Black & Gold 2021

THE MAGAZINE OF SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL

EDITORIAL NOTES

In what is now an important school tradition, Shawnigan’s Grade 12 students choose a word at the start of each academic year. This word is unveiled when it is emblazoned on hundreds of T-shirts for the annual visit from the Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock cyclists in September, and it becomes the theme for the year, inspiring both students and staff in countless ways. For the academic year 2019–20, after careful consideration, students selected the word “hope.”

It proved to be a powerful guiding force during a difficult year as COVID-19 disrupted education worldwide.

Fittingly, this academic year’s Grade 12s chose the word “adapt,” and it has proven to be equally significant. The pandemic has pushed the School to reimagine much of what it does, and in the process, the Shawnigan community has grown immeasurably. We have discerned what we need to change and what we need to hold on to. We have found strength in community. We have been amazed by the creativity of those in our midst, and have seen fantastic transformations of events and programs. In adapting, we have forged a new future for the School.

At the outset of the pandemic, we decided to postpone our annual magazine publication; therefore, the stories and photographs in this edition of Black & Gold capture two years of life at Shawnigan – two extraordinary and unprecedented years. The stories we have chosen to share with you reflect a place that has, during a time of change, clung to the tenets of hope and adapt, as well as all the other fantastic words – persevere, commit, and inspire, to name but a few – that have guided the Shawnigan community over the years. These stories include examples of Shawnigan’s commitment to environmental sustainability, one student’s ambition to effect change in her home country’s poorest region, a look at the transformational influence of outdoor education, and an inspirational vision for Shawnigan’s future.

May they in turn inspire you.

– Jenny Dunbar

EDITOR

PICTURE EDITOR

Jenny Dunbar

Arden Gill

DESIGN

Jenny Dunbar

WRITERS

CONTRIBUTORS

Christina Chant Jenny Dunbar

Nicole Bélanger Abby Dyer Jay Connolly Maureen Connolly Richard Lamont Advancement & Community Engagement Office

Some of the photographs in this magazine were taken before the pandemic and do not reflect Shawnigan Lake School’s adherence to all COVID-19 guidelines released by the BC Ministries of Health and Education, including those regarding learning cohorts, physical distancing, and mask-wearing.

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A note from Head of Shawnigan Lake School, Richard “Larry” Lamont Shawnigan in pictures

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BOOKSHELF

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BE THE CHANGE

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A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS

English teacher David Chant on the adventure of reading Chair of the Board, Fiona Macfarlane, on future-proofing Shawnigan’s students

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Scott Noble’s environmental legacy An educational journey with Tenzin Lama ’21 (Strathcona)

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ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE

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It’s an artistic family affair for the McLeods

Capturing deep space with Keely Ralf ’21 (Strathcona)

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BEYOND THE GATES

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FINAL WORD

The evolution of outdoor education at Shawnigan

From Abby Dyer ’21 (Strathcona), Co-Head of School

66 SHAWNIGAN COMMUNITY

Notable achievements 2019–2021

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FROM THE HEAD OF SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL

PREFACE It is August 2021. The academic year is behind us – thankfully.

The past 18 months have been characterized across the world by polarization, uncertainty, and insecurity. It has been a period of desocialization: physical distancing, quarantine, disconnection, an artificial world of online interaction, border closures, strict protocols, loneliness, school closures, and much more.

The descriptions of the pandemic have ranged from apocalyptic terms to the most mishandled and grossly exaggerated crisis in history. Wherever you are on this spectrum, loved ones continue to be lost around the world, livelihoods have been threatened, and education deeply challenged.

On reflection, it has undoubtedly been one of the most challenging periods in Shawnigan’s history and, at the same time, one of the most creative.

We have been an island apart, and our geographical position and rigorous protection of our campus resulted in no students contracting COVID-19 during the course of the academic year.

We have made sacrifices, we have adapted, we have been resilient, we have made certain not to lose our sense of perspective, and – most of all – we have worked hard to ensure that everyone in our community has felt that they have belonged.

One Governor/alumnus wrote recently: “I am amazed how you all have turned this pandemic into one of the most creative periods in the School’s history...and, over the last year, I believe we have delivered perhaps one of the finest boarding school experiences in the world.”

It has been a team effort through and through – from students to staff, from parents to the Board of Governors, from past supporters to new friends. I am exceptionally proud of everyone in the Shawnigan community and what we have achieved together.

We have very much stood on guard for Shawnigan.

We have made courageous decisions. I am certain that history will judge Shawnigan kindly as to the way we responded – and how we all rose and stood firm in the face of uncertainty, fear, and adversity.

I have, on occasion this year, cited the wisdom of the Indian novelist Arundhati Roy: “Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different.

It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.

We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.”

COVID-19, in many ways, has provided us with so many opportunities to imagine our world anew. For Shawnigan, it has been a time of creativity, reimagination, and acceleration.

This is not to say that the traditions, rituals, and community spirit will change at Shawnigan – we will preserve them at all 4

costs – but our responsibility is to prepare the School and the individuals within it for the post-pandemic world ahead.

My favourite moment of the year captures, I believe, much of what I have written about in this preface – our ability to adapt, reimagine, and deliver a unique experience for our students.

With the restrictions limiting our capacity to reproduce our traditional Christmas events, a team of staff decided to produce a candlelit night at the Museum in the shape of an elaborate reimagining of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Shawnigan’s Ghost of Christmas Past took groups of students on a guided and spectacular tour of years gone by, with a host of historical characters on hand to share their stories, including founding Headmaster C.W. Lonsdale (played by both David Hyde-Lay and the current Head) reading school reports, Senior Master Levien introducing students to Shawnigan’s history of caning, Tiny Tim (a homesick boarding student in the 1920s immortalized in a letter home), a group of Mason’s Diner guests, a historical cricket coach, School Matron Stanton, an Olympic rowing gold medallist killed in the Second World War, and a rather terrifying dentist.

From the Museum, the student groups then moved on to Christmas Present (Marion Hall for crafting, cookie decorating, and a special fireside visit with Santa) and then, finally, to Christmas Future (our new Growing Dome beside Lake Omar) to enjoy a futuristic atmosphere and festive dance music.

It required dedication, imagination, and vision to bring Shawnigan to life, after a long term, in a unique, interactive, and unforgettable way – and most of all, to bring joy to the students.

Time and again this year, the staff have delivered extraordinary experiences in support of our students. We have sought, at every turn, to deliver the School’s mission of “Spark Minds, Kindle Hearts, Forge Futures.”

This edition of Black & Gold speaks to the unique remarkable of the Shawnigan journey for our students and the 4Cs – Curiosity, Compassion, Community, and Courage – from adventures in the wilderness to inspiring teachers, from exploring the night skies in our observatory to the magic of the performing arts, and from genuine access to a Shawnigan education to the ambition of tomorrow.

I trust you will enjoy the stories within this long-awaited edition of Black & Gold. Reading it has made my heart sing. The articles speak to the vibrant community and diversity of thought that we currently have here at Shawnigan and that we seek to develop going forward. It has been the most extraordinary of periods, with Shawnigan emerging stronger than before.

Richard “Larry” Lamont Head of Shawnigan Lake School

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MOMENTS SHAWNIGAN IN PICTURES

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SHAWNIGAN

Bookshelf

WITH DAVID CHANT

STORY BY CHRISTINA CHANT PHOTOGRAPHY BY ARDEN GILL

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ON THE FACE OF IT, THERE’S LITTLE IN COMMON BETWEEN A FICTIONAL FIVE-YEAR-OLD GIRL FROM ENGLAND WITH TELEKINETIC POWERS AND A 10-YEAR-OLD CANADIAN BOY WITH A PASSION FOR HOCKEY, BUT ROALD DAHL’S MATILDA REMAINS ENGLISH TEACHER DAVID CHANT’S MOST ENDURING CHILDHOOD MEMORY OF THE IMMERSIVE MAGIC OF READING. “I remember sitting in the den in my childhood home in Ontario,” he recollects. “I was maybe around 10 or 11 years old, and I sat and read Matilda for hours. So much so that, in my memory, I read all night and finished the entire book in one sitting.”

Rereading Matilda recently with his eldest son not only brought that particular memory rushing back, but also awakened a fresh adult perspective on the story itself. “Though I wasn’t aware of this when I read Matilda as a child, it’s really a story about a young person on her own, discovering the joy of learning, largely through reading. As an adult, that really struck a chord with me because that’s what I do now – it’s what I’ve enjoyed doing so much for over 20 years.”

Similar meaningful early childhood reading experiences aside, David notes he completed his high school education “dutifully, but not particularly memorably.” Aside from one notable episode, where an eccentric high school English teacher gyrated around on a desk on his back sizzling like bacon in a striking lesson on auditory imagery, his teenage years were more about hockey, music, and navigating the excitement and challenges of high school social life than they were about enlightening literary experiences.

The next time that reading truly recaptured his interest was after high school, during a time when he was playing major junior hockey in Brampton, Ontario, and keeping his academic hand in with humanities correspondence courses through York University. He was reading a book on medieval history when a spark, a feeling, came to him, somewhat by surprise.

“There was an intellectual appeal that scratched an itch for me I didn’t even know was there,” David explains. “And from that point on, the appeal of learning and thinking, and the discovery that reading brings, have never disappeared.”

After a period playing professional hockey in the US, David entered full-time post-secondary education at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, goaltending for the SMU Huskies, and diving into a range of humanities courses. It was during his first university-level English course – a year-long survey course of the ‘Beowulf to Virginia Woolf ’ variety – where he made a profound discovery that shaped the course of his future life, passions, and career.

“I was really into the course; it was the same feeling I’d had during my York University correspondence courses of being invigorated intellectually, and this process of learning and discovery through reading,” he shares. “I remember reading down the syllabus and seeing ‘The British Romantics’ and feeling pretty skeptical, but the first piece we studied in that section was William Wordsworth’s Preface to Lyrical Ballads. Reading thoughts and feelings that I had had, expressed so powerfully and elegantly by someone who had lived in a totally different time and place, really got me. I was hooked, and I’ve been engaged with literature on a full-time basis since.”

