Dear Brookes Westshore Families and Friends,

Our grade 10 students returned from their weekend trip to Tofino on Sunday full of stories and new experiences. They were lucky with the weather and had a great time surfing in the cold waters of the Pacific. You can see from the photos how beautiful this part of the world is, and we are so happy to be able to have school trips back on the agenda for all our students.

The IB examinations started this week, and I wish all our grade 12 students success as they go through this rite of passage. We know how hard you have worked and believe in your ability to thrive under the pressure.

Term 3 ASAs are running well and once again our students are finding new activities to enjoy and building new skills by trying out new opportunities.

I am looking forward to next week’s Spirit Week (particularly Thursday’s no cell phone use day)!

With kind regards

Jerry Salvador

Head of School

Term 3 is off to a great start and many year levels have started getting out of the school for field trips. The opportunity to explore the wonderful learning experiences in our community is a valuable resource for students and it is wonderful to see them getting outside. 

• The MYP3 students travelled to Government House this week during their French block. 
• Next week, the MYP2 students will be completing their Walk-a-thon for Homeless Youth in Victoria.  The proceeds from the Walk-a-thon will be used to buy 16 back packs which will be filled with supplies and donated to a local social service for homeless youth. If you would like to donate to the MYP2 Walk-a-thon, we will accept donations at the Front Desk.  Students are collecting pledges but donations work as well!
• Aneesha and Semvia , both  MYP5 students, are attending Mini Med School sponsored by the BC Children’s Hospital today.  We are looking forward to learning about their experiences at this very popular event.

Salmon Eggs

Our salmon eggs have hatched and we are waiting for those alevin to become fry and start swimming. Ben has been monitoring the eggs/fry on a daily basis and he will be providing a presentation to MYP2 students next week in preparation for their release into Goldstream Creek the week of May 9th. MYP2 will be helping Ben with the release and we are planning a field trip with the release of salmon fry.

Numeracy and Literacy

This was a busy week of assessment at Brookes.  MYP5 students completed the BC Numeracy and Literacy Assessments, and DP2 (Grade 12) students have started writing their IB Exams.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the parent teacher conferences and I trust you found them beneficial. 

Max at the Times Colonist 10K.

A shout out to Max (Grade 6) who completed the TC10k this weekend in 43 minutes 16 seconds! He was the 204th competitor to finish (top 5% - there were 5000 runners!). He was the youngest person to cross the line at 43 minutes. Congratulations Max from everyone at Brookes Westshore!

We would like to ask you to share your thoughts on Brookes Westshore on the Our Kids website - one of our key partners in bringing new students to our school.

Your support is so helpful - your perspective really gives families the insight they need when deciding if Brookes Westshore is the right fit for their children. And we would love to welcome more families like yours to our school!

Please click here to start.

Thank you.

Parents of grade 9 and 10 students are invited to a Coffee Mornings on Friday May 13^th at 9 am in the dining hall. We know this is a time when your thoughts are on the final years of high school for your children, and we would like to give you the opportunity to talk with us, ask questions, and find out more about how Brookes Westshore delivers the IB Diploma Programme and supports students through to university. Please RSVP to Sheri. We'd love to see you there!

Spirit Week (2^nd – 6^th May)

To commence the first week of May (our final full month of school for the year!), MYP5 students (Camila, Frida plus others) have organised a Spirit Week.

Here are the themes for the week ahead:

• Monday: country (cowgirl, cowboy) vs. country club (golf, tennis)
• Tuesday: Twin day, dress the same as someone else.
• Wednesday: On Wednesdays we wear pink
• Thursday: Pj day + no cell phone use day -> contest of who has the less screen time in the last block (more instructions to follow next week)
• Friday: Free dress day, selling popsicles and ice cream ($$$ made from sales will go to charity and a good cause)

Note: Bottle Drive for Ukraine

Reminder to all staff + students! May 2^nd – 6^th We will be having a bottle drive! Please bring your bottles + cans (in bags) any day next week!

We will have them stored in the outdoor classroom until Friday afternoon. Money raised will go towards prom and The Ukraine Cultural Centre.

Thank You!

The Ocean Village Resort in Tofino hosted the grade 10 students last weekend. The sun shone and they had a fabulous time - surfing, playing volleyball and just relaxing together.

Grade 4/5 students had a happy visit to the Royal Bay playground - see the video for how much fun they were having!

Paddle boarding on Thetis Lake

This week Ms. Satsuki ran Cultural Club sharing her love of her home country -Japan, and the skills of origami and sushi making. 

Cooking Competition 2022

The Cooking Competition 2022 ended with Chinese food made by Henry, Scott, Holmes and Mark. The boys made Coke Chicken Wings as appetizers, Sweet and Sour Pork as the main dish and Brown Sugar Tapioca as dessert. The competition involved a total of five teams, between 3 and 4 participants each, that shared with us their family recipes and traditional food from different countries. 

We had two prizes: technical evaluation and popular vote. Mina, Nina and Mayu won the technical evaluation with the Japanese dinner. Janet, Semvia and Eva won the popular vote with the Asia Carnival dinner.

The technical evaluation depends on a dorm parent judgement  of the group's ability to follow food safe protocols, organization, time management and teamwork. On the other hand, the popular vote depends on students judgement of taste, presentation and originality of the food. 

Congratulations to everyone who took part!

The food theme continues with the making of poutine as a dorm activity last weekend.

Guest speaker, Rodrigo Disegni, P. Eng. visited the grade 9 design class this week to discuss transportation design.  Rodrigo has more than 20 years of experience in the Transportation Industry.  He is the Director of Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Highways at the Ministry of Transportation. 

Grade 9 design students are currently working on designing transportation hubs.  Rodrigo discussed issues to consider when designing hubs and answered lots of questions from students. 

Some site-specific artwork from the Grade 10 Art class with Ms. Campbell.

Activities April 22nd -24th

• Friday - 8:00pm Tarot Card Reading and Astrological Charts
• Friday - 8:30pm Quesadilla Night in Common Room 1
• Saturday - 2:00pm Nature Walk with Mr. Carlos
• Saturday - 6.30pm Paint Carnival / Fair
• Sunday - 3.30pm Big Fun soccer game at JDF

40% Discount for Powerful Youth Program for Brookes Westshore students!

This summer’s Powerful Youth Program is filling up fast! We would love to have students from Brookes Westshore be a part of the adventure!

We are offering a 40% discount for students at Brookes Westshore to join either the junior or senior Session One Program. Here are some more details of the schedule and some of the participants talking about the impact the program had on them.

Here is the senior schedule

Here is the junior schedule

1. Learn about the overall purpose of the program.

2. See some participant testimonials and descriptions from the junior program here 

3. Some participant testimonials and descriptions from the senior program 

Please contact Graham Brown (gbrown@brookes.org) if you are interested!

Key dates for the school year starting in September 2022 can be found here: Key Dates 2022/2023 - Brookes Westshore