SLS Now Archive
Girls' Rugby Tour
March 28 - Undefeated Tour: The girls wrapped up the rugby part of their tour with a convincing win over Salisbury 34-10. The game was played under the lights at the Salisbury Rugby Club, Wiltshire. The “Iron Women” go undefeated and they impressed both players and fans at every stop. Their game is showing signs of maturity, being able to use different styles of play in different situations and conditions. The girls move on to London to finish the tour and head back home Tuesday morning. Congratulations to a most successful tour.
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March 26 - Shawnigan’s Senior Girls’ rugby team remains undefeated after a tough encounter in Cymrych, Wales. Cymrych is a small farming village 120 km west of Cardiff. Poor weather had us move from the village rugby club to a small rather interesting local field. Rusted goal posts and a sloping field made it look more like a pasture than a rugby field. We won the toss and played downhill in the 1st half. The Cymrych girls had not lost a game in two years and they opened the game with a quick unconverted try in the opening 5 minutes. The toughness and physicality took the Shawnigan girls by surprise and it was then a question of whether they were going to respond to the challenge. They did and came back strongly to score a converted try on the boot of Jules to move ahead 7-5. It was a ferocious battle and Shawnigan managed to score again to make it 12-5 at the half. The rain continued to fall but the intensity of the game continued and the final whistle saw Shawnigan come out 19-10 winners. This game was just what the girls needed and they came through with a very stoic performance against these tough girls from the farm. Jules was again named “Player of the Match” but strong performances by Rachel B, Chloe again, Emilie and Emma should not be missed. The team is coming together nicely and playing some good solid rugby. We are now off to Salisbury to try and keep our record unblemished. We play Saturday night under the lights in Salisbury which will be a new experience for the girls. Sunday we take in a premier League game, London Irish vs Sale and then move on to London for our final two nights. Monday night we are off to the theatre to see “We Will Rock You.”
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March 20 - The “Iron Women” opened up their tour with a win against Harlequin Ladies 31-0 in Cardiff Saturday morning. The game was most entertaining and played in a wonderful spirit. The Harlequin ladies were unfortunately missing some key players due a Welsh trial for Under 18 Women. No doubt this would have made the contest far more competitive. Having said that, Shawnigan dominated from start to finish and never took their feet off the gas despite being somewhat jet lagged. At the reception after the game Chloe was awarded player of the game and very deserving of this honour. Rugby wasn’t over yet as we moved on to the International match between Wales and Italy in Milllenium Stadium. It was a great spectacle and girls thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere, particularly the singing. Tomorrow we are off to Bridgend to watch the Womens’ International match between Italy and Wales.
– Mark Hall, Coach
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Before they left on tour, the Girls’ Rugby Team serenaded the school in chapel. With Mr. Borsato accompanying them on guitar, they sang “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey. We wish them well on their Journey to England and Wales.
The Junior Boys' Rugby Team left on their Tour of England and Wales on Thursday morning and the Senior Boys' Rugby Team will leave for Argentina on Saturday. Best wishes to them all!
FROG Awards
The end of the second term means it is time, once again, to award our recycling certificates to the top five Houses, or in this term’s case, the top six. The coveted F.R.O.G. (Fanatical Recycling’s Our Goal) awards go to Duxbury, Groves’, Strathcona, Renfrew South, Renfrew North, and Kaye’s for their great, green efforts.
Stocking Lake Omar
Lake Omar has been stocked again with approximately 200 rainbow trout, thanks to Mr. Receveaux. After some extensive planning and organizing, the Fly Tying fine art at Shawnigan will use Lake Omar as a fishing source after the Fish and Wildlife Branch of the British Columbia government approved the filling of the lake for five consecutive years. The junior Fly Tying students carefully released the trout into Lake Omar. On Wednesday junior and senior students had a chance to meet with the new residents. Daine B. as well as Matt S. caught fish on flies of their own design. By the end of the afternoon, Michael M. concluded that a green chartreuse streamer was very efficient. At Shawnigan, we have a catch and release policy and all hooks must be barb-less to insure the well being of the fish.
