Volunteer Spotlight: Brie Fisher

At French International, we are proud to have parents dedicated to positively shaping our school and enriching the lives of our students. Volunteering involves the entire family in a student’s educational life. Additionally, service is part of the IB educational philosophy as we teach students that we have a shared responsibility to our connected global community. 

Leanne Bach and Brie Fisher were this year’s Gala Chairs. Both the Fisher and Bach-Csanky families joined French International in 2020, and students Esmae and Katy are now in 4th Grade. As Chair and Co-Chair, Leanne and Brie worked to bring the Gala to life, working especially hard with this year’s new format. They focused mainly on decor, catering, and entertainment to create an amazing night for over 200 guests! 

Learn more about Brie’s insights into volunteering for the Gala here:

What drew you to volunteering for the Gala? 

I love the creativity of designing events. My mom was Director of Operations for universities, and as part of her position, we continuously hosted international college students. It was important to my family to create a home away from home for our visiting friends – most of whom were away from their homeland for the first time. We hosted weekly events celebrating each students’ heritage, and not only did we learn from them, but having three international students all at one time, the students learned from one another. My mom was brilliant at creating a space for students to share their traditions, food, games, and language, and I like to think I got some of her talent. We had students from Pakistan, France, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Africa, Kuwait, Ukraine, and more. I witnessed firsthand how we share more commonalities than differences, and how our differences expand and enrich our consciousness. Even on days we could not understand each other from a language aspect, what was always understood was laughter and kindness. That education is important to me to bring to my daughter Esmae, and being a part of FI and volunteering for the gala gave her a front row seat.

It was an honor to be able to share my event coordination passion with our international community.

What do you enjoy the most about your role as a volunteer? Any particularly fond
memories?

The commitment of our school admin, teachers, and parents in nurturing and magnifying our children's lives is inspiring. Conversations behind every door are always focused on how we can best support our children and the advancement of our school.

What message would you like to share with our community about the importance of volunteers at FI? 

Volunteers are vital! We absolutely cannot pull off events without volunteers. It’s also a lot of fun to meet parents from other grade levels you wouldn’t otherwise meet. Have a child in 2nd grade and are curious how 5th is going? Volunteer. Your child is about to graduate 8th, and you want to reminisce about kindergarten? Volunteer. Need a sitter for Saturday night? Volunteer. You meet the best people!

Thank you, Leanne and Brie, for all your hard work!