Allen High School often hosts art shows in the Performing Arts Center for students to showcase their work. April 8, the IB art show held multiple works by the students.

“The High Level class is spread over two years, their junior and their senior year. The [Standard Level] class has from the beginning to the school year until we test them in April to get that body of work done,” IB Art teacher John Garrott said about the hard work put into the show. “There’s also a research aspect of what they do, where they keep a journal of their research and that feeds the information for the exhibition. That’s where they generate their ideas from.”

The reward is a good reflection of the time spent working. Those who take the class not only get to showcase their talent, but the exhibit is 40 percent of the student’s grade.

“The International Baccalaureate show is their test. It establishes how many credits they get for college,” Garrott said. “They can get up to three or six credit hours depending on the results of the test.”

The teachers encourage and guide the young artists, but that’s where the help stops. The IB Art students are really in charge of how the show turns out.

“Well, I’d like to say we were mentors in it all,” Garrott said. “Yes, the teacher is the guide, but the student is the one who has to make all those wonderful discoveries about their work and about themselves.”

The teachers also receive a reward in April. They get to see the reactions of the students and their families.

“I always enjoy seeing parents come out and seeing their kids work in its totality,” Garrott said. “As we are doing projects the kids will see, the parents will see only one piece here and there. But to see all of their work in a body, altogether, I’ll see a lot of the parents smile.”

The IB Art show was a lot of work, and many students and their families attended the show. Forty-one students displayed their talent in in their own style and way.

“It was a really awesome success,” Garrott said.“We were wall-to-wall people. It was exciting to see that many people came out and enjoyed the artwork.”

Though the show was an “awesome success,” it’s not over. The year is mostly done but more art will be displayed in the PAC.

“We have one more small show that we are gonna put together for a music festival,” Garrett said. “The AP show is going in currently and their opening is going to be on April 29 from 6 o’clock to 8 o’clock. So that will be a fun show to come out and see.”