SLS Now Archive
Cowichan Indoor Field Hockey Tournament
Just one day before departing for Ski Week, the Shawnigan Indoor Squad wrapped up their official season with a one day tournament at the Island Savings Sports Centre in Duncan. The team dominated its three games and was undefeated against Cowichan 1, Cowichan 2 and the visiting Vancouver Hawks. Honourable mention for a great performance was given to grade 9 athlete, Amber R., who stepped into the predominantly senior Shawnigan squad as goalie when both senior goalies were unable to participate last minute. It was Amber's first ever experience with indoor hockey, but spectators would be hard-pressed to notice as she confidently defended her net despite the quick pace of the games. All the Shawnigan players have reaped the benefits of the previous two senior tournaments they participated in and put on a fine display of technical and strategic skills with scoring opportunities being distributed throughout the entire roster. Well done, Shawnigan!
– Kelly Koepp, Coach
AP Physics Tour
On Sunday morning, 15 senior AP Physics students will embark on an exciting trip to sites of scientific interest in California, while the School is at Ski Week. We will squeeze six visits into three incredibly busy days, but the hard work will be hugely worthwhile!
We commence our adventure in San Francisco, experiencing the thrill of "free fall and terminal velocity" in a vertical wind tunnel. After a lecture about aerodynamic drag and a tour of the engine that propels the air at 200 km/h, we will then don flight suits and have two "dives". That afternoon, the survivors of iFly will visit the Stanford Linear Accelerator, a world-class particle accelerator where, amongst many discoveries, research into the structure of matter confirmed the existence of quarks in the 1960s.
We will then drive by tour bus to the Mojave desert, and on Tuesday we will visit NASA's Dryden Flight Research Centre. Research into aircraft design, both manned and unmanned, is conducted here, and we expect to see famous aircraft such as the SR-71 Blackbird spy plane in Dryden's museum. Its location within Edwards Air Force Base will remind us of Chuck Yeager's famous record, when he first broke the sound barrier, and numerous space shuttle landings occurred here, too. Next, we will visit eSolar in nearby Lancaster, where tens of thousands of mirrors track the Sun, reflecting radiation to towers where water is converted into steam and electricity is produced. This, of course, represents cutting-edge research that will have very positive benefits in helping to reduce the environmental impact of energy production in the decades to come.
The following morning, we will tour the Mount Wilson Observatory in the San Gabriel mountains above Pasadena. It was here that Edwin Hubble made his critically important discovery of the red shift of galaxies, paving the way for our current understanding that our Universe is expanding. Albert Einstein himself visited this fabled observatory! What a coincidence it is that a member of our group, Max K., is a distant relative of Edwin Hubble! Our final visit will take us to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, an incredibly exciting location where spacecraft are built, and missions are monitored and controlled. The Mars rover, Curiosity, was built at JPL and, launched two months ago, is currently en route to Mars, scheduled to land in August. By the way, the 2 Voyager spacecraft, launched in the 1970s, and currently at the edge of our Solar System and still operational, were built at JPL.
That night, we are delighted to be hosted for dinner by the Buckley family in Pasadena. The following day, we spend a little down time at Disneyland and the California Adventure Park, experiencing a variety of gravitational and inertial forces, before returning home for the mid-term break.
Stephen and Judy Lane, the staff chaperones, are honoured to have the opportunity to travel to these unique sites with such a wonderful group of AP Physics students! Keep track of our tour on the following blog:
http://physicstour2012.wordpress.com/
– Stephen Lane
The Curious Savage
The Curious Savage, directed by Morgan McLeod, opened on Thursday evening. A charming comedy that takes place in what we once referred to as a "mental institution," revolves around the struggle between a wealthy widow and her three greedy and ambitious children who have had her committed for hiding her fortune from them. Shawnigan's cast handled the material with sincerity and maturity even though five of the characters were harmless and humorous residents of the asylum. Reminiscent of another play of the same era, Harvey, the rich widow has decided to live life less seriously and more whimsically. The audience was treated to strong performances by every member of the cast.
– Gregg Perry
Photos by Stephen Lane
Indoor Field Hockey Comes to Shawnigan
Indoor field hockey . . . what's that?
Played 5-on-5 plus goalies on a smaller, indoor court with low side-boards marking the sidelines to keep the ball in field, this fast-paced, spectator friendly game is in its first official season at Shawnigan.
