February 1st

Student run newspaper committed to the St. George’s community

By Samir Javer

While many students were enjoying and relaxing

during their lengthy winter break, members of the St. George’s varsity basketball team were hard at work on a regular basis as they prepared for the 2011 Bedford Road Invitational Tournament (BRIT), a prestigious basketball tournament held annually in the city of Saskatoon.All of their rigorous work paid off,

as on January 8, the team emerged from the tournament victorious after defeating the hometown Centennial Chargers in the final by a 41-31 score, one of the lowest-scoring games in the final of the tournament’s history.Grade 11 “big-man” Milan

Mitrovic led the Saints with 17 points, accounting for an astounding 41% of the entire team’s point total.Meanwhile, on the defensive

side, Grade 11 guard Saahil Siddoo showcased his signature “deadlock” defense all game long and was successfully able to shut down the Chargers’ star guard, Ryan Schmidt. This was most evident in the second half when the Saints ramped up their defensive intensity en route to securing the victory. In a recent interview, head coach

Guy DaSilva praised Siddoo, the defensive stalwart. He explained,

By Paul Hahn

Heather Morris, head of service and charity, has declared that

St. George’s will be employing a new initiative on philanthropy for its grade 10 students.During the program, called YPI

(Youth Philanthropy Initiative), all students in grade 10 will have the chance to form groups of three to four students, according to their homeroom, and research a local social issue. The next step is to pick a social agency, which deals with this issue and visit the charity on site. Finally, the group will construct a five-minute presentation on their social agency. The format of this presentation

is optional. “For example, if the group has some members that are very good at making movies, their presentation can be a movie. If the groups would prefer doing a PowerPoint presentation, they can do that as well,” said Morris.If the presentation is very good,

the group will have the opportunity to expand their presentation to 10 minutes.Then, the group will advance to

the finals, competing against other

Saints rules in SaskatoonSt. George’s fights its way to the final en route to 2011 BRIT championship victory

“We put him on 6-foot-2 to 5-foot-6 (players). His impact on the game is huge.” Thanks largely in part to Siddoo’s

valiant efforts on the back end and Mitrovic’s offensive dominance, Saints was able to come away with the championship victory after the teams were knotted at 23 apiece at halftime.

Siddoo commented on his team’s play during the final, telling The Echo, “The first half was a little too close for comfort, but we upped our game in the second half, especially defensively, and were able to come away with the massive victory.” One of the team’s other remarkable

accomplishments at the tournament was thrashing the Ottawa Sacred

Heart squad, who came into the tournament as favourites and were largely disappointed to come away with a mere bronze. Saints defeated the team from the nation’s capital by a 41-36 score.The star of the tournament

from Ottawa, Sean Stoqua, was completely shut down by the Saints in their match and was an

absolute non-factor, leading to his team’s demise.British Columbian teams have

typically dominated at this tournament, most notably in recent history; the Saints’ 2011 championship marked the seventh straight time the tournament was won by a BC squad. The team embarked on January

5 from Vancouver for the frosty conditions in the province of Saskatchewan, and they were greeted with temperatures in the -20° C range, hardly welcoming conditions. Many members of the team claimed they had never experienced such a grueling climate, especially while having to keep their focus on each and every single game.Following their BRIT victory,

the team kicked off its regular season against #3 ranked Terry Fox Secondary, but came up just short and collapsed in the dying minutes, falling 78-72 in their home opener, held in the Dixon Gym at St. George’s on January 13.However, despite this “bone-

crushing” loss, the team’s confidence level is high, especially after emerging as the 2011 BRIT champions, a feat which is sure to provide some momentum as the season carries on.

The St. George’s first varsity basketball team, composing of 13 young grade 11s and one grade 12 student proudly display their new trophy.

