June 2021 Vic High Vic H igh School Calendar for the 2021-2022 school year Principal’s Message As we close out the year, I would like to acknowledge our staff and students. School Opens September 7th, 2021 Despite the many challenges that came with moving to our temporary site, re- Thanksgiving October 11th, 2021 organizing classes into the unanticipated ‘cohort’ model and implementing Remembrance Day November 11th, 2021 extensive safety protocols, our students had a very successful year. Our success Last day prior to Winter Break December 17th, 2021 th rate was one of the highest we have seen in years, our graduates earned an School re-opens after Winter Break January 4 , 2022 st unprecedented $350, 000 in scholarships and most importantly our staff and Family Day February 21 , 2022 Last day prior to Spring Break March 18th, 2022 students were able to attend school safely all year. School re-opens after Spring Break April 4th, 2022 th th Good Friday April 15 , 2022 To the 2021 grads – congratulations! The 145 graduating class of Vic High will Easter Monday April 18th, 2022 have the distinction of being our pandemic grads. In the face of unusual and trying Victoria Day May 23rd, 2022 circumstances you demonstrated great leadership, caring and poise. We wish you Last day of school for students June 23rd, 2022 all the best in your futures. Administrative Day June 24th, 2022 Please note that there are instructions on how to access your transcript on our Professional Development Days website at: https://vichigh.sd61.bc.ca/wp- Monday, September 27th, 2021 content/uploads/sites/26/2019/07/Student-Transcripts.pdf Friday, October 22nd, 2021 Friday, November 12th, 2021 th We received mixed news about our school’s renovations. While we are delighted Friday, February 18 , 2022 Monday, April 25th, 2022 (Vic High only) that the project is officially going to include an all-weather turf field, a community Friday, May 20th, 2022 kitchen and a support hub for our partners in the intercultural association, we are obviously disappointed that the project completion date has been pushed back a full year. The delay will inarguably have an impact on our students, however we are steadfast in our commitment to provide a full ‘Vic High’ school experience for our students. Next year we will be offering Dual Credit Law for the first time, looking to reinstating our Hand Anatomy course and adding a new section of music. With the return of extracurricular activities, our intention is to test out the full capacity of our current location. Along with the use of the Topaz playing fields the Topaz Campus 2021 Scholarships features an additional art studio and fully renovated fitness, hair and dance studios. Vic High graduates have once again secured a record number of All returning students have been given “draft” course schedules for next year. While scholarships and bursaries to support them in their post-secondary some changes in class composition occur over the summer, most classes should pursuits. stay stable. A refreshed schedule, along with some “startup” documents will be Thanks to the generous support of our community and the Alumni mailed in late August. Association, Vic High proudly awards 50 scholarships worth more than $32,000 directly to graduating students every year. Please note that our office will be closed July 3rd and reopen August 23 rd. In addition to this, 2021 graduates have won over $350,000 in school district and community bursaries as well as post-secondary entrance Finally, I would like to congratulate Youth and Family Counsellor Lisa Roy who is scholarships. retiring after over 31 years in the district, 29 of which were here at Vic High. In total, 104 scholarships/bursaries have been presented to 57 Anyone who had the privilege of working with Lisa knows what a brilliant and caring different graduates, for a total of over $385,000. This means that more counsellor she is. She has positively impacted the lives of countless youth in our than 25% of our 2021 graduates have received financial support for community. We wish her the very best in her retirement. their post-secondary aspiration. The staff at Vic High wishes all our graduates all the best in their We hope you find time over the summer to read, be with your family, and safely do future pursuits. We know that you will make us proud. all those things that we have been missing as we worked through the pandemic. Take great care, Aaron Parker - Principal Grad Scavenger Hunt Capstone Presentation Night of the Notables Vic High International Program French Immersion Grads 2021 URINETOWN A number of interruptions — pandemic-related and otherwise — could not keep musical theatre students at Victoria High School from bringing their year-end production to the stage, even if it meant staging their version of the Broadway hit Urinetown: The Musical in a reconstituted