A mixture of grade 10 to 12 athletes are the fledgling group of athletes, who are getting an intense introduction to the game of indoor field hockey and are proving to be more than competent at this technical alternative of the outdoor game. A few brief practices prior to the December holidays propelled them into a women's division tournament in Vancouver at the beginning of January. Despite squaring off against opponents that included UBC and UVIC, the young Shawnigan squad fought their way to the final and only missed bringing home the title by one goal versus an experienced Vancouver Hawks team.
The following weekend saw two Shawnigan teams entered in the annual UVIC indoor tournament, where their strong performances resulted in Shawnigan Gold facing off against Shawnigan Black in the semi-final. Both teams fought hard but Shawnigan Black had the winning edge to move forward to the finals, while Shawnigan Gold set their sights on a bronze medal game.
Unfortunately, both teams were pulled up short of their ultimate goals by a power-outage that cut the tournament short. Nonetheless, both teams can be proud of their top finishes and re-focus on their up-coming junior tournament in Duncan this week.
Indoor field hockey originated in Germany in the 1950s as a way to bridge the winter months when temperatures dropped too low to pursue the outdoor game on frozen turfs. While wildly popular in Europe, indoor field hockey has only really started to pick up pace in North America at the beginning of the millennium when the first official World Cup was held in 2003. It continues to grow at a steady pace and is considered an essential element for improving technical possession skills for the bigger outdoor game.
– Kelly Koepp, Coach
Erg Regatta
On Monday, the Shawnigan Junior rowers kicked off the first day of Shawnigan's two day erg regatta in the mezzanine of the new gym. This year Brentwood College School joined us to add some competition and the extra intensity of a friendly rivalry. The grade 8s started the day off with fantastic races for all involved. In their first ever erg competition all athletes competed hard at the 1000m race, and set a standard for themselves for the year ahead. Coming out on top were Vanessa M. for the girls and Konner W. for the boys in two impressive performances.
The Junior Girls also put forth impressive performances in their first erg tests of the year. Racing 1500m, Shawnigan took the top 5 spots on the day, with Danielle S. edging out Shanti T. 2 tenths of a second to claim top spot. Biffy Y. was third, just nine tenths back of second. Some amazingly close racing from the Junior Girls!
In the Junior Boys category, Bayley W. lead all Junior Boys posting a very strong 6:58.2 over the 2000m race. Max W. and John M. took spots 5 and 6 respectively with very strong 7:18.0 and 7:19.9 performances.
In all, this first of two days was a great success with all athletes recording good finishes in the first event on the Shawnigan rowing calendar.
– Kyle Hamilton, Head of Rowing
Snow!
Shawnigan recently enjoyed a few days of snow -- just enough to get us in the mood for Ski Week!
APHG Explores Religion
The AP Human Geography classes are currently undertaking a unit on world religions. We considered the differences between universal and ethnic religions, and independently focused in depth on a religion of choice, from Islam to Confucianism. A particular theme we came across was the concept of universalizing: the goal of global conformation to a singular faith. This subject inspired strong classroom discussion, culminating in a formal parliamentary debate: "be it resolved that universalizing religions do more harm than good." The experience of defending and refuting each side gave each of us an opportunity to share our opinions and gain another perspective. The diverse overview of several of the world’s most dominant religions, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity, provided a multi-faceted experience which served to open the eyes of many to the complexities of faith and culture. Additionally, Reverend Holland was kind enough to take the time to spend a class with us, sharing his expertise on religion and religious history. Providing details of an intricate knowledge of the study of faith, the Reverend supplied us with an open minded and expansive look at the history of Christianity.
Though I was baptized Greek Orthodox, I had always viewed religion through a relatively narrow lens. Hearing the Reverend speak was an extremely enlightening experience, as it revealed the fact that many religious followers were, in fact, more open-minded than myself, and more than willing to discuss and examine the many forms of spirituality.
– Rosa V., APHG
Top Canadian Squash Referee Visits Shawnigan
On 24th January, the Shawnigan squash players were fortunate to benefit from the considerable experience of Dr. Gerry Poulton, an internationally ranked referee. When our players go to tournaments, they are expected to referee the match following the one on the court they have just played on. Drawing on his vast repertoire of past matches at the highest level, Gerry explained how to interpret the rules and situations as they arise on court. This will prove to be invaluable to the Shawnigan players and give them the confidence to carry out their officiating duties as they head off to the Pacific Northwest Junior Championships 16-18th February in Victoria.
