News Detail
Head of School's 2026 Major Awards Ceremony Address
Today, June 18, is written into the history books as the day in 1815 when Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.
Our founder, C.W. Lonsdale, loved his history books – and of course our School Motto is taken from the Napoleonic wars and Admiral Horatio Nelson’s coat of arms.
This evening, we gather together in the Schieldrop Amphitheatre (with the Lonsdale statue looking down upon us) for one final time for the end-of-year-major awards – and simply to be together.
Tomorrow, our Grade 8s through to Grade 11s are returning home, with a special Closing Day planned for our Grade 12s on Saturday.
I do want to mention – in front of the whole School – our gratitude to our leavers: the Class of 2026, and other students off for new adventures. Some of our wonderful German and Mexican students return home and we hope one day to welcome you back. We feel a combined sense of loss and happiness as you step beyond our world towards your own futures.
As a message to our Grade 12s and other departing students, our hope is that all of you have felt that you have belonged here at Shawnigan and that you have found your people, your community, your dreams – and made a difference to the lives of others.
Our definition on the back of the word shirt this year invites all members of our community and readers to believe – “To trust what you cannot yet see, but feel deeply within. Seeds planted together in community allow dreams to grow beyond imagination. Believe, and new paths appear.”
We trust that you have begun to believe in yourself – and that new paths have appeared.
I now would like to invite all of our departing staff to stand. We thank you for your contributions to Shawnigan.
We will miss you.
I would now like to invite all our students to take this opportunity to thank all the staff here at Shawnigan for what they have given over the course of the school year.
You are dedicated advocates and champions of our students, encouraging them at every turn to believe in themselves and to dream.
House Directors and your teams – thank you for all that you have given. It is the best job in boarding – incredibly rewarding and unfailingly challenging.
Students, please take the time to find those who have supported you at the end of this service, tonight or tomorrow morning, and let them know how much you appreciate them.
I think you know we care deeply about you.
World Cup fever has been evident on campus since last Thursday. The largest World Cup in the competition’s history, with 48 countries, with Mexico, the US and Canada hosting the matches. Duke’s has been buzzing with games. I found Albert celebrating the first goal of the tournament with Mexico scoring in the ninth minute against South Africa.
Canada remains undefeated so far in this tournament after a thumping 6-0 victory this afternoon.
All of us will have our favourite team – having lived in Norway for six years before coming to BC, I am supporting Norway. They have been in the soccer wilderness for 28 years, but they are back at the World Cup – and I absolutely love the new Viking long boat rowing chants they have brought with them.
All of us will have our favourite player.
With this in mind, I will give the final word this evening to Pele, the Brazilian playmaker and perhaps the most gifted player in the history of this sport. He played in four World Cups and won it three times! He remains the only player in history to have achieved this feat.
He was the embodiment of an enthusiasm for life.
He once said, “Enthusiasm is everything. It must be taut and vibrating like a guitar string.”
Pele’s first name was in fact “Edson” – named by his parents after the inventor of the lightbulb, Thomas Edison, because electricity was introduced to his hometown in Brazil in 1940, just before Pele was born.
Edison memorably said: "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration."
Pele took his namesake and hero’s thinking a step further and said:
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”
Wise words indeed.
Even the most gifted need to commit to hard work but, more than anything, you need to love what you are doing.
I hope – in the spirit of Pele – you have all found your enthusiasms this year at Shawnigan, worked hard in the pursuit of success, and developed a deep love of learning.
Richard D.A. Lamont
Head of School
Thursday, June 18, 2026
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.
