SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL
Arts & Activities Fall 2018
AIKIDO Instructor: Steve Elskens Aikido is a Japanese martial art that has its roots in jiu jitsu, judo, sword- and spear-fighting. It was created after Wolrd War II by an incredible martial artist, Morihei Ueshiba. He felt that the traditional budo (the ensemble of martial arts) were too destructive and wanted to create an effective self defence strategy that had more respect and compassion for human life. In aikido we try to physically and spiritually blend and harmonize with the aggressive energy coming at us. We try to neutralize an attack in such a way that it inflicts as little damage to our attacker as possible. Imagine if someone attacks you on the street and you are able to effectively neutralize this attack and remain in control without really hurting your opponent. Aikido practice will help you become a more physically and mentally centered, balanced, confident and aware person. The dojo is a friendly, welcoming place where we can leave all our daily struggles behind for a little while. Guaranteed, and this has happened many times in any aikidoka’s career, if you’re having a rough day, after an aikido practice you will feel much better!
BAKING Instructor: Erica Hamilton Want to up your baking game? You are going to be everybody’s best friend with your new-found or improved skills in the kitchen. We will be testing out some basic baking skills such as breads, cakes, and cookies, as well as getting creative with some special projects. No previous skill kneaded! There is also a service aspect of this Fine Art; therefore, we will be creating and sharing our goodies for those less fortunate once a week. You will also be responsible for ordering and organizing our ingredients and equipment a couple of times during the term.
BOATBUILDING Instructor: John Bomans Boat building is one of the oldest forms of engineering, concerned largely with the construction of hulls, masts, spars and rigging. Boat building students will enjoy a hands-on approach to boatbuilding by working with Shawnigan’s fleet of floating vessels. Students will be introduced to boat repair and maintenance and will also have the opportunity to undertake a major group project of their own design. No experience is necessary to take part in boat building, though it can help.
CLAYWORKS Instructor: Carol Harvey All sorts of clay works using hand-building and sculpture techniques as well as some use of wheel throwing pottery techniques. More than just making pots and bowls we will be using decoration and altering to make unique visual pieces. Students will learn the vocabulary of the medium and apply skills to make artfully finished pieces. Returning students are welcome to set their own direction while assigned projects will be generated for new students. Get dirty, play in the mud and experience the excitement of creating!
DANCE Instructor: Kelli McLeod In this combined junior/senior performing art form, dance students study hip-hop, jazz and contemporary dance styles. Each class includes warm-ups, stretch and strengthening and choreography. This performing arts class will require minimal extra time for rehearsals before performances. Shawnigan dancers perform at the Shawnigan Night of Dance, Barre None Recital and the Fine Art Concert. Dance appropriate wear is a requirement for this physical class, and there will be a costume fee associated with this activity. Sign-up and you won’t be disappointed! If you have questions about taking other styles or levels, please see Mrs. McLeod.
DIGITAL ARTS Instructor: Maite Urzua Digital art is a new media art form where the artist uses digital technology as an essential part of the creative process. Digital art can be purely computer generated or taken from other sources, such as scanned photographs or vector graphics. Digital arts students have the opportunity to thoroughly explore the world of Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. The course will give you tools to apply the elements of design at your own self-directed pieces. At a start, we will create simple visual graphic from concepts and feelings, and then move into designing logos and other complex illustrations. Your designs will be converted into Button Pins, Vinyl stickers and or paper cuts (Cricut mini cutter). You don’t have to be a “great drawer” but eager to learn and try. Pure motivation is needed to be successful!
