Following the retirement of long-serving business and entrepreneurship teacher Gary Dukelow at the end of the 2019-20 academic year, current entrepreneurship teacher and Lake’s Assistant House Director Mariel Solsberg shares her thoughts about being the third educator to head up Shawnigan’s Stag Café, a student-run café business.

 

 

Stepping into the role of entrepreneurship teacher was an intimidating position to be in at the beginning of this school year, mainly because Gary Dukelow is a Zen Master and I knew I would never be able to fill his shoes. Throw COVID into the mix, along with changes in scheduling and protocols, and I felt even more uneasy. That said, when I shifted my frame of mind to approaching this new role with my own style, whilst honouring the work and values that have come before me, I felt slightly better. I also had a lot of support from staff and students as well as a great working relationship with Gary that continues to this day. He has been the best sounding board I could ask for and, thankfully, our values at the core of teaching align quite well.

 

 

COVID and the addition of a new schedule have certainly thrown our program for a loop (or several). It feels like every week (or class) we are thrown a curveball and need to adjust, adapt, or re-imagine our system. We also have a new group of students taking on these tasks who haven't worked in the Stag kitchen before (you can include me in that too). It's been a wonderful real-life experiment. Like any business during COVID, particularly in the food industry, we have had to re-think what has been working for years. There have certainly been a host of new challenges and new obstacles that we have to navigate, but we continue to try new things. It has been undeniably exhausting for everyone involved, but I am thankful that I have an energized group of students to work with and a staff that supports our ever-changing ideas. I know that this experience will benefit all those involved. The students' ideas, energy, determination, and enthusiasm have already shown me how valuable they would be to any institution or business in the future.

 

 

Stag continues to be a food-industry service with the Shawnigan students at the heart of the operation. Our class (and a few other keen members of the student population) drive the business and aim to add to the positive Shawnigan Lake School community with what we do. We have evolved to an online ordering and delivery system and continue to navigate the associated challenges. We are looking to expand our reach beyond food this year and have a few exciting projects on the go, but I feel I'm sworn to secrecy at this point in time. Ultimately, I am very proud of how our students have come together to make Stag a reality this year as we were fearful that this wouldn't happen. I am also so grateful to all of our supporters, both inside and outside the gates. I look forward to future projects that will benefit our community and contribute to an amazing Shawnigan experience for our students.