News Archive

As the 2025-26 school year begins at Shawnigan and at universities around the world, we are celebrating the success of those students who are moving on to the post-secondary ranks, as well as that of both graduates and returning students in AP exams.

 

The School had 152 graduates in 2025, up from 140 in 2024. Of those grads, 139 (91.5 percent) are starting university this fall, while 13 (8.5 percent) are taking a gap year, mostly to play a sport. The most popular programs for students entering universities were – in order – social sciences, business/commerce, STEM, and health sciences. Students submitted an average of five applications per student, with 69 percent resulting in offers of admission. That was a significant jump from recent trends; 58 percent of applications resulted in offers in 2024, 59 percent in 2023, and 57 percent in 2022.

 

Of the students who opted to go straight into university, 84 (60 percent) are attending universities in Canada, followed by the US (16 percent), and the UK (14 percent), with the remainder heading to Australia, Spain, Mexico, Japan, Switzerland and Cyprus, for a total of 68 different universities across nine countries. The most popular individual universities were the University of Victoria (16), the University of Toronto (10), the University of BC (9), UBC Okanagan (6) and St. Andrews University (6). The Class of 2025 received more than $4.2 million in offers of financial aid.

 

After raising them from eggs, Shawnigan students headed to the creeks that cross our campus last week to release tiny coho salmon fry into the wild.

 

While it marks the beginning of a journey for the little fish, it also marks the end of several months of care the Shawnigan students in Science 9 and Environmental Science 11 and 12 have put into raising them in the Mark Hobson Hatchery.

 

That began last fall, when salmon from Hartl Creek were used as broodstock: eggs were harvested from the females and fertilized with semen from the males. Those eggs hatched into alevin, then grew into fry in March, at which point they were transferred into larger tanks of water and cared for until they were ready for release into Hartl and Shawnigan creeks.

 

Every year, the “This I Believe” evening of speeches by graduating students showcases a wide range of topics and emotions as Shawnigan students bare their souls by reading aloud pieces they have written about topics close to their hearts.

 

For Head of English Mrs. Sarah Bevel, in her first year at the School, it was an opportunity to see how close of a community Shawnigan is that the students are comfortable being so vulnerable in front of their peers.

 

“It made me feel like the students really do feel like they are part of a family,” Mrs. Bevel said.

 

Expect big things from Shawnigan’s film programs in the future after an inspiring trip to the BC Student Film Festival in Vancouver last weekend. Although the students were nominated for four awards, they didn’t bring home any hardware, but they did find a lot of motivation and enthusiasm for next year.

 

“The cool thing was that, on the ferry back, the juniors were buzzing,” film instructor Mr. Aren Goodman said. “They saw a variety of films over there, and they were revved up and ready to go for next year.”

 

The BC Student Film Festival is hosted annually by the Vancouver Film School and SFU School for the Contemporary Arts. The 10 students from Shawnigan who attended were a mix of curricular and 360 (arts and activities) students, some of whom have been in film for several years, and some of whom are brand new this year. The group was made up of two boys and eight girls, which Mr. Goodman said was a refreshing change for a program that has been largely male-dominated in the recent past.

 

Math and Mud? Calculus and Clay?

 

AP Calculus students took over the Clayworks lab this week to turn mathematical functions into clay models and bridge the gap between the theoretical and the tangible.

 

Students began in the classroom by choosing a function, then used integration to calculate the volume of revolution – the three-dimensional space that would be taken up if the calculus graph were turned into a plane and rotated on an axis. Moving to the Clayworks lab, the students then tried to create a vessel with a volume that matches the function they chose.

 

“This way, they understand it; they don’t just learn it,” said Clayworks instructor Ms. Carol Harvey, who collaborated with math teacher Mr. Max Sterelyukhin on the project.

 

Kenzie G. is continuing to cement herself as one of Vancouver Island’s best young poets.

 

The Grade 12 student at Shawnigan Lake School was named a finalist in the MC Youth Visual Poetry & Spoken Word Competition for the second time in the last three years. She previously placed third in the 2023 contest.

Kenzie admitted she wasn’t expecting much when she sent in her submission, titled “Dearest World.” With the deadline looming, she ended up writing the poem while suffering from a concussion. She then had to record herself reading it aloud and turn it into a video in a short time span.

 

“I went from writing it to producing the film in two and a half hours,” Kenzie explained.

