SLS Now Archive
Shawnigan Lake School in Costa Rica: August 2010
PART ONE
Pura Vida!- Shawnigan's EDGE Leadership Program is building relationships in Costa Rica this summer, working in partnership with the Costa Rica Humanitarian Foundation (CRHF).
The group includes eight grade 11 and 12 students, and is led by Sarah Kingstone (Kaye's '07), Claire Linn (School '06) and program leader Peter Yates. Sarah and Claire are the driving force behind the project, having spent three months doing volunteer work in Costa Rica in the early part of 2010.
The team is helping to renovate a farmhouse on the outskirts of San Jose, scrubbing and painting and doing basic repairs, and also putting in a garden. "La Finca" will provide accommodation for future volunteers, but perhaps its greater good will be to serve as a retreat for families who live in the huge urban slum called La Carpio. It is part of the vision of Gail Nystrom, head of CRHF, to give families a brief respite from the depressing squalor of La Carpio, and to allow them to be together in a healthy natural environment. Working with Gail brings to mind Margaret Meade's words, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Our team has no illusions that our efforts here will change the world, so the success of our venture in Costa Rica will best be evaluated by the changes wrought in our selves. Our goals are to learn through doing, to be open to other ways of being, and to solidify the values that will guide us through life.
Peter Yates - Shawnigan EDGE Leadership
To read more and to view more photos, click here!
First Book Published
"An ancient Coast Salish spindle whorl once used for spinning, a mystic raven and a fearsome Sasquatch... will Hannah uncover the message that they carry?"
This is the intriguing promo for fine arts assistant Carol Anne Shaw’s first book, Hannah and the Spindle Whorl (Ronsdale Press). Released this week, the 244-page book is the story of a 12-year-old girl who uncovers an ancient Salish spindle whorl hidden in a cave near her home on Vancouver Island, and is transported back to a Salish village in a time before Europeans had settled in the area.
A well-known artist locally, Mrs. Shaw started at Shawnigan Lake School in 2001 in the general office. In 2005 she became an assistant for the junior grades in the Fine Arts Department.
“I had the idea for the book long before I wrote it. The idea came to me years ago when my sons were in elementary school,” she recalls. “I was struck by the fact that so little Canadian history prior to colonization is covered. We always say, ‘Canada is so young! Only 300-400 years old!’ but there have been people here for over 6,000 years.”
She will be one of the featured writers at The Word on the Street Festival in Vancouver in late September and expects to be doing some readings locally as well.
“I am not native, nor am I an anthropologist, but I love Vancouver Island and I'm always curious about days gone by. Hannah and the Spindle Whorl is more an adventure tale than anything else. It is a story of friendship, loss, loyalty and hope If it inspires one young person to be curious about our island and its history, then I'm happy.”