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY Instructor: All Brunet and Kristen Turner Are you the person in your family who is never in any family photos because you’re always the one taking them? When you travel, do you sometimes want to spend a whole hour on a mountaintop capturing a sunset? Do you take way too many photos of your food, your dog, close ups of flowers or your feet and wish you could come up with something a little more original? If so, you should probably come and join us in Digital Photography. We’ll teach you how to use your camera properly, what all the weird buttons do, how to take amazing photos of your friends and how to edit them properly using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop (because let’s face it, we can do better than Instagram filters). You’ll get to go on some fun excursions to practice shooting in different conditions, and at the end you’ll have a brilliant portfolio on Behance to show off your skills. This year, we’re running three photography groups, depending on your interests and level of experience: 1. Digital photography - Photographic Art 2. Digital photography - Beginner/Intermediate 3. Digital photography - Photojournalism/Stag On The Run (includes Wednesday evening) All students are required to supply/purchase or rent their own digital SLR (DSLR). Rental cameras are available from the school for $200 per year. Students are also required to pay for their own printing paper, which is available at the commissary. Students who can obtain cameras or SD cards from parents or family should do so. Approximate cost of extra supplies is $75. Many students use a Canon Rebel, but any camera brand is acceptable. Feel free to call Mr Brunet (250-686-2904) before purchasing your camera and lens.
ECHO Instructor: Ander Monro An echo is a reflection back to us of a sound we produce. With this in mind, Echo as a Fine Art offering is very much built upon the idea that what you send out, comes back. Echo provides an opportunity for interested students to advance key life skills through project development, community engagement, and work experience. By gaining a better understanding of how communities function, exploring areas of personal passion, and developing relationships with local organizations and businesses, students will learn and grow through hands-on experiences. Through this exploration, experiential learning, and the application of Design Thinking (a solutions-based approach to problem solving), students will gain tools to unlock their powers of innovation. If you enjoy interacting with others and are keen to broaden your horizons, this program could be an excellent opportunity for you to learn more about life beyond the school gates.
E-CLUB Instructor: Scott Noble Members of the E-Club participate in a host of environmental service activities, so a passion for environmental welfare is a must. Activities take place on campus as well in the wider community. Some examples of on-campus activities include salmon enhancement and hatchery management, living lab field work, campus environmental initiatives, and maple syrup production. Community initiatives range from habitat restoration projects and tree planting to support of other volunteer and government agencies in their environmental initiatives. Occasionally, students will be engaged in field trips and activities that are outside the normal Monday/ Wednesday time slot. Past examples of these kinds of field trips include working with Parks Canada staff on habitat restoration projects in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve and shoreline clean-up at Mill Bay as part of the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-Up. Time off in lieu of these commitments will be provided. Participation in the E-Club often can work toward resume-building and supporting university applications in the form of community service hours. This exciting activity provides a wealth of environmental welfare and service experience. Check out this Story Map for a taste of the activities that are part of this service activity.
FIGURE SKATING Instructor: Peggy Ransom Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs or groups perform freestyle movements including jumps, spins, lifts and footwork on ice. It is the oldest sport on the Olympic Winter Games programme, first included at the 1908 London Games and again in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium. Figure skating represents an elegant combination of art and sport, testing athleticism, style and technical skill. Figure skating at Shawnigan offers skaters the opportunity to develop fundamental skating skills in the areas of ice dance, free skate and interpretive skating. Interested skaters may also choose to pursue synchronized skating or pairs skating. In accordance with Skate Canada regulations, all skaters who have not achieved Stage 5 in the CanSkate program or who lack good balance and control must wear a CSA approved hockey helmet while on the ice.
FILM PRODUCTION Instructor: Neil Trafford Selfies, travelogues, comedy skits, or run’n’gun stunt sequences; filmmaking, in the end, is always designed to entertain. SNL (Shawnigan Night Live) is an introduction-to-film class, exploring comedic and serious storytelling, fake news broadcasting and live-to-tape musical performances. Using iPhones, GoPros, Osmo stabilizers and drones. The class will cross collaborate with other New Media activities, participate in field trips and LiveStream events on and off campus, aiming to combine finished pieces into streamed campus broadcasts on various Saturdays throughout the year. Advanced Film Production is a follow-up course designed for those students who wish to expand on their own personal production; develop an idea into a movie, learn the professional craft of filmmaking as practiced in Hollywood, and possibly submit entries into Film Festivals for competition. Preference will be given to those with an existing original idea ready to develop, shoot and work through post production to final exhibition, or anyone with a deep passion towards filmmaking. Cross-collaboration with Recording Arts and Songwriting and Performance will take place throughout the year.