Gerry's other love is Chemistry. He was a Professor at the University of Victoria for 37 years (Chair of the Chemistry Department from 1984-89). He retired a couple of years ago, but remains active on the squash circuit where he referees and also plays in the Victoria Men's 1st League. We are grateful to him for coming up to Shawnigan to share his knowledge with our players.
– Lynne Grass, Coach
Graphic Design 10
The Grade 10 Graphic Design class travelled to Cowichan Woodwork, a local cabinet and sign manufacturing facility (cowichanwoodwork.com). Each student had prepared a digital file in Adobe Illustrator to use as the basis for a sign of their own design. Rather than only seeing their work in print or on-screen, this was a chance to see how digital files can manipulate sophisticated machinery either in creative art form or for mass manufacturing. After some classroom theory and an introduction to the computer numeric controlled machine (C.N.C.) the process began. Choosing appropriate bits as needed and constantly changing direction and speed the C.N.C. began to create the outline form of the signs. Students were just able to recognize their work after about 15 minutes and then, rather than standing around watching, we all headed to Mill Bay for lunch. A change is as good as a rest—it's always good to get off campus for a bit! Upon our return to Cowichan Woodwork there were about 15 minutes left of machine time, just right to see the final product evolve, tuck the signs under our arms, thank the owner and head back to the School.
– Gordon Smith, Graphic Design, Architectural Drafting
Senior Ice Hockey
Saturday Night Hockey Returns to Mill Bay
There is something special about the electric atmosphere at Kerry Park Arena when both SLS and BCS battle in front of their fans. The game started on an incredibly exciting note with Shawnigan’s Brandon H. scoring a quick goal at the seventeen second mark. However, a quick response by Brentwood a mere 45 seconds later settled that this was going to be an incredible night of evenly matched hockey. End of first period score: 1:1.
SLS took the lead again in the second with a great go-ahead goal after Mitch M. emerged from the corner against two BCS players. He feathered a pass to the unmarked Max. C. who made no mistake and finished the play returning the lead to SLS. When playing BCS, any unmarked players are a real threat, and they began to display their offensive prowess by capitalizing on poor gap control on our defensive coverage. Giving them room to in our zone proved to be dangerous, and they scored two goals to close out the period, regaining the lead at 3-2. One exceptional play that would have tied the game at the end of the second was the blistering slap shot by Derek D. It passed the Brentwood goalie, rebounded off the crossbar, hit him in the back, then fell to the ice and slowly inched towards the goal line until the netminder fell backwards, smothering the puck in the process.
Coming onto the ice for the third and final period we knew the game would be decided within the next 20 minutes, and we had some work to do. In the meantime, both sets of fans were literally dancing in the stands in the intermissions and sustained the high-energy atmosphere that is characteristic of the showcase game. Despite a lot of pressure exerted in our opponents end, we couldn’t get the puck in the net before BCS did, and we now were down by two goals. Our team was resilient and determined, battling back to a score another goal by Max C. who jumped on a loose puck in front of the BCS net. Now we were battling both our opponents and the clock, and credit to Brentwood they played well in the final minutes to keep us off the scoreboard, and earn the 4-3 victory.
Our player of the game was Sean A. (who had a personalized cheer that captured his presence on the ice “Big Sean, Big Sean, Big Sean”). Special mention to our exceptional goalie Joel B. and to our captain Danny H. for their character and leadership. The entire team represented the school exceptionally well we were very proud of their tremendous compete level. We are very excited to build on this year’s growth and look forward to our rematch with Brentwood at the end of February in the Ross Cup Tournament.
At this moment, I thank the rest of the coaching staff, Mr. Tim Murdy, and Mr. Harry Benson for their contributions to the development of our athletes. Finally, I want to thank the team and our fans for making this game one of the best in recent history.
– Paul Morris, Coach
Photos by Stephen Lane
Soccer in the snow?
With snow covering the fields, the girls soccer skills group had to adjust their play slightly. After some conditioning games, they stayed warm with a beach soccer tournament, Canadian style. Luckily for us, the snow didn’t overstay its welcome and we’re back to normal training this week.