 

May is an extremely busy time for our students, especially senior students, with Grade 12s preparing for Grad and both Grade 11 and 12 students writing AP exams (some Grade 10s write AP exams as well). Shawnigan has 212 students registered in the AP program this year, writing a combined total of 405 exams between May 5 and 23.

 

The School takes great care to make sure students are set up for success in their AP exams, both on academic and mental health fronts. In the month leading up to the actual exams, students were given mock exams that helped condition them for the rigours of the tests.

 

“The students have been preparing in their classes by teachers giving them mock exams where they get to measure their level of preparation coming into the exam,” explained Mr. Max Sterelyukhin, Academic Dean (AP and Extension). “We have also asked for some flexibility for those who are taking more than four AP exams, and everyone has been very accommodating with such requests. I know that many teachers go above and beyond to offer extra tutorials before the exams and some even made T-shirts to commemorate the day of exam completion.”

 

For 10 minutes at a time, Comparative Government students at Shawnigan got to see what it’s like to be a world leader, a press secretary, or a member of the press corps covering national and international issues.

 

During the last week before Spring Break, Mr. Paul Klassen and Mr. Remi Anctil’s Comp Gov classes held 10-minute press conferences in Mitchell Hall. Students were selected to represent either executive leaders, press secretaries, or members of the media from six different countries: Russia, Iran, the UK, Nigeria, Mexico and China.

 

Each of the 10-minute conferences was opened with a two-minute statement from the press secretary, followed by eight minutes of questions from the reporters to the leader. Media members prepared specific questions for the leader from their assigned country, then afterward wrote newspaper headlines or a political cartoon based on the press conferences

 

A longstanding tradition at Shawnigan, Deans' Dinner returned to the School on Tuesday, celebrating some of our top students with a special evening in the Hyde-Lay Pavilion.

 

Historically, Deans' Dinner has been held after each assessment period to recognize students who received the top scores in terms of effort. Over the years, so many students became eligible for the criteria that the event became less extraordinary. The last time it was held, two years ago, more students attended the dinner than didn’t. Mrs. Kirsi Lupton, Academic Dean (Junior Years) noted that the dinner “fizzled out.”

 

Recalling how special Deans' Dinner has been in the past, students pushed for its return. Earlier this year, Academic Prefect Olivia C. and the Academic Captains came forward with a proposal to bring back the event.

 

Students in Law 12 went to court this week in a series of mock trials designed to give them something close to first-hand experience of the legal system.

 

Four different classes all tried the same made-up case involving multiple faculty members: the attempted murder of Mr. Galen Loiselle by Mr. Tom Lupton, with several other teachers (played by students) called as witnesses. The real Mr. Loiselle teaches the Law 12 course and has been using the same case for a few years, providing a unique way for the students to engage with the course work.

 

“It’s fun for the students to play as their teachers,” noted Celeste C., who served on the jury for one of the mock trials.

 

Although the case was entirely fictional and the students took some dramatic liberties in the portrayals of faculty members, the mock trial was taken seriously and served as an excellent learning opportunity.

 

Mitchell Hall was transformed into a courtroom last week as Ms. Jennifer Manuel’s AP Literature 12 class held a landmark mock trial for one of literature’s most famous and controversial figures: Dr. Victor Frankenstein. But justice was not satisfied with just one case – his infamous Creature also stood trial in what became a riveting legal showdown filled with moral debate, philosophical wrestling, and dramatic oratory worthy of any real-world court.

 

The Frankenstein Trial was the culmination of weeks of preparation. Over the Christmas holidays, students read Frankenstein knowing in advance which legal team they would join – either prosecution or defence – for one of two trials:

 

The Bruce-Lockhart Fellowship for Academic Excellence was launched in 2021 with the intention of shedding light on aspects of academics that Shawnigan may not have previously explored, creating opportunities for students, teachers, and the rest of the Shawnigan community.

 

The current Bruce-Lockhart fellow, Mr. Mark Henry, is focusing his efforts on increasing awareness and incorporation of the Harkness learning method first in the social studies department and then in Shawnigan’s broader academic structure as a way to adapt to the rise of artificial intelligence.

 

Related to the Socratic method – which has stood the test of time for nearly 2,500 years – the Harkness method is discussion-based, and encourages critical thinking, empathy and collaboration. It has been adopted by many private schools, where its effectiveness is increased by smaller class sizes. In the age of AI, says Mr. Henry, it helps preserve a “truly human education, which aligns with the goals of the School and the social studies department.”