Junior Boys Basketball

The Jr. Boys Basketball Team competed valiantly in a tough Richmond league. Led by their coaches, Mr. Kawamura and Mr. Buller-Taylor, the boys continued to improve their team play and individual skills throughout the season. The coaches were pleased by the work ethic of the team and the comradery they displayed on and off the court. The captain, Dru, proved to be a great leader of the team through speaking and through his example. Josh stepped-up his game considerably after the unfortunate season-ending injury to Martin, Patrick was the top scorer for the team. Elijah and Joel rounded out the starting line-up.

Eager and energetic off the bench were: Matthew, Terry, Romain, Kevin, Samuel, Graham, Malachi, Chris, Miguel, and Ethan. The Christian Schools Tournament in Victoria was a fun highlight of the season. The boys also competed in the Burnette Secondary and Rick Hanson Secondary basketball tournaments. The team would like to thank Mrs. Cindy Spencer for the many times she supplied home-baked snacks for the team during pre-game study sessions and for hosting the wrap-up party. Thanks also goes out to other parents who supplied snacks and to Mr. Sean Kim who provided video footage of games

Junior Girls Basketball

The Jr. Girls Basketball Team had a record setting season finishing 3rd in the Richmond League and 4th at the Vancouver & Districts tournament. Additionally the Jr. Girls played (and won!) against several Sr. Girls basketball teams. Highlights of the season include competing at the Sr. Girls BCCSSAA tournament in Chilliwack – complete with meals together, a sleepover and a snowstorm! The team grew in their teamwork, understanding of the game and appreciation for one another.

The individual skills that the team benefited from where: Tiffany and Millie’s amazing defence; Kiara’s steals and versatility; Alex and Clara’s ball handling skills and shot; Charity’s speed, endurance and steals; Bianca’s shot and box out abilities; Joise’s drive and ability to draw a foul; Anna’s shot blocking ability; Emma’s drop-step and defence; Kathryn, Cynthia, Amy, and Ashley’s eagerness to learn and support the team in whatever position needed. These girls are an exciting team to coach! We are truly thankful to the fans who came out to our games and encouraged us by cheering us on. We appreciate you.

Ms. Michelle Contant
Jr. Girls Coach

History 12 – Sharing their learning with Middle Campus Students

As part of the World War II, the History 12 students were challenged to research a specific topic related to the Holocaust. They took this information to create a 15 minute interactive lesson to teach the Grade 7s at our Middle Campus. Topics that were research and presented on this year included: The Nuremberg Laws & Kristallnacht, The Nazi Youth, Life in the Ghettos, Victims of the Holocaust and Life in Camps. The goal of this assignment was to give a deeper understanding of how the Holocaust happened and what it was like to live through the Holocaust. The students are discovering that while it may be easy to blame the Holocaust on the perpetrators, the bystanders (who did nothing) also played a role. We concluded the unit by looking at those who resisted against injustice and continue to examine where we need to move from bystander to hero and stand up for those with no voice.

Ms. Contant
History 12 Teacher

Senior Boys Basketball

The Senior Boys Basketball Team went into this season with clear eyes and full hearts ready to compete as a tournament team. This team’s identity was based on hard work and solid effort each and every shift. Led by the captains Justin, Brandon, and Timothy who brought incredible leadership and outstanding energy to every single practice and game.

The front court was busy with the above mentioned highly skilled and productive Steph Curry-like grade 12’s as they were responsible for most of the scoring. I have especially appreciated their unwavering commitment to this team and to the basketball program at RCS. Our do-it-all big man Justis led the team in rebounds and fast break layups. Noah took care of the back court with his tenacity on defence and tough play against all of the opposition big men. Chris brought an element of outside shooting and the ability to create space to make plays. Terrence, our grade 11 shooting guard, displayed amazing ball handling ability which allowed him to drive, pass, and shoot. He was clutch in all of those areas throughout this season. Our remaining grade 11 players Sean and Jesper finished numerous layups and short jumpers to add to this team’s scoring arsenal.

I want to give an honourable mention to Dru, a guard who starred on the Junior Boys team and served the Senior Boys team with depth, skill, and a workman-like positive attitude when we needed an extra player. I am honoured and proud to have coached these young men this year. In closing, I want to encourage them to continue to develop their skills and passion for basketball. Also, I want to encourage them to give back, when possible, to the younger players who love this sport. You never know when the next Lonzo Ball enters the gym and is looking to play some basketball.

Coach Buller-Taylor

Outdoor Ed Elfin Lakes Reflection

The Outdoor Education class spent three days last week at Elfin Lakes for our Winter Trip. As a class, we were blessed with incredible weather, which put us in awe of the beauty we were surrounded by. It is impossible to capture all the stories, learning and experiences that happened in three days; however, here is a snapshot from the students.

Ms. Michelle Contant
Outdoor Ed Teacher

I learned how to…
Dig a snow cave. This included how deep it should be, how long your tunnel should be, and how high up your sleeping platform should be. Additionally, I learned how to properly dig the snow – making cube cutouts in the snow. This significantly helped in the speed and efficiency of making snow caves. When we didn’t make cubes of snow it was a lot harder to make any progress into the snow and it made it a lot harder to get it out of the cave. Learning these things helped our group properly make a snow cave that kept us warm throughout the night!

Make clean water for drinking within a snowy environment. You should get untouched snow from outside and putting it in pots with water already inside. This ended up taking a lot longer than I thought it would, but was worthwhile in the end.

Sleep in a snow cave. How candles help heat up the place, placing emergency blankets and footprints under you help you keep warm, and how smoothing the snow cave walls will protect you from having the snow cave drip onto you in the night.

Properly pack a 25-pound backpack. Last time I felt my backpack was too full and not well packed; causing a lot of discomfort on the hike. While still work, it felt a lot better on this trip.

Recognize Avalanche Terrain. Looking around you could tell where safer places to travel in the outdoors are.

My Highlight from the trip was:
The bonding moments with my classmates. After working hard all day on snow caves, we came into the hut all together totally exhausted. We all sat together and just talked for over an hour sharing stories from the trip and it really made me feel close to the rest of the group.

Danny helping up finish out snow cave. After finishing his own snow cave, he helped us with our cave nonstop working for about one and a half to two hours. Without his generosity and kindness, we would have taken a lot longer to finish our snow cave!

Sleeping in the snow cave. I was a cool experience to get to sleep in something that had been nothing before and was actually surprisingly warm (especially since it was -14OC!)).

The beautiful surroundings that were everywhere I looked. It seemed that any direction I looked there was an amazing view at any time of the day. Even once it got dark there was an amazing amount of stars in the sky especially on the second night

A Mountain Top experience I had was:
Going out behind the cabin after devotions. The peace and serenity of being in the mountains overwhelmed me and I just felt very relaxed. I also felt very close to God being in his creation and just being able to admire both the intricacies of everything as well as how huge God made things in comparison to us.

Getting to Elfin Lakes the first day. Even though the hike was longer than previous hikes we had completed, it felt shorter. We hiked so well as a class and I was distracted by the beauty.