News & updates

List of 5 news stories.

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  EDGE Trip to Nepal

  4/10/2026
  A pair of inspiring student leaders guided four of their peers and two teachers on a life-changing tour of Nepal over Spring Break.

   

  Grade 12s Pemba L. and Dorje S. came up with the idea of an EDGE (Engagement, Development, Gratitude and Experience) service trip to their home country, pitched it to School leadership, and got it approved. In Nepal, they served as guides and translators for the rest of the group through a unique and personal journey through the Himalayan nation.

   

  Soon after arriving in Kathmandu, the group visited Shree Mangval Dvip School, which Shawnigan has a long-running relationship with, and which both Pemba and Dorje attended. The Shawnigan contingent was given a warm welcome before the students were assigned to classrooms where they engaged in teaching, learning, sharing, and helping the teachers.

   
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  Spring Break Trips and Tours

  4/10/2026
  The theme of this year’s Spring Break trips and tours was France, as not only did Shawnigan send students on the traditional French Immersion exchange to Angers, but two rugby teams – the boys’ First XV and Iron Women – also toured that country, while the Colts travelled to the UK. That’s not to mention the EDGE Trip to Nepal, which merits its own story that can be found here.

   

  French Immersion Exchange

   

  Continuing a relationship that goes back well over a decade, 10 French Immersion students travelled to Angers, France to complete this year’s exchange after students from Lycée Sacre-Coeur visited Shawnigan in the fall.

   

  Flight delays and cancellations made it a challenge for the Shawnigan contingent to get to France, but teachers Mrs. Eva Holloway and Mr. Graham Linn managed to find a way. Once they got there, the students spent 10 days in Angers, where they were billeted with local families and attended classes at the lycée.

   
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  Robotics Builds Momentum for the Future

  3/13/2026
  An outstanding competitive season for Shawnigan’s Robotics program may have ended without a trip to the VEX Robotics World Championship, but the teams still came away with several accomplishments to be proud of.

   

  Shawnigan fielded five teams this year, including three standout crews that consistently made the playoffs at tournaments across Vancouver Island and collected multiple awards.

   

  “The top teams performed really well, while the other teams could go to tournaments and have fun,” said Mr. Tim Stephens, the School’s Head of Science and one of the teachers who works with the Robotics program.

   

  The game played in competition changes from year to year, and this year’s game, Push Back, had a “lower barrier to entry,” in Mr. Stephens’ words, which made it easier for more teams to participate and contend.

   
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  Rainbows and an Umbrella – But it's Not the Weather!

  3/11/2026
  Dozens of rainbow trout found a new home in Lake Omar last week as the remediation of the campus’s aquatic centrepiece continued.

   

  A favourite of lake and river anglers across western North America that has been introduced around the world, the rainbow trout is native to Vancouver Island. It has had a presence in Lake Omar even within the last decade, but has been largely absent in recent years – until last Tuesday, at least.

  
  The School acquired 200 six-inch trout, releasing the majority into Lake Omar, although about 50 were put into an empty tank in the Mark Hobson Hatchery on the lakeshore, which is usually used for raising coho salmon.

   

  Since they were released, the fish have been observed happily jumping throughout the lake. Major predators, such as otters, mink or herons, haven’t been spotted yet, although they were often present even before the recent stocking, so it is only a matter of time. Until then, the fish will enjoy being fed and not being fed upon. Students and staff, however, will be invited to fish for the trout.

   
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  A Message of Peace and Hope to Tumbler Ridge

  3/4/2026
  Like so many across Canada and around the world, the Shawnigan community was shocked and saddened by the tragic incident in the small BC community of Tumbler Ridge on February 10.

   

  Among other initiatives at the School supporting the stricken town of 2,400, the Grade 8 students in Samuel House were invited to create a wall hanging to send to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School to show the people there that Shawnigan is thinking of them, along with a book of messages written by members of the entire School community.

   

  “In Samuel House, we often talk about what it means to be a community,” Grade 8 student Joanna G. related. “Our House Directors describe Samuel as a place filled with warmth, kindness, and connection. Recently, we had the opportunity to put those values into action through a very special project.”

   
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