The Samuel Heritage
In mid-February, Shawnigan opened Samuel House, a co-ed Grade 8 boarding house that is the first of its kind in Canada, with separate wings for boys and girls, and common areas they all share. While the House was carefully designed to nurture our youngest students, the name of the House was selected to pay tribute to two beloved staff members, and everything from the colours to the House hymn incorporates their Welsh heritage, as Admissions Assistant Ms. Kieran Ward explains.
Students are settling into Samuel House, our new and ground-breaking Grade 8 boarding house. A tremendous amount of thought and effort went into establishing, building, and opening the House – the first co-ed Grade 8 boarding house in Canada – combining the previously known Stanton and Levien Houses. Creating a new boarding house is not quite as simple as building a house with four walls and opening the doors, however.
Samuel House is named after two of our long-standing staff members, honouring their decades of service to the School: Executive Director of Admissions Mrs. Gaynor Samuel, and Director of Alumni Relations Mr. Rhodri Samuel. Originally from Wales, the Samuels are fiercely proud of their Welsh roots, and Shawnigan has strived to reflect their background in Samuel House.
The House logo, mascot, colours, motto, and hymn are all centred around the Samuels’ heritage. Why are they all named and designed this way?
House Logo
The Samuel House logo is representative of the House colours and mascot. The Grade 8 students can now be found wearing yellow and red with pride at inter-House events, and wearing House items decorated with their mascot – a Welsh dragon. Yellow is the House’s primary colour, symbolic of the Welsh national flower – the daffodil. It is a colour not used by any other House on campus, so it will be unique to the Grade 8 students until they move into one of the “big Houses” in their Grade 9 year. The secondary colour of Samuel House is red, one of the national colours of Wales. As portrayed on the national flag of Wales, the dragon in the House logo is red, with the added flair of a Celtic knot at its tail.
House Motto: Cartref – “A Loving Community”
The House motto perfectly aligns with the goals and values in the Shawnigan Journey and what we hope to foster in Samuel House. While nurturing the Grade 8 students, the House teams will guide students through the first stage of their time inside the Shawnigan gates. In doing so, they will teach them the necessary skills to be successful in the next stages inside and beyond the gates of Shawnigan by creating a community that cares for and encourages growth and independence in its students.
House Hymn: “Calon Lan”
Welsh Chorus:
Calon lân yn llawn daioni
Tecach yw na'r lili dlos:
Dim ond calon lân all ganu,
Canu'r dydd a chanu'r nos
Tecach yw na'r lili dlos:
Dim ond calon lân all ganu,
Canu'r dydd a chanu'r nos
“Calon Lan” is a Welsh hymn sung with great pride at Shawnigan. Singing at Shawnigan is something that our students come to learn and love. At the beginning of each year in Chapel, students are taught how to sing the chorus in Welsh, and continue singing the verses in English. There is something magical about hearing Calon Lan sung at the side of the rugby pitch at the Provincial Championships as the students cheer on their peers, choosing to sing this classic Welsh hymn to do so. This is just one of many examples where the hymn is representative of their love for the Shawnigan community. It seems very fitting for this to be the House hymn that will continue to be sung for years to come in the Grade 8 House.
The Samuel heritage runs strong in Samuel House. Paving the path for the youngest cohort at Shawnigan, the House logo, mascot, colours, motto and hymn set the tone for the nurturing and caring environment they hope to create in co-educational boarding.
Ms. Kieran Ward works closely with the Samuels as an Admissions Assistant at Shawnigan Lake School. She is in her third year at the School, having worked as a teaching intern, a live-in staff member of Groves’ House, and in the Events and External Programs department before joining Admissions. She also coaches ice hockey and rugby.
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful West Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
