Heritage

Today was the last in the recent and brief series of "meet the candidate" discussions where teachers and staff have been given the opportunity to listen to and ask questions of, the short listed candidates for the role of Headmaster, effective as from August 2017.  As before, this interchange was held in what is known as the "Heritage Room" - not least for the artefacts that are displayed there. However, in addition to the spectacular view of Istanbul from the window (extra), I am also mindful of the fact that whoever is successful will bear the sometimes-burden that is the heritage of this traditional and influential school in Turkey that was founded in 1863, by American philanthropist Christopher Rhinelander Robert whose portrait hung in what may turn out to be a prophetic and symbolic gesture, adjacent to where the candidate sat today, who already gets my vote. 

More historical information about this school and its founders here and here and here and here, should you be interested in how West met East, more than 150 years ago, in Constantinople.

Btw: the portrait, of Christopher Rhinelander Robert, so fortuitously right in front of me at today's meeting in the Heritage Room, fits nicely in to Trisharooni's Mono Monday theme of Portrait - although I can't on this occasion take any credit for the image.