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This passion took him to the University of Glasgow to complete an MLitt in British Romanticism, followed by four years of a PhD at Queen’s University before switching into the BEd program to pursue his interest in teaching.

“I get really excited to read, and when I read, it constantly presents other things that I want to read and learn about as well, so it just snowballs,” he explains. “I say that a lot to my students: if you’re hungry to learn, all you have to do is start one place where you find something interesting. Then you’ll instantly think of a bunch of other things that you want to read and learn about, and it branches out from there. I’ve read relatively widely in history, philosophy, and religion, all inspired by my reading of literature. It can become almost an obsessive quest to keep exploring and discovering.”

It was this process of discovery ignited by his graduate studies that led him to his favourite book, Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy – the novel he would take with him to a desert island if given only one choice. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman was published in nine volumes, the first two appearing in 1759, and seven others following over the next seven years.

“It’s a very strange book,” says David. “Even more so because the novel in English at that point in 1759 was quite a new thing, so to be so creative with it at that point in history is very unique. I suppose the main theme is storytelling and digression – the narrator tries to tell the story of his life, but

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in the process he ends up saying so many other things. It’s incredibly cheeky, like a big joke, with Sterne testing how far he can go before the reader gives up and throws the book across the room. But if you enjoy it, it’s just fascinating and hilarious.” But Tristram Shandy is not a book David says he would ever ask high school students to read, nor does he tend to teach his second favourite book, Moby-Dick.

“There can be real pleasure found in creative forms, but you need to go slow and it’s an acquired taste,” he says.

“I’ve found that high school students tend to gravitate more toward linear narratives, told in ways that are clear, accessible, and engaging, and I totally understand and respect that. The content can certainly be mature and thought-provoking – but, in terms of a narrative, straightforward and clear tend to be more successful.”

For that reason, one of his favourite books to teach is Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun. “It explores almost every big, important theme you could imagine – family, love, race and racism, class, money – but it doesn’t do it in any pretentious, lofty, didactic way. It’s just a wonderful, engaging story that’s written so clearly and effectively, and it’s so accessible. And students just get right into it. I get right into it, and I’ve taught it many times.”

Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde also go over well in the classroom, he notes. “I think Oryx and Crake

is one of the most important and profound novels of the 21st century. It deals with big issues that we’re grappling with – climate change and its consequences, and the potential tension between science and technology and the liberal arts – but it’s also funny and very human. Jekyll and Hyde is great to teach, and I think it’s actually very contemporary in a sense. I think there are major themes about drugs and alcohol and addiction, but it’s really about identity. One of the main messages I try to convey when teaching it is that it’s okay for your identity to be plural – you can do many different things. It’s appealing to me as someone who grew up as a hockey player, but who also felt this pull towards academic and intellectual culture. That was seen by many as incongruous, but of course it doesn’t have to be.”

Recently, his explorations in reading have brought him into the sphere of young adult fiction, with recent notable reads including Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book and David Almond’s Skellig. Both are fantastical magic realism books with young male protagonists, which have presented David, now the father of two young boys himself, with a richer, more multifaceted, and more emotional reading experience than they may naturally offer a younger reader.

“When I was in my 20s and reading Walter Scott’s Rob Roy with gusto, it was simply with the perspective of Frank Osbaldistone as the young adventurer,” he reflects. “Now I’m reading things through the eyes of a father, seeing these themes

about nurturing and caring for young people, and ultimately having to let them go.”

It’s this natural shift in perspective that has also brought him round full circle to teaching William Blake’s poetry. “At the time when I was doing my grad work, Blake was the one major Romantic writer I tended to stay away from. His writing appeared to me to be a bit too esoteric and out there, even for my tastes. I was more comfortable with and drawn to writers like Burns, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Byron, the Shelleys (Percy Bysshe and Mary), Austen, and Scott. Blake was different. But now I find I’m always quoting him, and his poems are the most fun to teach. I think they’re what students think poetry should be: they’re often short, they make great use of rhythm, they rhyme. Some of his poems have an almost childlike quality to them on first listen, but then you dig into them and it turns into those magical hour-long classes where you could hear a pin drop – everyone is just so into it.”

These, in essence, are the kinds of positive, memorable experiences with reading he’s trying to create as a teacher. “I feel like it’s just such a gift. It was given to me by some great educators, and my career as an English teacher is trying to share that gift,” he explains. “If after high school, years on, the students grow up to be adults who read, write, speak, listen, and think with a sense of confidence and enjoyment, that’s the greatest measure of success that I could ever hope for.”

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WHEN FIONA MACFARLANE TOOK HOLD OF THE GAVEL, FRESHLY ELECTED AS CHAIR OF THE SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL BOARD OF GOVERNORS, AND GAVE HER FIRST FORMAL ADDRESS TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY, IT WAS A BALMY, CLEAR-SKIED OCTOBER DAY DURING FOUNDER’S DAY WEEKEND 2019.

At that point, there was no looming spectre of the COVID-19 pandemic, which less than two years later has claimed the lives of millions worldwide and created seismic scientific, societal, and economic shifts that will resonate for decades to come. And yet, there was prescience in Fiona’s address – remarks that now, read in a different context, ring even more loudly and insistently than they did when she first shared them:

“We – the Board and the staff – have a heightened sense of urgency that a disrupted world requires we change and adapt now to future-proof the Shawnigan students of today and tomorrow… We are living in exciting times as we enter the second phase of the fourth industrial revolution… Yet, this incredible progress also comes with some mind-blowing challenges… How do a school, parents, and students prepare students for this brave new world – one in which they will thrive, not merely survive? [Here] our dream is that the spirit of Shawnigan will fuel the student of today and tomorrow. We [all] need the courage to challenge and think differently to create the world that we all want. And I believe we can and will do it.”

It was fitting that Fiona became the first woman to chair the Shawnigan Lake School Board of Governors on a Founder’s Day weekend designed to celebrate Shawnigan’s pioneering female students. Her accomplishments in business and her numerous accolades made her an exceptionally strong candidate; however, it was her belief in the potential of Shawnigan to develop unique responses to 21st century issues that made her an inspirational candidate.

As the parent of two Shawnigan graduates, Kate ’12 (Strathcona) and James ’17 (Duxbury), Fiona not only has tangible personal experience of Shawnigan, but also a long history of achievement and leadership in business and a decades-long commitment to diversity.

Raised in South Africa under apartheid, and a law graduate of both the University of Cape Town and Cambridge University, Fiona immigrated to Canada as an adult, eventually sitting on the Canadian and Americas Executive Committees at Ernst & Young (EY), and serving as EY’s Managing Partner for British Columbia and the Chief Inclusiveness Officer for EY Canada. Drawing in part from the injustice she witnessed in South Africa, she has passionately advocated for diversity and inclusion in the workplace throughout her career.

She was inducted into the WXN Hall of Fame of Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100. In 2013, she was awarded the International Women’s Forum Global Women Who Make a Difference award. She has been recognized as one of the Top 35 Most Influential Women: Power to Disrupt by Business in Vancouver and Top 25 Canadian Women of Influence, Professional Services. She also received the inaugural Luminary Award from Big Sisters in 2015 and Canada’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award in 2016.

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Be the

CHANGE STORY BY CHRISTINA CHANT PHOTOGRAPHY BY KENT KALLBERG

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In short, there are few better qualified or more visionary people to help lead an institution through a global crisis.

When it became clear during the first few months of 2020 that, not only was the pandemic going to have a significant and enduring impact on lives across the globe, but that its impact could well extend to this secluded corner of the Pacific Northwest, threatening the stability and future of Shawnigan, Fiona, the Board, Head Larry Lamont, and the Senior Leadership Team reacted together with precision and purpose.

“I think the key to our success has been teamwork and focusing on our goal – keeping students and staff safe, and doing everything we could to have as normal an experience as possible for students,” Fiona explains. “I was confident we had the leadership and the team to do it, the support of a passionate and engaged Board of Governors, and the support of families in the broader community. Everyone just rolled up their sleeves and went to work.”

Fiona’s role as Chair during the pandemic has inevitably been more hands-on than would normally be the case, including a weekly staff COVID-19 Response Team meeting, a special COVID-19 support subcommittee of Board members, regular calls with Head of Shawnigan Lake School Larry Lamont, weekly calls with the Board, and Finance Committee meetings every two weeks. By her own admission, the experience has been intense.

However, Fiona’s foresight and prescience, along with her visionary approach to leadership, helped drive the decision “not to let a good crisis go to waste.” Change is hard, she acknowledges, but when in the midst of an already turbulent period, where the need to adapt is pressing, a crisis can be used to accelerate plans – to be innovative, creative, courageous, and bold.

“There is no doubt that this has been an accelerant for our strategic planning ambitions,” she says. “The pandemic has challenged us to double down on our values, to push boundaries in pedagogy, and to dream big while holding onto Shawnigan’s guiding principles of Curiosity, Compassion, Community, and Courage. It’s been a year where I have seen, experienced, and been inspired by Shawnigan magic in action.”

She acknowledges the “herculean efforts” of Shawnigan staff to create normalcy in learning under very challenging circumstances. The Shawnigan Online Unique Learning (SOUL) platform helped the School’s educators reach out to their students across time zones, sending the Shawnigan experience out to student homes across the world. Since its inception in March 2019, SOUL has become a comprehensive alternative learning platform to which Shawnigan educators can pivot seamlessly when needed.

As a compassionate community, Fiona also notes that, at the start of the pandemic, being the first school to signal to families that it would refund all the savings realized from being online as well as the surplus generated for the year, was one of the early decisions she is the most proud of.

“We also realized that some families would be so hurt financially by the pandemic that they might not be able to afford

Shawnigan’s fees going forward. So, setting up the Founder’s Fund, which generated over $440,000 in donated and matched funds, was instrumental to our promise to bring every student home to Shawnigan in the fall of 2020,” she explains. “And that promise was kept.”

