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Salt Spring Photographer John Cameron

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International Student

International Student at Gulf Islands Secondary School

This Latin American student is attending school on Salt Spring this year. And will be one of many International Program students featured in a series of upcoming videos.

Have you seen the video we produced last year for International Education in the Gulf Islands School District? It promotes the program, the school, and Salt Spring and the Gulf Islands. It’s short, powerful and worth a look.

I was more impressed than ever with the students and staff at GISS. I’ve been in hundreds of schools in BC, but I have not encountered such a warm, polite, and focused group of young people.  Congrats to parents, staff and to the students themselves.

Zealous, New Works of Choreography

Zealous Dance Rehearsal

Performing Arts (Theatre, Dance, Music and GISPA) at Gulf Islands Secondary School is my business cause, and since it’s near the end of the first semester, there’s always lots going on. Last night I shot many hundreds of images of dancers moving quickly and unpredictably in the dark. Photography is all about light and it’s tough when there isn’t much of it. Can’t really ask the dancers to freeze during the dress rehearsal so I can get a better photo! Still, there’s bound to be 200 or so images that will work and the students will likely have many of them posted on social media before the day is out.

The students at GISS choreograph what they perform. Pretty impressive at the classroom level, and always pushing incredible at the GISPA (Gulf Islands School of Performing Arts) level.

This show runs two nights only:
Tonight, January 13th and tomorrow night, January 14th at ArtSpring Theatre 7:30 pm. Tickets are $12.

Zealous Dance Performace

(check the SD64 website post for more images from the show)

Here’s the Press Release:
The youth of the Gulf Islands Secondary School (GISS) are excited to present their semester’s work of dance! The show will offer new works of choreography from the GISS dance studio. Included in the show is a great new R&B duet to Drake’s “Hotline Bling” starring Vani Engel and Kathryn Walker and a large group piece to Adele’s new hit song “Hello” choreographed by a group of advanced dancers.

The eleven dedicated dancers in the GISPA program are also performing and will offer an exciting list of pieces. “Once Again” with music by Hang Massive is teacher Sonia Langer’s latest vehicle for teaching new vocabulary and offering a deeper understanding of the dynamics of swing and fall in the Limon aesthetic. “Existence” presents the GISPA group’s creation which depicts the emotional lifecycle of humanity as symbolized in the delicate cycle of an oak leaf. Taking inspiration from an ink and watercolour drawing by Rebecca Clark, the group worked together to create this mature work.

The Phantom Tollbooth

The Phantom Tollbooth

4:10 p.m Tech and Dress Rehearsal for The Phantom Tollbooth
During one scene in the show several performers used a phone to provide individual light. Clever, effective and captivating.

The Acting 11/12 class at Gulf Islands Secondary presents its sharp-witted-end-of-semester show tonight (Wednesday) through Friday at ArtSpring Theatre, 7:30 pm. Tickets are $10.

Here’s the press release:

GISS DRAMA PRESENTS THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH

Embark on a magical adventure with The Phantom Tollbooth, adapted for the stage by Gulf Islands Secondary School grades 11/12 acting students.

The Phantom Tollbooth is a story about a boy named Milo, who can never work out what to do with himself. One day, a magical tollbooth suddenly appears in his bedroom and transports him into a land much different from his own. There he meets a cast of quirky characters such as the Whether Man, the Humbug, the Dodecahedron, King Azaz, and the Mathemagician. Milo is accompanied by his trusty automobile and dog named Tock as he goes on a journey to rescue two Princesses and return peace to the Kingdom of Knowledge.

Gulf Islands Secondary School

Gulf Islands Secondary School Construction

Construction of the 89 000 square foot (8279 square-metre) Gulf Islands Secondary School began in May, 1992 with a project cost of just over 13 million dollars. The school opened in September 1994 with 678 students in grades 8 through 12. Salt Spring Middle School opened the following year in the old high school with students from grades 6 through 8, leaving GISS with grades 9 through 12.

At the time of opening, GISS was one of only a handful of buildings in British Columbia with ‘ground source’ heat; 20 kilometres of pipe collected heat five feet under the playing fields. And another 40 kilometres of pipe in the school’s floors provided radiant heat. The trend continues as the school now sports a huge solar array on the gym roof.

Photos by John Cameron

Photographs of Salt Spring Island and areas reachable by ferry and road (and sometimes off-road).

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