Tebwebwe Claude has been principal of Sacred Heart College in Bikenibeu, Tarawa, since 2017. When he began teaching there in 2010, a Palms participant, Helena Charlesworth (left), was already on staff teaching English to Years 10, 11 and 12.
Some years ago he wrote to Palms about what those years meant, and Helena has now shared it with us.
He describes a colleague who was never late and never missed a class. During school holidays, she devoted her time to labelling reading books for every class, reorganising the library, repainting the staff room, filing meeting minutes, and analysing national examination results. When a student was marked absent on the roll, she would immediately set out to find them, and she was just as quick to track down any teacher who had failed to appear.
“She was indeed an inspiration to all members of the Sacred Heart Community,” he wrote.
Asked what the most significant impact had been, he did not list projects. He listed setting an example others could follow, giving teachers hope that a student’s behaviour could change, readiness to help with whatever was needed, and caring for one another.
He also wrote that Palms participants changed how he thought about his own work, and that he chose to follow that approach because he could see it was for the good of the school.
Sacred Heart College now has over 1100 students enrolled in years 10-13 and runs morning and afternoon shifts to manage within the space it has. Tebwebwe leads it.
That is the whole idea. Somebody asks. Somebody comes, works alongside, and leaves. What stays belongs to the community.
In Memoriam
Sure Ryan (right), who prepared Tebwebwe for the principalship through 2016 and later served in Samoa, died on 29 April 2026. We remember her with gratitude. May she rest in peace.