News & updates

List of 5 news stories.

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  Snorkelling with Salmon

  10/18/2024
  Students from the Environmental Science 12 class got a unique perspective on the yearly salmon run earlier this month when they went snorkelling in the Cowichan River alongside the migrating fish.

   

  Instructors Mr. Louis Chancellor, Ms. Aly Ballantyne and Ms. Tracey Bleackley took the eight students to the river on the afternoon of Saturday, October 5, where they floated downstream through pools where salmon were resting during the journey upstream to their spawning grounds.

   

  “It’s something I personally do a lot,” said Mr. Chancellor, “and I’ve wanted to share it with the students.”

   
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  Social Studies Showcase

  10/18/2024
  Students in Mr. Neil Robertson’s Grade 9 social studies class learned about analysis and presentation by sharing research projects with staff members and their fellow students through a showcase this week.

   

  The focus of the project was on asking questions and finding out not only what the answers were, but if they could be answered at all. In some cases, the lack of an answer was just as intriguing as getting an answer.

   

  “Each student picked an artifact – it could be something personal to them or something from the School museum,” Mr. Robertson explained. “Then they asked questions to see what they could find out about the artifact itself, or the concept of it. For example, if they picked an old car, and they couldn’t find out anything about that specific car, they could ask questions about cars in general.”

   
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  Stag Café is Back in Business

  10/10/2024
  The first Stag Café of the year is always a big deal – highly anticipated by the entire student body, with a tinge of apprehension on the part of the Entrepreneurship students who run the beloved snack bar. There are always bumps in the road on opening day, but the obstacles – and solutions – are what make Stag such a fantastic, unique learning opportunity.

   

  Stag’s grand opening for the 2024-25 school year was just the tip of the iceberg. Under the surface were weeks of preparation by the Entrepreneurship 12 classes – everything from determining the business structure, from CEO to kitchen workers, and going through job interviews to planning the menu.

   

  “It’s all an organizational structure they’ve designed themselves in the first couple weeks of class,” explained entrepreneurship teacher Ms. Mariel Solsberg. “They’re designing the actual structure and applying for positions.”

   
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  Beyond the Gates and Into the Wilderness

  10/9/2024
  Grade 9s went off the beaten track for some exceptional adventures on the trail and the salt water during Beyond the Gates backcountry expeditions in late September.

   

  Over two weekends last month, groups of Grade 9s embarked on hiking excursions on the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, located on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, and kayaking trips to Portland Island, in the Salish Sea off the north end of Vancouver Island’s Saanich Peninsula. The trips included multiple nights camping in the wilderness, in designated camping areas either beside the trail or on Portland Island. This year, everyone was able to enjoy their first choice of excursion, whether that was hiking or kayaking.

   

  “That allowed them to dive into something they were more interested in, with less apprehension,” said Outdoor Education Coordinator Ms. Jessica Dick.

   
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  National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

  10/4/2024
  A unique Chapel Gathering last Saturday and a day full of special programming on Monday were how Shawnigan marked the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

   

  Also known as Orange Shirt Day, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation honours the children who never returned home from residential schools in Canada, the survivors of the residential school system, and their families and communities. The day takes place every year on September 30, and is recognized as a statutory holiday in BC.

   

  Students with Indigenous heritage provided much of the context for the Chapel Gathering, with a land acknowledgement by Tucker J., a Six Nations Mohawk, prayers by Rio T., who is Maori, and a reading from the author Monique Gray Smith about what it means to be a survivor of the Residential School System by Ella-Rae M., who is Métis. Students Hannah F. (traditional name Usmanahiih) from the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation and Kingston H. (Guudangaay laa) from the Haida Nation spoke about the impact the residential school system had on their families and the value of truth and reconciliation.

   
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