It’s a Sunday afternoon at WIS, a special one. The sun is shining, the grills are cooking, and the kids are playing. The Spring Bazaar is in full effect. The bazaar is the event that everyone from the WIS community looks forward to every year. But, have you ever wondered what it took to put our beloved event together?  It’s time to take a closer look at the Spring Bazaar.

The Spring Bazaar is a staple in WIS events. Starting in the late 1980s, the  Bazaar was a small, concentrated event that was put on by the WIS Parents Association (WISPA).

Marcela Churchill has been working as WIS’ events coordinator for the past decade. Churchill organizes all events from WISPA fund raisers to WIS auctions. Churchill worked on her very first Spring Bazaar in 2007; she remembers the Bazaar as a more simple event for parents to come and shop for various items as opposed to fun activities for kids.

“It was very different in that there were not many activities for kids but more shopping for parents, and, in terms of food, there was a food court and some food at grill but nothing like what we have today,” Churchill said.

Saul Pink is a WIS sophomore and was a volunteer at the Bazaar this year. Pink has attended the bazaar since the second grade and noticed a significant increase in the variety of culture in regards to different foods, attendees, and even music.

“It’s interesting to see the little Primary Schoolers running around, and it feels nice to be able to be with the entire school. Because at the Upper School, we don’t really have the time to interact with half of WIS. ”

Pink worked as a “worker bee” at this year’s Bazaar. Worker Bees are WIS sophomores that must volunteer at the Bazaar to help raise money for the 10th grade New Orleans trip. Worker Bees serve as assistants to the parent volunteers by serving drinks, grilling food, and supervising games.

Junior, Faysal Al-Kibbi worked as a sophomore worker bee at last year’s Bazaar. Kibbi  made sandwiches and set up drinks at grill. He found the job to be quite easy, yet rewarding. Al- Kibbi was happy to help attendees enjoy their day and help them take a break.

“It wasn’t very difficult work, but I was working for around four hours, which is pretty long. I was luckily paired with a nice group of people to work with though, so it was a pretty calm and enjoyable work experience.” he said.

Behind all the fun of the Bazaar, there is a lot of work that has to be done before the first patties hit the grill. This behind the scenes work is done by a Bazaar chair. The Bazaar chair is a position that rotates every year, and is assumed by a parent volunteer. This year’s chair was Nancy Rehman.  

Rehman was in charge of recruiting parent volunteers, assigning jobs, and accounting for all materials and student volunteers through other parent volunteers. One of the most important parts of being chair, is advertising the Bazaar throughout the WIS community in order to encourage as much attendance as possible.  Rehman loves serving as chair, and it reminds her of WIS’ hard working nature.

“It was a terrific experience that reminded me how thankful we all are to be part of the hard-working, good-natured, and gracious WIS community,” Rehman said.

By Dean Atassi