Although never one to seek the limelight, we managed to sit our Office Manager, Elis Ho down long enough to get her to talk about her time at KIS which dates all the way back to 1978!

“It is my pleasure to share my memorable “life’s journey” at Kinabalu International School. I first started work at KIS in April 1978. I was the first Malaysian member of staff to be recruited as a Clerk to   administer dealings with the local ministries and authorities. Amazingly, I had never heard of an International School in Kota Kinabalu until I applied for the position. Kinabalu   International School was very low profile in those days and was housed at a church hotel located near a lake. The church looked towards a line of coconut tree and the sea at Likas Bay. The school back then had less than 50 pupils, all expatriates.

 My journey from a small role doing clerical duties and   nothing much to do after school hours to my current role with heavy responsibilities and seemingly not having enough hours in a day to meet the ever increasing demands of the school, is reflective of one major change: GROWTH!

 The school started with only one clerk in the office and  today we have an Admissions Officer, an Accounts   Executive, an Administration Officer, a Front Office/Marketing Executive, a School Technician and Premises Supervisor. All these responsibilities are all too familiar to me and challenging when I was the only one doing them!

 Over three decades of my service with KIS I have worked with more than ten different Principals and needless to say, many Boards of Management. I am very privileged in this regard as working closely with each of them I have received a free live education as they have executed duties using their professionalism and expertise to develop and move the school forward to what it is today.

 What I enjoy most about my current job is having the flexibility to use my own initiative to introduce new and better management procedures and systems  to support the day-to-day school administration and to carry out my duties and responsibilities entrusted to me in the office to the satisfaction of both the Principal and Board of Management from whom I continue to receive unceasing support.  Having seen the school and my own role evolve over many years I think the biggest challenge for the future will be to expand the school campus and its resources and recreational facilities. I am sure that this next expansion will see KIS proudly invite our alumni to return and join in the celebrations!”

Elis Ho, January 2011

Earlier this year KIS Students in Year 9-11 recently succeeded in reaching the summit of Mount Kinabalu. The climb to the top of one of the regions tallest mountains is far from easy, but KIS students throughout history have managed to make the strenuous journey to Lows Peak. Indeed one of our present staff members made the very same journey as a KIS student over 20 years ago. Karen MacLeod was a student at KIS in the 1980’s and is now our Learning Support Assistant in the Primary School. Karen left KIS in 1988 when her family moved to Hong Kong and she finished her education at an English International School there. Work experience placements in child care and supervision inspired her to do an NNEB course at Chichester College in England between 1993-95 incorporating a Diploma in Child care and education. Karen then worked at Thomas A Beckett First School for seven years as an Early Years Teaching Assistant. In 2002, Karen moved back to Kota Kinabalu where she took on a voluntary role at the Princess Ann Orphanage helping to look after the younger children and babies. She continues to volunteer at the Orphanage until the present day, but in 2003 Karen also returned to a full-time position at KIS as a classroom assistant, before ultimately moving to her present role of Learning Support Assistant at the beginning of the current academic year. It’s been a roundabout journey, but we are delighted to have Karen back with us here at KIS!