– Mits Nakagawa, Coach
Sr. Girls Basketball
The senior team played good basketball today vs Brentwood, but were unable to maintain the half time lead they had. In the end BCS pulled ahead and won 48-40. Nicole lead the way with 16 points, which include two impressive 3-point shots late in the 4th quarter.
The girls appreciated all the support today–thank you. Our next action is this weekend at Cedar.
– Darrin Austin, Coach
Photos by Stephen Lane
Practice Ways of Giving
Before Christmas, Mrs. Kingstone presented us with a challenge—to practice ways of giving. Here is what she said:
Often times, we are presented with opportunities to practice things. We practice so that when the "real" time comes along, we will have some sense of what to do, how to behave. We have practice earth quake drills. Practice exams. Sports and play practices. We practice how to do things, when and where. Practicing helps us to get the feel for something without the accompanying consequence of not getting it quite right.
Today, if you are taking the vow of silence, in a way you are practicing what it might feel like or how you might manage if, in order to get through your day, to survive, you had to remain silent or you were not permitted to speak. Of course, there's little likelihood that any of us will have to write this test.
I do hope that in addition to thinking about the children who are silenced across the world, you also recognize the ways, even here in our own community, we might silence each other by our attitudes, the things we might say or do, the things we don't say or don't do that prevent someone else from speaking or being heard.
In addition to gaining awareness through today's vow, I would encourage you to take the necessary next step which is to practice ways of giving others a voice--this can be done simply by recognizing someone else's situation and then doing something to help.
Here's a tiny project for five students: The School is giving you twenty dollars and you must use the money as a gift. You can divide it up so that you have many gifts or use it as one. You can use it simply as money, or you can buy something with it to use as the gift or gifts. You must give something to someone you wouldn't normally give a gift to; it might even be someone you don't know. It might be completely random. It must be someone who needs a gift. And, you must be prepared to return after the holiday to tell your story to us in Chapel of what you did with the money. You must explain your gift and your practice of giving voice to others.
Here are stories of giving so far:
Wearable Art
Put yourself in someone else's shoes! In Miss Agate's grade ten art class, students were given canvas of a different kind. Canvas sneakers!
Once students had their brand new white Keds in front of them, they were instructed to stretch their imagination – the only criterion was that they were to be jump influenced by a famous piece of art. Some shoes are edgy, some pastoral, some impressionistic, and others abstracted. As you can see from the photographs here, these shoes have soul!
– Carol Shaw
Sr. Girls Basketball Tournament
On Saturday, the girls played their final two games of the tournament. Although they competed admirably against their competition, a victory was not in the cards for the day. Player of the game awards went to:
Friday–Rosa for her 30 point performance.
Saturday–Game vs Brentwood to Anna for for her defensive effort; Game vs Cedar to Ellie for playing her best game of the year (so far).
The final game of the tournament was between Brentwood and Kwalikum, and it was a battle right to the end with Brentwood pulling out the win and winning the tournament.
I would like to thank the following for their assistance in organizing and running the tournament:
Mrs. Pasquale for arranging all the behind the scene details; Vivian B. for coordinating the score keepers; the score keepers who did an awesome job all weekend; and to the VBOA for providing excellent officials for the games.
Jr. Boys Basketball Tournament
UPDATE #3 as of Saturday, Jan 21, 21:00
The Junior Boys concluded the tournament with a competitive performance against Brentwood in the Bronze Medal game. The game saw the lead change hands several times before the first half ended in an 18-16 score in favour of Shawnigan.
Unfortunately, early foul trouble and some struggling offensive play to start the second half allowed Brentwood to score some timely baskets and allow them to pull away for the victory. The Jr Boys ended the weekend in 5th place in this talented pool of tournament play. Notable performances came from William Wang who was selected to the all-star team at the tournament.
Next up for the Jr. Boys is league action on Tuesday against Brentwood at home, and on Thursday against Cowichan in Duncan. The week concludes itself as we travel to Courtenay to participate in the Mark Isfeld Tournament.