St. George’s New Youth Philanthropy

top presentations from grade 10. The winner of the finals will then receive $5,000 that will be donated to the group’s charity.Morris wanted to provide grade 10

with a similar opportunity for quite some time, but it was only when she knew that other private schools, such as York House, were involved in YPI that she proposed the idea

to Dr. Philip Webster, who happily approved.“The reason that we are only

providing this chance to Grade 10 is because the program suggested this age group,” said Morris. However, the school is definitely planning upon repeating this initiative for the next couple of years, so that almost each grade will eventually have a

chance to give back.The $5,000 are donated by the Toskan Casale foundation, which was started by the individuals who created MAC cosmetics. The owners of this company made “a lot” of money, which they wanted to donate to charity, but instead of just donating it, they put it in the hands of youths. The foundation started by donating

$5,000 to only one school in 2002, but since then, the foundation has expanded to over a thousand schools in Canada, the U.K and the United States.

According to Morris, Saint Georges is hoping to achieve two things with the new philanthropy initiative. “The first is obviously about raising awareness about local social service agencies. Right now, students might only think about two of these agencies, but after the presentations, we hope that students will know more about these agencies.” The second thing is to provide students with a lasting sense of philanthropy.The school has already thought

about the possible problems that this initiative might create, such as group members doing more work than others, but currently Morris is only optimistic about the first year, and according to her, the pros definitely outweigh the cons.

Lastly, Morris mentioned that the first presentations, which are five minutes in length, will take place on March 9. The due date for the finals, which are 10 minutes in length has not yet been decided.

Heather Morris hopes that the new Youth and Philanthroy Initiative will spur innovative ideas

Staff news

By Nathan HawkinsStudents returned to school for the

2010-2011 school year and were greeted with a new headmaster and a new schedule. Teachers such as Bud Patel, Clare Rundall, and all five Heads of Grade are happy with the new system. Large portions of the student body

agree, with the general sentiment that the first 15 minutes of school are no longer “being wasted.” As well, a single meeting per week means students and their advisor have the week to formulate questions and raise concerns so that the 25-minute advisor blocks are well spent.

During an interview with The Echo, Patel acknowledged that information is much harder to circulate through the student body within the new system. Advisors aren’t there to read the daily announcements each morning and busy students neglect to read them on the screens around the school. Another potential issue is that

students will no longer have the time to become comfortable with their advisors and discuss daily life as well as problems inside and outside of school at a pace that they find comfortable. Patel is the principal of the school

as well as the advisor for a group of Grade nines and a group of Grade

By Tomas Fannin Jeremy Sayers recently qualified

to compete at the World Triathlon Championships in Beijing this coming September. Sayers, 47, will be representing Canada in the 45 to 49 age category. At the Canadian Championships

in Kelowna this past August, Sayers came sixth in his age group with a time of two hours 11minutes and 25 seconds for the 1.5-kilometre swim, 40-kilometre bike and 10-kilometre run. He was only four minutes off the winning time in his age group.The English and Journalism

teacher at St. George’s Senior School believes that teaching and being active everyday “keeps me young and allows me to keep active and do exciting things, like skiing and hiking.”Sayers’ training consists of

exercise almost everyday, but as the competition date closes in, he acknowledges that preparation will become more intense and time consuming. The 47-year-old athlete trains six to seven days a week, three of which involve swimming, four biking and three or four days of running. Although Sayers does not have a

fixed diet, he always tries to focus

By Joseph LuRoger Pimenta has only been at

St. George’s for two months, but the new head of IT has bold plans for the future of technology at the school. At the top of Pimenta’s agenda

is to replace the school’s network, which is currently incorrectly positioned and therefore cannot provide the speed and stability the school desires. “Come September, we will have a brand new network, which will be able to handle all of the school’s requirements. We will also have an entirely new data center and the wireless internet will be beefed up.” In addition, the new employee is

actively seeking feedback from both students and staff. To help facilitate the feedback, the new IT team has created a larger, more accessible IT service desk beside the ceramics room to encourage students and staff to get the help they need. “The previous vision on service

desk was to provide for the faculty and staff. In the new vision, as discussed with Dr. Matthews, it is providing service to not only staff but more importantly to students who are ultimately the ones using this technology. One of the innovative concepts the

