2019/20 Headmaster's Report Stories

Kindergarten students logged-on and were led through a virtual tour of the J. Paul Getty Museum. Together, the classes wandered and observed the many paintings, illustrations, and sculptures throughout the halls. They discussed the art, made comments, and asked questions. Together, students learned the many ways we express ourselves, and that there is no one, ‘right’ way to view art.

With our traditional grad celebrations cancelled in the wake of the pandemic, Ms. Bereza had to get creative (and go virtual) in her send-off of our graduates. She reached out to each and every administrator, faculty and staff member at Meadowridge with a call to help.

Noah W. caught the attention of the Duke of Edinburgh International Award Committee and earned a profile in their 'Perseverance Through Adversity' campaign. "I learned how to overcome adversity through my physical recreation as a high-performance fencer. In less than a year, I was able to go from dislocating my knee to competing at the national level. I learned a lot about hard work and determination and I think these are skills that couldn't have been learned anywhere else," Noah shared with the interviewer.

When students read in their ‘home’ language, (the language most commonly spoken by the members of a family for everyday interactions at home) they become not only better, more motivated readers, they become better English readers (and speakers and writers) too. That’s because having a strong grasp of a home tongue not only “boosts” a student’s ability to learn a second or third language, it also develops the learning of everything else.

"Standing in front of an audience and performing requires a lot of courage, which is something my peers and I learned first-hand during auditions for this year's senior play, Rashomon. During auditions, the production had yet to be decided. Since it could have been a musical or a play, auditions included not only reading lines, but also singing..."

Students in Meadowridge’s FIRST Lego League (FLL) Club worked in teams to meet this year’s FLL challenge, City Shaper, during a two-day tournament hosted right here at the school. Thirty-two teams in total – six of them representing Meadowridge – embarked on a STEM-fueled mission, using robots to solve a variety of tasks and challenges. In addition to building and coding and troubleshooting their robots, teams also had to prepare a presentation which spoke to this year’s challenge: finding creative ways to improve their communities. 

Students were encouraged to take meaningful action from home through a collection of safe engagements, including writing cards and letters to first responders, sewing face masks, donating food or books to local charities, and photographing local birds for worldwide research. Here's how students stepped up in the wake of the pandemic.

Since September 2019, almost all foods in the cafeteria are served in 100% compostable packaging. The SAGE Dining team also removed single-use plastic bottles, has done away with paper plates and plastic cutlery during all school lunches, and has completely eliminated all pre-packaged food.

“The best part of the Meadowridge Athletics Program is the environment and the energy. We have amazing resources, along with amazing coaches and staff, to help students become more engaged with the sport. One thing that makes the program unique is the culture and how it pushes everybody to the next level – no matter the athletic background,” explains Brandon Q. (Grade 11), who won the Senior Male Athlete of the Year.

If you’ve ever chatted with Mr. Willms, you'd know he is someone uniquely dedicated to the outdoors and the adventure it brings. For our students, this passion translates to an array of authentic, meaningful outdoor opportunities. Each of these opportunities, or Outdoor Pursuits as we know them, is planned for students to learn, take risks, and share unfamiliar experiences; each opportunity is intentional in developing students’ empathy, love, and care for the natural world that we all share and depend upon.

"Oh great, we have to do a crazy long project in Grade 10 – can’t wait!’ is what I had sarcastically said to my friends back in Grade 9, but little did Grade 9 me know that I would actually enjoy the Personal Project as much as I did. I learnt how important it is to not do something for the sake of ‘doing it’ but rather to do something with interest, and the motive to learn or make an impact, and this is a life lesson that will most definitely come in handy when it comes to making decisions about my career in the future...”

The IB Programme is what first attracted the Bath Family to Meadowridge, but it was the community which made them stay. Daughter Serena '20 explains, "It was the IB Programme, but also the community feel. When we did the tour, we had students lead our whole tour and everyone seemed so close-knit. Not even within the grades, but across the school. I came here in Grade 8, so I was nervous at first, but everyone was so welcoming..." 

“We do this trip so students can visit a French-speaking environment in their own backyard. They can, obviously, get the opportunity to speak French in an authentic setting while still being in Canada. It is so fantastic for them. This is my second year running this trip and both times the students came back so confident in their abilities. It also helps them realize the reasons they’re learning French. It puts it all in context. There’s also the cultural aspect of Ottawa, too. Students learn the history of Canada – why it is the way it is. Why do we learn French? What’s the history? Why is Ottawa the capital? How is it that Québec speaks French and the rest of the country doesn’t? It helps bring all this, and more, together for the kids. They come out much more knowledgeable and confident than when they walked in.”

Chloe Bissell '20 came to Vancouver in 2014 with her family after her parents fell in love with the city on a North American tour. Moving here from the United Kingdom, Chloe was rightly nervous on her first day, but that nervousness soon went away. "I was scared on my first day but going to Week Without Walls in the second week really helped. That’s where I made my friends. Things fell together pretty fast after that – school, teachers, friends – and within the first month I had really settled," she recalls.