History 12 Teachers
This past week, Mr. Olson Jr's History 12 classes paired up with Mrs. Bell's and Mrs. Smith's English 8 classes. The older history students prepared lessons on the Holocaust for the younger students. The grade 8 classes have been reading books that involve the Holocaust such as The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and The Book Thief. This presented a perfect opportunity for the history students to share their knowledge of a recently studied unit on World War II and the Holocaust. Each of the History 12 students had to create a 20-30 minute presentation to share with their grade 8 buddies and they spent the afternoon in the Ritz and Library presenting them in small groups. It appeared that the experience was quite useful for this keen group of grade 8s and I know that the History12 students really enjoyed their chance to play teacher for a day.
– Andy Olson
Academic Colours
The first Academic Colours were awarded in Chapel on Tuesday morning. The definition for Colours reads as follows: “Academic colours will be awarded to students who consistently demonstrate superior effort, achievement, and leadership in their studies while also maintaining a commitment to the many other facets of the Shawnigan program. Showing genuine interest, working to potential, and supporting classmates must be integral to a recipient’s approach.”
Photo by Stephen Lane
Womensa
This first term, Groves' house saw incredible academic effort demonstrated by the girls. They have all been working very hard, and it has definitely paid off! We are very excited to be hosting another Womensa dinner for our girls. Womensa consists of the girls in Groves' with academic averages exceeding 90%! To celebrate we will be having dinner at the Arbutus Ridge Golf Course, the Friday upon returning from Ski Week! Good job, Groves' girls!
– Madeleine D., Groves' House Academic Captain
Bruce-Lockhart Debate Tournament
This past Saturday, debaters from all around the Lower Mainland gathered at Shawnigan for the 14th Annual Bruce-Lockhart Debate Tournament. Eighty students from schools such as St. Michaels University School, Brentwood College School, Southridge School, Pacific Christian School, and Port Moody Secondary School, joined our own debate teams in a day of spirited competition. The resolution being debated was "China will lead the 21st century." The students had all spent a great deal of time and effort preparing for this event and were well-prepared to engage in the debate with fantastic research to back up their points. Junior and Senior teams competed in two debates in the morning and had to defend both opposing and defending arguments in the morning sessions. The afternoon debate was an impromptu topic, where they had just one half hour to prepare. A great day of Critical Thinking and discourse was enjoyed by all who participated. Shawnigan students Brandon C. and Otis D. took third place in the Junior Debate category, and Otis was also awarded third place for best individual junior speaker. We were so grateful to the eighty judges from the surrounding community who volunteered their time to come out and judge this event. All in all, it was a wonderful day for our students, who were completely engaged in an excellent intellectual activity.
– Gillian Coy
Photos by Stephen Lane
Lonsdale's Chapel Presentation
Humility is a strange thing. The minute you think you’ve got it, you’ve lost it.
While looking for things to say about humility, I came across a lot of different ideas. I could’ve spoken about important people, teams or leaders that demonstrate humility. The dilemma with speaking about those people or groups is that no one records humble acts. On the other hand, acts of arrogance and attention-seeking are written about and acknowledged. I searched for quotes or incidents of significantly humble people being acknowledged – Einstein, Gandhi, and Isaac Newton all mentioned humility in their own separate ways, but more importantly they spoke through action rather than words. A sort of silent message is exactly what humility stands for. More and more, as I looked at the information, I realized that being humble is achievable by anyone and everyone – you don’t speak about being humble or even think about it, you just are. The most humble people are those who don’t need to acknowledge themselves in any way. Actions of a human being with humility are not necessarily celebrated, but those with humility celebrate the best people and actions around them.
– Macoy J., Head of House
Photos by Stephen Lane
Study in Russia
Ben Kingstone ’08 has been studying this year in Irkutsk, Russia, in the middle of Siberia. He shared many of his personal experiences with us—his trips to the largest deep water lake in the world, Lake Baikal, and to the small Republic of Tuva as well as stories about his home stay. (Apparently, they exhibited great concern over his habit of whistling—a cultural superstition supports the idea that whistling indicates one of the people in the house will soon die!) Ben also discussed the current political situation in Russia and the people's discontent over the recent elections and corrupt polling results.
– Andy Olson
Shawnigan Technology Overview 2011
Technology at Shawnigan is ever-changing. Andy Olson, Chair of the Technology Committee, recently put together an engaging video highlighting advancements at the School in 2011. Take a few minutes to see what we have been using to enrich our educational experience.
