News
Ahoy! It's the Grade 9 Boat Race
Spectators at the docks on Shawnigan Lake could hear tape being ripped off a roll as time ticked down to the beginning of the 10th annual Grade 9 boat race last Thursday.
The Grade 9s were putting the finishing touches on their watercraft as they prepared for the race, which sees the hopeful sailors create a boat from (mostly) recycled material, then attempt to manoeuvre it from the shore, around a buoy at the end of the dock and back.
It’s noisy and wet, and great fun for the participants and spectators. But it’s also a valuable learning experience: students are encouraged to be curious, support their community, find courage, and develop compassion; and it is an opportunity for discovery, team building, expression, and communication.
Materials used to construct boats this year included – but were not limited to – the following items:
• plywood
• Styrofoam blocks
• 20-litre water jugs
• inner tubes
• duct tape
• rope
• PVC pipes
• plastic Adirondack chairs
• tarps
• milk jugs
• soda bottles
• pallets
• pool noodles
• 2x4s
• caution tape
Participants aren’t supposed to use their feet to propel their craft, so they created paddles out of the following (again, not an exhaustive list):
• hockey sticks
• shovels
• ice cream bucket lids taped to branches
• hand-carved paddles
• field hockey sticks taped to plywood
Students also decorated themselves with hats, costumes, and face paint, and some brought water guns.
Now for the controversy: the first team to cross the line had constructed their boat out of paddle boards and prefabricated paddles, which was clearly not in the spirit of the race. While that team wasn’t officially disqualified, the first team to cross the line and to construct their boat mostly from recycled items – specifically inner tubes, pool noodles, and duct tape, with snow shovels as paddles – Liv C. and Poly R. were declared winners.
Congratulations to all the participants for staying afloat in one way or another!
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 12 –18 on Canada’s beautiful Pacific Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