For Fiona, the ability to not just survive, but thrive – to not just to recover, but rebound – is central to Shawnigan’s ethos as an organization, as an educational institution, and as a community. It’s what has guided Shawnigan through the pandemic, it’s the foundation of the new strategic plan, and it’s at the heart of the Shawnigan student experience: “If you have the right culture, a boarding school is like a trampoline, not just a safety net. If you fall on a safety net, you stop, but if you fall on a trampoline, then you bounce back a little higher.”

For Fiona, the most critical element in this trampoline analogy is future-proofing both the School and its students, and the way forward for both of these priorities is Project Future, Shawnigan’s strategic springboard.

Thoughtfully based on the findings of three separate reports – OurShawnigan Strategic Consultation, The Bernstein Review of Experiential Learning, and The Shawnigan Alumni Survey – Project Future’s aim is to address immediate strategic priorities for the next two crucial years. These priorities are designed to safeguard Shawnigan, to allow the School to be flexible and innovative in uncertain times, and to establish a firm foundation on which to build in a rapidly changing postpandemic world.

“Project Future is an inspirational and aspirational plan, and it will be our guide as we look to educate and develop students to thrive in a disrupted and fast-paced world,” Fiona explains. “The schooling of yesteryear was great for an era where career paths were clear and relatively linear, but now careers will change as the needs of the economy change. We will futureproof our students through an inclusive culture, not by futureproofing one group over another. We can use the wonderful utopia that is Shawnigan to develop best practices, and we will create good that extends beyond our gates. We will continue to invest in digital skills, but we will also be deliberate about developing human skills, because building strong relationships and managing personal well-being in today’s environment needs and takes focus. With that personal well-being foundation, our focus is to develop experiential learning that is deliberate in fostering curiosity, critical thinking, agility, and resilience.”

And while Project Future will comprehensively and courageously guide Shawnigan through the turbulence and uncertainty of the next two years, Fiona, the Board, and Shawnigan’s leadership team are already looking ahead to the next stage.

“Strategic planning and execution will never be over,” Fiona notes astutely. “We need to be nimble, curious, resilient, and connected, and constantly challenge ourselves – everything we do should focus on the students and their success and happiness. We live in a disrupted, fast-paced world, and we need to constantly work to provide students with the skills and attributes to thrive post-Shawnigan. That is our goal.”

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A Wilderness VOICE in the

STORY BY JENNY DUNBAR PHOTOGRAPHY BY ARDEN GILL

NESTLED IN THE HEART OF A LUSH TEMPERATE RAINFOREST, SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL IS THE CARETAKER OF OVER 270 ACRES COMPRISED OF LAKEFRONT, MARSHLANDS, PONDS, CREEKS, FIELDS, AND FOREST. The School is home not only to hundreds of students and staff, but also to salmon, ducks, deer, and rabbits. As ponds overflow in the winter, creeks dry up in the sun, and invasive species take over, the School community is reminded daily of the beauty and fragility of planet Earth.

Throughout the years, a few key players have spearheaded efforts to ensure that our home – not just our campus, but also the larger ecosystem of which we are a part – remains as healthy and beautiful as possible. One man in particular has led the charge: Scott Noble. Scott is a man of many titles, including alumnus, teacher, champion of the environment, and Enviro-Man. Generations of Shawnigan students remember Scott Noble standing onstage in the old Assembly Hall, urging them to recycle their pop cans and teaching them how to take the plastic window out of an envelope. His catchphrase, “If it crinkles, it’s crap,” still reverberates through many a memory.

Times have changed – the Assembly Hall has been moved and converted into the Hugh Wilkinson Theatre, the general concept of recycling has been grasped, and Enviro-Man’s cape has been gathering dust for years – but Scott Noble’s passion and dedication haven’t waned.

Scott graduated from Shawnigan Lake School in 1975 (Groves’) and returned as a teacher in 1981. Like many others before him, he found a lasting home here. Scott’s passion for the environment directed his teaching career and manifested itself in many ways over the years. Throughout a time of dubious environmental practices and attitudes worldwide, he remained a true voice in the wilderness in his fight for environmental stewardship.

One of the most impactful things Scott did for the School’s sustainability was to form the Environment Club about 10 years into his teaching career at Shawnigan. Before this official club was established, students with a passion for the environment were already drawn to Scott. These zealous students helped Scott in the fish hatchery and taught the rest of the School about recycling – still a rather novel concept in the early 1990s. The inaugural Environment Club started out with three students in a little office above the old library. Sonja Leverkus ’97 (Groves’), one of the founding members of the E-Club, remembers, “We collected all sorts of environmental documents and brochures to share with the rest of the School.

We were provided with the opportunity to design our own path, which included Streamkeepers, attending environmental law conferences at UBC and across the Island, being involved with the fish hatchery, and establishing the recycling program.”

It is thanks to these students that Enviro-Man, Scott’s alter ego, was born. “They wanted to do a presentation to the School about recycling,” remembers Scott. “And we were trying

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to figure out how to get the message out there. They came up to me and said, ‘Listen, if we make this costume, will you wear it?’” Ever good-natured, Scott accepted. He was presented with a cape – a bedsheet – with a large globe painted on the back. The rest of the costume was up to him. True to form, Scott jumped in with both feet, and went out on that stage wearing blue leggings, a plastic helmet adorned with antennas, and goofy glasses to complement the cape. “It was all to support their idea, and our idea together, that we need to promote recycling,” he insists. In that moment, a legend was born – one who would influence Shawnigan students and staff for decades, and whose spirit would guide Scott throughout his career.

These days, the E-Club does much more than encourage recycling and manage the salmon hatchery. They battle invasive species, such as spurge-laurel, English ivy and Himalayan blackberry, on a regular basis. They plant trees on campus, stabilize the banks of Shawnigan Lake, and clean up the shorelines of Hartl and Shawnigan Creeks. Their work has even extended beyond the campus, as they regularly work in local parks and on nearby Portland Island.

Shawnigan’s recycling habits have also come a long way. “We started recycling in the early ‘90s with Grade 8s just pulling out clean paper and recyclables,” remembers Scott. Since then, programs and teaching around recycling have seen many evolutions, including inter-House recycling and FROG awards.

Now, returning students and staff have embraced the systems put in place and pass their knowledge on to others. “Waste management is something that I think we probably do, on a whole, better than a lot of institutions,” asserts Scott. Our large on-campus “recycling barn,” managed by a full-time employee, is used to sort all waste produced by Shawnigan students and staff, from plastics to batteries.

We also have industrial-sized composting cells onsite. A community of nearly 800 students and staff produces a lot of compost – everything from food scraps to pizza boxes to trimmings from our extensive grounds. We also accept chipped trees from a few local tree-felling companies, which is blended into our compost cells to help with consistency. In a wonderful example of sustainability, the newly formed soil is then used in our gardens by our grounds crew.

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One of Scott’s biggest passions – and already part of his lasting legacy – is the School’s salmon hatchery. Former Shawnigan teacher Mark Hobson, after whom our renovated hatchery is named, started the program in 1980, and Scott took it over in 1983.

Every fall for the past 40 years, the School has received brood stock from nearby Goldstream Hatchery from which we take eggs and milt. Science classes, the E-Club, teachers, and volunteers all spend countless hours caring for these eggs, nurturing them through their early stages of development until they become large enough to release in the spring.

“The process is a really good learning experience and it exposes the kids to what is one of the most important natural resources in BC, and that’s our salmon,” shares Scott enthusiastically.

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Thousands of Shawnigan students have now gone through the program. “I remember working until my hands froze in the cold waters, making sure the eggs remained viable,” reminisces Sonja. “And I will always remember helping Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) release fish out of a huge hose and having to follow their instructions very carefully about shuffling our feet along the bottom of the lake with all the new fish swimming around us.” Many current students and alumni can likely relate! Working in the salmon hatchery has become one of those quintessential Shawnigan experiences, shared across many generations.

The hatchery serves the dual purpose of student education and enhancement of the local salmon population.

“We’re responsible to the DFO, so the number of eggs, the amount of fin clipping we do, when we release our fish – all those stats are kept,” shares Scott. He explains that while there are “good” years and “bad” years in terms of success and survival

rate, ultimately, the work done in our salmon hatchery has made a huge impact on the local salmon population.

Shawnigan, under Scott’s gentle guidance, has other green projects on the go. Our junior science classes have partnered with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy since 1997 to conduct a fish survey in Shawnigan Lake. Our Environmental Science classes have created a research forest on campus, where they assess the effects of selective logging. The trees that were logged for this project were even milled on campus and used in the recent additions to Lake’s and Ripley’s Houses. We have installed solar panels on Duxbury House and the Prep School. We have recently completed the installation of a Growing Dome on campus, which will provide produce for our School year-round while giving students hands-on learning experiences. The list goes on and is steadily growing as opportunities present themselves.

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Education remains a key focus in all of these programs, even while they aim to make tangible differences in the local environment. Scott makes it clear that it is always his goal to pass on knowledge, instill good habits, and ignite passion. “I am teaching students to be champions of sustainable behaviour,” says Scott. “It’s not something I explicitly try to get out of them, but I would hope they are leaving with behaviours that will make a difference – and translate to other people (families, friends) wherever they go.”

Sonja’s memory summarizes the impact Scott has had over the years: “When I think of Mr. Noble, I think of kindness, compassion for the environment, curiosity, and a will to teach and to learn – and friendship,” she shares.

Climate change is a necessary hot topic right now, particularly among younger generations. “I think youth awareness of global concerns is much higher than it ever was,” observes Scott. It is our duty as a School and as global citizens to teach – and to practise – sustainability and stewardship.

Shawnigan, thanks in large part to leaders such as Scott Noble, has done and is still doing many things right. But a forward trajectory is imperative.

