School principal supports student’s charity cause

Kevin Foyle (L), principal of College Alpin Beau Soleil, and Eva Ghewij, the school’s director of admissions during an interview with the Shenzhen Daily yesterday evening. Sun Yuchen

Email of the writer: yangmei_szdaily@163.com

Thirteen-year-old Shenzhen girl Victoria Qiuzhang will headline a fundraising concert at Shenzhen Concert Hall scheduled for March next year, the proceeds of which will go to a charity fund aimed at helping children struggling in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit).

Touched by and proud of what Victoria is doing, Kevin Foyle, the principal at the private boarding school in Switzerland where Victoria is studying — College Alpin Beau Soleil — decided to bring the good deed back to his school and help raise funds for it.

“I think the fundraising concert is wonderful. What Victoria is trying to do echoes the philosophy of our school, which is to help students to discover as much about themselves as possible and to take their talents to make a difference in the world,” Foyle told the Shenzhen Daily, adding that Victoria has set a very good example for her schoolmates.

In the eyes of the principal, Victoria is a popular and sophisticated young lady. “Victoria is well-known and well-liked at school and she once sang in front of the principals and leaders from Nord Anglia Education, the world’s leading premium schools organization,” Foyle said.

To support the charity project initiated by Victoria, the principal said the school will raise funds by organizing events like running and skiing which are usually physically challenging for students, and the parents will sponsor their children to push themselves in these challenges.

Beau Soleil has long been committed to charity work. According to the principal, the school has helped street children in Mexico and Cambodia, as well as schools and an orphanage in Tanzania, and has supported Iraqi refugees in Switzerland.

Last year, the school sent students to hurricane-stricken Dominica to help the disaster-relief workers in the jungles and by the sea.

Foyle is now in Shenzhen to recruit students for next year by having meetings with parents and he has also traveled to Shanghai and Beijing for recruitment.

Founded in 1910, College Alpin Beau Soleil is one of the oldest private boarding schools in Switzerland. The college provides a full boarding education for students from over 60 different nationalities aged 11 to 18 years old.