bike lockup. Grads of 2021! Thank you to our wonderful grads and their families for their patience and resiliency this year. Good luck next year and beyond with all of your future adventures – we will miss you! This was certainly a unique year. Grads of 2021 were a unique group of grads. So it made sense that we provided a unique graduation ceremony. Our grads this year were not able to enjoy all of the usual celebrations throughout the year due to our COVID restrictions – and that was really tough on them. We had some themed days, treats along the way and a particular highlight was a VHS edition of The Amazing Race which was…amazing! Grad Recognition Ceremony We also had a wonderful graduation ceremony on June 18 which looked very different to previous years. We were not able to experience the formality of the ceremony in the Farquhar Auditorium at The University of Victoria but instead enjoyed a more intimate and family-centered celebration on the grounds of our Topaz Campus. The feedback was unanimously positive: students felt special, families enjoyed being directly involved and the staff loved being able to connect with their students throughout the ceremony. We still had our graduates cross the stage and collect their completion certificates but they also were able to wander through four different stations where they were treated to some unique, Vic High swag! A huge shout out to our sponsors who helped us make our ceremony special: Fergie Andison (grad of 1969) who designed, had made and donated all of the teddy bear t- shirts Garsigns who designed and donated all of those cool grad signs along the field Canadian Tire for all of the balloons and gift bags Brown’s The Florist for the two spectacular flower displays on our stage 04:13 "SHINE ALREADY" Dance Department Choreography by Sienna Nargang-White Music Credit: Already, Beyoncé; I Am (feat. Flo Millie) by Yung Baby Tate Performed by “Platform 61” 07:13 "BY MYSELF" Choreography by Rayn Cook-Thomas Music Credit: idontwannabeyouanymore by Billie Eilish Performed by Intermediate Dance 10:43 "BIG FISH"--Dance4Camera Choreography by Leah Melanson-Arlay Editor: Soo Song Music Credit: Vince Staples Videographers: Laara Huuskonen & Cian Waldron Performed by Hip Hop Crew-Club 12:35 "SILENCING THE SPIRAL" Choreographed & Performed by Xander Burrows Music Credit: Russ--Cherry Hill 16:20 "PAPER PLANES" Staging & Choreography by K. Krich with special thanks to CLI, Sienna Nargang-White, Sofiia & Jacob Music Credit: M.I.A. Performed by Intermediate Dance 19:08 "BACK TO MIDNIGHT"--Dance4Camera Choreography by Rayn Cook-Thomas Videographer & Editor: Soo Song The culmination of 8 month’s work is reflected Music Credit: Nicholas Britell and Ólafur Arnalds and documented in the 47-minute video. The Performed by Rayn Cook-Thomas and Laara Huuskonen dancers from "Platform 61", Advance, 24:21 "MY FUTURE" Intermediate, HipHop Crew and Dance4Camera Choreography by Rayn Cook-Thomas Music Credit: Billie Eilish worked incredibly hard on the production of Performed by “Platform 61” "Becoming". 28:42 "AL ANDALUSE"--Dance4Camera https://vimeo.com/559097067 Choreography, Videography & Editing by Laara Huuskonen Music Credit: Albert Buss Performed by “Platform 61” "Platform 61" Performance Troupe, Advance & 31:27 "ORCINUS RETREAT" Intermediate Dance and Dance4Camera classes Choreography by Rayn Cook-Thomas presents a 45 minute celebration of theatre, dance, Music Credit: Jacques De Vos, Jean-Michel Blais, Emptyset, and film. King 5, Hania Rani & Dobrawa Czocher Sound Design by Rayn Costume Design by Dragonware Program Performed by “Platform 61” 01:22 "OSTRACIZED" 41:27 "LIKE THAT" Choreography by Rayn Cook-Thomas Choreography by Ross Wirtanen Music Credit Run On, LP Staged by K. Krich with Dancers Performed by Rayn Cook-Thomas and Michelle Ploner Music Credit: I Love You Always Forever by Betty Who; Like That by Dojacat; Let You Be Right by Meghan Trainor Performed by “Platform 61” & Advance Dance Track and Field Congratulations to the Vic High track team. Our 15 students had an amazing season with all athletes improving throughout the spring. We had a virtual track meet within the lower island this year and our athletes excelled. It was wonderful to have so many people out and we hope to continue to grow our program. It was just announced this morning that our very own grade 12, Lucia Palma, is the Overall Lower Island Senior Girls track champion!! Congratulations to all our runners and we hope to see everyone out again next year. SCIENCE Tropical Plants and Exotic Isopods! Ayla Leckenby planted a tropical bioactive vivarium this spring as an independent science project. Ayla researched the species of plants and organisms and the vivarium is now home to many springtails (tiny jumping insects), exotic isopods and a Crested Gecko named Ernie (who isn’t likely to eat the isopods!).