Expedition #4- Giddy Up! Leadership Through Ranching Cohort

Words & Photos from Scott R. & Julia

The Giddy Up! Leadership Through Ranching group took a day off of the ranching and decided to spend more time focusing on the Leadership part of the cohort with a couple different options for the group. We started the day at Crag X climbing gym where we worked closely with each other while learning how to belay each other. This activity taught us the importance of interpersonal communication and building relationships with each other. We engaged in some activities to practice safety and effective communication in the large group, before separating to practice in pairs. This was a highlight for the cohort, as learning leadership practices through sport was something that was new for the group.

In the afternoon we went to UVic to meet with professors on the topic of leadership. Our first activity was with partners, listening to each other. The activity was designed to teach us the importance of listening in leadership and to remind us of the important role “followership” plays in leadership. The rest of the day was spent discussing the different types of leadership: transactional versus transformational. Transactional focuses on exchange and people always asking “what’s in it for me?” the transformational style of leadership focuses on change where a leader really inspires people to make sacrifices for the greater good. Overall, we learned a lot about leadership on the day and we were all very inspired. We look forward to continuing to build up our leadership practices through the spring!

a

Expedition #4 - School Grounds Coffee Company Cohort

Words & Photos from Garret W. & Jessica C.

We had an exciting and dynamic fourth Expedition Day in the School Grounds Coffee cohort. We were very lucky, and were invited to come to UVIC and work with processor Mia Maki and some of her grad students. We spent the majority of our day learning the key basics to run and start up a business that most people forget. We went to a computer lab to be taught how to use microsoft excel to create a very useful spreadsheet to calculate how much supply and inventory we would need to successfully run our business and never have too much or run out of stock. After we moved locations inside of UVIC to be taught about how to market our product and market it correctly to the right market. Such as how to advertise to the people we expect to buy our coffee. This was very interesting and we began planning our own marketing strategies for School Grounds Coffee.

After lunch we went to Discovery coffee downtown for the remainder of our day. Here we were taught the very key basics on our to serve and extract the coffee from the coffee beans. We went over on how you should keep the equipment clean as you work and the proper technique to operate the machines without wearing out the joints in your body over time. Excitingly, we will now be able to operate the espresso machine in the Howard cafe at SMUS and serve coffee customers.

We are all looking forward to putting all the skills we are acquiring into practice as we aim to launch the School Grounds Coffee company here on campus.

a

Expedition #4 - Service & Philanthropy Cohort

Words & Photos from Diana L.

Last week we had the chance to go to Our Place, a local shelter and resource for Victoria’s homeless population. We were able to do some volunteer work and help to support the incredible staff who work there.

We started doing a quick tour of our place and then began working. We prepared the meal for the next day, including peeling 900 cooked eggs, carrots, peppers etc. After cooking we ate the meal that the kitchen prepared for our place. People started to come to have lunch and it was our job to greet the people coming in and to take the plates when they were finished. 500 people came in an hour and most of them had second helpings, so you can imagine how many plates we did including with the help of the staff! This was a humbling and satisfying experience to see how much work goes into supporting the community that accesses the resources at the Our Place Society.

One of our initiatives in the cohort this year is to collaborate with local organizations and help support them with funding. We returned to SMUS and we chatted to whom we are going to donate $2500 to assist in their charitable work. We decided that our cohort’s goal is to help to fight homelessness. On that note, we finished the day discussing what we are going to do in our 5 day pursuit in June to work towards this goal.

Expedition #4 - Ahousaht: West Coast Cultural Experience Cohort

Words & Photos from Xavier M.

At the Ahousaht : West Coast Cultural Experience cohort, we went fishing for halibut with our cohort leads, as well, we were very lucky to have Mr. Jackson join us to act as a naturalist tour guide. We had a lot of fun learning about fishing patterns and how to find out where the fish are using the machinery. Mr. Jackson was able to add many details about the local west coast geography and wild life as we toured along the Oak Bay beachfront.

Our fishing guide for the day was Captain King, who was very knowledgeable, as well as very fun.. He talked to us about conservation and how we can help protect our oceans and fisheries for the next generations. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to catch any halibut due to bad conditions but we still managed to catch a fair amount of crab and green-ling which we later filleted and cooked. For a lot of us it was our first time fishing which made it a really cool experience.

We look forward to coming together as a group during the next Expedition Day!

s

Expedition #4 - Yoga, Mindfulness & Pilates

Words & Photos from Julie R.

For our 4th Expedition we learnt about pilates and where it came from as well as explore our own posture. We started our day off in the Wenman pavilion and learned about the history of pilates. We heard about how a man named names Joseph Pilates developed this system of exercises which are intended to strengthen the human mind and body. Some of the first people that learnt this method were soldiers post WW2 and dancer. Yes, it sounds like a very strange mix but pilates helps a lot with posture which was really interesting to learn about.

