Spring Break Trips and Tours

Following their success at the conference, the students were able to explore some First World War battlefields, visiting sites like Beaumont-Hamel, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, and the Advanced Dressing Station near Ypres where John McCrae penned his famous poem, “In Flanders Fields.”

 

“At Beaumont Hamel, we could see small cemeteries dotting the landscape,” Grade 10 student Alan A. recalled. “At the actual site of the battle, we walked among the trenches, trying to fathom the horrors that had taken place at that exact spot over 100 years ago. It was haunting to walk between the British and German trenches, knowing that at one point in time, we would have been gunned down immediately. There was a petrified tree between the two trenches, it was called the ‘danger tree’ because if you had gotten that far, you were as good as dead.”

 

At the Menin Gate Memorial – where the names of 55,000 soldiers lost without a trace in the Ypres Salient are inscribed – students listened to the Last Post and laid a wreath on behalf of the School. Among those remembered is Horace Leslie Ravenhill, whose father, Thomas Ravenhill, later sold the land to C.W. Lonsdale where Shawnigan Lake School was built. Today, the Ravenhill Citizenship Cup continues to honor his legacy, awarded annually to a Grade 12 student.

 

In neighbouring France, four Shawnigan students took part in the School’s long-running exchange trip with Lycée Sacré-Coeur in Angers, which is more of an immersive experience in French culture as opposed to a sightseeing tour. For most of the trip, the Shawnigan students lived the life of a French high school student, billeted in the homes of Angers students and attending classes with them at the Lycée.

 

The trip has traditionally included more students, but the numbers this year allowed for a very personal experience, according to Mr. Graham Linn, who has arranged the exchange several times.

 

“The Shawnigan students were first-class and very engaged,” Mr. Linn said. “They saw the best of everything. It was a positive experience for everyone.”

 

In Paris for the last three days of the trip, the students enjoyed visits to Notre Dame Cathedral and the Catacombs as a group, while generally setting their own itineraries in the City of Lights and creating the experiences they wanted.

 

Although there were positive aspects to having a small group, Mr. Linn hopes more students take part in the exchange next year. Students from Angers will be visiting Shawnigan in October.

 

 

On the other side of the world, the senior boys’ XV was in Japan for Spring Break for some exceptional training opportunities and games against Japanese high school sides.

 

The team touched down at Narita Airport in Tokyo on March 15, welcomed by teammate Rio I. and his father, Kensuke, who is the CEO of Japan Rugby. The team travelled to the National Youth Olympic Training Centre, which served as home base for their four days in Tokyo. The boys wasted no time getting into game action, beating Aoyama Gakuin High School decisively the following day. Two days later, they played rugby powerhouse Waseda High School and learned some valuable lessons in a loss.

 

From Tokyo, the team headed to Nagoya for a training session with Kieran Crowley, a past Shawnigan parent and former head coach of the Canadian and Italian national teams now leading the Mie Honda Heat professional side. That night, Rio’s father arranged for the team to watch the sumo grand final in Osaka, and the next day they soundly defeated the Mie District Selects.

 

The final two days of the tour were spent sightseeing in Kyoto along with the parents and families who travelled to Japan to support the team.

 

 

The rowing team returned to the sunny shores of Newport Beach, California for several days of training at the Newport Aquatic Center. The week of training was followed by a chance to watch top university and club rowers from across North America at the prestigious San Diego Crew Classic Regatta.

 

“We had so much fun and made lots of gains in our training and are really excited for the season ahead,” the students commented. “Thank you so much to everyone who made this camp possible, especially our coaches.”