By Rachel L. and Ellie S., Grade 12 Students

As many of you know, next year we will be saying hello to two new school leaders with both a new High School Principal and a new Director. With such big changes it’s hard to know how we, the students, will be impacted. So last week a few students from the High School met with the future Director, Mr Dequanne, to get to know him and his approach to our school. 

Mr Dequanne was originally a Maths and Physics teacher, and has been overseas working at schools for 23 years now with the last 7 at his current school in Brazil as their Director. He originally didn't “study to be an educator”, saying "I studied to be an actuary, but something inside of me said that I needed first to do some volunteer work which resulted in an education assignment in Swaziland, Africa, working as a teacher and project manager. I was there for two and a half years. It really helped me to identify my passion for education and I'm so grateful that I found this path because it feeds my soul. It's not just a job as I feel like I have an opportunity to give back to the community. It also helped me to learn a lot about myself". From there he went on to pursue his educational career.

Community is a very important concept to Mr Dequanne, as well as the relationships formed within one. He consistently went back to this point and emphasised that "schools are about relationships and they are about community, and if you don't have those two then everything else can be more difficult". This is why he is extremely interested in getting to know the students and being involved in their everyday life. He said "I enjoy attending school events, fundraisers, musical productions, sports, and the opportunity to support students and the school community, which is ultimately the reason why we are here. For me the most important aspect of a school community is the relationships that are formed in support of student learning".

Though as the Director he will be spread across our campuses and working behind the scenes the majority of the time, he is willing to put in the effort to get to know and be part of our school community. Mr Dequanne said, "I harbour no illusions about time as a Director, as there will be a lot of demand on my time and it's easy for my days to be filled up". However, because of how strongly he believes in community he wants to “be proactive in building (his) calendar and allocating that time for opportunities to connect with students, faculty, staff and parents".

In his school in Brazil, Mr Dequanne teaches a leadership class for high school students which has an international online base with nine different schools focusing on "how to lead yourself, how to lead others and how to develop yourself", he "really enjoys that connection with the students" which is "why (he) went into education to begin with". This is a concept that he would love to bring to our school if there was a demand or interest for it, but as his general approach appears, he doesn't want to force things. "What works well in one school doesn't necessarily translate well into another school, I think there are certain principles that do, and believe that empowering students is important" said Mr Dequanne.

That balance that we have always been told to strike between academics and social life is just as important to Mr Dequanne, as he asked "to what degree are we pushing and supporting our students to achieve their potential while also ensuring wellness and wellbeing? It's always important to have that balance. Let's help students find their passion, and then it seems less like work, and then spend time coaching and providing support on how to be effective and efficient in what you do". When asked about his approach to academics he said that "I wouldn't have applied to this school if I didn't feel like the values and the mission and the culture of the school were a good match for me and vice versa, it's not just about the academics...there is a focus on extracurriculars, community and relationship building too... that I'm really excited about".

Mr Dequanne realises our school will be changing next year with two new leadership members, and wants to make the transition as effective and smooth as possible". ISZL is an outstanding school and I am grateful for the opportunity to continue building on the impressive leadership of Mr Currer. As this is a complex school with a lot of history, my focus will be to to learn as much as I can about the school as quickly as possible. So I'm going to be an intense learner during this period of transition and beyond. I hope to hold focus groups with students, parents, faculty and staff to understand how best to serve the school and the greater community". Throughout the interview he emphasised his open door policy, hoping that students, parents, and teachers will be willing to come to him with problems that he can try to help with.

As every student here knows, the benefit of a smaller high school means that our community is a lot more intimate and we are able to form relationships with most of our peers. From assemblies to Spirit Weeks, the community we have formed reflects on the relationships within our school and Mr Dequanne said he would "hope to be involved in (Spirit Weeks), I would appreciate that opportunity to get involved, so count on me". Equally, the community we have reflects the school's mission statement of Respect, Motivate, Achieve, and Mr Dequanne is guided by a similar personal motto of "respect generates respect, respect for people, respect for institutions, respect for history and culture. That word 'respect' is very important to me". This is an approach that is already so heavily integrated into our everyday lives, and having someone who shares similar values will make the transition that much easier.

Overall, the short amount of time we spent with Mr Dequanne really gave us an insight to what kind of Director he is going to be. We are really looking forward to seeing him here next year, to see how well he fits into our school community, and we have every confidence that he is the right person to take over the role.