Latta High School IB Diplomas Presented

Out of 202,102 candidates, the IB awarded 165,521 diplomas worldwide for the May 2025 session. On Wednesday, December 17, 2025, Latta High School held a presentation ceremony for Layce Arnette, Christopher Herrera, Emily Long, and Hendley Ann McIntyre to receive their International Baccalaureate Programme diplomas. Clara Johnson also earned an International Baccalaureate diploma but was unable to attend the ceremony. These remarkable students received their diplomas by completing two years of a rigorous, demanding international curriculum. Their course of study included six academic classes as well as three additional subjects comprising the core of IB: Theory of Knowledge (a class that challenges students to reflect on the nature of knowledge), Creativity, Activity, and Service (a mandate requiring students to focus beyond academics and to volunteer their time and service to others), and Extended Essay (an independent, college-level essay of approximately 4,000 words).
Each student dedicates approximately forty hours of work into the creation of their Extended Essay. Layce’s topic was “Love and Heartbreak in Sparks’ Romance Novel The Best of Me”. Christopher’s topic was “The Struggle for Selfhood in The Handmaid’s Tale”. Clara’s topic was “How Xenophobia Has Developed Within the United States”. Emily’s topic was “The Theme of Loss Within Me Before You” and Hendley Ann’s topic was “Compared Elements of Inside Out and Back Again and A Step from Heaven”.
Layce Arnette is the daughter of Aubrey and Amy Arnette. She currently attends Clemson University and plans to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in Animal and Veterinary Science with the hopes of attending veterinary school.
Layce said, “IB prepared me for the future by teaching me how to manage my time efficiently while maintaining a balance between school, work, and extracurricular activities. Additionally, this program allowed me to develop numerous skills, including communication, problem solving, teamwork, and critical thinking, all of which have proved to be extremely beneficial throughout my first semester of college. Although the courses are rigorous, they allow you to determine the studying strategies that work best for you so that you can work under pressure and be successful, and those are the attributes of IB that I am most thankful, alongside the lasting friendships.”
Layce identified her biggest challenge throughout IB classes as learning how to be confident in [her] own work and managing a full course load.
Layce’s biggest piece of advice for IB students is purchase a planner [because] being able to see all of my upcoming due dates in one place was extremely helpful for me, as it allowed me to manage my time and stay organized. In doing so, it is very rewarding getting to check off each assignment and then being able to go back and recognize all that you accomplished.
Christopher Herrera is the son of Ismael Pachuca and Mirna Gamboa. He currently attends the University of Miami and plans to major in Accounting and Finance.
Christopher said, “IB helped me develop strong time management and prioritization skills. Balancing multiple assignments, deadlines, and exams taught me how to prioritize my work and plan ahead. In college, this has made it easier to manage heavy workloads without feeling overwhelmed.
Christopher’s biggest piece of advice for IB students is to stay organized and [to not] procrastinate. “IB can feel overwhelming if you put things off, and I definitely did. Looking back, I realize that I could have saved myself a lot of stress by planning ahead and breaking assignments into smaller steps more often.
Christopher identified his biggest challenge in IB as the workload and learning how to balance everything at once. “There were times when multiple major assignments were due at the same time, which was stressful, but if forced me to become more disciplined and intentional with my time.
Emily Long is the daughter of Steve and Holly Long. She currently attends Clemson University and plans to major in Biological Sciences with a minor in Microbiology.
Emily said, “It prepared me by giving me the ability to delegate my time properly. I learned how to work efficiently under pressure. IB also prepared me for when times get stressful in college, I now know how to better handle the workload. It also taught me how to advocate for myself when needed. I know how to go about asking professors for extensions when needed.
Emily’s biggest piece of advice for IB students is “Do not put assignments or studying off until the last minute, it only makes it all worse. And figure out your best method for studying now because even if you don’t study in high school you certainly will need to in college.
Emily identified her biggest challenge in IB as “at times the workload was difficult to manage, it was hard to decide which assignment to work on first. There were several times where assignments for multiple classes would be due at the same time and I would have to manage my time accordingly.”
Hendley Ann McIntyre is the daughter of Robert and Charley McIntyre. She currently attends Clemson University and plans to major in Animal and Veterinary Science with a Pre-Vet concentration.
Hendley Ann said, “IB did such a great job of laying an academic foundation that even though I did not get credit for all of my general courses, I have already learned most of the material in high school and feel much more confident. I am also able to sit down and focus on my work and get it done due to IB’s impact on my time management skills. IB laid a wonderful foundation for my freshmen year of college as I was already used to a heavy workload, exams, and balancing a social life.”
Hendley Ann’s biggest piece of advice “[To] upcoming students, do not quit IB because it is too much work, too hard, or you just simply want a “chill” junior and senior year. Do the work in high school so that you will be prepared for college, and you will already be used to the rigor of freshmen year on top of experiencing a completely new environment. Also, do not quit your social and athletic life due to IB. IB is good and beneficial but do not make it your life. Enjoy your upperclassmen years and learn to balance it all in high school so that college can follow the same flow.”
Hendley Ann identified her biggest challenge in IB as remembering so much information for exams on all different subjects.
These students have definitely learned some important lessons, and we appreciate that they were able to come back to Latta High School on December 17, 2025, to share their knowledge and experience with the underclassmen who are considering joining the IB Diploma Programme.
Latta High School is very proud of all of our International Baccalaureate Diploma graduates. They join many other Latta High School graduates who distinguished themselves by earning this international recognition. The significant achievements that these young men have already accomplished make us all look forward to seeing what they will do in the future. The staff and faculty would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to our graduates for their willingness to share their life experiences and knowledge with their peers. We look forward to many more years of successful stories told by our International Baccalaureate Diploma graduates.