Please tell us about yourself:
My name is Meghan Sanders, I am American. I have 3 children in GESS. All 3 of my children started in the toddler group and are now in grades 1, 3 and 4, so I have been at GESS for a total of 8 years. I have not worked since my children were born but previously I worked at an international bank in Singapore for many years after receiving my MBA from INSEAD. For hobbies, I (used to be!) an avid traveler but now I am spending my free time on other passions which are cooking and organising events with friends.
Share some of your favorite things about life at GESS:
Although I have now had quite an international career and set of life experiences, I was raised in a Midwestern city in the US which was not very connected to the rest of the world. I love the international aspect of GESS. The fact that my children are bilingual, have friends from all over the world and very much understand what another culture means is very important to me. These were not experiences I had as a child and I am thrilled they have these at GESS.
What made you decide to run for the role of the Parent Rep chairperson? What makes this role interesting for you?
I have always been quite involved in the school, either as a parent representative or as a volunteer. When the Parents Committee Chairperson role opened I felt it was the natural next step in giving back to the school. My youngest son had just entered first grade and I finally felt I had a little bit of extra time which I could dedicate to something I was interested in. I love being more involved in the school and seeing the ‘behind the scenes’ work that all of our teachers, administrators and volunteers put into making GESS a great community.
Please introduce the Parents Committee Members, the Events and Buddies Committee and their various responsibilities?
The Parents Committee has 7 members including me. We are elected at the start of the year by the class Parent Representatives. During the school year the Parent Representatives raise questions, from the parents, to us at the Parents Committee. We work with school operations and administration to resolve these concerns. We also work on an on-going basis with the Board and Administration to present the parents’ view on initiatives which are under consideration. The Events and Buddy Teams are non-elected volunteers who do great community building work. The Events Team plans and runs large-scale events like the Christmas Bazaar and Summer Party and the Buddies organize events and initiatives to welcome new families into the school community. Both groups work with the Treasurer of the Parents Committee as part of their budget comes from the Parents Committee but they are fairly autonomous in running their individual programmes. A brief introduction of all these amazing ladies who give so much of their time and energy to GESS are below. We have a lot of fun together! If anyone would like to join us please contact me at parentrep.chairperson@gess.sg.
Pre-School Section Parent Representative: Joana Schmid
German Section Primary Representative: Maja Bumke Scheer
European Section Primary Representative: Christin Culme-Seymour
German Section Secondary Representative: Sylvia Gams
European Section Secondary Representative: Latha Ganapathy
Treasurer: Saskia Koestl
Buddies Team: Kerstin Seeman and Anja Jensen
Events: Andrea Seitz
What are you working on to build up an even stronger community feel at GESS?
We realize that in the current environment everyone is missing their extended families and all of the fun and excitement of travel which used to be a part of Singapore life. Our local communities, including the GESS community, are becoming so much more important. Unfortunately, we are unable to have large scale events, but we are working hard to set up smaller events to connect individuals and to make newcomers feel welcome. We are currently getting approval for these events and look forward to sharing them with you shortly!
What kind of support would you like from parents to do your work even better?
In terms of volunteers, we can always use more hands! We are particularly looking for anyone who is interested in helping us organise some of the smaller scale community events. If you are that person who is always organising get-togethers for friends and families or finding the interesting events or new places to explore, please contact us. We would love to have you. Contact us at parentrep.chairperson@gess.sg.
What are your favorite things about parent involvement at GESS?
Your experiences as a new member of the school can really shape your impression of the institution and even of your assignment in a new country. I once had a parent tell me that the Buddy in their class changed their entire experience of moving to Singapore. They had been apprehensive about the move, but the Buddy invited them over for a meal, helped them locate basics like a doctor and dentist and even sent them a Propertyguru ad which turned out to be the house they rented. The Buddy said these were such small things, but it changed the parent’s entire impression of what life in Singapore would be like. Stories like these show me the power the little things parents do can have.