school is looking at to become more technologically savvy is the one-to-one program where every student receives a laptop. Pimenta explains that the program is used effectively in other schools and the idea is currently being discussed with the faculty. “Also, there is an internal web

presence that doesn’t exist right now. Things like SharePoint, Google Apps, and other tools will allow to students to create their own web pages, blogs and wikis within the school environment,” Pimenta says. “Right now, to be honest, I would

rate the IT here a five out of 10. The goal is at the end of the year is to be a seven out of 10. In two our three year, we will obtain that 10 out of 10. A lot of that depends on what you guys are telling us we are doing right or wrong.” Pimenta, who studied at Ryerson

University, summarizes the new philosophy behind the IT at St. George’s as: “To support the teachers in better enabling students with regards to technology.” Recently, Pimenta helped create

the network that supported video during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics. In his spare time, Pimenta enjoys

playing ice hockey once a week and attends his nephews’ hockey practices and games. He also takes pleasure in reading, relaxing, and doing home renovations.

11s. As one of the faculty who helped push through the original plans for the new advisor system, he played an influential role and is happy to see it so successful. He said with finality that the system is definitely an improvement to the daily 15-minute homeroom system. “I think the power of this advisor system won’t be seen for a few years and the reason I say that is because your advisor will stay with you for that time. For example, I have a Grade nine group and I will have them for four more years,” said Patel. “The advisor system is actually adopted from a system used by English universities,” he added.He has been asking the student

body for their opinions on the new system. “Not really anything formally but in an informal sense. But it is a question in our student survey.” Patel reports that students have been supportive of the new system. He said that this new system has allowed him to make a deeper connection to his students, and he attributes that to “the opportunity to meet for a longer period of time, in a more focused period of time where we aren’t rushing to do attendance, etc.” The faculty has also been receptive to the new system. “All the feedback I have gotten from advisors has been very positive, they’ve enjoyed [the new system]

so far and they want more time with their students,” Patel said with a smile. He looks at this request as a positive sign rather than a problem with the system.

Rundall is an English teacher who specializes in teaching students from foreign countries who are struggling with the language at school. She is also the advisor for a class of eight Grade 11s. She said, “I really like the new advisor system on the whole.” She definitely considers it an improvement for the students, particularly because there is one less assembly per week.

She also stresses that “the kids starting in Grade eight will really feel the benefit of this new system when they are in Grade 11 and 12.” The advisor system is no longer a way to deal with students from year to year, it is helping them grow and achieve success through their high school life.However, she thinks the new

system “is not great for things like handing out library notices, checking ski day sign up, etc. There were some concerns about how [the faculty] would encourage students to bring in donations for the Hamper Drive. This didn’t turn out to be a problem for my advisor group, but I was a little concerned for the rest of the school.”

The biggest concern for the leadership councils of every grade in first term was the Hamper Drive. Because advisors couldn’t remind their students to donate every day, the first few days of donations were quite slow. Only the Grade 11s managed to bring in significant donations within the first few days thanks to a hot chocolate incentive program. Rundall also mentioned another

problem she has with the new system. “My only real concern about the homerooms this year is that borders are in special homerooms.” In the old system borders were evenly distributed with dayboys in the homerooms. “I don’t like that the borders are separated from the day boys and I wish the borders could mix in,” says Rundall. “I understand why [the administration] had to do it, but when we went to Loon Lake with the Grade 8s, the borders were mixed up with the dayboys then and it worked very well. But I do understand why they have done it this way. Making advisor groups which only consist of borders was the administration’s way of making it easy to get the forms to borders.” Borders receive information packages, notifications, and acknowledgement of risk forms that need to be signed before they can participate in school activities.

