‘Proud To Be Bermudian’ Funds To Be Dispersed
‘The Bermudians’ group — who released the DVD/CD ‘Proud To Be Bermudian’ in 2011 — is partnering with the Bermuda Education Network [BEN] and Stationery Store in order to distribute funds raised to the island’s public school teachers.
A spokesperson said, “On April 20, 2011 the grass-roots group “The Bermudians” released the DVD/CD ‘Proud To Be Bermudian’ in an effort to bring the island together after a turbulent period in Bermuda’s political history. The song was composed and produced by son of the soil, John Woolridge and featured an all-Bermudian cast.
“The accompanying DVD featured stunning video of Bermuda locations and her people, all singing the song ‘Proud To Be Bermudian’. The song proved itself to be a hit and was featured at various national events including National Heroes Day and most recently, at the opening of the 35th America’s Cup which was hosted in Bermuda in May/June 2017.
John Woolridge, Patrice Pedro [The Stationery Store], Janice Battersbee, The Bermudians, Rebecca Ausenda, The Bermuda Education Network [BEN]; Missing from photo: Erica Rance Mill, Anne Hyde, Gilbert Pitcher, Martha Chiappa of The Bermudians:
“The original intent of the “The Bermudians” at the release of the DVD/CD was that the funds raised from the sale of the set would be given, by voucher, to the teachers of Bermuda public schools in an effort to assist them in providing classroom materials for their students.
“The group is happy to announce that they are partnering with the Bermuda Education Network [BEN], who will facilitate the finalization of this project by distributing vouchers via their website ben.bm.
“BEN is a leading charity in the teacher professional development area and since 2011 has provided conferences, workshops and coaching for teachers and principals. They also provide the Horizons program for students at Purvis, Port Royal and Northlands which consists of expeditionary learning, sailing and vacation camps.
“Together with the Stationery Store, the group will provide $100 vouchers to all eligible Bermuda public school classroom teachers who register on the BEN website within 2 weeks of this announcement. The vouchers will be used at the the Stationery Store between the date issued and December 31, 2017.
“The Bermudians have also committed any unused funds after December 31, 2017 to be used by BEN for their annual Outstanding Teacher Awards.”
Janice Battersbee, co-founder of “The Bermudians,” said, “We are very happy to see this project reach its intended conclusion. We have had a few challenges along the way, however, we have never swayed from our original goal to assist the Bermuda Public School Teachers who have given the best of themselves to and for our children.
“We are very grateful to BEN and the Stationery Store for coming alongside us in this effort and we also thank the sponsors of ‘Proud To Be Bermudian’ who entrusted us to see this project through.”
Erica Rance-Mill, co-founder of the group, said,” This entire project came about to reignite a sense of island pride. We are thankful for all of the tireless work that teachers do for our next generation of young men and women, and are equally thankful to each and every individual that contributed in any way with this project to allow us to pass on these funds.”
Becky Ausenda, Executive Director of Bermuda Education Network said, “Our island’s future depends on developing great leadership in our public schools and BEN made it part of our mission to make sure teachers receive support and feel appreciated for the important work they do.
“We’re working on a number of ways to support teachers and also hope to carry out some research into the factors which may undermine morale and lead to teacher burnout. We’re actively seeking corporate sponsorship to support this area of our work and would welcome enquiries from potential partners.”
Patrice Pedro, Stationery Store Retail Manager, said, “The Stationary Store has always supported our local teachers, so we are thrilled to be a part of an initiative that provides additional aid to a group of individuals that are so important to the fabric of our community. We are proud of Bermuda Education Network [BEN] and honoured to work with them and “Proud to be a Bermudian” on this meaningful project.”
“All parties involved in this project hope that the island’s teachers take advantage of this opportunity and feel the appreciation from the community for their efforts.”
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Great work guys! Very well done to you all.
and………………..a heartfelt, sincere THANK YOU for a WONDERFUL SONG.
Great act of charity – well done…but
…why just the public school teachers? Are the private school and home school teachers any different?
Some of the private schools charge 20-30,000 a year….per student!
Smitty – thank you. We are happy to do this.
In answer to your question, we had a certain time period to raise the funds and the funds that we raised are not enough to offer vouchers to every teacher in the island, which is what we would have liked to do.
The purpose for the emphasis on public school teacher is through my personal experience of being the child of a public school teacher who gave her services for 40 years at the same school. I saw the “behind the scenes” of her job, helped her set up and break down her classrooms and saw her personal funds dished out in order to ensure that her classroom and students had what was needed.
I understand what challenges teachers have with sadly limited funds for such a VITAL job and wanted to show appreciation in some way.
I’m very appreciative to have found others who feel the same way and we have joined together to accomplish this.
I understand your question and welcome you to initiate a project that will fund those whom you have mentioned. I’m sure they would appreciate it.
Best regards
Hi Smitty
no teacher is less worthy, but Private schools teachers do not face the same out of pocket expenses that Public school teachers face. Many assist with feeding students, some assist with laundry, and some even have to purchase paper for. We would loved to have raised enough funds to include the Pre schools and non classroom teachers as well, we tried to do as much as we could with what we did raise. We stated from the beginning what we would use any money raised for.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!