Following our learning about the history and theory of pilates, we did a posture analysis to see how we could modify our posture in a more ideal healthier way. After our morning of learning new things, we took a bus to studio fitness to do some pilates! We went into more depth on how it is important to exercise and strengthen our core to improve posture. We sampled various pilates moves both individually and in partners. We were also very fortunate that studio fitness was the only place in canada with bungee pilates. It was super fun and everyone was actively engaged in learning this new training style.

We have really built up our skills through the year, and have now had the opportunity to be exposed to a range of training practices. We look forward to coming together again in the spring, where we will begin our level 1 yoga certification.

Expedition #4 - Student-Athlete Experience Cohort

Words & Photos from Eddie K & Ethan B.

The Varsity Athlete Experiential cohort spent the day at UVIC, first meeting a few students currently attending the university. We had the opportunity to ask the group questions, regarding their life at UVIC, and their transition from high school to university.

We then got to tour the entire campus, moving in and out of the different buildings and classrooms, including the library and residence buildings for students living on campus. We were shown the most recently built apartments. Then, we came back to the main hub and interviewed 3 SMUS graduates, who are all involved with varsity athletics at the university. This was particularly exciting as we got to ask them questions about school/sport balance, training schedules, and what they were enjoying most about their time as a university athlete. It was great to hear about their path from SMUS to UVic varsity sports.

To end the day off, we headed to UVIC Carsa, the newly built athletics center to get a good workout in, with a personal instructor who works with all of the UVIC varisty teams. We were given some instruction on basic lifts, and then walked through and introduction to strength training program that we could take and use on our own. It was an incredible day, and we look forward to the opportunity to come together as a group in the spring.

Expedition #4 - Sports Analytics Cohort

Words & Photos from Toby W. and Mat G.

For the Sports Analytic Expedition Day, the cohort went to Vancouver, which was our first major excursion away from Victoria as a group and we were all very excited. Our group left on Wednesday 7:40am, and took the 9 o'clock ferry to Vancouver. The purpose of this trip was to go visit Simon Fraser University, where we had the opportunity to connect with experts at SFU in the field of data analytics, specifically related to sports.

Professors Jim and Peter (Peter is a SMUS alumnus!), spent the day with our cohort, and taught us about how statistic relate to the field of sports. Jim who is a specialist in statistics had many students went who have gone on to work in professional sports leagues as analysts. Peter showed us how to analyze a sport game by using a program called Hudi. Hudi is very useful, because you can upload your own athletic highlights and many others can view it and breakdown the data. Around 3pm, we left SFU to go back and take the 5 o’clock ferry. We left very excited to see the application of much of theory we have be learning about in our cohort in action, and are looking forward to coming together again as a group in the spring.

Expedition #4 - Music Writing & Production

Words & Photos - Aneissa B.

The Music Production cohort had a very exciting Expedition Day, as we got to welcome back SMUS alumnus and professional musician Emily Reid. Since graduation, Emily has been pursuing a music career in Nashville, and has a major studio album set to release this spring. We were all very excited to have the opportunity to work with her for the day.

We started off by meeting Emily Reid and Kyle Shearer, her partner who is music producer, and learning a little bit about them. We then started our first project of the day, our recorded song. We started with a piano part, added guitar, drums, and even a rap. We made lyrics with help from Emily as we went. By lunchtime, we had our completed song “Take Me Away” and were all very proud of what we accomplished with help from the creative Emily and Kyle’s amazing producing. I was blown away with how professional it sounded, and that we were able to complete it in such a short amount of time!

After completing our big group project, we ate some lunch then broke up into smaller groups. Some learned more about the producing program Logic with Kyle and some made up some guitar rifts Some students chose to work with Emily to create harmony to Billie Eilish’s “when the party’s over”. We worked in our groups to create music and do what we enjoy.

To end the day, we came back as a group to listen to our song. We were all very impressed at what we were able to create, and we couldn’t thank Emily and Kyle enough. We are very excited that we may have the opportunity to connect with Emily again this year!

Expedition #4 - Who Am I? Exploring Cultural Roots Cohort

Words & Photos: Crisha H.

This pas week we had another Expedition Day and it was amazing! The other members of the cohort and I had an exiting experience by meeting the lady who is going to guide us during the five day Pursuit Trip in June.

Part of the focus for the Pursuit trip will be building our own drum, and learning how to play it. Today was our first taste of building up the skills that we are going to use during the culminating trip of the year and our cohort was able to choose between different types of drums and sizes that we will be making during our adventure. We were also able to create some beads, a little sculptures made out of clay, we will be using them as decorations on our own drum. Many of us had never done a sculpting skill like this before, so it was very fun to go through the process of learning something new. It was also exciting to think that we would be using the decorations as moved ahead in June.

Each time we come together as a cohort we have a great time connecting, and it was so nice to meet the instructor that we will be working so closely with through the spring. We are already looking forward to our next Expedition Day after the break.

Expedition #4 - Bees & Peas Please! Cohort

Words & Photos: Nicole Y.

