Read the latest op-ed written by our new Head of College, Jason McBride, where he shares his thoughts on the ongoing climate crisis and how our Climate Action Leadership Diploma students will drive positive change through climate action. Read the full article here.

“I look forward to welcoming a first-year cohort of amazing young people representing dozens of countries,” said Jason McBride, who this month assumed the role of President and Head at Canada’s only United World College. “During their two-year residency on our campus, they will be with us to celebrate the school’s 50^th anniversary throughout 2024-25 and I’m looking forward to being part of that cohort!”

Read all about it here. 

One of our students, Nathaniel Stuit will be representing the Déné Nation with Team BC as part of the 2023 North American Indigenous Games. He spoke with Jason D’Souza about what the experience has been like so far. Listen here. 

Our 2022-2023 Impact Report is out, showcasing our influence locally and globally!

See how our current and former students make a difference by reading the latest release, which includes the link to the report here.

Incoming first-year Gabriel Moyse-Vaandering won the Lester B. Pearson Scholarship and will be attending our school next month. Read the article and hear the interview here, which features alum Alice Ferguson O’Brien.

In a remarkable display of athletic prowess, incoming second-year student Nathaniel Stuit achieved unprecedented success at the North American Indigenous Games by securing a gold medal in the men’s U-19 400m dash final with a score of 51.89.

Read all about it in our release here.

A group of our theatre students made the front page of the summer edition of the Metchosin Muse! See how their trip to Prague to participate in the Prague Quadrennial went down here.

We are thrilled to announce that one of our students has been selected to represent our province at the prestigious North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Read more.

Six Canadian and international students from Pearson College UWC, together with supporting adults, are performing this month at the renowned Prague Quadrennial in the capital city of the Czech Republic.

What’s going to happen during those ten days? Read the release here. 

Seven students from a private college on Vancouver Island have completed a six-kilometre ocean swim to raise money for those affected by recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

Read all about it here.

Recently, CHEK News showcased our 2023 Race Rocks Challenge as part of their 5 pm newscast, including an interview with the winner and our event organizer.

See the clip here.

Seven Pearson College UWC students recently completed a challenging six-kilometer swim from Race Rocks Ecological Reserve to the college’s waterfront dock. The swimmers hailed from Canada, Ireland, Costa Rica, the United States, and Turkey.

Read the press release here.

As part of CFAX1070’s flagship morning show, host Al Ferraby spoke with Grace Goudie, one of our first-year students and a participant in the 2023 Race Rocks Challenge to talk about the swim and how she and her peers are feeling heading into the weekend.

Listen here. 

We are proud to be hosting the Race Rocks Challenge on Sunday, May 14 — Mother’s Day — that will see up to seven students swim 6.5 km in open water from the Race Rocks Island jetty to the main College dock on Pedder Bay. 

Read the press release here. 

VICTORIA NEWS –

Pearson College and Victoria’s Ukrainian Cultural Centre hosted the first Celebration of Ukrainian Arts and Culture, with traditional performances by locals with close ties to Ukraine.

The event Saturday (April 15) featured dance, music and art that celebrated Ukrainian resiliency and culture. Read more. 

Pearson College UWC, and Victoria’s Ukrainian Cultural Centre are proud to present the first-ever “Celebration of Ukrainian Arts & Culture” on Saturday, April 15, from 1-4:30pm.

Guests and members of the media will be treated to an afternoon full of dance, music, visual arts, and storytelling to celebrate the passion and resilience of Ukrainian culture by over thirty of our international students, including first-year Ukrainian student Diana and local Vaselka dancers and Bandurists. Read more.

Our Arts Open House and Celebration of Ukrainian Arts & Culture were recently featured in the April edition of the Metchosin Mews. Read more.

With spring break just around the corner, a select group of international students from nine countries across the globe will take to the slopes to learn the art of snowboarding, skiing and snowshoeing and the significance of the land upon which they will be learning.

Click here for more info.

Canada’s most international school and the home of the first Climate Action Leadership Diploma program for high school-aged youth welcomes you to our campus for our Climate Action & Sustainability Symposium. Click here for more info.

 The first-ever Independent Schools Association of British Columbia (ISABC) Youth Environmental Conference Friday, Feb. 24 provides Lower Mainland media with an unprecedented opportunity to hear from and speak with some of the province’s brightest young changemakers focused on the environment, climate action and sustainability. 

Students from across the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island will take part, including those from Pearson College UWC’s leading-edge Climate Action Leadership Diploma program. Read more about it here. 

Our Race Rocks Ecological Reserve Ecoguardian recently recorded and shared an incredible video of a Northern elephant seal recently giving birth on Great Race Rock Island.

View the release, which includes a link to the video here. 