Enviro-Man made his final caped appearance as part of a special video presentation for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day in April 2020. For Scott, who retired in June 2020, it was both a salute to a memorable alter ego and the beginning of his goodbye. It was time to pass the torch, along with his vision and passion, on to the next generation of Shawnigan environmentalists.

Scott serves as a perfect reminder to everyone at Shawnigan that the actions of one person really can make a difference. It’s clear that his influence on students, staff, and the life and culture of the School will last for years to come. By following in his footsteps and continuing his good work, Shawnigan as a whole can continue to be a voice in the wilderness, championing sustainability and environmental stewardship at a time when the Earth needs it more than ever.

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What Does

School

Mean?

STORY BY JENNY DUNBAR PHOTOGRAPHY BY ARDEN GILL

FOR TENZIN LAMA, A GRADE 12 STUDENT AND A SCHOOL PREFECT AT SHAWNIGAN, SCHOOL MEANS A GREAT DEAL MORE THAN CLASSES, SPORTS, OR FRIENDS. It means more than strong exam results, a pathway to a good college, or lasting memories. It is much bigger than all these things. It is a gift. It means a changed life. It means hope.

Tenzin grew up in a small village in the Himalaya Mountains. When she was just five years old, her mother passed away during childbirth, leaving Tenzin with siblings and a father who was unable to care for the family – a precarious situation for any child, but particularly for a young girl in Nepal. Fortunately, Tenzin’s uncle was able to bring her to a place of safety and stability: Shree Mangal Dvip (SMD), a school in Kathmandu that provides free education, housing, and care for children from the most vulnerable and remote Himalayan mountain villages of northern Nepal.

Tenzin credits SMD, which is fully funded through philanthropy, for changing her life: “Because of the school and our sponsors, I had a free education, a place to live, and food to eat,” she shares. “I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to study there.”

She describes the boarding school as a place of deep connection, where students form strong bonds with each other.

Her schoolmates soon became like her brothers and sisters, and her time at the school was marked by kindness and support.

At SMD, students are only educated to Grade 10 because the school doesn’t have the capacity to provide education through to Grade 12. Instead, students are encouraged to stay at the school in administrative, teaching, or mentoring roles, giving them the opportunity to continue their education elsewhere in the city while giving back to the school. For Tenzin, staying at SMD after completing Grade 10 was an easy decision.

“After I finished school, I couldn’t go home,” she explains. “My mom passed away when I was five, my uncle is a Buddhist monk, and my father cannot afford to support me.

People in my village work on their farms where they just manage to have enough food to feed themselves.”

And so she entered a new phase in her schooling journey – teaching. As the only one in her class who spoke three languages (English, Nepalese, and Tibetan), she was asked to teach kindergarten.

“I felt like I wasn’t ready, but I still said that I would teach,” she admits. “On my first day, I was so nervous because I did not feel ready and I had never had any teacher training. But

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slowly, I really started to connect with my students, especially since I knew how the students felt, as I too know what it feels like when you are separated from your family at such a young age. I treated them like my own children, and like my own siblings. We had a deep connection, me and my students. I was so grateful to be their teacher.”

Tenzin continued for two years in her role as kindergarten teacher before her schooling experience took yet another turn when she was offered the chance to complete Grades 11 and 12 in Canada. SMD works hard to find ways for their students to experience the world, with the hopes that they will come back to Nepal and work to improve the conditions

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there. Accordingly, the school has partnerships around the world – including with Shawnigan Lake School.

And so, Tenzin once again left her home, and everyone and everything she knew, for a new school. “I was so excited to go to Shawnigan,” she reveals. “I was also quite nervous, as everything would be very different from Nepal.”

She credits her housemates, peers, teachers, and the Strathcona staff for making the transition as smooth as possible. Like SMD, Shawnigan Lake School is a very tight-knit community, and Tenzin shares that she received much love and support from the Shawnigan family in those first few months in particular. Despite any initial trepidation she may have felt,

she fit into her new community instantly, with her trademark smile, humble attitude, and extraordinary warmth winning over everyone she met.

“My most favourite thing about Shawnigan is everything,” she gushes, “but if I have to point out one thing, then it’s going to be my teachers and my friends because all of them have been the most kind, helpful, and gorgeous people that I have ever met in my life. When I first got to Shawnigan, all the teachers were very encouraging and treated me as my parents here and as my friends; they never made me feel homesick, and always cheered me up.”

Tenzin encountered academic differences at her new

school as well. Not only was she now learning in English fulltime, but she also had to contend with a new teaching style.

In Nepal, she explains, much of her school work was based on memorization, whereas at Shawnigan she has been challenged to explore and engage with the content in a new way. Undaunted, she wholeheartedly dove in and dedicated herself to her school work.

“My first year at Shawnigan was very challenging,” she admits. “After not studying for two years, I had to get back into the habit of being a student again, but I made use of the tutorial times that my teachers offered, accepted help from friends, and was able to bridge the gap.”

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Tenzin has certainly made the most of her time at Shawnigan. She has taken advanced courses, improved her English, tried new activities (including rugby, a newfound love!), and made lifelong friends. And after just one year at the School, she had so endeared herself to her classmates and teachers that she was chosen to be a School Prefect. In that position, she has proven to be an exemplary role model: she is open, kind, and generous, and positively influences those around her. Her life experiences – and her attitude towards them – have inspired all who know her.

“I really believe people here at Shawnigan are very fortunate,” she shares. “Sometimes when people complain, I remind them that I come from a place where people have nothing. Not to make them feel bad, but just to realize that life here in Canada is pretty great. I always remind people that the harder you work, the better chance you have to make a better life for yourself.”

That positive approach has defined her two years at Shawnigan. And while she has clearly embraced her new life in Canada, her heart remains firmly in Nepal.

“I am grateful for everything that I am learning that I can bring back to my community,” she says excitedly. “Now, I am going to graduate as a School Prefect with a bundle of experience and knowledge that I got from Shawnigan, which I will pass on to students in my school back home in Nepal.”

Tenzin is graduating from Shawnigan with a very clear vision of the path that lies ahead of her. The first step is to study business at a Canadian university. The next is to return to Nepal, give back to SMD, and work to effect change in her home

country. Her entrepreneurial dreams include establishing health centres, schools, and orphanages in Nepal’s remote mountain villages.

“I have had so many obstacles and hardships in my life, but I am not scared of them because they have taught me so much and have made me a better and stronger person, and they have given me the tools to have a better future and to be able to help others,” she declares.

In particular, her heart is with the Himalayan women of Nepal, who have limited access to education and virtually no job opportunities. It is up to people like her, she asserts, to bring about change for future generations.

“I really want to create opportunities for those young girls to go to school and become educated. I want Himalayan people to be educated and strong so that younger generations won’t have to face poverty and social evils such as child marriage. My vision is a village full of educated people, especially young girls who have always been held back in their lives. I want to see the coming generations able to carry backpacks full of books, instead of carrying baskets full of firewood.”

Tenzin is quick to share how much she has learned at Shawnigan, but the reality is that the School community has learned at least as much from her as she has from it. From the moment she arrived, Tenzin has modelled kindness, humility, and resilience, and has reminded everyone of the importance of education.

She challenges us all to take a step back and ask one fundamental question: What does school mean?

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All the World’s

A STAGE

STORY BY CHRISTINA CHANT PHOTOGRAPHY BY ARDEN GILL

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TRUE TO FORM, SHAWNIGAN’S DYNAMIC THEATRE DUO – DIRECTOR OF 360 AND HEAD OF PERFORMING ARTS MORGAN MCLEOD AND HEAD OF DANCE KELLI MCLEOD – ORIGINALLY MET ONSTAGE, AT AN OPEN-AIR SERIES OF PERFORMANCES AT BUTCHART GARDENS IN SUMMER 1999.

Twenty-two years later, their shared personal and professional passion for musical theatre, dance, and performance is still very much evident – and now, with sons Ridley (13) and Remy (9) on the scene, it has become a full family affair.

Through hugely successful Shawnigan productions such as The Wizard of Oz, Cabaret, Shrek The Musical, We Will Rock You, and a whole host of other beautifully quirky off-Broadway productions, the McLeods have helped build a rich artistic and performance tradition at the School. Their passionate tutelage has helped hundreds of Shawnigan students not just appreciate the entertainment aspect of musical theatre, but to understand and experience stage performance and productions as key stepping stones to growing confidence and an enduring sense of community.

“At Shawnigan, you really feel like you are a part of the students’ lives because you become their family, and we’ve particularly found that to be the case with musical theatre. We’ve been here long enough now that, when alumni come back, we still have that special connection with them and you realize that you mean a lot to them – to see that is really powerful,” shares Kelli. “It’s a joy to recollect with them about their experiences, to hear them say ‘I will never forget the time that we did this play, or we did this show together, or we worked on this dance.’ It’s something that really does last forever and that makes teaching musical theatre, performance, and dance feel pretty special and worthwhile.”

Morgan is quick to agree. “It’s a pretty special connection we have with the kids here. I think we give our students here at Shawnigan many opportunities to do as many interesting, eye-opening, and different things as possible. That’s

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where we have really succeeded over the years. I really like working with our students – I like the connection, watching them grow, watching what they do, seeing them learn. It’s just a neat process.”

Along with exposure to acting and performance from an artistic standpoint, confidence-building is a huge aspect of theatre for Morgan. “Even when they’re just scared to be there, in Grades 8 and 9. When they’re actually mandated to be there!

Then you get to see how far they come and how much they enjoy it when they commit.”

He also points to the joys of seeing students for whom theatre and performance are completely new getting involved and developing longlife memories or, fortuitously, a hithertoundiscovered passion that they then carry with them for the rest of their lives.

“One student told me that she never would have found her way into performing arts if she wasn’t encouraged to try something new,” he says. “I think we are lucky, in that all our students have to do a variety of things, and we expose a lot of kids to musical theatre who wouldn’t try it otherwise. There are a lot of kids who come here and are like, ‘Oh, hockey – and that’s all I am.’ And all of a sudden, they start doing other things and get a great deal of joy and satisfaction from them. To give kids that opportunity is pretty special.”

