By Aimee Sullivan, Communications Intern
For the last 25 years, the UF Libraries have hosted local high school students for an immersive, high-level essay workshop to prepare for their two-year, required essay, where librarians help solidify their topics and teach lifelong research skills.
Over 50 Eastside High School International Baccalaureate students, also known as IB, take advantage of the library’s resources over two 4-day writing workshops.
The IB program was created in Switzerland in the 1960s to provide an international, uniform education for children from military families or those who frequently moved between countries. This program ensured these children would not be assigned to the wrong grade or classes when moving between schools.
High schoolers nowadays enrolled in IB programs earn this prestigious degree by completing classes in a range of subjects, writing a long-form research paper, and volunteering in their communities. The IB program is internationally recognized for providing students with a well-rounded, consistent education that will set them up for success in their future education and careers.
This program is based on the European secondary system, where the curriculum of upper-level high school students is equivalent to an American’s first year in university; all of the students in American IB courses start college-level work before they graduate high school.
When students enter high school, they take pre-IB classes during their freshman and sophomore years to prepare for the more rigorous coursework that follows. In 11th and 12th grade, students will take higher-level courses, complete a research paper, and document Creativity/Activity/Service (CAS) experiences.
Students are expected to spend 40-50 hours over their junior and senior years researching and writing about a self-chosen research question relating to one of the IB subjects, culminating in a 4,000-word essay, which is equivalent to an eight-page, single-spaced paper. IB requires students to support their ideas with scholarly and peer-reviewed sources, essentially making this project an independent study in their chosen topics.
Jeanne Ewert, Ph.D., the English and American Literature Librarian at UF, started the partnership with UF for Eastside High IB students. 2026 marks the 25th year since the outreach program’s introduction.
“In 2001, when I was a first-year teacher at Eastside High School, we noticed that our students were not excelling in this one area of the curriculum because IB expected that they would be finding sources in academic peer-reviewed journals and books, but unless they were lucky enough to have a parent on the faculty at UF, they had no access to these,” Ewert said. “I suggested setting up the program to create that access for everyone.”
UF Libraries’ over 7 million books and online access to academic journals have become invaluable to the Eastside students’ research and writing process. On the first day of the workshop, Dr. Ewert walked participants through the UF Libraries website, explaining all of the resources that would help them find information on their chosen topics. Though the workshop is hosted at Library West, all six campus branches are available for their research; students can borrow books or meet with librarians across campus.
Eastside High School English and History IB teachers, Amanda Shitama and Katey Zara-Smith, explain why they continue to bring their students back for the workshop.
“Dr. Ewert is great about connecting our students with librarians who are able to give more attention to their niche topics,” said Mrs. Shitama.
Essay ideas must relate to one of the course topics, leading many students to pick topics with historical, literary, or geopolitical ties. These broad guidelines still leave students with the opportunity to pick a topic that interests them. Past topics include either of the World Wars, students’ favorite books and authors, and local history like the Civil Rights movement in Gainesville. Students with local topics can look through The Independent Florida Alligator archives, previous UF yearbooks, or meet with librarians who have a focus on campus or local history.
Eastside rising seniors explain that this program was motivating and encouraged them to make valuable progress in their research. In the digital age, where students’ attention is easily diverted to apps, texting and gaming, large projects can be procrastinated. Having time in the library allowed students to dedicate attention and focus on this essay early in the writing process.
“One of the great things about the program is not just that we are helping with this project, but that we are creating students with competence in library use and information literacy even before they start college,” Ewert said. “We are adding to their college readiness.”