One of the most frequently asked questions about BEA is our name and logo, so here’s everything you wanted to know about how we came up with them. First of all, the name of our NGO is called the Bayon English Academy. Bayon is the name of one of the many temples in the Angkor temple complex just outside of Siem Reap. When Nicole, BEA's executive director, first visited the complex as a tourist back in February 2007, Bayon was the one the left the greatest impression on her because of all the stone carvings of the many different faces of Buddha on the top of the temple. Shally, BEA's managing director, thought it would be a good idea to include the name of the temple as a part of the school’s name because the many faces of Buddha would also represent the many faces of our past, present and future BEA students.
Why the buzzing bee?
The Bayon English Academy is our official name, but we refer to ourselves by our initials, BEA. This brings to the buzzing bee around our initials. Since BEA has the same sound as the insect, bee, we decided to use it as our school’s mascot. There is also an English idiom busy as a bee, so the bee also refers to our students, who are busy as bees in their studies at BEA. The buzzing line the bee makes around our school's initials represents the path we will lead our students on during their time at BEA. We hope our support and guidance will give our students the confidence to fly away on their own successful paths in the future, which is implied by the bee flying away from BEA. Finally, we chose blue and yellow as our organization colors, and the reason is quite simple. Blue is Nicole's favorite color while Shally loves yellow.