Shrek The Musical was one such successful Shawnigan performance that drew a number of student-athletes, including hockey players and rowers, into the cast, the majority of whom were novices in the world of theatre.

“Later that year, Morgan received an email from one of the students with his university entrance letter,” shares Kelli.

“In terms of co-curriculars, he talked, of course, about rowing, but he also wrote about being in the musical and how he had never had any kind of experience with theatre before. He talked about how he gained a huge new respect for theatre, as he hadn’t realized how much time and teamwork and camaraderie came with it. He could see the heart in the arts now in a way he didn’t before. And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we did it!’ He may never be

in a show ever again, but to have him see the benefit and carry that appreciation forward into his life is exactly what we always try to do. I think that’s pretty special.”

While taking part in musicals indisputably builds young people’s confidence and, in many cases, opens their eyes to other co-curricular possibilities and passions, the process of bringing a show forward from first table read through to the final live performance also forces contributors to look beyond themselves to the collaborative nature of the production. Even further than that, musicals can expose performers to complex social and political issues and to the historical events and diverse cultures sometimes portrayed in the scripts. Through the shared effort of bringing a performance to fruition, musical theatre has the ability to unite performers and crew in a common goal and build and strengthen community partnerships in the process.

“Musicals at Shawnigan are certainly never just the two of us,” Morgan explains. “We’ve got a great department that

is part of our support network, and every year, the musical has grown in terms of the number of people involved, which can only make it a stronger, better process for everybody.”

He also references connections to the broader community, locally in Shawnigan Lake and further afield in Victoria, as being critical to the success of each and every performance.

“Unlike, say, a sports team, we’re not provincial champions or Canadian champions, we’re local, we’re on the Island. We’ve had a lot of support in the move to Victoria. We’ve got a lot of really good, strong, arts-going people coming to support our shows at the McPherson Playhouse. Our next show will be the fifth show in Victoria where people will see the name, Shawnigan Lake School, and go, ‘It’s going to be a great show.’

Our name now means that you’re going to see a really good production. Not just a good high school production – a really good musical theatre production. And that’s exciting.”

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Morgan and Kelli also both set store in pushing themselves as performers, in terms of pursuing a personal passion as well as from a professional development perspective.

In April 2019, the whole family appeared in the Victoria Operatic Society (VOS) production of Shrek The Musical, supported by two busloads of Shawnigan students, staff, and families who travelled down to Victoria to enjoy an evening performance.

“It was such an amazing experience,” reflects Kelli.

“I don’t think I even put it on my bucket list because I never thought it would happen, but we met on stage, so to have our kids on stage with us was such an incredible process. And everybody did such a great job. Morgan was a great Shrek, and our kids did such a good job, and for me, as a mom and an artist, I felt so lucky.”

She references the importance as a performing arts educator of being able to experience a production from the performers’ perspective. “You put yourself on the other side of the table: you have to go and audition, and you research, and you prepare, and you get nervous just the same as our Shawnigan students do.”

As the lead in the performance, spending over an hour and a half in the makeup chair before each show, the experience for Morgan, both as an actor and as a teacher, was also unparalleled.

“Beyond VOS’s Spamalot in 2015, I hadn’t performed in a long time,” he says. “But for me it’s really important to be able to get out on the stage and get that perspective from the other side, to work with other directors, other choreographers, to see how they do it, to see what we do right, what we could do better, and to see the things we do really well. It’s extremely valuable professional development. And our boys loved it!”

The closing show took place on Mother’s Day, and for Kelli, that particular show holds some of her favourite memories of the whole experience. “During our bows, I got to have Ridley on one side of me holding my hand, and Remy on the other, and we watched Morgan take his bows, and I thought, ‘Oh, it’s all my boys together!’ We feel very fortunate to get to work together. A lot of people ask, ‘You work with your husband? And you still like him?’” She laughs, “Yes. I actually really do like him. We feel really fortunate to be able to work together.”

And, in their lives and work at Shawnigan, despite the unprecedented pandemic intermission, the show must go on. Morgan and Kelli, alongside fabulous Director of Music Shannon Tyrrell and new Production Assistant Emma Doig ’17 (Strathcona), worked safely and consciously with a smaller-thanusual cast and crew of just over 30 students to stage this year’s musical theatre production of Mamma Mia! for the students and staff of Shawnigan. Everyone involved was thrilled to be back performing, leading to a palpable atmosphere of excitement and action in the theatre throughout the year as students rehearsed for their outdoor show. Their spectacular performance in the Kaye Gardens during the final week of term was a resounding success and became an instant highlight of the year.

“We wanted something fun for us all to do,” shares Morgan. “Mamma Mia! is a big, happy show and such a wonderful way to celebrate a return to the stage.”

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Artist

EMERGING

KEELY RALF STORY BY JENNY DUNBAR PHOTOGRAPHY BY ARDEN GILL

THERE IS SOMETHING INHERENTLY CAPTIVATING ABOUT THE NIGHT SKY. It is at once beautiful and enigmatic, immeasurably vast and yet incredibly familiar. Over the centuries, people around the world have valued the stars as navigational aids, objects of light and beauty, and inspiration for poems and works of art.

Shawnigan student and accomplished astrophotographer Keely Ralf would certainly count herself among those who have found themselves drawn to the power of the night sky.

“I’ve always had a fascination with the stars,” Keely shares. “I got my first telescope when I was in Grade 6 and that is when I fell in love with astronomy.”

Astronomy is not the most common pastime for the average young person, but perhaps some of Keely’s interest can be credited to her upbringing – and more specifically to her hometown. Keely grew up in Jasper, Alberta, and recalls spending most of her childhood outdoors, finding her entertainment in the dramatic landscape and big skies of the Rocky Mountain region.

Jasper also happens to be one of 21 designated Dark Sky Preserves in Canada, the second-largest Dark Sky Preserve in the world, and home to the annual Jasper Dark Sky Festival.

Growing up in an area committed to reducing or eliminating light pollution for astronomy purposes – and having access to leading professionals at the annual festival – certainly helped to nurture and inspire this budding astronomer.

When she came to Shawnigan in Grade 10, Keely was delighted to learn that her first unit in science was astronomy.

At the end of that unit, her class was given the opportunity of a lifetime: hands-on learning in our on-campus observatory.

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Recognizing her skill and passion immediately, science teacher Nigel Mayes proposed she try her hand at astrophotography, the complex art of photographing the night sky. Keely readily accepted and before long was processing an image of the Orion Nebula.

She was immediately hooked.

“During that time, I completely fell in love with astrophotography,” shares Keely. “I enjoyed how it was both science and art, and that I could combine these two things that I love and be creative.”

A new spark had been ignited. Keely spent the next few months learning all she could, supported enthusiastically

by Nigel Mayes. She poured herself into the science and art of astrophotography, working with the equipment in the observatory, learning the software PixInsight (which she describes as Photoshop for mathematicians), and honing her artistic skills.

She quickly learned that astrophotography is a very personal form of art, telling the story of the photographer as much as the object in focus.

“I love that everyone starts with the exact same data, but depending on how you choose to process it means that every image is different and unique to you,” explains Keely. “The observatory is my creative outlet, where I get to explore deep space and create visual representations of objects that aren’t easy to picture in your mind.”

In her time at Shawnigan, she has processed around two dozen images, each one unique to her. When asked if she has any favourites, Keely shares that two in particular stand out. The first is that initial image of the Orion Nebula. “It has a sentimental value to me because it was the first image I ever processed,” she says. “This is when I got the chance to learn the

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whole process, from capturing the image to the final product, and it was fascinating.

After putting in the long hours (around 60) into this image, I was able to step back and feel an overwhelming sense of pride.”

The other image – a spectacular six-panelled mosaic of the constellation Cygnus – was completed more recently and reveals just how far she has come. “This was the most taxing image I have taken on,” she shares. “It took a few months of diligent work to get the stitching on the seams of the six panels just right. I love it because there is so much detail intertwined between the gases and stars that no matter how many times I look at it, I always catch something new that I did not spot before.”

Keely’s countless hours in the School’s observatory have given her much more than astrophotography skills. In delving into deep space, she has also discovered some important inner truths about herself.

“Spending time in the observatory has made me a more independent learner,” she explains. “There aren’t many people at the School that do astrophotography, so it has really made me learn how to take a problem and troubleshoot it myself.” She explains that she has been able to employ this skill in her classes and other areas of life at Shawnigan, and sees the benefits for her future, too.

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“I think this is really going to apply very nicely in university when I don’t have someone there to hold my hand through every problem I am faced with. I am grateful that I have developed these skills that I know will really help me down the road.”

Another thing Keely has discovered up at the observatory is the joy of sharing her passion with others. As one of the few people on campus with astrophotography experience, she has emerged as a leader, compelled to pass on her knowledge to the next generation of Shawnigan students.

“My favourite part about doing astronomy in Grade 11 was when I got the chance to help out with the Grade 10s up at the observatory as part of their astronomy unit in science,” she explains. “I truly love sharing my passion with others and I found this was a great chance to do that.”

Following last year’s experience working with younger students, Keely took the initiative this fall and proposed the addition of astrophotography to Shawnigan’s newly rebranded 360 (arts and activities) program – with her as the instructor! Her proposal was readily accepted and throughout the school year she has led a group of younger students in this unique after-school program.

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Six-panelled mosaic of the constellation Cygnus

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“I absolutely love being the instructor of the astrophotography fine art,” she gushes. “It’s definitely made me realize that I want to do some teaching in my future, because I love teaching others about something that I am so passionate about.”

Nigel Mayes has been more than impressed. “She’s just so good at relaying her passion to others,” he shares. “I think that’s one of her strengths and why her 360 has been so successful as a student-led activity – because of how effective she is at infusing that into the lives of other people.”