Photos by Stephen Lane
Visiting Writer – Annabel Lyon
Award winning novelist Annabel Lyon visited Shawnigan to speak to senior students. Ms Lyon's most recent is The Golden Mean, the first-person account of a pivotal period in the life of Aristotle. The novel has garnered considerable attention in Canada, having been nominated for the Governor General's Award and the Giller Prize, and winning the coveted Roger's Writers' Trust prize. As the Globe and Mail noted, "The Golden Mean is a crisply written, painstakingly researched book, [in which] Lyon ably inhabits 'the greatest mind of all time. . . .'" With American and international publication looming, the book is set to gather even more praise in the months ahead. During her Shawnigan visit, Ms Lyon proved to be a generous teacher and mentor to the students. Early in the day, she spoke with the AP English classes, providing background on the novel and setting Aristotle firmly in historical context. Students left her lecture energized by her passion for the subject, by the depth of her knowledge, and by her disarming sense of humour. After school, Ms Lyon hosted a fiction workshop for Writing 12 students and took them through an exercise designed to increase their sensitivity to language, characterization, and narrative energy. Her visit ended with a powerful evening reading.
– Jay Connolly
Paralympic Games
On Tuesday, the Swordless Samurai (our Shawnigan Service Group) went to Vancouver for the day to see the Paralympic Games. We brought Lance and Hazel, a blind couple we visit weekly, and they were truly ecstatic! Lance was especially excited since he was a Gold Medal Paralympian himself in Lawn Bowling at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. The group got to watch wheelchair curling, and found it to be a great experience to share with Lance and Hazel. Although they couldn't see what was happening, we explained to them where each rock had landed, using the idea of a clock. The buzz and energy of the crowd really engaged them, and the group of us loved spending the day with them. This was a memorable experience for everyone, and a great end to the second term!
– Jacqueline S. ’10 (Renfrew)
Kiss Me, Kate
From the Director, Gregg Perry: Faster. Higher. Stronger. It feels like the Olympic motto gets applied to the musical every year. Yet, even though this year’s musical has more choreography and songs than most, and even though we are opening our show a month earlier than usual, our young cast has risen to the challenge!
Click here to read another fabulous review by Lexi Bainas in The Citizen newspaper
Shawnigan congratulates Mr. Perry and his cast and crew on a musical production that thoroughly entertained. If you didn’t get a chance to enjoy Kiss Me, Kate in the theatre, browse through Mr. Lane’s wonderful photographs.
Winter Term Athletic Colours
In Chapel this week, Mr. Austin and Mr. Robertson, along with coaches, awarded Sr. Athletic for Winter Term sports. Pictured here are Colours for basketball, squash and Ice hockey.
Senior School Colours are awarded to students who display strong skills and athleticism, as well as significant leadership and solid sportsmanship. Recipients are in grade 12, and generally have at least two years of service to the sport.
Photos by Stephen Lane
Back Stage
Obviously you can’t put on a great production without the many capable people whose job it is to support our actors. There are so many to thank for the success of Kiss Me, Kate: Director, Gregg Perry; Producer, Lynn Robertson; Music Director, Shannon Bryant; Choreographer, Kelli McLeod; Costume Designer, Calli Burr; Doreen Deane and her Deane Team; Set Builders and Painters; Stage Managers; Stage Crew; and our wonderful parent volunteers. We couldn’t have done it without you!
Photos by Stephen Lane
Prefect Project
The Prefects are working not just to make Shawnigan a better place, but to make the world a better place. They have engaged the student population in a project through the Kiva organization. Students voted, from a selection on the Kiva website, for an entrepreneur from the developing world whom they will empower through this micro-financing project.
To learn more about this project, click here to read Valentine’s Chapel address.
Polyhedra Fair
After finishing an intense study of polyhedrons, Mr. Lam's Grade 8 math class took an opportunity to exercise their artistic creativity to build polyhedrons models based on a theme of their choice. Some themes included the "Taj Mahal," a "Nomadic Village" and "The Mayan Ruins" to name a few. The students worked collaboratively in partners, and used polyhedra shapes that best represented their artistic interpretations. Also, the Grade 8s had an opportunity to exhibit their creative models with other math classes and teachers in a "Polyhedra Fair." The fair enabled the Grade 8 students to share their enthusiasm and knowledge of polyhedrons with their fellow peers and teachers.
This Grade 8 math class would like to thank the Math 8, 10, 11, and 12 classes along with their teachers for their participation in our Polyhedra Fair. It was a great experience for all!
– Jason Lam
Berkeley Model United Nations
Several members of the Model United Nations club ventured down to California this past weekend, to participate in the Berkeley Model UN, one of the biggest on the West Coast (www.bmun.net). We arrived the day ahead to take in the sights and sounds of the United States, which included: watching a massive pro-education protest, riding streetcars through the streets of San Francisco, and being invited to a private viewing of the works of Fernando Botero, one of Colombia’s most revered modern artists.