FLY TYING Instructor: Jean-Jacques Receveaux Fly tying beginners start by learning the different families of flies and how to tie them using a variety of materials. They are also taught basic casting techniques. Advanced students learn to tie more advanced patterns and are able to fill up their fly boxes with Western and local flies. Fly tying students have the opportunity to try out their fishing skills on Shawnigan Lake in the first and third terms, locally in the Cowichan region, and further afield in locations such as Tahsis, a premier ecotourism destination on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Students must have their own fly rod or can order one through Mr. Receveaux. With careful tutelage, fly tying students are able to learn fishing skills and enjoy outdoors experiences that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
HOMEWORK HELPERS Instructor: Sandy Sun The SLS Homework Helpers are a team of energetic senior students who are interested in working with local elementary students in an educational setting. Not only do the little students develop skills in homework and music, they also look up to our tutors as role models. Tutoring is pursued in a one-to-one setting after school, focusing on basic math, reading and writing skills, social studies, science, and modern languages. Homework Helpers will promote partnership that supports the social, emotional, and academic growth of our younger students. Homework Helpers also counts towards volunteer hours for university.
ILLUSTRATION & WATERCOLOURS Instructor: Carola Receveaux In this course you will have the opportunity to focus the many facets of illustration. Maybe you want to write your own graphic novel, or begin an illustrated diary or journal. Perhaps you like watercolourS, and have an idea for a children’s picture book, or maybe you want to design your own unique pack of tarot or greeting cards! From traditional botanical drawing to concept art, from zendoodling to portraiture, this is the place where you can explore it all.
MODEL UN Instructors: Paul Klassen and Andrea Carballo Model United Nations provides students with the opportunity to discover, debate and analyze global issues with other students. Apart from attending Model UN conferences internationally, nationally and locally, our student leaders work as committee chairs and overall organizers of the grade 10 Model UN, SHOC and ShawMUN. At last year’s ShawMUN conference, we hosted over 12 schools (200 students) with seven different committees to choose from. Although most of the program is focused on preparing for Model UN conferences, some introductory activities to debating are integrated into the first term. Students must commit to at least two off-campus conferences throughout the year and also participate in ShawMUN. Students that participate in this fine art walk away with many skills, including greater confidence in their public speaking and research skills, a greater ability to build consensus with others on complex issues and greater knoweldge about and interest in world affairs. Proposed conferences include: • UVIC MUN October 21-23 • VYMUN October 28-30 • PACMUN (Seattle) TBC November 21-22 • Grade 10 MUN December 9 • SHOC (Shawnigan House of Commons) (TBC) • VMUN (Vancouver) January 22-24 • BMUN (Berkeley, California) March 3-5 • SHAWMUN April 7-8 • OMUN April 22-23
MODERN MUSIC ENSEMBLE Instructor: Jack Connolly This Fine Art is all about making music together. We’ll jam, improvise, rehearse and learn how to perform for an audience and take advantage of performing opportunities on campus and beyond. All instruments are welcome and we will get playing from our first gathering and decide as a group which genres we want to cover. Expect to be challenged as a musician and collaborator. Modern Music Ensemble is a safe place to make mistakes and try new things because that’s how great music gets made.
MUSICAL THEATRE Instructors: Morgan McLeod, Kelli McLeod, Brad L’Ecuyer and Katrina Cholack Students involved in Musical Theatre will audition, rehearse, and perform in a fullscale, Broadway musical. This year’s production, We Will Rock You, will be presented April 4-7, 2019 at the McPherson Playhouse in Victoria, B.C. This activity presents a great opportunity for students who relish performance, acting, singing and dance to get involved with a vibrant, like-minded group and put their creative energies into a well-crafted and energetic performance. There’s also the opportunity for 2-3 students who are more interested in behind-the-scenes work to head up the production team and work in tandem with the professional stage crew at the McPherson Playhouse in Victoria.