Homeroom changes welcomed by student body

on healthier choices. For example, his typical meals consist of chicken, beef, fish, pasta and rice. As for hydration during competition, Sayers drinks Gatorade and consumes Power Gels.Like most competitive athletes,

Sayers has had his fair share of obstacles to overcome. Because of his chronic shin-splint injury, he has found running to be the hardest event. Nonetheless, the English teacher has challenged himself to get faster and faster in the coming months. Sayers says, “The triathlon is definitely a test of character and the Olympic distances of 1.5km swimming, 40km of biking and 10km of running will push me to my limits.”The seasoned veteran is extremely

excited for the coming competition in Beijing on the 2008 Olympic course. Looking forward, he promises “to do the best I can.” Though he hasn’t won a competition

yet, and the weather in Beijing might be a challenge, many of his podium finishes are commendable. Whether or not Sayers is going to place at the World Triathlon Championship is irrelevant to him. At the end of the day, he still maintains, “I’m going to compete for as long as I can. ”

Sayers takes Triathlon skills to the world New Head of I.T. making am-bitious blueprintSenior English teacher to compete in World Triathlon Championships in Beijing

Jeremy Sayers (front of the photo), already 47, is preparing for the world triathlon championship with enormous efforts

By Peter Ding

At the beginning of February, St. George’s School’s special

wind ensemble will be revived under the leadership of six outstanding senior band performers and Marco Rnic, Director of Music.

The new ensemble, consisting of selected student performers, will represent St. George’s school at Music Festival Canada. Band size is limited for this competition; the senior concert band will not participate in the festival.

Players of the pit orchestra for the school play, The Sound of Music, were inspired by the idea of having a small group of the best players perform perfectly. Among the players, Conrad Ng, Ian Lin, Warren Lee, and Donathan Yung came together and proposed to Rnic a new, smaller, and better ensemble.

Ng, a Grade 11 student, one of the

By Samir Javer

Ever since being drafted into the Western Hockey League

(WHL), Zach Yuen made it clear his goal from that moment on was to improve his game to the best of his abilities.All his hard work since then has

paid off, as in early January, the Grade 12 student’s name appeared on the National Hockey League (NHL) Central Scouting’s mid-season rankings, which ranks players eligible for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Yuen placed 87th amongst all North American skaters, making him likely to be selected in the second or third round of the seven-round draft, which will be held in St. Paul, Minnesota in June 2011. There have been a handful of

WHL players who have gone on to become highly successful NHL stars, such as Duncan Keith, Ryan Getzlaf, Jarome Iginla, Shea Weber, Cam Ward, Scott Niedermayer, and the legendary Joe Sakic. Yuen aspires to do the same.He distinctly remembers the

moment he was selected by the Tri-City Americans in the early stages of the bantam draft.“I was actually in school when I

was drafted to the WHL in 2008. It was an extremely exciting day for me when I heard the news.”A Grade nine student at the time,

Yuen had no idea just where he would go from there, as he was solely focused on continuing on with high school hockey.However, the Tri-City prospect

would be forced to leave Saints in order to compete on a regular basis in the WHL.He told The Echo the moment

Grade 12 student places 87th amongst North American skaters eligible for 2011 NHL Draft

he was drafted “proved to be a big stepping stone in the pursuit of [his] hockey career.”Since late Grade 10, Yuen has

been playing in the WHL for the Americans, and is absent from the school for roughly 75 per cent of the year, returning for the latter part of third term.Yuen joined the Americans for

their playoff stint in the spring of 2009, and actually scored a big goal in one of their matches as a 16-year-old rookie. In the 2009-10 season, the 17 year

old played for just over half the regular season with the Americans, as well as 22 more playoff games, as Tri-City captured the WHL Western Conference championship, but were defeated four to one in a best-of-seven series against the Calgary Hitmen in the 2010 WHL Championship Series. Yuen recalled this grueling playoff

run and said it was without a doubt his best hockey memory of his life thus far.The 22nd overall pick in the first

round of the 2008 WHL Draft, the 17-year-old defenseman stacks up at six feet and weighs a healthy 205 pounds according to NHL.com.His size and strength are two of

his most prominent qualities, along with his blooming offensive upside and reliability as well as durability on the back end.The most prominent factor for

