A trio of Grade 12 students from White Oaks Secondary School (WOSS) have achieved rare perfect scores in their International Baccalaureate (IB) programme. Olivia Lau, Heather Li and Harrison Thorpe all scored 45 out of 45 in all subject areas.
According to a press release from Halton District School Board, "the IB program is a world-recognized, two-year diploma, which provides a challenging curriculum for highly motivated students."
Heather Li gave credit to her teachers: “I’m very thankful to the teachers at WOSS who I think are a large part in why we had so many perfect scores this year and in the past few years as well. I’m grateful that the work we’ve put in over the past two years has culminated in the scores we received, especially since almost a year and a half of our IB experience was during a pandemic.” Li will be studying liberal arts at the University of Oxford in England this fall.
Harrison Thorpe says, “I’m really excited to move to a new place and experience a different environment. Although my area of study is commerce, I hope to foster my passion for music by participating in the university’s wind orchestra.” Thorpe will be attending McGill University to study economics and finance.
Olivia Lau, who was elected HDSB student trustees for the 2019-20 says lots of hard work went into her results. “When I reflect upon the past two years in this rigorous program, I can’t help but think of the countless late nights and all of the hard work that led up to this result.” Lau will be attending McMaster University to study health sciences.
Remarkably, this was not the first IB "hat trick" for White Oaks Secondary School. In 2018 Brian Guo, Hanson Liu and Dasha Metropolitansky also had the distinction of scoring perfect scores.
Erin Davidson, IB Programme Coordinator for WOSS says that “along with the additional individual academic work, IB students are encouraged to get involved in their community and school, and to be physically active. Olivia, Heather and Harrison embody the spirit of the IB programme. (These) students give back to the community while attaining personal growth goals, such as taking risks and being a respectful global citizen.”
In Oakville, the IB Program is offered at White Oaks by Halton Public School Board and St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School by Halton Catholic School Board.
The average test scores for IB students worldwide was 33.02 out of 45 this year.