PEACEFUL WARRIORS Instructor: Patty Forward “Everything you’ll ever need to know is within you; the secrets of the universe are imprinted on the cells of the body” Dan Millman, Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives Description: It’s true! Each of you has within you an infinite source of wisdom and power that can help you reach your full potential for a life of happiness and health...now all you need to do is to learn how to tap into it. So just how do you do that? The path of the Peaceful Warrior begins by stepping out of the often face-paced and stressful life of a Shawnigan student, and into a safe and supportive space where you can breathe, reflect and rejuvenate. With a group of fellow travellers, you’ll be exploring a medley of activities and engage in discussions that will guide you towards discovering hidden talents, calming your ‘monkey’ mind and building a repertoire of practices for encouraging a healthy mind, body and spirit. You’ll have a chance to explore some of the following activities: YOGA Nature Therapy Energy and Sound Healing JOURNALING Random acts of kindness MEDITATION Mindfulness Guided Imagery ‘Trust your guts’ – Harnessing your intuitive horsepower and more!
POD AND RADIO CASTING Instructors: Tom Lupton and Jon Zacks This is a fine arts program designed around the delivery and production of speech arts. As this is an evolving and dynamic Fine Art, the exact nature of the content will be determined through collaboration between instructors and students. Broadcasting, podcasting, speech writing and debate, among many other disciplines, will be considered. Students interested in any of these areas should consider taking this option. Join this group to learn the intricacies of speech arts with the goal of producing a self-directed podcast or a radio broadcast (maybe even a live broadcast!).
RECORDING ARTS Instructor: Steve Smith Students involved in Recording Arts have the unparalleled opportunity to learn audio and video production from an experienced professional at Shawnigan’s state-of-the-art recording studio. Recording Arts students work extensively on the Pro Tools | S6 control surface, which brings a world of professional mixing capabilities to their fingertips. They also have access to Pro Tools digital audio workstations, the very same tool used by the world’s most acclaimed musicians, producers, mixers, engineers and sound designers. Industry-standard Media Composer video editing workstations are available to students interested in exploring visual storytelling. With this complete professional system, students can work with content in virtually any format or resolution, including 4K and 8K. The facility is also equipped with an Avid NEXIS storage system that enables true storage virtualization for any media application and gives our students easy, on-demand access to a shared pool of storage. In addition to gaining invaluable experience in the creative and commercial arts that comprehensively prepares students to pursue this path at university and as a career, the recording studio is also a place where students with a wide range of interests and passions can unleash their creativity, gain digital media fluency and be challenged independently and collaboratively. Whether or not students who have spent time in the recording studio choose ultimately choose to pursue commercial arts as a career option, Shawnigan’s creative programming is an eye-opening, confidence-building and inspirational avenue to explore. Recording Arts instructor Steve Smith is well-known throughout the music industry. His 39 years of experience include positions in Los Angeles at the renowned Record Plant Recording Studios, Rusk Sound Studios and his own Take One Recording Studio. His accomplishments have garnered him many gold and platinum albums, including two Grammy award-winning productions for Christian artists D.C. Talk and Steven Curtis Chapman. He also played a crucial role in the recordings of Garth Brooks’ “Double Live” and Van Halen’s “Live in Sydney, Australia,” for MTV, as well as live recordings of KISS, Pearl Jam and P. Diddy. Steve also broadened his talents to include the film industry and has recorded and engineered full length, original film scores. In addition to sharing his wealth of knowledge and talents with students at Shawnigan, Steve is also an instructor at Northwest University in Washington. Listen on YouTube View our Facebook page
