Buckley Country Day School recently held its 14th Annual Spring Gala. The event—chaired by Deborah and Richard DeVerna—celebrated Buckley’s 95th anniversary and recognized honoree Ahmed Bendary, for his 15 years of steadfast and dedicated service as a member of our Board of Trustees, for his unwavering commitment to our school, students, faculty and staff, and for the many contributions he and his wife Bouchra have made to Buckley over the past 18 years. Ahmed and Bouchra Bendary have graduated four children from Buckley: Rani ’09, Samer ’11, Nour ’13, and Yara ’18.
Ahmed and Bouchra Bendary exemplify the spirit of giving that has served Buckley for close to a century and has made them one of the most philanthropic families in the school’s history.
The pièce de résistance of the evening was the moving tribute that Rani paid to his father. Rani started by sharing the experience of his first day in kindergarten when he would not get out of the car and his mother had to drive him back home. He went on to speak about a conversation he then had with his father about the feelings he experienced, the challenges he faced, and the opportunities he saw when he immigrated to the United States, at the time an unfamiliar country for him. Rani spoke about the literal and metaphoric anchor that Ahmed likes to jump in, at the tug-of-war on Field Day and for our community, stating, “Regardless of Red or Blue victory, it is the entire Buckley community that has won. Dad, I know I speak on behalf of the other 200 members of your Buckley family sitting in this room tonight when I say that we are incredibly blessed and lucky to have had you serve as our anchor. Thank you for never shying away from the challenge, and for being the bravest Bulldog there is.”
Rani closed his speech reflecting on his second day of school and concluded, “All I can say is that I am very glad I decided to get out of the car on the second day of school. In 18 years, Buckley has welcomed us with wider arms and more genuine love than we could have asked for.”
The generous contributions made by the Buckley community to the 2018 Spring Gala have been earmarked to the school’s Endowment Fund.
“As a Trustee, Ahmed spoke up about three topics that he most cared about: the safety and well-being of our students, the safety and well-being of their teachers, and the state of our facilities. As a Buckley Trustee, Ahmed was always first and foremost a child and teacher advocate. There couldn’t be a more deserving man on this occasion to whom we would want to show our gratitude and appreciation than you,” said Buckley Headmaster Jean-Marc Juhel.