Eventually, though, we did have to do some work; the committee sessions began on Friday afternoon, and before long, things were in full swing. While there were two dozen committees at BMUN, we participated in the Disarmament Committee, the International Court of Justice, the Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Committee, and the highly illustrious Security Council. Some of our delegates even walked away with awards: Arden G., Julia S. and Ian M. (our friend from Brentwood who accompanied us on the trip).
While we didn’t all win, no one came away from BMUN empty-handed—students and staff alike had a tremendous experience, and I, for one, had a weekend that I won’t soon forget. Here’s to BMUN 2010, and hopefully, to many happy returns.
– Lisa Jane D.
2010 EDGE Leadership Project
One of our twelve EDGE Leadership students addressed the Shawnigan community in chapel about the upcoming project.
"On March 12, the Shawnigan EDGE team will be leaving to an agricultural training campus in Baan Nato, Thailand. It won’t be our first time working with the Chiang Rai College of Agriculture in area known as the Golden Triangle, close to Burma border."
We've Got You Covered!
If you're looking to release a musical CD, we've got you covered. Our Grade 9 Art class is full of a very savvy group of designers who welcomed the challenge of creating CD cover art and packaging. In this particular assignment, the class had to come up with a unique band name, and then express the genre of the music with a powerful visual image. Not only were the designs original and highly creative, but the band names were equally as impressive!
– Carol Shaw
Class Afloat
In Thursday's Chapel service, students heard first-hand about the experience of a Shawnigan student on board the SV Concordia:
"I first heard about Class Afloat from Mr. Sarsfield in English 11 last year and the way he described it made it out to be a great travel experience and an awesome adventure overall. For the semester that I was aboard, it was that and more. Not only did we see amazing places like Dublin and Morocco, I and the rest of the crew formed bonds that we will probably keep for a long time to come. You may have heard on the news that the ship sank off the coast of Brazil a few weeks ago, although the ship went down, the SV Concordia remained strong by the friendships we had made. Not only did it connect us to each other, we were also joined to a larger group of alumni that had experienced life aboard. In fact, on the way back home a few old “floaties” (that’s what they call people who have sailed with the program) actually came and met us at the airport just to show us how much they supported us."
To read the full story, click here.
– Jesse S. ’11 (Duxbury)
Photos by Stephen Lane
Search and Rescue
Although the SAR Program can lead to various certifications that are useful on a resume, its more important outcomes are in terms of personal responsibility, decision-making, group dynamics and self-confidence. The accompanying photos bear witness to the fun and the sense of accomplishment experienced by this year's SAR team during their final weekend of training on the Cowichan River. I thank them for their enthusiasm and commitment, and for their willingness to step outside their comfort zones.
– Peter Yates, Instructor
Photos by Peter Yates
Cowichan Music Festival
This time of year, the Cowichan Music Festival brings together performing artists from around the community to sing, play, speak, and dance. The festival is an opportunity for students to prepare pieces to a high standard and hear others who have done the same. Performers receive feedback from an adjudicator and may be awarded first, second, or third place certificates. A significant number of Shawnigan students are involved this year; last week 17 singers and 2 pianists participated, this week two violinists and one of our dancers will perform. What a great testament to the arts program we have here at Shawnigan!
– Shannon Bryant, Director of Music
Photos by Stephen Lane
Groves' Chapel Presentation
Last Saturday's chapel service was Groves' turn to present. Our word was “believe”—something which I perceive to be very important throughout the Shawnigan community. In Groves' we strongly encourage all girls to support one another and to always be there, for we are a family and believing in each other is truly important. So, when told our theme was “believe,” I was more than overjoyed. Instantly the grade 12's went to work: Jenn ran rehearsals, Monica choreographed the dancing and Ciara put together the song, but most importantly the rest of the House gave it their all. Throughout the previous week, we had several rehearsals--some longer than others. At the beginning of rehearsals, putting on a decent presentation felt impossible. Honestly, we were disorganized. However, as the week progressed, things began getting better until it looked like a presentation. On Friday night, we had a two-hour practice--not one girl complained and their energy was 110% the whole time! Their patience was more than appreciated. I want to thank all the girls for their tremendous hard work. It was a House effort and it couldn't have been done without everyone's support. We “believed” we could succeed and I think we did. Good job girls, thanks for making me cry and for the great memory!
– Martina C., Head of Groves' House
Photos by Stephen Lane