Keely also had the opportunity to share her enthusiasm and expertise with her peers at the Japan Super Science Fair, held virtually in October 2020. Her science experiment focused on determining how bright a star is – a task that showed off her independent learning skills as much as her knowledge of astronomy. She spent the preceding summer learning the basics

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of the programming language Python, even connecting with a professor at the University of Victoria for further help with coding and stacking images. The science fair was an important opportunity for Keely – not only because it was yet another outlet through which to share her knowledge, but because it also gave her the chance to connect with fellow astronomers and astrophotographers from around the world.

It is clear that the art of astrophotography has given Keely a lot – more than mere technical skills or artistic development. The lessons learned in the observatory will accompany her into the next phase of her life and beyond.

Unsurprisingly, Keely hopes to pursue degrees in science and education after she graduates from Shawnigan.

“I am not sure if astronomy is something I am going to pursue as a career,” says Keely, “but at the very least, you will be able to find me stargazing for years to come.”

Heart Nebula

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Gates BEYOND THE

STORY BY CHRISTINA CHANT PHOTOGRAPHY BY ARDEN GILL

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WITH ITS PRISTINE 270-ACRE LAKEFRONT CAMPUS, SURROUNDED BY THE FORESTS, MOUNTAINS, AND RIVERS OF VANCOUVER ISLAND, SHAWNIGAN ENJOYS AN ENVIABLE NATURAL POSITION – ONE ARGUABLY UNMATCHED BY ANY OTHER SCHOOL IN CANADA. With the School’s long-standing commitment to providing a holistic, experiential education, it’s hard to imagine a better place for students to explore the great outdoors, push their limits, and flourish in the face of challenge.

“I first started working in outdoor education because of my love of adventure and natural spaces, but I quickly learned that the outdoors can be a very powerful teaching tool,” shares Eric MacDonald, who joined the Shawnigan community as the School’s Outdoors Coordinator in 2018.

“Our goal is to create a comprehensive outdoors education program that uses the beautiful BC wilderness as a tool to develop confidence, empathy, teamwork, self-discipline, decision-making, and problem-solving skills, along with a strong sense of initiative.”

The multi-faceted benefits of time spent in the great outdoors is a lesson Eric learned first-hand. An early passion for the outdoors industry, sparked by summer work as a teen on multi-day canoeing, hiking, and climbing camps in the Rocky Mountains, flourished into a career after he moved to Australia. There, he completed a diploma in outdoor recreation, specializing in adventure-based learning, and began working full-time as an outdoor educator. After 10 years spent developing and coordinating domestic outdoor programs for schools, he transitioned into a different role, where he facilitated international expeditions to developing countries for high school students, merging his passions for outdoor education and travel. He also enjoyed the unique experience of working as an independent contractor for Geelong Grammar School’s world-famous Timbertop program, guiding Geelong’s Grade

9 students through some of the outdoor adventures that form their full-year wilderness experience.

The very act of creating the Outdoors Coordinator role and bringing a dedicated outdoors professional on board to coordinate programming marked a liminal point at Shawnigan, where outdoors education began the process of evolving from a series of stand-alone excursions and co-curricular offerings to a strategically administered, interdisciplinary educational program. In Eric’s experienced hands, each student’s outdoors journey is steadily developing a more intentional shape, with experiences planned and structured as a progressive sequence, where each new challenge builds on previously learned skills and incorporates specific educational outcomes that marry curricular learning goals with 21st century soft skills.

Developing a clearly articulated plan for a gradeby-grade Shawnigan journey and the ways in which outdoor education and wilderness experiences can be woven into each student’s unique trajectory is also part of the remit of Nigel Mayes ’89 (Ripley’s), Shawnigan’s Assistant Head, Co-curricular Programs. A Vancouver Islander by birth, he grew up locally in an active family that was always outdoors. “That’s what I’m used to,” he explains. “I rock climbed, my mom rode horses, and we hiked and skied all over Western Canada as a family.”

A Shawnigan alumnus, Nigel now sees it as part of his mandate as an educator and member of the Senior Leadership Team to continue to help develop comprehensive outdoor education programming for all Shawnigan students.

“At Shawnigan, we have a great reputation for offering a wellrounded, holistic education, but we also have this unparalleled natural environment at our fingertips with multiple world-class outdoors destinations, from the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve to the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, within an hour’s drive of the campus,” he explains. “I think if kids have been here for two or three or five years and haven’t really explored much beyond the gates, we’ve missed an enormous opportunity.”

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Shawnigan already offers some bold, differentiating outdoors programming – aspects that provide an exciting foundation for further standout initiatives. From the co-curricular Search and Rescue (SAR) program through to the formative multi-day Grade 8 and 9 excursions and international service-based trips that fall under the EDGE and OuterEDGE umbrella, the building blocks of an integrated, progressive, and intentionally structured outdoors education program are well-established.

Today’s SAR program is the brainchild of the late Peter Yates. An active outdoorsman and passionate educator, Peter brought his leadership training and time spent as an Outward Bound instructor in BC and New Zealand to bear on his work at Shawnigan. Peter’s career at the School encompassed teaching English, coaching rowing, and building programs in youth leadership and outdoor education. His legacy includes a profound and lasting positive effect on the lives of the many young people he taught, coached, and mentored.

The uniquely challenging aspect of SAR, where students learn advanced outdoors rope access and swiftwater rescue techniques, is exactly why Shawnigan’s Co-Heads of School so often take part in the program: not only does the program teach transferable leadership skills, it also teaches students how to be resilient, how to handle criticism, and how to push themselves beyond their comfort zone.

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In addition, SAR students emerge from the program with tangible technical skills, including first aid certification with CPR Level C, swiftwater rescue certification, a basic avalanche awareness certificate, and rope skills. The qualifications they gain change their summer job possibilities and can even open up new career opportunities for some. Students leave the program with skills that equip them to volunteer for local SAR groups or take on any summer job, such as youth work or summer camps, that requires a first aid qualification – exactly the kind of formative experiences that set Eric on his future career trajectory.

If SAR grounds students in the local Cowichan Valley area, with the Koksilah and Cowichan Rivers functioning as their outdoor classrooms, the EDGE (Engagement, Development, Gratitude, and Experience) program lends a global perspective and humanitarian angle to the experiential and outdoor education portfolio at Shawnigan.

What initially began as a stand-alone humanitarian trip to Thailand to provide aid in the wake of the 2004 Asian tsunami has evolved into a series of multi-week outdoor adventures encompassing service, internationalism, and environmental awareness in countries as diverse as Costa Rica, China, Zimbabwe, and Ecuador. Each trip pushes students out of their comfort zone, tests their limits, and puts service and stewardship front and centre. The EDGE program connects students with parts of the world that they may have never seen before, helping them develop a sense of gratitude and perspective through deep, meaningful engagement and connections with teammates and host communities.

In contrast to the rigorous selection process that senior students go through to participate in an EDGE trip, mandatory Grade 8 and 9 OuterEDGE trips bookend both of those initial years at Shawnigan. These local multi-day camping expeditions are pivotal aspects of the Shawnigan journey, bringing the younger grade communities together off-campus in a fun and challenging way.

The rich and meaningful content and curricula incorporated in these current outdoor adventure offerings, combined with Eric’s professional guidance and experience, may also give rise to a future cornerstone of outdoors education at Shawnigan. Currently in a nascent stage of development, the vision is to expand current OuterEDGE programming in an intentional and progressive way, in line with the mission and goals outlined in Project Future. Junior students would engage in a more extensive and purposefully planned series of multi-day outdoors and curricular expeditions spread across both their Grade 8 and 9 years at Shawnigan, culminating both years in a resilience-building multi-week outdoors expedition. With a viability study now complete and approval granted by the Board of Governors, a visionary pilot project, provisionally titled Beyond the Gates, is slated for the 2021–22 academic year.

Of critical importance to all the stakeholders involved in the evolution of outdoors education at Shawnigan is the impact that this kind of programming, when developed thoughtfully and with clear intention, can have on students’ understanding of themselves and of their bond with others.

Through wilderness and adventure challenges, students learn and use valuable technical outdoors skills, but they also, crucially, become comfortable exploring the world, pushing their own limits, and trusting their skills and abilities. They learn to manage stressful situations, communicate effectively within a group, and support other people. They learn how to build community.

It is perhaps this foundational concept – the ability to connect, to care for themselves, and to extend that care and service to others – that is the most powerful lesson of all. By learning to survive and thrive in the great outdoors, students are correspondingly gaining the transferable skills and confidence they will need to guide themselves and their own future communities through an ever-evolving – and, at times, unpredictable – global landscape.

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Final Word

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FROM OUR CO-HEAD OF SCHOOL

Welcome back to the-one-and-only Shawnigan Chapel. It’s been a while since we’ve all been in here together, so let’s take it all in.

Breathe in that Chapel smell, look around, take in all the pews.

Where did you sit in your first year? Think about the pew in front of you, when you used to run your fingers along the wood during one of the Head’s marathon speeches. Readjust the hymn books like you used to do when you were on sacristan duty during your junior year. Look up at the beams along the ceiling and the wood on the walls. Remember the colours of the Chapel on a sunny Saturday morning, how the light used to cascade in and make everything seem so alive. Remember the fresh flower arrangements at the front of the Chapel every single Saturday.

Remember the sounds of the organ playing as we proceeded into the Chapel walking side by side with our House. Remember the incredible musical presentations that we all have heard, and the shivers caused by our classmates’ sheer talent. Remember the tears that have been shed in this Chapel and remember the laughter. Remember that feeling, of the heart of the School.

Remember, because this is it: the last time that we will be sitting in this one-of-a-kind place as students, the place where we all begin and end our Shawnigan education.

There are just so many things to say – things that could be said, things that won’t be said out loud, and things that are only meant to be felt and not spoken. When I start to think about leaving Shawnigan, images start playing themselves across my vision like a slideshow on steroids.

Shawnigan has been so many things for us. It was the place where we grew up (some more than others!). No matter when we arrived here, we left having learned something.

