Welcome!

Welcome to the website for the 27th Annual Regional Conference for IB North America and the Caribbean. From July 17-20, well over 1,000 members of the worldwide IB community will come together for four days of inspiration, collaboration, and reflection. IB turns 40 in 2008, so we will also be celebrating four decades of progress.

During the formative years of the IB, the philosophy of educator Kurt Hahn greatly influenced its development. Hahn passionately believed that successful education strives for a delicate balance between knowledge and action. Forty years later, we look again to Hahn for inspiration. His philosophy that students should have the “power to think and the will to act” still resonates in our work and will serve as the theme of this year’s conference.

The 2008 conference will bring together IB coordinators, teachers, administrators, counselors, school district officials, school board members, ministers of education, parents, researchers, and university representatives. As always, we will have provocative speeches from a variety of thought leaders in the fields of education and international issues. There will be nearly 100 breakout sessions with presentations by IB educators, four pre-conference seminars, a marketplace of ideas and services in the exhibit hall, and several special events. We encourage you to check this website periodically for the latest details on the conference program.

As this is the only time each year that our entire regional community comes together, it provides a unique opportunity for collaboration. We hope you will support our efforts by submitting a proposal to present a session or signing up as an exhibitor or sponsor. All attendees should register as early as possible as limited space is available.

We hope you will join us, and we look forward to welcoming you in San Francisco.