My Opening Thank You Event Speech: ISR Opens its New Campus

Liz Free

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We have heard so much today about building on all that has gone before. To all of the community that supported the very inception of an idea of an international school in the alpen rheintal region, we say thank you.

To the Hilti family, the Hilti Family Foundation Liechtenstein and the Hilti Company, we could not be here without your support. This support is personal, you have been involved from the very beginning and, over decades, we have created this endeavour together. 

Of course, this work has not been in isolation.  So many people and so many organisations have been part of this journey.  From leaders in the Kanton of St Gallen,  Liechtenstein and Vorarlberg, to the community of Buchs, who have embraced our school.  To the ISR Board such as Heiner Graft, Kort kurl who you met earlier today, and the founding members such as Klaus Rich, and to our current board members, thank you for your vision and aspiration.  

There have the many people that have given their time over the years. And it all began with a great idea of an international school in the tri-region of St Gallen, Liechtenstein and Vorarlberg. 

But, of course, having a great idea in itself does not mean great things happen.  We had to:

• establish a high quality education programme
• establish a culture of international mindedness and global citizenship
• We had to recruit the very best teachers from across the world; as we know a school cannot exceed the quality of its staff
• We had to get accreditation and recognition that international standards had to be achieved

As Margaret Mead so eloquently said ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” 

ISR had its own small group of committed citizens from its inception, many of whom are here today, and it is important to honour this contribution.  

Meg Sutcliffe, my predecessor and the founding director of ISR, has flown in from her current school in Africa to celebrate with us today.  The firm foundations that she laid have enabled us to physically and metaphorically build the school that we see and stand in here today. Thank you Meg.

Meg handed the baton to me in 2020. I came with an aspiration to create a world-class community international school, building on the foundations that had already been laid. 

I came to ISR because I believe that here is where we can achieve something truly great together; where we can create a community, yet international school.  This building is an embodiment of this in so many ways. 

In the last few years, we have worked together with our community to establish our 2030 strategic plan, aptly named ‘Building our future together’.  In this we have five big ideas that we want to develop:

• Care
• Academic excellence
• Learning Community 
• Sustainable development 
• And, global citizenship

Our aspiration is to create a school where every individual is known and celebrated for who they are, 

• a school where academic and personal excellence is lived and valued. 
• A school where we create ‘thoughtful, committed citizens that will change the world for the better’.
• A school that explores the very best of community whilst having a global perspective
• A school that genuinely cares in all ways imaginable and a school that is committed to sustainable development
• A school where everyone are learners from students, to parents, to staff
• A school that is a local and global beacon of light for community international schooling

This building embodies these aspirations throughout its design. 

 From the long debates about what learning is and what learning spaces could be and should be.  The long hours of thinking and talking, we, together have laid the foundations for us to realise this vision.  

So many people were involved from our students and staff to the designers and architects, investor group, Hilti family and so many more

James from the interior design team has flown in for the Uk today and worked so closely with us all from Space Oasis. Ty james

To the architect team with Beat, Maron, David and Christoph and Morten. To the investor group and project management teams; Peter Buechel, Stefan Gassner, Anna Wiedmann.  It has been an extraordinary experience. 

We have challenged each other and our thinking, building on all of our professional expertise and experience – altogether, centuries of experience entangled in this one aim.

• To create a learning environment that embodies and supports the aspirational values of ISR.

• To develop an international school in this region inspiring international-mindedness, academic and personal excellence and responsible engagement.

As we stand here today at the end of one part of our journey, and at the precipice of a bold future, I would like to thank everyone involved. We have many exciting adventures ahead.

And of course , our students are the heart of this. We have a representative of our Diploma students who have hosted this afternoon.  I would like to thank them for stepping up and showing up as future leaders today. We have a special gift to thank them for their efforts. 

Lastly, our students sang about a million dreams today; where ‘we can live in a world that we design’.

This campus is an embodiment of a million dreams and a world that we designed, and will be the host of many more dreams to come.  Thank you.

Representatives from the Hilti Family Foundation Liechtenstein and ISR.

Liz Free