GOVERNMENT OF CANADA – Each year, Canada’s Volunteer Awards present twenty regional awards and one national award. The national Thérèse Casgrain Lifelong Achievement Award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated a dedication to volunteering for at least 20 years. The twenty regional awards are awarded to five regional recipients in each of the following four categories: Emerging Leader, Business Leader, Community Leader and Social Innovator.

Our very own Rebeccah Raphael (YR 45/2020, Canada-NS) was featured as an emerging leader! Read all about it here.

Two innovators with strong Victoria connections – one with a lengthy and varied educational experience both locally and internationally and another who is a Royal Roads University Associate Faculty Member and a social entrepreneur working at what he has articulated as the intersection of people, policy, pedagogy and parity – this week joined the Board of Directors of Canada’s most international school, Pearson College UWC.

Read the release here.

On International Students’ Day, Pearson College UWC, Canada’s most global
school with students from 94 countries and territories this year, is proud to
announce the appointment of international educator Jason McBride as President
and Head of College, effective August 2023.

Read the release here.

Pearson College UWC graduate and Yukon resident Tess Casher were recently named one of 11 Canadians to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, Class of 2019!

Read all about it here.

Pearson College UWC, Canada’s School for the World, located on the unceded territory of the Sc’ianew First Nation near Victoria, this week appointed Jason McBride as President and Head of College, effective August 2023.

Read the full media release.

The most critical global threat facing humanity today is the climate crisis, and Pearson College UWC has developed an innovative program to help students, aged 16-19, build skills to successfully engage in climate leadership. With over 600 hours of instruction across two years, students learn from Indigenous Elders, external speakers, and guest lecturers in facilitated online sessions and in-person activities.

View it here.

Pearson College UWC last night welcomed nearly 100 guests to an event that officially launched what will be the home stretch in a multi-year Renew and Re-found Campaign to raise $40 million to support student scholarship and modernize the learning and living environment of our campus along Pedder Bay on the traditional territory of the Sc’ianew First Nation.

Read the media release.

Welcome everyone and particularly to our new Year 49s — for some of you this has been quite a challenge just to get here. It’s great to see you all – returning Years 48 and new Years 49. How inspiring to see everyone gathering outdoors together with our staff, faculty, volunteers, Houseparents and campus residents.

Read the full media release.

In their latest edition of the PULSE Magazine, Victoria Foundation recently featured the partnerships between the District of Metchosin, Pearson College UWC and the Sc’ianew First Nation to protect the lands under the Mary Hill Indigenous Protected Area.

Read more on Page 4 here. 

VICTORIA – A new partnership between three prominent island educational institutions marks Earth Day by investing in future climate action leaders to find solutions for the complex challenge of climate change. 

Two recently signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) between pre-university school Pearson College UWC, Vancouver Island University (VIU) and Royal Roads University (RRU) formalized the collective work done to develop Pearson’s new Climate Action Leadership Diploma program (CALD) intended for Canadian and global students aged 16 to 19. 

Read the full Press Release.

Traditional territory of the Sc’ianew First Nation/Metchosin – Victoria resident Rebecca Beauchamp brings her Māori Indigenous knowledge and experience to her new role as Pearson College UWC’s first Director, Indigenous Initiatives and Engagement.

“I have had the honour and privilege to work alongside Indigenous communities here on Vancouver Island and in Aotearoa,” said Beauchamp who most recently was Manager and Team Lead for the XaXe STELITKEL Early Years Center at the Victoria Native Friendship Centre and previously lived and worked in New Zealand.

“Today, I live, work and raise my children on Lekwungen territory and I tread respectfully as a visitor upon these lands.” Beauchamp identifies as Māori, the Indigenous people of Aotearoa/New Zealand, on her father’s side and English/Scottish ancestry from her mother who is second-generation, Victoria-born.

Since 1974, Pearson College UWC has annually welcomed up to 200 students from across Canada and from 160 countries around the world. The College, located along Pedder Bay in Metchosin, was the first in Canada to offer a pre-university International Baccalaureate Diploma Program and this fall, will introduce a new IB-based Climate Action Leadership Diploma program with both educational streams emphasizing a place-based approach to teaching and learning.

“We are privileged to live and learn on a magnificent campus overlooking the bay and integrated into the surrounding rainforest,” said Head of College Craig Davis. “We recognize and understand these are gifts that have been stewarded by our friends within the Sc’ianew First Nation community and by the many Coast Salish peoples who visited this area since time immemorial.”

As Director, Indigenous Initiatives, and Engagement, Beauchamp will guide implementation of the College’s Indigenous Vision and Reconciliation Action Plan with responsibility to lead and strengthen Indigenous education support and the College’s engagement with Indigenous communities and organizations. She will also help develop, support and implement Indigenous educational programming, such as language, culture, and land-based initiatives, including working with faculty to incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing, doing and seeing into their curricula.

