School leadership A message from the Board Chair
the BHS Board of Directors officially appointed Mr Schaefer as Chairman of the Board.
W
Speaking with the Torchbearer, Mr Schaefer shared some of his experiences with BHS, his belief in the School’s importance and his vision for its future.
In what ways have you been involved with BHS?
I first started out as a coach in the Saturday Soccer Programme when my daughter (Hannah ’12) was in P1, and I subsequently became organiser of the Saturday Soccer. I was then asked to serve on the Investment Committee and that led to me being appointed to the Board of Directors. My wife, Elizabeth (Bickley ’79) is an alumna so her involvement goes back further than mine.
Why have you stayed so involved with the school? That’s easy. Being involved with the school at this level is amazing. It’s a chance to give back to the school community. It is also so completely different from my regular day-to-day activities that I really enjoy it. Anytime I’m able to attend a school event, be it a fundraiser, a school production, a sporting event or graduation, I am so impressed by the character of our students. It is very clear they are confident, happy and have developed a strong foundation to build on for their futures, and that is all over and above having an excellent education. So for me to have an opportunity to play even a small role in that is extremely rewarding.
What makes BHS stand out? Seeing the issues that Bermuda faces today, I think BHS is extremely important for Bermuda. The girls need a place where they can go and develop the type of characteristics I’ve just described and Bermuda needs those same graduates to contribute back to the community. Of course being a single-sex school also sets BHS apart. It means that when the girls look at their student leaders, the best debaters, the best athletes, they are all girls and that sets the foundation.
8 Torchbearer Spring 2012
Can you share your vision for the future of BHS? We’ve discussed a number of issues and goals at the Board level with regards to the future of the school. Perhaps the most far reaching of those goals is to significantly enhance our capacity to be inclusive. The school already contributes a large amount in bursaries and scholarships but we’d like to do more. Inclusiveness further enhances the quality of education at BHS, because of the interactions and connections made between high quality students from across the socio-economic scale. We’ve even gone as far as to create a specific committee that reports to the Board on inclusion.
Why should alumni and parents get involved and stay involved with BHS? Anyone who has been through the school has benefited from the vision of those who came before them. If it wasn’t for the involvement of the PTA and the Alumni Association then so many of the things that the students benefit from today wouldn’t be there. I think one of the strengths of BHS is the involvement of the parents, whether it be in the PTA, doing lunch duty or working in the shop. The PTA is extremely active and they’ve done some wonderful things for the school, some to raise money and others just to make things better. But the fact remains that tuition alone is not enough to support the progress that the school has made. So to fill that gap, the school relies on other sources of revenue and a lot of that comes from alumni, parents and corporate donors. The opportunity the school has is to look at all the untapped sources of revenue that could, when compared with North American schools, increase significantly. In many North American
hen the previous Board Chair, Beryl Brown, unexpectedly needed to step down last year, Joel Schaefer was asked to move from Deputy Chair to the Chair position. At the subsequent December 2011 AGM,
schools, for instance, tuition covers about two-thirds of the cost of educating the students. At BHS, that proportion is much higher. It is so important to the school that we keep tuition affordable, generate value in the whole educational experience and create an environment that is inclusive. The involvement of the alumni, the parents and companies is critical to achieving those objectives.
THE BERMUDA HIGH SCHOOL BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Joel Schaefer, President Celia Powell, Vice-President Mariette Savoie, Treasurer Linda Parker, Head of School Judith Bland Gordon Mark Watson Martin Brown Pamela Ferreira Will Gray William Welton Kevin O’Donnell Lisa Howie Janet Kemp David Sussman Andrea Jackson Judy Gonsalves
Brenda Dale, PTA President Laura Cutler, Co-Chair Alumnae Linda Swan, Co-Chair Alumnae Fiona Lines, Recording Secretary
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32