This is our fourth full day in our cohort, everyone is so excited because we were planning our own bee hives for the next expedition day. First of all, Ms. Marti helped us to summarize what we need for the beehive. We divided to three research groups: Bee suits, beehives tools and buying bees. We have had a group discussion for 1 hour. Each of the group made their own presentation and present it to the whole team. Teachers and students solved different issues and questions together. Finally, we made a basic plan for welcoming our bees on April. After that, we went to brown hall and planted diverse seeds for Mr. Klenz’s garden. For instance, broccoli, cascadia, snap peas and so on. We learned many farming tips from Mr. Klenz. Some people planted several vegetables in the little pots for themselves. Everyone had a great planting experiences before the lunch.

In the afternoon, we went to the farm, we saw the familiar face again- Farmer JIM!. Jim use horse manure to replace the fertilizer. We moved the natural fertilizer to muck the apple trees. It was tiring work, but we do have sense of achievement for mucking four apple trees successfully. Then, we cleaned up the weeds in two different fields. One is the strawberries field, another one is the empty field.  All the weeds that we cleaned, even can fill in more than two wheelbarrows. At last, everyone got a fantastic natural apple juice from Jim for our rewards. All the apple trees that we muck, will become the resources of our apple juice. Our hard working for the environment will make a better world for ourselves. That is the amazing cycle of our world!

We look forward to continuing our work together throughout the spring as we build toward the June Pursuit Trip.

Expedition #4 - Writing & Visual Art Cohort

Words & Photos from Jasper D.

We began today’s long-awaited expedition day by boarding a school bus and heading down to Mary Lake Nature Sanctuary, where we spent the day writing, collaging, and drawing! Mary Lake Nature Sanctuary is a 67 acre protected forest, located in the Highlands District, about a thirty minute drive from campus. Their goal is to preserve the ecosystems and protect the wildlife found in the environment. On the property are plenty of hiking trails as well as an indoor space situated on a beautiful frozen lake where we spent the majority of our time!

We started off the day by sketching a variety of different objects including antique locks, seashells, glass bottles, acorns, rocks, etc. Michelle, a local artist, led us through an activity that helped us view the objects in a different way, from a different perspective. She put a glass bottle on the table, covered it with a cloth, and then pulled out a hammer. We were all quite shocked when she smashed the bottle into hundreds of tiny pieces! She then explained how there isn’t just one way of looking at something and that a great, successful artist can view things from multiple perspectives. She handed out a variety of different beautiful papers, with different textures and patterns, pens and pencils, scissors and glue. And we began my favourite part, the collaging process!! We cut up our drawings, old dictionary pages, the colourful paper and pasted them on our collages. The project was quite open, which allowed for everyone to be very creative, resulting in a bunch of beautiful and unique pieces!

For the writing portion of our cohort session, Mr. Dewar led us through several five minute writing prompts about a chosen object. Some of the objects my peers chose include: a shoe, a lock, bottles, a rock and many more! We are planning on creating and polishing a poem based on the writing prompts. After, we had a chance to share our work from last expedition day. We sat around in a circle and everyone had an opportunity to share one of the poems they had written. It was really great and inspiring listening to everyone’s pieces.

We all can’t wait for our next Expedition day!

Expedition #4- Alternative Energy & Design

Words & Photos from Adam W.

The alternative energy cohort group went on a field trip to UVIC and spent time with students at the engineering lab, learning about different types of sustainable energy systems, how efficiently it is stored and costs for producing them. We had the opportunity to connect with professors and graduate students from the UVic Institute for Integrated Energy Systems department and hear about the work they are doing at the university and applications beyond the campus. It was an incredible chance for us to see some of the things we are learning about in our cohort applied on a larger scale.

The students in our cohort were tasked with completing activities to demonstrate the reliability of different energy systems and how many factors can impact a systems ability to produce energy and to function properly. This was very hands-on and was an excellent learning experience. I valued the access we had to the UVic students to ask question and collaborate with them on this cool project.

At the end of the day, we continued to build pieces for the wind turbine we have been constructing since Term 1. We are looking forward to coming together again in the spring as we look ahead to the June Pursuit trip.

Expedition #4- Ceramics & Glass Fusion Cohort

Words & Photos from Alicia S. & Alex C.

This week I had our fourth Expedition Day of the year, and we were very excited to connect within our cohort. The first thing we did in the morning was use the slab technique to make a small tile. Some people made patterned tiles, and some people put on shapes and designs. On our next Experiential Day, we plan to melt glass on top to make an impression. Next, we did a clay dish where we played with different textures and patterns and how it looked on the clay. Next we learned how to do a pinch pot which is like a small bowl. It was a very challenging process and it took us a few tries to get it right. We then used this technique to create a small clay animal. Some of the animals made included a clay bunny, dogs, and seals.

In the afternoon we learned the coil method to make clay pots and vessels. We rolled out long pieces of clay, then coiled them into the shape we wanted and smoothed it out. When it was finished, it looked like it was done on a pottery wheel. Finally, we made a small dish, and we will melt glass into it on our next day together as we build towards the May Expedition and June Pursuit trip.