Gaynor Samuel
Gaynor Samuel was brought up in a tiny coal-mining village in Wales. It was here, at the foot of the Black Mountain in Brynaman, where she learned the strong family values and mores that make her such a natural for Shawnigan Lake School.
Gaynor’s early education was all in Welsh, although one of her subjects was English. After secondary education at Amman Valley Grammar School, she went on to Cardiff University to follow her dream of becoming a teacher—a goal from childhood. She received a teacher’s and bachelor’s degree and took her first job as a biology and math teacher in North Wales in a town called Mold. After two years, she moved back to Cardiff and Glantaff School where she taught science and biology and a general training course like B.C.’s CAP course for ten years. Gaynor was recognized early on in her career as a leader and she was appointed Head of the Glantaff Middle School after several years of teaching.
During this time, Gaynor married Rhodri Samuel. Rhod was working in Canada at St. Michael’s University School in Victoria, so Gaynor made the move away from her beloved Cardiff. At SMUS, Gaynor was Head of Girls’ Boarding and also taught Welsh for the Victoria Welsh Society. After a couple of years, Rhodri and Gaynor moved back to Wales to start a family and work at Christ College, Brecon.
Two years, and two children later, the Samuel family heard of an opportunity at Shawnigan. “We were great friends with the Hyde-Lay family and rather smitten by the whole Shawnigan set up that always looked so impressive from our vantage point at SMUS, so we leapt at the chance to go there.” Rhodri was appointed Head of Ripley’s and Gaynor settled into her role as “House Mother” and relished the opportunity to spend time with her own growing children in the comfortable setting of Shawnigan. “I think boarding school, and house parenting in particular, is a vocation; it’s a way of life. ‘Nine-to-five’ people would never survive here. Your home becomes the students’ home—I remember one boy who used to come over regularly to bake cookies.”
This was a busy time for Gaynor and she played an active role in the House. “I always baked my specialty, Welsh Cakes, for opening day and I did evening House duty as well as having advisees. If you are the spouse of a House Director, it really becomes a shared job; there’s no way around it.”
When her own children started at the local elementary school, Gaynor pursued her teaching. She was offered a job at Shawnigan, but decided working in the same science department with Rhodri might be too much for both of them! She began teaching for the local school district, specifically with the Cowichan Tribes Band Office. “I taught at Yu Thy Thut School with adult learners upgrading their studies to prepare them to attend Malaspina College. I taught biology and started a much-needed health program, working with dieticians at the local hospital.” Gaynor also took on the job of House Director of Renfrew at this time.
In 2006, Gaynor left teaching to become Admissions Associate. By the time she was appointed Director of Admissions in 2008, Gaynor had given over the reins of Renfrew to current Director, Debra John. Now, focusing entirely on Admissions, Gaynor says she is passionate about her role at Shawnigan. “I feel that having been involved in so many areas of the School as well as having had both my children attend Shawnigan, I can really see the whole picture and communicate that to prospective parents and students. I am very natural in my approach; I have a passion for people, and meeting new people every day is energizing for me. I think I am a good judge of character and I know when the School is the right fit for a student. I also have no problem being honest and telling parents what I think. I have been entrusted with the job of achieving the right population of those students I feel will make a positive contribution to Shawnigan’s community; students who have an appetite for learning and who are willing to take good risks. The goal is to take in young people whom we can challenge and who will give their best to the School. In turn, we instill confidence and give them the chance to move forward. Students accepted to Shawnigan must have the right attitude and, of course, the potential needs to be there. I look for that eagerness and the willingness to be led in the right direction.”
In the current economic climate, Gaynor feels the Admissions Office must be confident about who we are and proactive in bringing families through our gates. “I feel that we must get the Shawnigan name out there. Keeping in mind that, even in a bad economy, educating our children is always the best investment families can make. I would also like to increase the diversity of our student body—to become more cosmopolitan—so there is the need for Admissions to travel more. We need to focus on current families and network through them to find prospective students. I can’t emphasize enough that recruitment depends on all constituents of the School, be they current families, alumni, students or staff members. We are doing very well at the moment, as you can see from our projected numbers for next year, but increasing our pool of candidates is crucial.”
Gaynor is quick to add that Shawnigan is not about numbers, “Shawnigan is about people and about the individual. We never sit back and relax when we know we have 445 individuals in our care. Shawnigan is about the individual student and about getting the formula right for each to instill a sense of self-worth, to ensure success and to help create their own positive energy. Our sense of unity as a school will follow when everyone is plugged in. In an educational community where the Chapel and our values are at the heart, we are unique and we remain perfectly comfortable calling ourselves a world-class institution offering a complete education.”