For 25 years the west coast Vancouver Island trip has been a favourite tradition for our Grade 10 students. While it’s evolved over the years, the trip gives students the opportunity to experience something new, bond as a class and make memories that will last a lifetime.
How Bamfield Came to Be
Jonathan Kinman, affectionately known as “Coach”, began the trip tradition 25 years ago. Having previously taught at a school in the Ahousaht First Nation for six years, he had grown a deep connection with the area and the ocean. When he began working at SJS and heard from then counsellor Katrina Nightingale of the hope of connecting with First Nations groups, he proposed a collaboration.
“We had a class of 16 kids back then,” explained Coach. “There was a lovely lady in Ahouset with a bed and breakfast called Vera’s Guest House, so we’d book that and we went for a number of years.”
As SJS grew, the small bed and breakfast was no longer able to fit all the students. So the staff leased a logging camp, working with the Ahouset nation to rent boats for travel and water excursions. This worked well for a few years, before an unexpected curveball changed the trajectory of the trip.
“We showed up one year and found the logging camp in shambles. The windows were all broken, it was a mess,” Coach recalled. “And obviously not safe for the students, so we headed back to Tofino and managed to negotiate with a hotel to stay there. It worked out well in the end, but it wasn’t going to be sustainable.”
It was around this time that Coach, enjoying his summer holidays, happened to run into a woman named Leslie Lucas. And wouldn’t you know it, she was about to start working at SJS that September. As it turned out, Leslie’s husband Tom owned Harbourside Lodge in Bamfield. In 2013, this became the new home base for the Grade 10 tradition, now taking around 45 students each year.
Memories to Last a Lifetime
When reflecting on what the trip means to him, Coach is quick to smile. “When I’m on the water fishing with the students, I’m reliving someone’s first moment each time. It’s incredibly special and I never get tired of it.”
For most of the students, the Bamfield trip is their first time in a boat, let alone fishing. And every year our graduates quote it as one of their favourite SJS memories.
“I was definitely excited,” said Vivienne in Grade 10, who took part in this year’s trip. “My [older] sister really praised it, so I was looking forward to it.”
Even a 6:00 AM meeting time couldn’t damper the students’ anticipation as they took the mutli-step bus and boat journey to Harbourside Lodge. After an afternoon of relaxing and getting used to their surroundings, the next day saw the student embarking in small groups to try their hand at fishing.
“We started in a more protected cove to try jigging, where we caught rockfish and lingcod, stuff like that,” explained Vivienne. “After that we moved to salmon trolling. It took a while for us to catch a salmon.”
Salmon fishing can be unpredictable and a catch is never guaranteed, but after two and a half hours of trolling, Vivienne’s group got lucky. “It was really hard to notice the rod moving, but Coach saw it and grabbed the rod, and then handed it to me,” she recalls. “I only had to fight it for three minutes. It was sixteen and a half pounds. Even Coach was surprised with how big it was after such a short fight. I tied for heaviest fish with Amelia.”
Thanks for All the Fish
When not fishing the students had free time around the lodge to relax or play with the provided sports equipment—unless they were on meal duty. In groups, the students were assigned two meals to make and created a shopping list with Ms. Minnema ahead of time, who kindly prepared all the groceries for them. The best meal?
“The fish feast on the last night,” Vivienne said without hesitation. “But Mr. Deans and Coach did a lot of the work with the fish.”
While fishing was a favourite moment, Vivienne said it’s the chance to make memories with her class that she appreciates the most. “We’re grateful and lucky to have experiences like this. It’s really nice to have a break from school where you can still be with people you’re familiar with and have fun with them. We get to just be ourselves.”
Trips like Bamfield provide students with one-of-a-kind opportunities that they’ll remember well beyond their time at SJS. Read more about Outdoor Education and how experiential learning transforms the students’ experiences year over year.