Yuen’s gradual ascent into the junior hockey spotlight has been the massive breakout season he has had thus far on a strong Tri-City team.In 45 games this season, Yuen has

five goals and 17 assists for a total of 22 points, along with an astounding +24 plus/minus rating to lead the Americans, meaning the 17 year old has been on the ice for 24 more goals at even strength by the Americans

than the team has given up. His play has improved drastically from the 2009-10 season, when he recorded just four points in 42 games.The Vancouver native told The

Echo that the jump up to the rigorous standards of junior hockey was tough, but it is clear it helped improve his game. “It was definitely a big step jumping

from school and club hockey to playing in the WHL. The hardest part about playing in this league is the long road trips that can last up to two weeks.”Experts project the Grade 12

student to become a solid, two-way defenseman in the foreseeable future, as a number three or four defenseman on a team’s depth chart.Despite Yuen’s mid-level ranking,

many junior players in the past have seen their value shoot up drastically since their WHL days and been pinpointed dead center on scouts’ radars.One such player is Ryan Johansen,

a product of Port Moody, BC, whom Yuen admires, was selected a meager 150th overall by the Portland Winterhawks in the 2007 WHL Draft and didn’t even end up playing in the WHL until the 2009-10 season, in which he recorded 25 goals and 44 assists for a total of 69 points in 71 games, a highly respectable total. As a result of his improved play, the highly-prized youngster was selected fourth overall in the first round of 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets, behind a trio of young stars, namely Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin, and Erik Gudbranson. It didn’t stop there for Johansen, who went on to be selected to the 2011 Canadian squad

that participated in the World Junior Hockey Championships in Buffalo in January of this year. Johansen recorded nine points in seven games for the red and white, and was named to the tournament all-star team by the media. Johansen is just one of many

players Yuen can certainly look up to for inspiration as he continues his ascent into the junior hockey spotlight.While Johansen has fit in nicely

in Columbus, Yuen made it clear his dream is to be drafted by the hometown blue and green.“What can I say? Growing up in

Vancouver, the Canucks have always been my favourite team. Not only is it my home town, but I think that the whole atmosphere would make it a great experience.”As for the WHL experience itself,

Yuen made it clear he has no regrets on how it has gone thus far.The Grade 12 student explained,

“Personally, I believe that the WHL has lived up to the expectation of being one of the best developmental junior hockey leagues in the world.”As the latter half of the WHL

season continues, the big-bodied defenseman remains focused on improving his play and attracting attention from scouts, which will hopefully help improve his spot in the NHL’s Central Scouting Final Rankings, which will be released in April of this year.“The main thing for me is to be

focused each and every day and to improve all aspects of my game. From there, hopefully I will become a better hockey player and come closer to my goal of playing in the NHL.”

musicians who initiated the new ensemble, informed the Echo that the school once possessed such an ensemble; however, it disappeared in recent years for unknown

Student stories

reasons. The director of music was elated and supportive to have the special ensemble brought back. Ng said, “The ensemble would be a continuous and self-sustaining

 

project; young musicians will be trained and become leaders in their senior year.”

According to Ng, every student in the school, who plays a wind instrument, is allowed to tryout for the ensemble. The ensemble will accommodate approximately 40 people.

In order to select competent players from candidates, Ng said that he and his colleagues will hold four auditions -- two for woodwind players and two for brass players. The auditions will be held in the last two weeks of January. The examiners, who are the initiators of the new ensemble, will test each candidate on major, minor, and chromatic scales, and a piece of music, no longer than one minute, prepared by the candidate.

Limiting the ensemble to only 40 people means that only one or, at

most, two musicians are responsible for each part of the music, such as first flute and second flute. Ng believed that, in comparison with the senior concert band, the special ensemble would elicit greater commitment, emphasize stronger musical expression, and elevate the group’s skill level. Ng assumes that members of the ensemble will benefit from inspiration, motivation, and practice.

When asked about what kinds of music the band would perform, Ng responded that high-level marches are the first choice of the new group, but other “fancy” and challenging pieces will also be included in this year’s program. The small band will practice twice a week; one time in the morning and the other time after school. The exact dates of practice will be decided according to band members’ schedules.

