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360 Fair

The Quad was buzzing last Friday as Shawnigan students explored their options for the 360 program this year. And with 31 options to choose from at the 360 Fair, there was a lot to ponder for students making their after-school plans for the coming year.
 
A co-curricular after-school program that students take part in twice a week, 360 operates separately from regular classes but is another part of the whole that helps distinguish the Shawnigan experience. Programs are run with a large element of guidance by the students themselves, but are still designed to teach skills and create well-rounded students.
What is now known as 360 started with a focus on fine arts, but has since branched out extensively and now includes programs like Search & Rescue, Robotics, Model UN, and SPUD (Sustainable Produce Under Dome).
 
New additions to 360 this year include scuba diving, under veteran teacher Mr. Galen Loiselle, and Grassroots Sports (youth coaching in our local community), led by new staff member Mr. Clay Panga, Shawnigan’s Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator.
 
Some 360 programs have developed out of student initiatives or are led by students, but all of them have a staff member involved in terms of facilitating learning. All of Shawnigan’s curricular fine arts are also offered as 360s, but in a different format. For example, students who take dance as part of their studies will get to direct their own experience in a dance 360.
 
“We want them to leave 360 with a passion for something and skills that they can take with them after Shawnigan,” Head of 360 Ms. Vikki Agate says. “They’re learning different skills and having a unique experience.”
 
On the first Friday of the school year, students went around the Quad and inquired about the 31 different 360 options available this year, then ranked their top five choices. Staff members then used a system to sort the students into their 360s. It can be a complicated process, Ms. Agate acknowledges, but sometimes it just falls into place.
 
“It worked really well this year,” she says.
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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.