Held just days after the school officially received its IB PYP certification in late May, the event marked a historic milestone—making OLA the first elementary school south of Calgary to earn the internationally recognized IB PYP designation.
The exhibition, often referred to as “PYPx,” is the final project in the IB Primary Years Programme. It allows students to apply their learning by exploring real-world issues, conducting research, and taking meaningful action in response.
“Today we’re holding the Primary Years Program Exhibition, PYPx—the culmination of the IB PYP program, conducted in the last year of elementary school,” said Mrs. Caryn Swark, Associate Principal and PYP Coordinator at OLA. “It’s like a science fair, but instead of science projects, the students have selected a way that they would like to change the world.”
Guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), students identified global issues that resonated with them, such as hunger, climate change, and equality. Projects ranged from a school-wide food drive that collected over 600 items for the local food bank to awareness campaigns on coral bleaching and plastic pollution.
Mrs. Swark explained that while the school continues to follow the Alberta curriculum, the IB approach focuses on inquiry-based learning across six global themes, integrating subjects like science, social studies, religion, and English language arts. “What we’re teaching is still the Alberta curriculum, but it’s as important how we’re learning it and the skills we’re building and who we’re becoming as we learn,” she said.
Among the 17 projects on display, Grade 6 student Devlyn Jackson shared her team’s focus: “For our project, we did climate change affecting marine life. We mainly focused on coral bleaching and how climate change causes it and how climate change is created,” she said. “I really like marine life and think that climate change is a really big issue, so we wanted to combine the two together.”
Mrs. Swark emphasized that the IB philosophy is about nurturing global citizens—young people who are critical thinkers, communicators, and caring members of the global community. “Even though they’re young, they have the power, they are the future, and they are able to go out and make a change in the world.”
“The students' passion for this has been incredible, and they’ve been really easy to guide because they’ve chosen something they’re interested in,” said Mr. Gaudet. “It’s been fantastic to see the growth.”
And for students like Devlyn, the experience has been as fun as it’s been impactful: “I think IB is really cool because usually we don’t do fun stuff like this. I would like to do it again—it’s really fun and interesting!”
The exhibition not only celebrated student achievement but also marked a new chapter in OLA’s identity as a fully certified IB PYP school—one committed to forming curious, capable, and compassionate global learners.