ROBOTICS Instructors: Nigel Mayes, Paul Doig, Jerry Kusters and Ed Taylor Robotics is a discipline that incorporates mechanics and electronics, along with computer science.This course will have students involved with science, technology, engineering, math, (STEM) and design skills in an interdisciplinary manner. Many creative approaches can be applied to the entire problem solving process. Initially, students will deconstruct a complex robotic system in order to better understand it, and move on to design, program and build a VEX-based robot to complete a specific task. Students will design and build increasingly more complex robotic systems, and have the opportunity to enter local and international competitions throughout the course of the year. In our first three years, our teams have qualified for both Provincial and World Championships! Our tournament season runs from November to April and we will be hosting our own tournament at Shawnigan in November. Although students are encouraged to prepare for tournaments, all levels of participation and engagement are welcome. Other Details: Shawnigan Robotics News: http://www.shawnigan.ca/finearts/robotics Vex Competition News: http://www.vexrobotics.com/competition?ref=hometile Tournament Schedule: http://www.robotevents.com/robot-competitions/vex-robotics-competition/
SCULPTURE Instructors: Carol Harvey and Lindsey Henderson Sculpture is a branch of the visual arts where the artwork is produced in three dimensions. Traditionally, sculpture used carving and modelling techniques, but the art has evolved to embrace more freedom in materials and techniques. Sculpture students will explore and learn about various materials and their corresponding techniques to create 3D art. Materials may include soapstone, papier machĂŠ, wire, clay, cement, plaster, wood and paper. Students will learn about and apply different techniques to their sculptures, including carving, assembling, casting, constructing, and modeling. Projects might be thematic (animals, human form, or a specific idea) or generated from the material or technique.
SEARCH & RESCUE Instructor: Kelsey McDaniel The year will be broken into two halves, with different rescue foci being prominent (but not exclusive) at different times throughout the year. All students will learn advanced rescue techniques involving rope rescues (rappelling and retrieving), swiftwater rescues, and wilderness first aid. Throughout each term, students will lead full rescue scenarios incorporating the learned skills. As well, students will be able to achieve internationally recognized certification in the following: TERM 1 1) Advanced wilderness survival 2) Swiftwater Rescue Technician level 1 (Rescue Canada) 3) Wilderness First Aid w/ CPR “C� and AED (Red Cross) 4) Winter Survival (Rescue Canada) TERM 2 1) Swiftwater Rescue Technician level 1 and/or 2 (Rescue Canada) 2) High Angle Rope Rescue Technician level 1 (ROCO Rescue) Additionally, up to 4 students who are locally based and 16 or older will be eligible to interview for placement with the Shawnigan Lake Fire Department to become Junior Members. These students will attend weekly (Wednesday) training sessions with the SLFD from 7-10pm, where they will become fully trained and certified firefighters.
SERVICE Instructors: Gary Dukelow, Jim Holland Service learning is an educational approach that combines learning objectives with community service, often in conjunction with local agenices, in order to provide a practical learning experience while addressing community needs. Integral to the success of service programs in schools are structured opportunities for reflection on these experiences that are built into the program itself. The Shawnigan Service Fine Art entails various hands-on service opportunities. These include working and playing with physically and mentally challenged teenagers, serving meals to the homeless population of Duncan, and visitations to seniors in care homes throughout the area. There are also a number of one-time only volunteer opportunities throughout the year. Students have the chance to reflect on their experiences through occasional discussion groups.
SEWING Instructor: Stacie Wilson No experience is necessary to join this activity where projects can be chosen to fit interest and skill levels. Students involved in sewing will learn about sewing pattern symbols and instructions, gain skills in selecting patterns and appropriate fabrics, learn how to operate a sewing machine and serger, learn how to use other sewing equipment and tools, and become familiar with basic sewing terms and techniques. Students who enjoy this activity the most are often precise and patient and able to persevere through to the end of a project.
