International flags have just recently begun to be put up above the cafeteria, and many students are asking why they are appearing now. According to principal Jason Urban, the effort to put the flags up was completely student driven.  Senior Kari Laurentson set the task in motion; the flags are her International Baccalaureate (IB) project. Urban supported the idea immediately, citing the school’s tenets “Have Pride, Show Character, and Build Tradition” as key goals of the endeavor.

“I think the flags will be a really good visual reminder of how diverse we really are,” Urban said.

Urban also wants to create a more internationally-minded student body. Even though it is an IB school, Urban believes that many people do not realize how diverse it truly is.

The project has now been taken over by social studies teacher Liz Paternoster. In an effort to continue to add flags, Urban tells students whose nationalities are not represented to simply ask Paternoster to add the flag. He hopes that many students will participate.

“It’ll be really neat to see, when you come back ten years from now, how the number of flags has grown,” Urban said.