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Strength, Resilience and Adaptability

Dear parents and guardians,
 
Last weekend, I called one of my school friends, Guy, to catch up. Based in Putney, London, and with three children currently at home with the UK again in lockdown and schools closed since the beginning of January, I was reminded how fortunate we are to be open here at Shawnigan and delivering in-person and on-campus education. His son is in Grade 10 at Winchester College, our alma mater, but has spent the last two out of three academic terms stranded at home and learning by Zoom. My weekly Zoom calls with boarding school heads across Canada and independent schools in BC are a reminder of the challenges others have been facing with school closures and one BC independent school (with boarding) having to close down its senior school earlier this term for a number of weeks.
Each month, the leadership teams of Shawnigan, Brentwood, St. John’s Academy and our local public school, Frances Kelsey, meet on Zoom. The Principal of Frances Kelsey gives us an insight into the challenges in the public sector at this time and we all share perspectives and ideas. One of our topics in Wednesday’s meeting was how best to plan for 2021 graduation ceremonies and a richly deserved send off to our Grade 12s. We very much work as team in supporting our students (promoting health and wellness, tackling ongoing de-socialization) and communicating with the local community from Shawnigan Lake to Mill Bay.
 
In discussion with other principals, here in BC and elsewhere, the decisions we have taken so far at Shawnigan to protect our community have required courage and I never cease to be amazed by the strength, resilience and adaptability displayed over the past year by the students and the staff.
 
The Norwegians have a lovely phrase which translates literally as “meeting oneself in the door.” I have often during this pandemic – as I imagine all of you have in your professional and personal lives – met myself in the door when considering the best course of action for every member of the Shawnigan community. I often feel it is like white water rafting through the boulders and whirlpools of inconsistencies and contradictions.
 
And we are doing our best to navigate what will, most likely, be the ultimate test of our lifetimes. Shawnigan has led from the front, not content to follow others but to set the standard: we have re-imagined and innovated; student laughter echoes through the corridors and Houses with health and wellness permanently in focus; we have launched a strategic plan, Project Future, as our guiding north star for this time and beyond; our Admissions Department is submerged under an unprecedented number of applications for a Shawnigan education for boarders and day students; and our staff continue to give their all to support every single student in our care. Your notes of gratitude are an antidote to the uncertainty we face as educators and serve to encourage us to continue to give our best.
 
Last Saturday in Chapel I drew the audience’s attention to Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Some students did a marathon film session over the Family Day long weekend and our wonderful librarian, Mrs. Hyde-Lay, posted this inspiring message recently on the library Instagram:
 
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.

“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
 
If you have read the books or seen the films, you will know that Frodo is referring to the responsibility and the burden that have been thrust upon him as ring bearer. At this stage in the story, the ring’s power weighs heavily on Frodo and he finds himself lost and uncertain. In our own world, COVID-19 weighs heavily on all of us and we wish the pandemic hadn’t happened in our time and under our watch.
 
Gandalf the wizard’s wisdom shines through and it is a message of both guidance and hope.
We can let COVID-19 and all its restrictions, protocols, differing interpretations, inevitable inconsistencies etc. get us down or we can decide, again and again, to pick ourselves up, encourage those around us and step forward.
 
As a team and a community, we can do this and we will.
 
“…we have to decide what to do with the time that is given us.”
 
And, finally, my highlight of the week has been receiving messages all day from staff up on Mount Washington with Groves’, Lonsdale’s and Renfrew – team bonding, fresh air and fun. Thanks to all the staff who have worked so hard to plan and prepare for this first outing to our local ski mountain.
 
And, on that note, I am off to join the students at our monthly Spirit Dinner in Marion Hall where the menu includes custom burgers, hand-cut fries, onion rings, milkshakes and coconut cream pie. Food for the soul.

Richard D A Lamont
Headmaster
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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.