The West Shore Local Hero Awards are back! You can find this yearB次元官网网址檚 special feature in the March 16 edition of the Goldstream Gazette or online under e-editions. Stay tuned for more on each of this yearB次元官网网址檚 honourees, you will also be able to read their stories online at goldstreamgazette.com/tag/local-hero-awards.

John Lyall has been the vice-principal at for two years and in that time he has worked to instill aspects of connection and community in his students.

As an alternative school, Lyall said his school tries to put connections before curriculum, focusing on the social and emotional needs of the children that spend their days learning.

B次元官网网址淲e want to ensure that students know that we care about them and we would provide a safe place for them here at the school,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲hile we want to make sure that kids are leaving here prepared, they need to know that we care about them first.B次元官网网址�

Lyall doesnB次元官网网址檛 speak of his work in an individual way, but opts for B次元官网网址渨eB次元官网网址� whenever he talks of the impact his presence at the school has made on his students.

In his description of the schoolB次元官网网址檚 environment, he notes several times the importance of welcoming kids, keeping them safe and ensuring they know they are cared for.

READ MORE: Colwood school, Sooke School District promote healing, reconciliation education

One way of doing that was by changing the schoolB次元官网网址檚 name from Westshore Centre for Learning and Training to Westshore Secondary and focusing on their mascot, the STKAYE, or wolf.

B次元官网网址淲e try to talk about the positive qualities of the wolf and togetherness and taking care of each other,B次元官网网址� Lyall said.

As Westshore Secondary has a population with over 40 per cent of students who self-identify as Indigenous, Lyall works to implement Indigenous ways of knowing and learning into the curriculum.

As a member of the KwakwakaB次元官网网址檞akw First Nation, Lyall said encouraging students to have a strong sense of place and identity are a few of his priorities.

B次元官网网址淲e want students to have a strong sense of place,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚n Aboriginal communities, we always introduce who you are and where you come from, that is how we kind of place ourselves in the world. So what we try to do in the school, is we kind of lend those similar traits of a sense of place and a sense of identity.B次元官网网址�

Lyall is also working to pass on his passion for Indigenous artistic traditions to his students. This year he and students are working on a drum project on the Sooke campus, making and painting drums.

B次元官网网址淭hat is something IB次元官网网址檝e enjoyed, going into classrooms and speaking about ways of knowing that are represented through artistic form,B次元官网网址� Lyall said. B次元官网网址淚t is one of the things iB次元官网网址檝e used to connect with our students.B次元官网网址�

LyallB次元官网网址檚 passion for education extends beyond the school setting as well, and he works with an Indigenous youth team called Thunder Rugby.

The principles he uses with his students at Westshore Secondary make their way onto the pitch as well, where he focuses on family and connection.

B次元官网网址淎 lot of the things and the traits of rugby - discipline and respect and enjoyment - are traits that are also consistent with Indigenous ways of knowing of being together,B次元官网网址� Lyall said. B次元官网网址淲hen we come together, we try to implement the philosophy of we are all one.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址榃e are all one,B次元官网网址� is an Indigenous philosophy that Lyall said he shapes much of his work around, and it is one that has helped him strengthen his connection with his students and his team.

B次元官网网址淲e are all one and we need to try to implement those ethosB次元官网网址� and simple teachings to move us forward,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭hose are the sort of things we are doing well at Westshore Secondary - implementing that we are a group or, you know - a community or a family and letB次元官网网址檚 move together.B次元官网网址�

READ MORE: 2023 Local Hero Awards