Ms. Krysta, Ms. Maraina, and Ms. Dakota.

Dear Brookes Westshore Families and Friends,

Parent Teacher Conferences

This week’s parent-teacher conferences provided invaluable opportunities for constructive dialogue and collaboration between teachers and families. These conferences exemplified our commitment to nurturing strong relationships and ensuring every child receives the personalized support they need to thrive academically and socially. Thank you to all who participated for your dedication to our students’ educational journey.

New (and returning) Staff

We are delighted to introduce Ms. Krysta Czech, our new front desk coordinator, to our community. Ms. Krysta brings experience from various administrative and customer service roles. She has completed the Early Childhood Education Assistant (ECE) program and enjoys working with children. She also has her own real fruit ice cream business! Ms. Krysta has started training with Ms. Dakota today and is very excited to join Brookes and looks forward to getting to know everyone!

In addition, we are also thrilled to welcome Ms. Maraina Lightly back to Brookes! Ms. Maraina was our previous front desk coordinator prior to Ms. Dakota joining the team. She has many years of experience working in administration and with students. She is returning to Brookes in a different capacity assisting with uniforms and events.

Looking ahead:

• Wednesday, April 17^th at 4 pm, MYP5 Parent Info Session about the Diploma Programme
• Thursday, April 18^th at 2:15-3:20 pm, MYP5 Personal Project Exhibition (see below for details)

Thanks to everyone for your continuous support and have a great weekend!

Dr. Rui Li

Principal

Silent Auction 2024

Tickets for the Silent Auction on June 7^th are on sale here!

Tickets will initially only be available for families and their guests – we will open up sales to the wider community in a few weeks.

If you have a donation for the auction, or have solicited one from a local business, please drop it off at the front desk at any time! There are some great items already in – but we need more!

Images are from last year's auction to remind you of the fantastic items and delicious food you can expect!

Personal Project Exhibition – April 18th

The Personal Project Exhibition is an event to celebrate the hard work and achievement of our MYP5 class at reaching the individual interest learning and product goals that they set at the beginning of the year. The exhibition is the culminating event that showcases their respective journeys through one of the most challenging individual projects they have had to date.

The exhibition will take place April 18^th from 2:30 - 3:20PM, in the dining hall at Brookes Westshore. Students are excited to share their journey through the project, including highlights and advice for anyone on planning and executing their own personal projects.

Our MYP3 and MYP4 students will also be in attendance, as they are the next students to be completing their projects in the next couple of years. students are curious about learning more about what the project is about from their older classmates. 

We are very proud of what the MYP5 students have accomplished and look forward to sharing this event with the school. 

MYP 4 Design Request

Please consider donating some used and no-longer loved shoes to Mrs. Barton in Design for deconstruction and recycling in our MYP4 Shoe design unit: Walk in my shoes!

(Please note all students will use gloves and masks so this will be a hygienic operation!)

Exploring Sustainable Fashion: A Journey into Textiles and Recycled Style

In a world where fashion trends change faster than the seasons, a group of passionate MYP Design students at Brookes have embarked on an exciting exploration: Textiles: Recycled Fashion. Their mission? To unravel the threads of fast fashion, redefine style, and champion sustainability.

Inquiry and Analysis

These budding designers are diving deep into the fabric of our globalized society. Through research, watching news features, and discussions in class they’re dissecting the impact of fashion on our planet. Their questions echo through the corridors of creativity:

What Is Fast Fashion? Armed with eye-catching flyers, our students are defining and exploring the concept of fast fashion. They’ve peeled back the layers to reveal its rapid production, disposable nature, and environmental consequences. Stay tuned for their insights!

Please enjoy the work of Max, Caleb, Romina, Rachel, and Avery

The Road Ahead

As the weeks unfold, expect updates from our design studio. The students are stitching together their findings, experimenting with upcycling techniques, and envisioning a future where fashion doesn’t cost the Earth. Join us on this journey toward conscious couture!

Remember, fashion isn’t just about what we wear—it’s about the world we create. 🌎✨

Stay tuned for more articles in the coming weeks as we delve deeper into the world of sustainable fashion.

Grade 4 and 5 working together on their projects.

This week the Grade 4 and 5 students took it in turns to present their latest project to each other (biographies and the salmon cycle strories) - practicing their presentation skills and building connections across the grades. 

Bon Macarons!

Last weekend the dorm students booked an activity at the local bakery, Bon Macaron, which specializes in French macarons. The instructors taught them a little bit about the history and evolution of the macaron, buttercream, and ganache and how they vary between different countries. Students then did a step-by-step workshop where all the students were able to make a batch of macarons each. They learned about the different boiling states of sugar and about the science of egg whites and air and not over-mixing them. Students then got to pipe them all out and put them together when they were done. It was a great opportunity for our students who were interested in it for a variety of reasons, but especially the ones who are considering a career in the culinary arts. As you can see the macarons all turned out great and were delicious!

Congratulations to our girl's team for winning their 2^nd game of the season earlier this week against Spectrum Community School! We finished with a score of 2-1 with goals scored by Regina (MYP4) and Laura (MYP5)! We also had 2 girls play in their debut game, Regina and Daniela! Well done girls! Everyone played amazingly well and fought till the last minute to earn the W! Our Game 2 Player of the Game goes to Laura Mackenzie!

Later in the week our senior girl's suffered a hard-fought loss against Royal Bay, but were very grateful for all of the supportive fans!

We are excited to see what else this season will hold for us!

Brookes Westshore acknowledges that our school is on the traditional lands of the Xwsepsum (Esquimalt) and Lekwungen (Songhees) ancestors and families.
With gratitude, we live, work and learn here where the past, present, and future of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, faculty and staff come together.