STOP MOTION ANIMATION Instructor: Tracy Lewis Stop motion is an animation technique where the creator physically manipulates an object in small increments between individually photographed frames so that the object appears to move on its own when the series of frames is played as a fast sequence. Stop motion has a long history in film and television, including films such as the original Star Wars trilogy and Nick Park’s creation, Wallace and Gromit. Many students begin their experiments in movie making with stop motion, thanks to the simplicity of modern stop motion software and online video publishing. The Stop Motion Animation group at Shawnigan focus on experimentation and storytelling using a variety of techniques and materials, including plasticine, sand, chalk, whiteboard, cut-out paper, and found objects. As part of the learning process, students touch on every aspect of filmmaking, from script to screen. Students will learn every aspect of filmmaking, from script, to screen. Using Final Cut Pro X students may add professional looking titles, special effects and sound. At the end of the year, each student will receive a USB thumb drive containing his/her work.
STUDIO ART Instructor: Jenn Hutchins The Studio Art group engages in the self-directed creation of 2D art, using materials such as pencil, watercolours, acrylic, and chalk. A sketchbook or folder for ideas is a must as there will be a strong focus on idea generation and creativity. Participants don’t have to be experienced, just excited and motivated to learn and try.
TEXTILE ARTS Leola Witt-McNie — Instructor Textile arts are arts and crafts that use a variety of diverse fibres to create practical or decorative objects. Textile arts have experienced something of a renaissance over the past century, as textile artists have pushed forward the evolution of mediums used and conceptions of how textiles and textile creations can be considered art. With a myriad of materials to use, unlimited conceptual possibilities and a rich artistic history to explore, contemporary textile artists are able to create diverse, eye-opening, imaginative artistic and practical pieces. At Ms. Witt-McNie’s studio at Whippletree Junction, the Shawnigan Textile Arts group uses individual and group discovery to explore tactile techniques including knitting, weaving, dyeing, shibori, embellishment and needle felting. Students will require a sketchbook and a collection of printed personal photos and ephemera to begin and should expect their artistic motivation to be challenged.
WOODWORK Instructor: Bryden Boyce Woodwork is a creative and practical skill that has a significant history, having been practiced by many ancient cultures including the Egyptians and Romans. Woodwork encompasses several interconnected crafts including cabinetry, wood carving, joinery, carpentry and woodturning, all of which involve making items out of wood. There are a number of benefits, aside from the creation of useful and aestetically pleasing items, that make woodwork a great activity for young people, including creative thinking, problem solving, scientific investigation and the development of mathematical skills and spatial awareness. Being able to design and see a project through to completion can help teach planning and persistance, while being able to make functional and attractive objects for personal use or as gifts can help students achieve a real sense of self-satisfaction. Woodworking students at Shawnigan have the opportunity to create projects of their own design using all shop tools. Some experience is helpful, but more important is enthusiasm and the ability to listen, follow instructions and work methodically.
WRITE CLUB Instructor: Carol Anne Shaw (First Rule of Write Club: Write!) Do you like words? Do you dream about crafting a compelling short story, blog post, poem, or full-on novel? Do you have a million ideas, but you just can’t seem to get them out of your head and onto the page? Or perhaps you are willing, but feel you have nothing interesting to write about. (Psssssst...newsflash...you do!) As members of Write Club, we will jumpstart our creativity with a variety of creative writing prompts, exercises, and short word-nerd challenges. But the pressure is off here, and the emphasis will always be on fun over fear. Play and creativity go hand-in-hand. All you need is a love of words, your imagination, a writer’s notebook and/or a laptop. (A sense of humour wouldn’t hurt either, because we writers tend to take ourselves way too seriously at times.) So sign up and prepare to write to the finish! No prior writing experience is necessary.
YEARBOOK Instructors: Vikki Agate and Bessie Sebastiano Help to create the yearbook of the century! For creative-minded students, joining the Yearbook group provides an opportunity to learn photography, photo manipulation and publishing layout skills using software such as Photoshop and InDesign. Participants in this group will work collaboratively to create a vibrant snapshot of life at Shawnigan that graduates will look back on for years to come, and have the enviable ability to choose what pictures of themselves they want others to see!