Yuen inching closer to NHL dream

The Special Wind Ensemble Brought Back to St. George’s

St. Georges student trying out for the new St. Georges New Wind Ensemble.

The Grade 12 student Yuen is one of many eager prospects who cannot wait for their name to be called to the podium in June 2011.

By Paul Hahn

Lindsay Thierry, head of admissions, has declared that

the cultural demographics of St. George’s are not a problem.

A controversial article entitled ‘Too Asian?’ was first published in Maclean’s magazine in November 2010, and concerns itself with the racial imbalance at Ivy League schools. Several quotes within the article suggest that a significant number of “white” graduates do not even want to consider schools such as the University of Toronto, because it is “too Asian.”

As a response to this, Thierry said that he is not sure whether this is a problem with students looking at St. George’s, but he is entirely sure that when looking to apply to St. George’s, or any other school, the student must first make sure that all aspects of the school are optimal for his individual type of education. It is well known that St. George’s is a school in which students try to work hard in order to achieve good grades, but Thierry does not think that this is because of the cultural demographics of the school. However, only 28.6% of surveyed students agree that the demographics of Saints have nothing to do with the

school’s academic success. However, Thierry does also

understand the dilemma that applicants experience when choosing the right school. He notes the importance of being academically focused, usually expressed by “Asian” students.

However, he also realizes that the stereotypical Caucasian parents are less concerned about their children’s academic prestige, but also want their children to excel in sports and co-curricular activities.

In addition, Thierry does not think that the cultural diversity of St. George’s is flawed. In fact, he believes that the demographics of Saints perfectly represents the demographics of the Lower Mainland, or even Vancouver West, where the school is located. 71.4 per cent of surveyed students say that the demographic of saints represent

those of Vancouver West. In addition, 82.5 per cent of surveyed students also agree that the racial demographics of Saint George’s are not abnormal.

Tomas Fannin, a grade 10 who recently transferred from Churchill, says that there are more Asians at Churchill, when compared to Saints.

“Being near Burnaby, where there is a sizeable Asian population, this is quite understandable, I guess,” explained Fannin.

The Maclean’s article goes on to describe the cultural unfairness and quotas that some Asian students have to deal with when applying to Ivy league schools. For example,

according to a study done by Thomas Epenschade, who surveyed 10 elite U.S. universities, Asian applicants must score a total of 140 more SAT points to reach an equal footing with Caucasian applicants.

Thierry definitely does not support this process of administration, and emphasizes that Saints will always be a school in which all applicants have an equal chance of being accepted.

71.5 per cent of the surveyed students agree that St. George’s should never employ a racial quota for its applicants.

Feature Stories

By Peter Ding

Every Saints student knows that the school has one of the best

basketball teams in the province, but few of them know that St. George’s also runs the “best score-keeping table.”

Score keepers were rarely recognized in St. George’s history, until recently. Paul Cohee, Head of Discipline and a basketball coach at the school, claimed that Tommy Thompson (a Grade 11 student and vice-captain of boarding) ran “the best table in the province.”

Although being one of the basketball players is strenuous, requiring years of practice, being a score keeper is not an easy job. For Tommy Thompson, the head score keeper, the score keeping career started five years ago.

Thompson said, “Ms. Richer (no longer working at St. George’s) got me interested in score keeping in Grade 8 promising $5 per game. Since then, I started getting taught by others about score keeping. It was not only about the money but about learning a new skill.”

At the beginning of his career, Thompson faced frustrating challenges. For example, during his first game, he mistakenly input the players’ numbers into the data, because he was not able to identify the specific way to enter the scores.

Thierry Reviews Saints Demographics

“I felt that the world was going to collapse and I was embarrassed because of the immense amount of time I used to prepare.” Since then, Thompson has made few mistakes in score keeping.

In Grade 10, Thompson found no teacher with whom he could discuss score keeping. Richard Cohee, who

realized that Thompson had a great interest in score keeping, was pleased and decided to make Thompson the head score keeper of the school.

