June 2010

Pen Portraits

A recent survey has found that many parents in the school community do not know very much about the people who represent them on the board of trustees.  All of the parent representative trustees have at least one child enrolled at the school and every board member is passionate about giving every student at the school the opportunity to achieve at their best. We also have some relatively new trustees along with some more experienced members. Some very brief pen portraits of the board members are as follows:

Jude Black

Most readers will know Jude who has been a board member since 2003 when she was appointed principal. She came to us with experience in working with boards of trustees at a previous school. In fact it became apparent that Jude was cut out for leadership in schools when she was appointed Head Girl at Rutherford High School. She has strong qualifications for her complex role which could be described as learning leader responsible to the board for all aspects of education at Green Bay School.

She has 3 grown children and a one year old grandchild. Along with a love of beach life, swimming, writing and music, her family keeps her busy in her ‘spare’ time.

Bruce Crossan

Bruce was co-opted onto the board in 2005 as a parent representative trustee. The board was embarking on a review of Finance and Administration and Bruce has good skills and experience in this area from his role as General Manager - Finance & IT at Fresh Direct.  He recently introduced the vegetable box fundraising opportunity to Green Bay School. With the project and the administration area complete Bruce has now moved on to take on roles on the personnel and operations committee's.

When Bruce gets a moment away from family, work and board of trustee’s commitments he likes to take the opportunity to pursue photography, kayaking and walking.  He is a member of the Henderson Photographic Society and of the Titirangi Baptist Church.

Janet Gibb

Many of you will know Janet through her tireless work on the fundraising committee and it was through her enthusiasm to see some of those fundraising projects completed that she was appointed to the board as a parent representative earlier this year. She has quickly made herself useful leading the strategic property team. In doing so she draws on her experience as a project manager at MPM Projects. The strategic property team currently has five projects in various stages and these will all benefit from Janet’s hard work.

Janet is also keen on the gym and manages to fit some sessions around her very busy schedule.

Metta Streefkerk

Metta was recently selected as a parent representative for the board through a selection process where she had to outline the skills, background and experience she would bring to the board. With her background in architecture she has quickly shown an interest in the projects under development with the strategic property team but has also taken a wider view of the activities of the board and has already attended a number of training sessions.  In her role as Retail Development Manager at Auckland Airport she works on development of the International and Domestic Terminal Buildings.

Having immigrated with her family to Green Bay relatively recently from the Netherlands, Metta will bring a fresh new perspective to many of the issues that face the board.

Metta enjoys the outdoors and she and her family are exploring the beaches, seas and mountains of New Zealand every free minute they have. She is very keen on hockey and spends a few hours per week in the gym, compulsory.

Iris Donoghue
Info to come

Glenda Delaney
Info to come

Gloria Honan-Crann
Info to come

Helen Coffin
Info to come