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Westmont Sustainability Prize
Over the past two weeks, four Shawnigan students took part in the inaugural Westmont Sustainability Prize, a competition created to challenge students to use design thinking to tackle sustainability issues. Teams from across Vancouver Island were invited to make a 5-7 minute video pitch based on one of five given sustainability themes: old growth logging, climate change, toxic opioid crisis, affordable housing, and living wage. Grade 11 students Ava F., Elani S., and Henrik R. and Grade 9 student Rosie P. were chosen to represent Shawnigan and they enthusiastically jumped into the project.
“I wanted to participate in this competition because I am fairly passionate about protecting our environment and this competition seemed like a good way to put my thinking skills to use in an environmental protection area,” shares Rosie. “It sounded interesting and I want to protect our planet, so I figured this was a good start.”
The competition began with four days of virtual talks led by experts on each of the five sustainability topics, which the students describe as powerful and informative. “I was surprised by some of the topics as I did not realize how much they related to sustainability,” says Rosie. On Friday, after tuning in to the talks all week, participants attended an all-day workshop where they learned, among other things, how to organize their ideas, how to get to the root problems and actionable steps, how to make a compelling pitch, and basic video editing skills.
Following the week of workshops, the Shawnigan team chose to focus on the theme of old growth logging, which they say was an easy decision as they are all passionate about this topic. The criteria for their video pitch – which had to be produced in four days – included sharing how they came up their idea, what problem they were trying to solve, what they planned to do, and the achievable steps they plan to take towards realizing this goal.
“We decided that for our idea we would make three different bracelets from leftover wood from lumber companies and each different bracelet would go to funding for three different repercussions of ill forestry practices,” explains Elani. “One bracelet’s funds would go towards fire management, the second’s funds would go to flood cleanup, and the third’s funds would go towards protecting old growth forests in general.”
The competition ended with a gala at the University of Victoria, during which the judges gave feedback for every video that was submitted. The project proved to be both moving and educational for all involved. “We loved working together and this project was so much fun!” says Elani enthusiastically. “We worked well together as a team and worked through challenges as they came. It was an altogether amazing experience and it was so much fun to learn about sustainability in new contexts and from professionals in the field.”
See below for their video pitch. Many thanks to Mr. Goodman for assisting with the editing and Mr. Swannell for spearheading our involvement in this project!
Shawnigan Lake School is adhering to all COVID-19 guidelines released by the BC Ministries of Health and Education.
The competition began with four days of virtual talks led by experts on each of the five sustainability topics, which the students describe as powerful and informative. “I was surprised by some of the topics as I did not realize how much they related to sustainability,” says Rosie. On Friday, after tuning in to the talks all week, participants attended an all-day workshop where they learned, among other things, how to organize their ideas, how to get to the root problems and actionable steps, how to make a compelling pitch, and basic video editing skills.
Following the week of workshops, the Shawnigan team chose to focus on the theme of old growth logging, which they say was an easy decision as they are all passionate about this topic. The criteria for their video pitch – which had to be produced in four days – included sharing how they came up their idea, what problem they were trying to solve, what they planned to do, and the achievable steps they plan to take towards realizing this goal.
“We decided that for our idea we would make three different bracelets from leftover wood from lumber companies and each different bracelet would go to funding for three different repercussions of ill forestry practices,” explains Elani. “One bracelet’s funds would go towards fire management, the second’s funds would go to flood cleanup, and the third’s funds would go towards protecting old growth forests in general.”
The competition ended with a gala at the University of Victoria, during which the judges gave feedback for every video that was submitted. The project proved to be both moving and educational for all involved. “We loved working together and this project was so much fun!” says Elani enthusiastically. “We worked well together as a team and worked through challenges as they came. It was an altogether amazing experience and it was so much fun to learn about sustainability in new contexts and from professionals in the field.”
See below for their video pitch. Many thanks to Mr. Goodman for assisting with the editing and Mr. Swannell for spearheading our involvement in this project!
Shawnigan Lake School is adhering to all COVID-19 guidelines released by the BC Ministries of Health and Education.
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 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful West Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
