility, and accountability for their actions. Service is often seen as one of the most transforming elements of CAS by promoting students’ self-awareness, offering diverse occasions for interactions and experiences and opportunities for international-mindedness.
For a detailed description of the ACS Athens CAS Program, you may review our CAS Guide:
An effective CAS experience should be both challenging and enjoyable, a personal journey of self-discovery. Each individual student has a different starting point, and therefore different goals and needs, but for many their CAS activities include experiences that are profound and life-changing.