Cowichan's Athlete of the Year!
Shawnigan Lake School’s Lizzie Yates, who enjoyed a phenomenal season as captain of the school’s senior girls’ field hockey team that won the provincial AA championship for the first time, was the Athlete of the Year winner.
“It’s incredible, it’s absolutely amazing,’’ she said after receiving her awards certificate and plaques from the News Leader Pictorial’s Don Bodger, who emceed the event, and Laird Carruthers.
The provincial title has been the carrot dangling at the end of the stick for Yates throughout much of her time at Shawnigan Lake School.
“It’s been a personal goal since I’ve been a part of Shawnigan. My dad teaches at Shawnigan, my sister went to Shawnigan so it’s been my own goal for a very long time.
“It became almost tangible once I hit Grade 9 and we had a core group of girls that knew we could do it. It was amazing.
“It’s been a fight, some good years and some bad years. But this season was definitely the season to win it and so winning it was the most amazing finish to a long, long goal.’’
Yates knew Shawnigan might be a team of destiny during its appearance at the UBC tournament after a 2-1 loss to Handsworth.
“We knew we made mistakes,’’ she said. “We came back the next game and we won. You know that feeling you’ve broken a barrier.’’
Shawnigan won that tournament and also the Friendship Cup that opened the season and the island AA title on its home turf en route to the provincial crown.
Yates exhibited a commitment to the team that went far beyond the call of duty. She factored prominently in the team’s attack on short corners, but always managed to be back in the Shawnigan end of the field to play relentless defence.
“I love playing the game,’’ said Yates. “The practices aren’t the best. It’s all worth it in the end. “For field hockey, I’m doing some indoor field hockey currently. Next year, I’m hoping to do some university stuff. It’s not going away anytime soon.’’
Yates also had a long tenure in Metro soccer and will play one more season of school soccer for Shawnigan. She also still enjoys squash.
Yates received a hoodie from Island Runner as one of her prizes. All the top 20 athletes received gift bags, with items donated by numerous community sponsors.
– Don Bodger, Cowichan News Leader Pictorial
Photos by Stephen Lane
Fly Fishing
We left on our trip at 7am while the whole House was still asleep. Four students and a teacher set out for the Little Qualicum river in pursuit of Chum salmon that have come back to the river to spawn. The crew, consisting of Brandon W., Cole J., Nick M. and myself, first went to Mr. Receveaux’s house and were treated to his famous French bread. It was quite the experience, and I’ve got to say, I think I can still taste the bread on my tongue. Soon after that, we arrived at the river to find it completely littered with the remains of the Chum that had come before we arrived. We had gone at the end of the Chum season but, nevertheless, Cole was soon dubbed, “Mr. I got the first fish.” Brandon caught a good 5 fish, and Mr. Receveaux, who didn’t let us down, caught at least 8. Sadly, it was soon getting dark and we all had to leave this beautiful river. On our way back to Shawnigan, we were once again treated to the Receveauxs' amazing cooking. I’m sure all of us will agree that this was certainly an unforgettable trip. Hopefully we will be able to make another trip and perhaps Nick and I will have better luck.
– Kenny W.
Cross Country Running
A small group took on the first race in the Island Race Series on Sunday—the Pioneer 8 km in Saanich. Dry and cool, the weather was just about perfect as Neil D and Megan L-S took to the roads. Despite the Christmas respite, both enjoyed excellent results, Neil placing 4th in the male junior division, finishing in 31:31, Megan winning her division in an impressive 32:10. Ben Kingstone (SLS '08), home for the holidays from his Russian language studies in Irkutsk, earned a 7th place finish with a time of 29:29. The team's next race is around the corner in Cobble Hill—a hilly 10km challenge that should see more runners participate.
– Jim Kingstone, Coach
Masquerade
When Fatty, Idiot, Neutral, Charles, Military, Lizard, Daisy and Sloth visit the grade 10 Shawnigan drama class things start to get pretty creative…and quiet!
These characters are obviously not students but the set names given to the well-known Basel Masks and theatrical tools used to teach drama students projection and timing on stage. Drama teacher Gregg Perry began incorporating Basel Masks into his junior classes 3 years ago after his personal acting experience with them made him a fan.
