Write up

October 2008:

At an event called ‘crazy day’ at our then present International School it was announced that that would be the last school year and that their doors would be closed by May next year.
It was very clear to a handful of parents that day, that the only option they had to continue giving their children a high quality education that enabled them to continue their studies everywhere in the world was a new school. Since choices on this small Island are very limited, one voice got louder and said: So let’s put up our own school! Those words where the start of a big task, that would take a big deal of time, money and devotion of those 5 people present.

The first parents meeting after the announcement of the closure of the present school was held. It was to find out how many other parents were willing to join this project, and what would be the next step. The result was that 10 parents would invest in this project, and the more active ones among them would build the board. The plan was, to find land so they could at least start building the structure, and in the most ideal way, in the future to be affiliated with an existing school that could provide the curriculum and help with all educational matters.
After this meeting e-mails where sent out to every international school in the country, describing the desperate situation the parents were in and asking for help. If replies came back, they all shared their regrets with the parents, however referring to the short time that was left in order for them to expand and share their knowledge.
Except one, that mentioned that the situation needed to be surveyed and a feasibility study had to be done. After that e-mail, from Mr. Wolfgang Kollecker, the headmaster of the German European School in Manila, the Boracay parents felt relieved, and saw some light shed on their situation. One week later he was on the Island, and started to work on the administrative and educational set up of B.E.I.S. It was then that the thought of a future Partnership between Boracay European International School and the German European School in Manila was expressed for the first time.

November 2008:
Under the caring guidance of Mr Kollecker and the self initiative of those 10 parents, basic ideas like the Logo of the school and working on a web site, furnishing the school with all the equipment, looking for good teachers, advertisement and everything someone has to think of when opening a school from scratch, started to be an issue and needed to be worked on. Besides, a location for this new school still had not been found yet, and time was running out, if construction was going to be finished by August 2009.
December 2008:
Mr Kollecker introduced the parents to Mr Ludwig Etzel from the German European International School in Manila. His never ending efforts to turn this school from a parents school into a professional institution started to shape up the parents’ work, and specialized tasks for different areas were distributed among the board. He established an essential business plan for the board, and constantly reviewed if it was implemented.
Parents looked at every available lot on the island, but their budget allowed only a certain amount that seemed to be impossible to meet. Until a mother of a prospective student of this school that was until that day only existing in the minds of the determined parents came up and offered her land. With conditions that were within the financial possibilities, a contract of lease was signed. On top of a rocky mountain, hard accessible on a steep path, they finally found the land on where was going to be the new school of their children.
January 2009:
Ground breaking began. Due to the rocky and steep property a number of jackhammers and caterpillars gave up and equipment had to be changed constantly. But as hard as the rocks were so were the heads of the board, and there was nothing that could stop them any longer from building the best school in the region.
February 2009:
With the plans of an architect that happened to be a mother of one of the active people involved in this project, construction began. Parents realized that their funds would not be enough to finish the structure, so possibilities of how to strengthen their financial situation was the main topic of this month’s board meetings. Ideas of getting the community involved in this project and how to do fundraising activities, where discussed.
March 2009:
A Canadian headmaster specialized in setting up new schools was hired. Mr Ken Gardiner started to work on the curriculum for the new school, and found unconditional support at any time from Mr Kollecker und Mr Etzel. At one of the frequent stays of these two men, that were seen without a lap top on the beach, a partnership contract between B.E.I.S and GESM was signed. With conditions that paved the way to a new successful school.
April 2009:
Through the network of the parents, establishments on the island were asked to donate vouchers of their services to B.E.I.S. The outcome was overwhelming, the parents collected vouchers in the forms of hotel stays, dinners, spa treatments and round trip flights. At a fundraising activity the parents were able to auction those vouchers and raise a remarkable amount of money that enabled the construction to continue. One of the people who bought many vouchers on this event was Mr Kollecker.
May 2009:
Finalization of faculty members. Mr Gardiner, Mr Kollecker and Mr Etzel held numerous interviews with teachers. The construction was still fully ongoing, so meetings were held in resorts or private houses, and it required a lot of trust from the side of the chosen teachers to believe in the words of these 3 men talking about a school that was still not yet visible.
June 2009:
Some of the new teachers of B.E.I.S were sent to GESM to undergo training and to get familiar with the new set up.
The construction was well on the way to be finished, and it was time to purchase the furniture and equipment. Even though numerous collections of money among the parents were done, their personal financial limit had been reached and for a moment it seemed that everything was put on hold. Again, with the help of the GESM in form of a loan, the parents were able to buy the furniture, and finish the construction of the school.
July 2009:
All the future teachers of B.E.I.S arrived on the island. Still some finishing touches on the school site had to be done, so an office was temporarily set up in a resort of one of the parents. There Mr Gardiner and Mr Etzel got the teachers ready for what would come the next month.
August 2009:
August 3: Grand Opening. After days working non stop to make the school look as nice as it could, the big day of the opening came, and the result of months of hard work from many people was finally visible. However, on this day B.E.I.S only had 17 enrollments, all children of board members.
August 18: The first day of school. It was a counting at the gate, how many children are going to go to B.E.I.S? At the end of the day the enrollments turned out to be 28.
Since August 2009 and B.E.I.S can now proudly count 40 students from 14 different nationalities entering the gate.
It provides a solid background for successful studying and keeps children and families connected. The bridge between GESM and B.E.I.S made this possible. It connects this partnership and is built out of trust between humans, devotion, knowledge and the respect for others needs.
 

Steph and Claus Bauer