PartnerRe’s ‘Dollars For Hours: Youth & Community in Partnership’ is in its eighth year. This year eight local schools received $30,000 each upon completion of the assigned ‘Dollars For Hours’ project that pairs student volunteers with local charities on community projects.

Saltus Secondary students were assigned the task of packaging Bluebird nest box kits and building a number of nest boxes for sale by the Bermuda Audubon Society. These nest boxes are critical for the survival of the threatened native Bluebird on the island. The local Audubon Society is the main supplier of Bluebird nest boxes and each year sells out of stock by early summer, and needs a new supply of packaged kits and constructed boxes for the next spring’s nesting season.

On Saturday, November 9th, 20 secondary students, three staff and Bermuda Audubon Society representative Mrs Karen Border gathered in the Design Technology suite to carry out this project. Mrs Border first showed the students an informative slide show about Bermuda Bluebirds and explained the importance of the nest boxes. Participating Saltus staff included Design Technology Head Mr Phil Heap, DT Technician Mr Mike Hooper, and Director of Alumni Relations Mr Jon Beard. Students who participated included: SGY2s Phil Ahl, Courtney Barbosa, William Finnerty, Samantha Hillen, Julia Lines and Rosie Welsh; SGY1 Zoe Simmons; S11s Matthew De Frias, Nick Lines, Ruben McKittrick, Dylan Muldoon, Keaton Pewter, Austin Wescom and Corey Torak; S9s Lila Hilverding, CaVon Raynor and Adeline Young; and S7s Angelae Heath, Tyler Hurdle and Shane Steinhoff. Prior to that Saturday, DT Technician Mike Hooper had cut the wood into the various pieces needed to build the nest boxes and/or assemble the kits. In total, students assembled 76 nest box kits, plus built and painted 22 nest boxes.

At an event hosted by PartnerRe in December to celebrate and showcase the students’ achievements, PartnerRe’s EVP and Chief Financial Officer Mr Bill Babcock, and the Hon Leah K Scott, JP, MP and Junior Education Minister congratulated the students on their hard work and thanked everyone involved for their contribution to the ‘Dollars For Hours’ initiative. In addition to supporting scholarships, the Dollars For Hours initiative is one of PartnerRe’s major contributions to education in Bermuda. In a statement from PartnerRe, “We believe that helping to maintain and improve the quality of education in Bermuda is the single most important thing we can do as a Bermudian company and this gesture is an important way we accomplish that aim.”

Now in its eighth year, ‘Dollars For Hours: Youth & Community in Partnership’, has had “more than 1,300 students from eight secondary schools donate over 14,000 hours of hands-on support to local charities for a total donation of close to $1,800,000 to date. This year, the students … successfully completed projects ranging from environmental schemes, educational projects and health-related initiatives. Participating schools will use the funds for: curriculum development, classroom upgrades, bursary and scholarship funds, extra-curricular activity support, student incentive programs, IT equipment, and infrastructure projects.”