Laura Fabbri
^{Spanish Teacher / Concordia Club Moderator / Accreditation Coordinator}

For the last 34 years, Room 111 at Bishop has been occupied by Ms. Laura Fabbri. It is where she has taught Spanish, held Concordia Club meetings, and coordinated many of the school’s WCEA/WASC accreditation studies. In her time at Bishop, she has taught thousands of young men and women, led hundreds of students in service projects, and affected positive change in many aspects of school life. Outside of school, she is a dedicated mother of two sons, both of whom graduated from Bishop (Martin ‘11 and Mateo ‘16). On campus, her students and colleagues know her as a hard-working, passionate and caring educator who is known for helping anyone who asks. She is a leader in every sense of the word.

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Describe your leadership style?

“A leader must be ready to work harder than anyone on their team; they must lead by example. When I assign a project for a class, I always do it first, to model one way it can be done. I try to be organized and prepared to answer any questions my students might have. If I’m leading a class, I need to be well-prepared before class even begins. I firmly believe that leaders must be knowledgeable and have a desire to continue to learn. A leader must also be honest, compassionate, ambitious and have the vision to move things forward. A sense of humor is important. As far as my leadership style, I would describe it as eclectic. I take a little from every model I’ve experienced. Leadership is service; leadership is transformational; leadership is being the first one who tackles a task and the one who wraps it up.”

How do you try to inspire others? What qualities do you try to cultivate in others?

“I try to inspire by working hard and not being afraid to do what others might not want to do. I don’t see anyone “running” to do WASC work each year; yet every year, I take note of how serious faculty and staff take the accreditation process and how hard they work at it. It is really rewarding to see that, even though it is not work that people enjoy doing; they make the best out of it—just like I do—and I think that is contagious to a point. If you work hard, others with integrity and determination will follow.”

Is there a service project you have led that makes you especially proud?

“Every year, when we start a new Concordia Club project, I never know how it might end up. Three years ago, a ton of cotton fabric was donated and I decided to turn it into little girls’ dresses [for Dress a Girl Around the World, a Hope 4 Women International organization]. I just needed t-shirts and the students and I would attach a skirt made out of the donated cotton, and we would turn them into dresses. We started with two t-shirts and made two dresses. People loved the idea, and many started contributing. Parents and faculty were donating t-shirts and students were staying after school to help make the dresses. Even grandmothers joined the effort and helped me! We ended up making 380 dresses from February until Easter!”