Secondary Assembly

Mr Chadi Nakhle, Head of Secondary, kicked off the assembly by welcoming everyone (over 180 participants by then) and also encouraging students to remain positive during these continuing challenging times. He then introduced Marketing Manager, Richard Bampfylde, who highlighted the fantastic fundraising efforts of Sidcot School in Somerset, UK. Sidcot is also a Quaker school from KG1 to G12 and with day and boarding opportunities. Their community has been fundraising for the BHS community for a second time, and this time with a sponsored walk/run/cycle over a 4,715km distance (the exact distance from Sidcot to Brummana!). He then mentioned the equally interesting opportunities for online connections between Sidcot students and BHS students. Mr Nakhle and Mr Bampfylde had previously met with Miss Sarah Carr, a Grade 12/Year 13 Upper Sixth student at Sidcot, who had outlined ways in which our two sets of students can meet and collaborate. A very exciting initiative indeed and looking forward to that in the months to come! Finally, Mr Bampfylde shared a 5-minute video prepared by Sidcot Office Holders (Prefects) introducing themselves to BHS students and showing their compassion for the current situation the school community is going through right now. Thank you very much to the whole Sidcot School community!

Following Mr Bampfylde’s presentation, Mr Nakhle then welcomed the Red Cross – “our heroes” – who gave a presentation on volunteering for the organisation. Two Red Cross Beit Mery representatives gave highlights of what volunteers can do to support the Red Cross and also how the experience changes you for life. “I am not the same person I was, definitely” was a quote from one of the presenters, Ms Karen Abi Zeid Daoud, a BHS graduate last year. Immer Noch Uber Alles / More Than Just First Aid was the title of the presentation and their Red Cross branch’s motto in Beit Mery. They ended the presentation with a video on Red Cross activities including emergency treatments, coronavirus patient handling, medicine transportation, training in MCIs, mountain rescues etc. Thank you to Ryan Loukieh and Karen (Sector 204). You are all definitely our heroes who haven’t stopped one single day since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic nor post-August 4^th blast. Here’s to some of our students participating in their voluntary paramedic programme in the coming months and years. Even students who do not speak Arabic are welcome to join, meaning some of our international students have the opportunity too. They can all scan a QR code made available and Sector 204 staff will connect with them.

Mr Chadi then ended the meeting by inviting all students participating to raise their hands online to salute the Red Cross, as a mark of appreciation to all their members and their tireless efforts.