At $19 million, it is the single biggest donation ever to a Canadian independent school and certainly the largest donation Shawnigan Lake School has ever received.
The gift, announced May 6, to Canada’s largest boarding school from Jim Shaw, the former CEO of Shaw Communications, and his wife, Kathryn, stems from a longtime relationship with the school.
“I know my time at the school had a profound impact on the man I am today,” Shaw said in a statement. “Kathryn and I believe in the school, its vision and, most importantly, in the possibilities it offers young people.”
Shaw attended Shawnigan in the mid-1970s. The Shaws live in Calgary with homes in Kelowna and Chester, N.S., but remain connected to the school in various ways, including its board. (Jim Shaw’s brother, Brad, is the current CEO of Shaw Communications.)
The $19-million gift includes $11 million to be put mostly toward a new library. Another $8 million will fund the Shaw Family Scholarships, which started in 2006. It will double to 20 the number of students assisted — generally from Grade 10 to graduation — in attending Shawnigan Lake School each year.
“This is a truly monumental day in the history of Shawnigan Lake School,” school headmaster David Robertson said. “It’s an incredible honour for us and it’s one that we take very seriously — and the responsibility that comes along with that honour — so we have to do the absolute best we can to fulfil the vision.”
The school, founded in 1916, has about 450 students in Grades 8 to 12. The fees for the 2014-15 school year, comparable to other Island boarding schools, range from $22,900 for a student who doesn’t live on campus, to $42,500 for a Canadian boarding student, to $56,300 for an international boarding student.
The $19-million gift pushes Shawnigan’s Building on Strength campaign to $32 million, just $8 million shy of its $40-million goal for 2016, the school’s centennial year.
Robertson said the new library is envisioned as the centerpiece of the school’s Learning Commons, equipped with the latest in educational and technological advancements that will see the school through its next century.
The $8 million for scholarships comes in the form of a donor-managed fund that will see $500,000 in “much-needed” annual funding for 20 students who could not otherwise attend the school.
As part of the scholarship there is a pledge, signed by each recipient, committing to give back at some point in the future, helping another young person to benefit from the “Shawnigan experience.”
“Everything we do and we have built, it’s all about inspiration,” Robertson said.
“It’s about inspiring [students] to be good people and to be the best they can be and you want anyone who comes into the place — whether visiting or for a conference — to have the same kind of inspiration.”
