Ecolint - Newsletter.indd

President’s message
3
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER
It’s just over three months since I
sat down to write my article for the
November Newsletter and I have
been asking myself what has changed
since then. For the Association, this is
a period of necessary reorganisation.
Having negotiated a Memorandum of
Understanding with the Foundation
(the governing body that runs the
three school campuses) we are
now starting to put it into practice.
Needless to say there are many
details that need ironing out but
with goodwill on both sides we are
making excellent progress. Working
closely with the Development Office
we have started the onerous task of
cleaning and integrating our various
databases. I would like to take this
opportunity to thank Sue Anthony
who has been hard at work on what
is a very unglamorous but absolutely
essential project, since an accurate
database is the cornerstone of
virtually all our activities. Fortunately
the Development Office has recently
appointed Christine de Loriol
(christine.deloriol@ecolint.ch) as
communications attaché and she will
be adding to the resources of the
Alumni Office, focusing in the first
instance on the database and then on
our next major project, updating the
alumni website. The result of all this
hard work will be a better more proactive
service for our alumni members
throughout the world.
Despite the time & effort involved in
these administrative projects alumni
activities have continued a pace
thanks to enthusiastic alumni around
the world. Successful Escalade dinners
were held in Denver, Geneva, London,
New York, Sydney, and Washington
DC. The traditional “B.E.E.R” reunion
was held at the Pickwick Pub here in
Geneva just before Christmas with a
good showing of alumni from both La
Grande Boissière and La Châtaigneraie
campuses. There are also a number of
upcoming events, including:
The La Châtaigneraie reunion will
be held on Friday, 10 June, Saturday,
11 June and perhaps Sunday, 12
June. Please see page 4 for more
information and the website is www.lachat.ch.
The LGB class of ’72 are holding
an informal get-together in
Southampton, UK, this summer
on the weekend of July 9-10. The
proposed venue is Chilworth Manor
(contact Ratko Djukanovic for details
R. Djukanovic@soton.ac.uk)
The Rocky Mountain Ecolint Alumni
Chapter of the Alumni Association has
announced plans for a reunion next
year which will be held the weekend
of July 27-31 2006 in the Colorado
Rockies at Copper Mountain Resort.
(see page 5).
For those involved in the International
School today the last three
months have presented the usual
continual challenges. The construction
of the Campus des Nations continues
according to schedule and is due
to open in September this year and
will provide much needed places for
those students who attend the Pregny
Primary School as well as catering for
the increasing numbers of students
coming to Geneva each year.
The existing campuses of La Grande
Boissière and La Châtaigneraie are not
being ignored though. The Governing
Board has approved a major capital
development programme to improve
facilities on both campuses some of
which are badly in need of updating.
Given the extent of the program, the
Foundation will need to supplement
available capital resources with a
fundraising campaign. This will be
targeted at, amongst others, those of
you who would like to help Ecolint
improve the quality of the educational
facilities offered to today’s students.
Of course the International School
is not just about bricks and mortar
but also about ideas and ideals. One
of the strange things about being
both a parent of a current student
as well as an alumnus is that, while I
am very aware of the many changes
that have taken place over the years, I
also frequently have a sense of déjà-vu
which convinces me that the Ecolint
spirit is alive and well. Just before
Christmas my daughter represented
Nicaragua at The Students League of
Nations (many of you will remember
this as the S.U.N), and talking with
her about the experience it was clear
that students still struggle to leave
their own ideals behind and adopt
the rather more pragmatic positions
of the countries they represent, and
while the SLN now involves more
schools it remains much the same
institution as it was when Bob Leach
founded it back in 1953.
In any case change can also be
a positive thing. Class 13 have
just finished their mock IB exams
(remember those) But while the
pre-exam nerves remain the same
the International Baccalaureate has
changed considerably. When I sat
mine in 1972 we were only the second
year to sit the full diploma and the
concern then was whether sufficient
universities would recognize the
fledgling system to make it a success.
Today the International Baccalaureate
is one of the most recognized
educational diplomas worldwide its
success a lasting testimony to the faith
that parents & teachers of the time
had in the ideals of an international
education. As an active Alumni body
we can play a part in keeping the spirit
of innovation that led to the creation
of the IB alive for future generations.
Sam Jarrell/72
Very important !!
Alumni Website
We urge you to visit our website :
www.ecolint-alumni.ch
and register with the ONLINE
DIRECTORY and the THREE
ALUMNI LISTSERVES