Thompson’s responsibility is not only to set up the score table, keep scores, record and upload the score and manage the clocks, but also to make sure that other score keepers arrive on time for every game of the season. He trained new score keepers 15 minutes before games start. He spends an average of three hours each week for each team.

Apparently, Thompson has 20 score keepers working with him. “A new score keeper joins every 10 games, he is either referred by a

teacher or asked by me in the gym about whether he wants $10 per game for score keeping,” Thompson said.

By making sure that he maintains a high standard, Thompson enjoys his work. Six times this season, according to Thompson, scorekeepers forgot their games,

and he “had to cover for them” but “forgot” one of their records of score keeping. These oblivious score keepers need to make up by helping Thompson on other critical situations.

Thompson, the unsung hero in games, said that he was fine with not being recognized. However, he is not entirely satisfied with score keepers’ status. “The school

needs to communicate better with the score keepers on what times the games start, because there have been several occasions when I was told last minute about whether the game was happening or not happening. I feel distressed because it is unfair for me to put in a lot of effort into the situation, which I don’t have to be in. Ms. Richer used to be responsible for my current job, and there was no head score keepers. I want to help others, but the school did not help us as a score keeper group in a particular manner. We have to act as lone wolves and get things done.”

At. St. George’s, students of different cultures backgrounds are able to work together in harmony.

St. George’s boasts Best Score Table in Province acording to Paul Cohee

By Paul Hahn

Martha Bassett, head of Japanese at St. George’s, firmly believes that this spring’s Japan tour will be another great success.

The Tour, which will be taking place from March 19 to March 30, will start at in Japan’s capital, Tokyo, where the students will take a river cruise to Odaiba, a large entertainment centre. Then, the students will visit the giant Buddha that is located in Kamakura.“Next we’ll do home stay in Kyoto and spend time with Ritsumeikan School

student mentors who will guide us through both ancient and modern Kyoto. We’ll make a day trip to Hiroshima to visit the Atomic Bomb Memorial Peace Park. Then we’ll visit Nara where we’ll see yet another giant Buddha, feed the tame deer, and rent bicycles before returning to Tokyo and then Vancouver,” Bassett explained.Bassett declared that 17 students will be attending the tour, of which five

are currently enrolled in Japanese at Saints. “Two others speak a bit of Japanese.”The total cost for this trip will be $4,500 for each student, which will

include all meals, accommodation, transport, admission fees, and even laundry. “Depending upon the fluctuating value of the yen, we hope to issue a refund to students upon our return,” explained Bassett.Bassett definitely believes that the students will learn several things during

this trip. She mentioned that students will learn about life in another culture, and will learn new skills as they endure the inevitable surprises of travel.Although there has been a total of five Japan tours, Bassett said that each

tour is very different depending upon the interests of its participants. For example, some tours have been focused upon outdoors, ceramics, manga and anime. “The driving force of the first ever Japan tour was rugby,” Bassett

explained. However, the first tour that Bassett was involved had two motives and occurred in 1992. “The first was that Japanese was first introduced as a language at Saints, and some teachers, such as David Suffrin, wanted to climb Mt. Fuji,” explained Bassett.Bassett cannot think of any negative experiences during a Japan tour,

because according to her, the tours have always been very rewarding in terms of teaching students about a different culture.However, Bassett has had some challenging experiences. Bassett

elaborated, “On Mount Fuji two boys experienced altitude sickness and needed to be escorted down by me while the rest of the group ascended to the top. On another trip we misplaced our Japan Rail Pass cards and used our most polite Japanese to get on the trains without them. And on another trip we encountered bed bugs, which I now know to be a growing hazard of travel.”

Saints Spring Japan Tour another Success?

Thierry does not think that the cultural diversity of St. George’s is flawed. ... 82.5 per cent of surveyed students also agree that the racial demographics of Saint George’s are not abnormal.

“I want to help others, but the school did not help us as a score keeper group in a particular manner. We have to act as lone wolves and get things done.”