Last week, a school in Gem trended on a bad note.
There was a video of a distraught boy showing wounds that resulted from a thorough beating.
Word went round that two teachers canned the boy because he could not attain 400 marks.
The story caught my attention because the school is close to my alma mater–Nyamninia Secondary School.
Two, in 2019, a 13-year-old pupil from that school won in the Spelling Bee National and Africa Championship Competition.
This was not a mean feat. The victory put the school on a pedestal – and to some extent – built its brand with brilliance.
The competition brought together the best junior and senior spellers from twelve African countries: Kenya, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leon, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia.
Dear reader, after such a peerless performance, you know the eyes of the people who have been in this school. For the sage said: Nothing succeeds like success. When people succeed, people expect them to succeed more.
Branding should not only be taken seriously by this school but also by other schools across the board.
There are things that happen in schools that make them rise from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix. Like now, most Kenyans know schools that have shined in KCPE and KCSE.
When schools shine, they become big brands that capture and captivate the attention of the public.
Finally, schools are brands. The brands must be built with brilliance.
The things principals, teachers, children and parents do – make or break schools.
On this, I recommend the book titled Midas Touch by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki.
While putting together the oeuvre of that true treasure trove, the two putative authors abutted their thesis on the metaphor of the human hand.
To them, the five fingers that grace the human hand are symbolic.
The thumb stands for emotional maturity and strength of character.
The index finger symbolises FOCUS– Follow One Course Until Successful.
The middle finger (most preponderant one), is an emblem of the brand – what one stands for.
The ring finger depicts the essence of relationships and human engineering.
The small finger means small things that matter. “We do not have to do great things,” Mother Mary Teresa once said, “but do small things in a great way.”
Trainer and author
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