Shawnigan was a place where we discovered our passions – maybe it was an art or a science, a sport, or a talent. Shawnigan taught us to open doors for each other. Shawnigan taught us to take pride in our Houses, in our work, and, most importantly, in ourselves. Shawnigan ties us all together. No matter where in the world you might be, when you’re there, or why you’re there, we are always going to be the Shawnigan Class of 2021.

The part about graduating that I just can’t seem to get out of my head is that after we leave here today, some of us might never see each other again. Boarding school is an incredible opportunity to meet new people from all around the world, but this makes it all the more difficult to leave behind.

That is the saddest part for me, the part where we actually have to leave this place and go into the real world. A world where we won’t have the strength of the Shawnigan community behind us.

But I know we can do it. We’ve been preparing for the day that we leave ever since we arrived here; it won’t be easy, but we’ll do it.

But I’ll tell you this: I have had an incredible time here these past four years. It’s not been perfect, but it’s been darn fun. So, I just wanted to say thank you. I would not have had the same experience at this school if it hadn’t been for each and every one of the people in this class. It was because of you that we were able to still have an amazing Grade 12 year. To the staff, thank you for all that you have done for us. You never ever stopped believing in us.

And finally, what a year it has been, and congratulations to each and every one of you for making it through. It has been my absolute pleasure to be your Co-Head of School this year.

Abby Dyer ’21 (Strathcona) Extracts from her Graduation Speech to the Grade 12s, May 2021 65

SHAWNIGAN Community Notable Achievements 2019–2021

ACADEMIC Chelsea Gladstone ’15 (Renfrew) recently became the first member of her family to graduate from university, leaving UBC with a double major in First Nations Indigenous Studies and Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice.

Chelsea was also UBC’s first Lieutenant Governor Medal winner in recognition of her work supporting and empowering Indigenous students on campus. Chelsea plans to continue her advocacy work as a lawyer and is now studying at UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law. She was the 2020 winner of the Hilda Janzen Memorial Award in Feminist Legal Studies.

Claire Quong ’15 (Strathcona) will soon be attending the Parsons School of Design for her MA in History of Design and Curatorial Studies and shares the following update on her studies: “I would like to feature my Capstone Project, Mashkawizii: Paint it Orange; Resilience in the Face of Trauma, which my team and I created in partnership with Waterloo’s Indigenous Student Association. We conceptualized the idea in response to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities…. Mashkawizii is what launched my passion for curatorial and exhibition work with a particular focus on issues of equity and inclusion therein. I am very excited to be pursuing this passion through an MA in the History of Design and Curatorial Studies offered by Parsons School of Design in conjunction with Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, this fall!”

Litha Ncanisa ’16 (Duxbury), a law and justice major at Laurentian University, was awarded the 2019–20 Ken Shields Award for the Ontario Region. The Ken Shields Award is presented to a student-athlete who exhibits outstanding achievement in three areas: basketball, academics, and community involvement. Litha is one of the co-founders of ULU (Uluntu = Humanity, Lungisa = Justice, Usawa = Equity).

The organization is based on the founders’ observations and personal experiences of inequality within the justice system, the educational system, and workplaces.

Olin Webb ’17 (Lake’s) is in his fourth year of a mechanical engineering program at UBC and is also finishing a double work term at EAS Power in Victoria, where he has been helping convert a double-decker tour bus from diesel to electric. His passion is clean technology, particularly renewable energy and electric transportation.

Milena Jojic ’20 (Kaye’s) was awarded the prestigious MoreheadCain Scholarship in 2020 and is thrilled to be attending her “dream school,” the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Going to Shawnigan gave me the tools and confidence to apply for university scholarships – to trust in myself and to know that I can achieve whatever I want if I put in the work,” she shares.

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ATHLETIC Kyle Fredrickson ’17 (Lonsdale’s) has qualified for the 2021 Paralympics in rowing! He will be Tokyo-bound in August with his PR3 mixed coxed four. After graduating from Shawnigan, Kyle went to the University of Victoria where he joined the Vikes rowing team. He rowed with the program for one semester before being invited into the National Training Centre at the beginning of 2018. He has been rowing with the National Team since then, while balancing his studies at UVic. “Shawnigan played a huge role in getting me to where I am today,” shares Kyle. “The facilities and coaching staff are top-notch. It gave me the platform and opportunities to race competitively for the five years I attended the School. The lessons I learned at Shawnigan are ones that I hold close and shaped who I am today.” When asked about his upcoming Paralympic experience, Kyle shared, “I’m looking forward to showing the world what Canada has to offer. The experience is very special and one I have looked forward to my whole life. I am grateful for the opportunity to row for Canada and to compete at the pinnacle level of sport.” Kyle’s Island-based crew qualified for the Games with a convincing win in the final at the Paralympic qualifying event held in Italy in early June 2021. This year’s Paralympic Games will take place from August 24 to September 5.

Guiseppe du Toit ’13 (Duxbury) is adding to his already impressive rugby résumé. His playing career on the international stage includes 14 caps with Canada – including, most recently, at the 2019 Rugby World Cup – and he currently plays with the Toronto Arrows of Major League Rugby. Last year, he also joined the coaching staff at Trinity Western University as a backs coach for the men’s and women’s rugby programs.

Eloise Blackwell ’08 (Groves’) was recently named the captain of the New Zealand Black Ferns. Eloise made her debut in the black jersey in 2011 and now has 43 caps to her name. The Black Ferns are currently preparing for the 2021 Rugby World Cup, which will be played in New Zealand in 2022.

Djustice Sears-Duru ’12 (Duxbury), who currently plays rugby for the Seattle Seawolves of Major League Rugby, had the chance to represent Canada for a UK Tour in July 2021. Team Canada gained valuable experience while facing two tough opponents, first playing Six Nations champions Wales at Principality Stadium in Cardiff and then world no. 3 England at Twickenham Stadium in London.

A newcomer to the women’s 7s senior national team, Delaney Aikens ’17 (Renfrew) furthered her experience in rugby playing at the University of British Columbia, participating in two under-18 tournaments for Canada, and touring with secondtier development team, the Maple Leafs. While representing the UBC Thunderbirds, Delaney led the team with seven tries during the 2019 Canada West Sevens Series. She was a member of Team Canada that won bronze at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. In April 2021, Delaney and Team Canada were thrilled to return to competition for the first time since the start of the pandemic at the Emirates Invitational 7s Tournament in Dubai.

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CAREER Head Larry Lamont and Hilary Abbott (Advancement) stopped in at COCO Café in Nanaimo, BC for a visit with Stephen D. Johnston ’06 (Ripley’s) – the 2020 winner of the Graham L. Anderson Scholarship for his PhD in salmon research – and Daniel B. Johnston ’76 (Ripley’s). COCO Café was established nine years ago by Dan’s wife, Trish, and a group of friends to create employment and socialization opportunities for their children with developmental disabilities. As Dan explained, the cafe provides a much-needed place for them to work and learn within their community alongside peers. Stephen’s younger sister, Carolyn, who has Down syndrome, is a COCO employee.

Walter van Halst ’84 (Lonsdale’s) attended Shawnigan for five years and played rugby for the 1st XV. After graduation, he toured New Zealand and Australia with Derek Hyde-Lay, Ian Hyde-Lay and John Davies for five weeks on a truly life-changing trip. After earning a BA and an MA in Canadian Political Science, he volunteered and worked in politics before becoming a History teacher and rugby coach who has taken tours to California, the UK and two tours back to New Zealand and Australia. He is now serving in his fifth term as Commissioner of the BC Secondary Schools Rugby Union and would love to hear from alumni in his era at vanhalst_w@surreyschools.ca.

He is deeply grateful to all his rugby coaches and teachers, such as Rolf Grass, Stephen Lane and Horace McClelland, who influenced him on and off the field.

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Oliver (Ollie) McMillan ’95 (Lake’s) resides with his partner in Edmonds (north of Seattle) and has been with Microsoft for eight years. He has also found time to organize the transportation and event logistics for Hilary Clinton, former President Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama, and President Joe Biden domestically and overseas since 2010.

He was an official Advance Associate for the White House and remains a member of the active roster for the Obamas, having also advanced a number of times for Biden this past year, as well as being asked to be on the debate advance team for Vice President Kamala Harris in Utah.

In her current work, Dr. Sonja Leverkus ’97 (Groves’) is the founder and owner of Shifting Mosaics, an ecological consulting business that works with companies to manage the interaction between industry and environment in ecologically and culturally sensitive ways. Sonja achieved her PhD in Natural Resource Ecology and Management at Oklahoma State University.

Dr. Abbie (BagleyYoung) Vandivere ’97 (Groves’) is currently working as a paintings restorer/conservator at the Mauritshuis in the Netherlands. In her current work she is the lead on a team of scientists examining the iconic Girl with a Pearl Earring. In 2020, Abbie was featured on the cover of the Dutch feminist magazine Opzij, and was nominated – and made it to the final three – for the Dutch Women in the Media awards for 2020.

Molly (Duignan) Middleton ’98 (Groves’) lives in Toronto, Ontario with husband Ed and kids Max (4) and Riley (7). She works as Senior Producer of Dragons’ Den and Family Feud Canada at CBC. She shares, “I’ve been with Dragons’ Den for 15 years now, which is unheard of in TV land. I’ve literally seen it all when it comes to small business and inventions, and I’m proud the show has become a staple in Canadian households.

But in the past year especially, it’s been incredible to see how entrepreneurs and small businesses have pivoted and thrived in a global pandemic.”

