Stephen Lane

(by Teslin B.)

Stephen Lane has been the Head of Science at Shawnigan for many years. He teaches Physics 11, Physics 12 and the AP versions of both classes. His classes have a humorous atmosphere yet are built on an intense physics foundation. Mr. Lane builds his students to a professional level not commonly found in high school science.

He first came to Shawnigan as a Grade 12 student. From the beginning he excelled, winning sports colours in both tennis and field hockey, the latter of which he was captain. However, he found it a difficult transition from his school in Ireland that he attended for five years.

After graduation, he went to the University of Victoria and earned a degree in Mathematics. He did not begin teaching at Shawnigan right away. In fact, he never intended to teach here at all, but after returning from a brief hiatus in South Africa he accepted a one-year appointment to teach Physics (that was in 1973!).

He found his first year as a teacher very tough, but acknowledges that he survived because of his wife’s support, and because of the great enthusiasm of his first Physics 11 class! Since his first challenging year as student in ’66 - ’67, Mr. Lane has become an irreplaceable member of the Shawnigan community. He has coached rugby, field hockey and squash. Formerly the senior photography instructor, he also supplies many of the excellent photographs taken at the school.

His two children, Sarah, Groves’ ’97, and Christopher, Ripley’s ’98, are both Shawnigan graduates. As one of Mr. Lane’s Grade 12 students, I feel I can say that he is one of the most interesting staff members Shawnigan has ever seen. In 2000 he took a leave of absence to teach math in the Philippines, an unusual and interesting “break.” He has his pilot’s license and has even taught us how velocity vectors apply to aeronautical navigation of small planes.

His ongoing comical feud with the Head of the Math Department (Stephen Cox) is a source of much hilarity. What strikes one most about Mr. Lane is his pure love for teaching physics: this is represented so strongly in class that the whole class becomes obsessed with whatever we are doing. He is a big part of what makes Shawnigan so different from any other school.