Reinsurers Donate For Girls STEAM Education
The Bermuda High Schoool for Girls announced that Arch Capital Group Ltd. and RenaissanceRe will each make a significant gift to the school in support of advancing its STEAM [Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Design and Mathematics] programme.
Work will begin in 2017 to advance curricular and extra-curricular offerings, upgrade the science and technology facilities and introduce the BHS Leadership Initiative for Girls and Women.
Linda Parker said, “We are extremely grateful for the commitment shown by Arch Capital and RenaissanceRe to the vision of BHS. These transformative gifts will positively impact our ability to shape the next generation of female leaders as we enhance our STEAM programme and upgrade our science, technology and arts facilities.
“For our students to stay competitive on a global scale, they need to be critical and creative thinkers, able to perform well across a multitude of disciplines. We believe that the development of these skills, along with a deeper technical and scientific education, will make our STEAM curriculum an innovative and powerful leadership programme, specifically designed for girls.”
Marc Grandisson, President and Chief Operating Officer of Arch Capital Group Ltd., said: “Arch is fully supportive of the work BHS is doing and we challenge other companies to step up and make their own investment.
“Because of the urgent importance of educating young women to be leaders, I invite other CEOs and top executives to learn more about how BHS is preparing young women for bright futures, not just in [re]insurance, but wherever their passions lie.
“Together, we can make a real and lasting impact in Bermuda and address the lack of female leadership in the corporate world.”
Kevin O’Donnell, President and Chief Executive Officer of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd., added: “A diverse workforce makes companies like ours more successful because of the range of perspectives and skills our team can bring to the table.
“We need to engage more women to join our industry and help broaden and enhance the ways we serve our clients and adapt to changing global conditions. RenaissanceRe is proud to make a significant investment to BHS.
“As the only girls’ school on the Island, we felt it was important to support BHS in their lead role in developing young women’s expertise in STEAM subjects and skills, which are essential in the reinsurance industry, and in business globally.”
This is what upsets me! This school costs $20k or more to attend, yet they get advancements in in upgrades to their facilities by corporations??? This is the argument in equity vs equality. The children of the ones that can afford this school now get a larger advantage over those who can’t. Where’s the advancement of technology in public schools by corporations? I feel for the children of low-income families who get left behind by the inadequate expenditure of Gov’t and the preference of corporate bias.
At BHS, over a million dollars is given every year to families who cannot afford tuition, but who want the best education for their children. Almost a third of BHS students are receiving help financially, and many more have parents who are just scraping together enough. Plus, there are public schools with much better technology facilities than private schools and the equipment isn’t even being used – it just sits there. Companies know that investing in a school that is helping Bermudian families get a good education is a good move. And, private schools spend less per student than public schools, but they aren’t profit making, so they need help from donors to advance.
I am not knocking private schools; I am a product of one! I highly doubt public schools have better technology facilities than private schools. You probably know of one and made that blanket statement for all, which is definitely not the case.
Private schools may give away alot in bursars etc, but the schools also have alum that donate to the schools; wealthy alum!
There is a serious need for establihing ways for our youth to be equitable instead of much of the same as history dictates.
None of the private schools have the facilities and expenditure of Berkeley or Cedarbridge. They are state of the art, more like hotels than schools. Paid for by taxpayers, and free for anyone.
What can we do though? Advise the corporations that their donation or sponsorship is best addressed elsewhere? Maybe have all schools partner up so that they could share resources?
Or the state schools could get out there and fundraise.
TJ, first of all know what you speak about before you spew out such ignorance. More money BY FAR is spent per child in government schools than in any private school on the island. If you have ever walked through the halls of this school versus Cedarbridge or Berkeley you will see that those two public shools have top notch equipment, and facilities. In addition, I and many others pay TWICE for my childs education. As a Bermudian, the taxes that I pay go towards free education. Then I must pay for my child to attend private school. The fact that they can do more with less should be your real concern.