Peter Saul ’50 (Ripley’s) came to our attention through an inquiry from a professor from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee who was curious to know more about Shawnigan’s curriculum of the late 1940s when the now-prolific American painter Peter Saul attended. Headmaster Lamont’s interest was piqued and he researched Saul, who has since grown to fame through his inimitable popular culture depictions, use of vivid colours, and cartoonish characters to satirize current affairs and political leaders. We learned that Saul often attributes his success to the hardships he endured at Shawnigan. When we were at last able to reach Saul directly, we assured him that Shawnigan of today has evolved wonderfully in the 70 years since he graduated. For his part, Peter replied: “I got your letter several days ago and was astonished to hear from you. I knew you still existed, but you’re the last place on earth I expected to hear from.... However, it’s nice to know you’ve improved and the place is pleasant enough today. I promise to stop using you as an anecdote – enough is enough! Well, it was ‘character building’ for sure, but my character is not what was intended by the school.”

Mikaela Reuben ’01 (Kaye’s) is a culinary nutrition consultant and celebrity chef. She provides her culinary consulting services to companies and individuals working in the film industry, as well as working as a ghost author for celebrity cookbooks. Mikaela has also worked with celebrities such as Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller, Karlie Kloss, and Hugh Jackman. Mikaela travels globally for work, but typically divides her year between Vancouver and New York.

Hilary Abbott and Rhodri Samuel caught up with Julie Rea ’07 (Groves’) at her place of work, Amazon’s Head Office, before the pandemic. She graduated from UBC with a BA in Computer Science and is now a software engineer for the global company, working in Amazon Emerging Technology within the Devices Organization.

Erica Youra Lee ’08 (Kaye’s) is currently working in Chicago as an Associate Actuary for Milliman, an actuarial consulting firm, where she has been since 2018. Erica studied chemical engineering at the University of Cambridge before transitioning to working for an insurance company, where she discovered the actuarial profession and subsequently achieved her Masters in Actuarial Science from the University of Waterloo.

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PHILANTHROPY Former Head of School Garth Friesen ’87 (Ripley’s) was recently in touch with Shawnigan to offer support for upgrades to the Friesen Centre and other strategic projects. This winter, following extensive consultation with students, “The Ritz” saw a coffee/snack bar installed and new indoor and outdoor furniture purchased to allow students to gather and socialize safely in these pandemic times. Ever the supportive alumnus, Garth stepped forward to fund the upgrades after having established the Friesen Centre as part of the Centennial Campaign and the renovation of the Main Building.

Thank you for your continuing support, Garth!

Anthony Ostler ’87 (Ripley’s) shares that he, along with his wife Victoria, his sons Alex and James, and his niece, Claire Carlton, took part in a buildOn trek to Malawi before the pandemic – with some trepidation and nerves – as they were going to a small remote village that they had never visited. “We had funded the engineering, project management, and key materials for a primary school, and the trek’s key activities were to complete the groundbreaking and commence its construction. The village, Munye, sits on the border of the Kasungu National Park and is at the end of a long sandy and rocky road that is about a five-hour drive from the capital Lilongwe,” shares Anthony. “We knew that this farming village had no power, no running water, no school building, no clinic, no machinery for its farms, and no general store for supplies. What we didn’t know was that this little village with a few hundred people was filled with joy, hope, energy, generosity, love, laughter, and a sense of community that none of the five of us had ever witnessed. Our week flew by and we left Munye with the Kaulauta School construction well underway. But we also left with our hearts widened and our spirits energized due to everything we experienced and shared with these amazing Malawians and the local buildOn team members.”

ACHIEVEMENTS

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In an impressive feat of swimming endurance at Shawnigan Lake, Alex Housser ’08 (Duxbury) swam the length of the lake on August 31, 2020. It took him 4 hours and 10 minutes.

Alex has always challenged himself physically, and was determined to conquer the lake before heading back to Barcelona to complete his MBA. With the help of his parents and one of his brothers shepherding in kayaks, Alex swam from the south end of the lake to the entrance of the West Arm. From there, rather than swim to the end at Mason’s Beach, he turned left and swam the slightly longer route to the end of the Arm. In all, it was an 8-kilometre swim. He was cold, tired, and sore but recovered quickly, thrilled to have achieved his goal.

Alex completed his degree in 2021 and has since moved back to Vancouver.

Quinten Richardson ’10 (Lonsdale’s) is currently studying for his MPhil in Urban and Regional Planning at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University, and was selected to be part of the Cambridge Blue Boat competing in the famous Boat Race 2021 between Oxford and Cambridge Universities. In a fantastic race, Quin’s crew won the boat race after a long year of atypical training and preparation due to the pandemic.

APPOINTMENTS Chief Petty Officer 1st Class (CPO 1) Shawn M. Kent MM, CD ’96 (Ripley’s) shared with the School that he was inducted as a Member of the 71st list of the Order of Military Merit on December 11, 2020. The Order of Military Merit is a military honour within the Canadian system of honours that is the second-highest order administered by the Governor General of Canada, on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. The honour recognizes their sustained devotion and commitment to Canada, and service above and beyond the call of duty. CPO 1 Kent has served with the Royal Canadian Air Force, Canadian Special Operations Forces, and Royal Canadian Navy during his 22-year career as an Imagery Technician. During that time, he has deployed on multiple tours in Afghanistan and aboard Royal Canadian Navy ships.

Chris Kaumeyer ’14 (Copeman’s), currently a graduate student at the University of Toronto, was selected by the university’s mathematics department to present a model theory paper at an important University of British Columbia symposium in early 2020. Model theory is a branch of mathematical logic that shows how to apply logic to the study of structures in pure mathematics. Judy and Stephen Lane were fortunate enough to attend Chris’s presentation.

Those who remember Chris would not be surprised to hear that his talk on model theory showed his deep grasp and passion for the topic.

After leaving Shawnigan, Michael Kenyon ’10 (Duxbury) headed to the Berklee College of Music in Boston for Vocal Performance. For the last six years, Michael and his partner Shayla have played in the band Phono Pony and run a community music venue called The Woods Studio. In 2014, he started working for GGGarth Richardson (Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alice Cooper) at The Farm Studios and became passionate about recording music. He worked his way up from washing the floors to a spot as Assistant Engineer. In 2016, Michael was offered a job as Audio Engineer for Afterlife Studios to help with their transition into the legendary Mushroom Studios space, and he’s excited to have recently opened his own professional recording studio, Phony! Records.

Marika Pelham ’13 (Groves’) went on from Shawnigan to earn her undergraduate degree from Queen’s University in Public Health and then an MA in Health Informatics from Dalhousie University.

She now works in Calgary at a technology startup, focusing on decision intelligence and structured reporting within cardiac diagnostic imaging. In 2019, Marika spent five months hiking from near the Mexican border to Manning Park, British Columbia, on the Pacific Crest Trail, a distance of over 4,200 kilometres. She then began training for a 24-hour attempt on the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island, planning to run the entire 75-kilometre trail in one day, and preparing for the Canadian Death Race, a 125-kilometre singletrack trail run with 17,000 feet of elevation gain.

While at Shawnigan, Byron Chang ’19 (Ripley’s) and Zhen (Freddy) Wang ’19 (Ripley’s) created a student film called Origami.

The film was submitted to the All American Student Film Festival in New York, and was one of five films nominated for the prestigious Best Cinematography award.

Byron and Freddy have both gone to further their film careers at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles and Emerson College in Boston, respectively.

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LIFE UPDATE Upon graduating in 2009, Harriet (Guard) Klumper ’09 (Renfrew North) attended Carleton University in Ottawa to earn her Bachelor of Humanities degree. After meeting her husband, Kyle, and bonding over their shared love of the Vancouver Canucks, they relocated back to British Columbia together in 2015. Knowing her strong connection to independent schools, and skills in recruitment from her time in university, she worked at both Crofton House and Collingwood Schools in admissions where she thrived connecting with others over a shared love of these institutions. Harriet also completed her Leadership in Enrollment Management Certificate through USC Rossier School of Education. In April of 2020, amidst a global pandemic, Harriet and Kyle welcomed their twin boys Benjamin and Theodore. The family relocated to Cobble Hill, and Harriet joined Shawnigan Lake School as Advancement Associate in November 2020.

Brendan Cook ’08 (Ripley’s) has recently moved back to Canada after living in Glasgow, Scotland for a few years where he worked for Brown-Forman’s three Scottish distilleries – GlenDronach, BenRiach, and Glenglassaugh – as the apprentice master blender (whiskey maker). While in Scotland, Brendan came back to BC. for the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship in Langley, at which time he caught up with Rhod and Gaynor Samuel at a Shawnigan gathering (pictured below). Brendan shares, “I created the domestic league in Scotland for box lacrosse, and my role with the national team was general manager.” Now back home in BC, Brendan is working at Driftwood Brewery in Victoria.

Graeme Housser ’01 (Duxbury) and his wife Ana are thrilled with the birth of their first child, Ivy Anne Housser, born in September 2020 in Albany, NY. Graeme had good news on another front: Lux Semiconductors, the company he and a fellow PhD colleague founded while studying nanoscale engineering at SUNY Polytechnic Institute, has been awarded a million dollar grant from the US National Science Foundation to commercialize their flexible silicon wafer technology.

ALUMNI EVENTS Founder’s Day Gatherings October 23, 2021

SEE YOURSELF HERE To be included in the next edition of Black & Gold, please submit your update and high-resolution photo to the Advancement Office: advancement@shawnigan.ca.

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Join us for regional Founder’s Day gatherings across the globe on October 23, 2021! This year’s gatherings are intended to celebrate all alumni, including the reunion cohorts of the past two years, and will take place off campus to protect the School’s bubble.

For gathering locations, to volunteer to host an event in your city, or for more information, please contact Harriet Klumper at hklumper@shawnigan.ca.

VISIT Shawnigan Lake School 1975 Renfrew Road Shawnigan Lake, BC V0R 2W1 Canada CONNECT www.shawnigan.ca 250-743-5516 MORE Facebook: /shawniganlakeschool Instagram: @shawniganlakeschool Twitter: @shawnigan YouTube: /shawnigantube

NOTES This magazine is a regular publication of Shawnigan Lake School. No material from this magazine may be reproduced in any form without written permission of Shawnigan Lake School. © 2021 Shawnigan Lake School. All rights reserved.

Designed and printed in Canada.

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 millenia.

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