"From personal experience as a student as well as my observations as a teacher, masks are a powerful tool for evoking transformation. Student actors are able to let go of their every day persona and become something new to them. This is, of course, a central skill in creating a character in a scripted play."
Invented by legendary mask innovator, Jacques Lecoq - a renowned actor and teacher famous for his methods on physical theatre, movement and mime - the Basel masks are used to help actors set aside their personal emotions, attitudes and idiosyncrasies and completely immerse themselves in an original character and role.
Grade 10 student and budding actress Briannaa H. is enthusiastic about experimenting with the masks. "I feel more comfortable on stage wearing the masks, because I feel most hidden in character; the place where I can portray the character of the mask to the best of my abilities."
The masks are completely white with exaggerated features such as square noses, rotund cheeks, protruding eyes or chinless jowls, creating 8 original forms. However, they all have one thing in common - they are either entirely devoid of a mouth or at least closed-lipped to enforce the element of silence on the actor. Because the masks are silent, the actors aim to focus fully on movement and timing, the key being to emphasize simple expressions and clean geometric features.
"Wearing a mask on stage is quite a challenge to bring out other characteristics. You really need to express more through body language but overall I am really comfortable wearing one on stage, I don't have to worry about my facial expressions," states fellow classmate Mia P. "It lets me focus on really becoming the character and working on my body stance as well as to really frame out my movements on stage."
"Through the anonymity and silence bestowed by the masks, students discover that they succeed in making entertaining choices, communicating a character and a story in a way they did not believe they could. It's almost an automatic technique for success and builds confidence," states Perry. "Their acting abilities are magnified after the mask unit. Once you have experienced this transformation, it is hard to go back."
– Kelly Koepp
The Art of Soapstone
Most people associate soapstone with Eskimo art, carved seals, whales and polar bears, but few would guess that some of the beautiful objects on display in the Shawnigan Hobbies Building were created by the hands of grade 9 students stemming from countries such as Mexico, Thailand and China.
Shawnigan sculpting teacher, Carol Harvey, is continually impressed by the artistic development of her Fine Art students. "The personal growth that happens as they work with their project never fails to amaze me. There are kids that come from cultures that, in some cases, do not traditionally create art with their hands and to watch their confidence build alongside the evolution of their project is always very rewarding."
"I never did arts before, only drawing and have never worked with bigger materials," states grade 8, Carlos H. "I looked in a book for ideas and came up with a duck to give my mom for Christmas."
In sculpting and carving a large aspect of the process is coming up with an idea of what to carve. In class, students start with a small piece of raw stone and develop a simple shape of their liking. This way they learn to visualize the physical transformation that a "lump" of stone undergoes to become a simple but beautiful polished shape. "One of the biggest challenges is getting the kids to visualize in 3-dimensional form and to see a shape in what is essentially a rock. The students learn an important new aspect to problem-solving in the process."
Grade 8 student, Nicky L., was pleasantly surprised by her first sculpting attempts. "At first it was hard to figure out what to do with a plain rock. But as I started to create a general shape it turned into a triangle and now it's 3-D and a fish!"
– Kelly Koepp
Model UN
Congratulations to all the Grade 10 delegates who participated in a simulation of the Durban Conference (COP17) on climate change on December 14th. This was the culminating event to several weeks of research in their social studies classes. After listening to a keynote address on forestry issues in Colombia from Mr. Williams' (Prima Hardwoods), students spent the entire day in their committee sessions debating and attempting to build consensus with other delegates on how to best address this complex problem. Each committee was lead by senior students (Max K., Liam B., Haydn E.) that have had previous experience in Model UN and debating. Special thanks to our Secretary General, Olivier C.
The following delegates were recognized with awards in their committee:
BEST DELEGATES
Jack X. (China), Marshall F. (USA), Fiona Z. (China)
BEST PUBLIC SPEAKING
Gaby W. (Spain), Leah B. (Mexico), Sierra F. (Spain)
BEST DIPLOMACY / CONSENSUS-BUILDER
Zach W. (USA), Brandon C. (Germany), Patrick H. (Pakistan)
BEST POSITION PAPER / RESEARCH
Blakely Campbell (BRA), Cohen I. (Tonga), Bayley W. (Russia)
Grade 10 Model UN Opening Speaker from Shawnigan Lake School on Vimeo.