“I believe our responsibility as educators is to support the teaching to and the learning of children and young people as well as to nurture and care for their wellbeing in a holistic way,” added Beauchamp. “At Pearson, I want to develop and support culturally responsive and culturally safe educational and community-driven programming which in turn helps support Indigenous students learning and living at the College.”

Davis added that Beauchamp’s role was identified in the College’s Indigenous Vision and Reconciliation Action Plan and complements steps including new SENĆOŦEN language names and artwork for student residence houses and the recent announcement that the College would contribute 14 hectares of Pearson-owned lands as part of a proposed Indigenous Protected Area, to preserve ecologically and culturally important lands.

Beauchamp officially assumed her new role on 1 April.

This summer, the campus of Pearson College UWC in Metchosin will again take on a younger vibe with Pearson Experiences Summer Outdoor Leadership Day Camps for 6 to 14-year-olds.

Located on the traditional territory of the Sc’ianew First Nation along Pedder Bay, the Pearson campus provides acres of green space, adjacent forests and safe water access and all the amenities for an awesome childhood experience this summer. Registration Opens April 6, 2022!>

Read the full media release.

Read the full news release on the Te’mexw Treaty Association page

The climate emergency is such that we need to start educating young people from all nations earlier on how they can most effectively take action through a variety of education pathways and their subsequent professions.

Read the full news release that was submitted to The International Educator and other media outlets.

Pearson College UWC has been nominated for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize! To be completely accurate, the United World College movement, of which Metchosin-based Pearson was the second school to join back in 1974, was recently nominated for the prestigious award.

Read the story submission to the Metchosin Muse and/or the media release to local media outlets.

Mid January we are gradually welcoming Pearson students back to campus for the spring term after their well-earned respite during the annual Winter Break!

A gradual return allows us to set up a limited rapid test regime for returning students (and staff and faculty) on campus and ensure that all students comply with applicable federal regulations regarding testing and self-isolation for travellers, which vary depending upon their individual situations. For instance, while all Pearson students were fully vaccinated before they left in December to see family and friends, those returning from international destinations (except the U.S.) are required to isolate until they receive a negative test result upon their return.

Read the full news release.

07 Dec – New Board Members join Pearson College UWC

07 Dec – Stories for January Metchosin Muse

16 Nov – Victoria-area College Partners to Educate More Young Refugees

17 Oct – Please Stand 3 Raccoons Apart…2020 on the Pearson Campus

24 Aug – Restarting at Pearson: Adaptation, Preparation, ‘Quarientation,’ Education

13 Aug – New Pearson Head Begins with a ‘Traditional’ Bay Jump

21 May – Craig Davis Named New President and Head of Pearson College UWC

27 Feb – “From Cave Walls to Keyboards: The Paleolithic Origins of Art and Language”

25 Feb – Meet Canadian youths taking court action on the climate crisis

20 Feb – A One-of-a-kind Theatre Experience: One World Performance & Expo

05 Sept – Pearson Hosting Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke Federal Candidates’ Forum

30 Jun – The Canadians are coming to Pearson!

28 May – Inaugural Race Rocks Challenge a Spirit-lifting Success!

06 May – The Inaugural Race Rocks Challenge is on!

03 Mar – Governor General & Lieutenant Governor meet UWC educators

29 Jan – One World Performance & Expo – A Spring Tradition

10 Dec – MOU between Beecher Bay First Nation, Metchosin and Pearson College UWC

29 Nov – Pearson College UWC alumnae named Rhodes Scholar

09 Nov – Pearson College UWC a Proud member of the Community

11 Oct – APU: Girls on the Move – An Inspirational School for Girls

24 Sept – “Refugees: heros or zeros? Understanding what it means to be stateless”

11 Sept – Metchosin “adds” nearly 200 residents this fall!

10 May – Social Innovation Project raises Funds for International Charities

08 March – Pearson College UWC Hosts Personal Representatives of G7 Leaders

29 Nov – Former Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan Appointed Chair of Pearson College UWC Board of Directors

27 Nov – Author and Journalist Andrew Cohen at Pearson College UWC

18 Oct – Pearson College UWC hosts Canadian Citizenship Ceremony

30 Sept – Pearson College UWC hosts renowned facilitator Adam Kahane

05 Sept – Parliamentary Secretary for Youth at Pearson College UWC

29 Aug – The “world” returns to Metchosin (Gazette & Muse)

17 Jul – Appointed Governor General Julie Payette alumna and supporter of UWC

2 Jun – Pearson College UWC announces new CAO Heather Gross

1 Jun – Alumni-led Grassroots Project Honors Longtime Host Family Volunteer and Metchosin Resident “Tita” Dieza

25 Apr – Pearson Hosting Esquimalt-Metchosin All-Candidates Forum

07 Mar – Canada 150: An Indigenous Perspective

10 Feb – David Goa: “Does Faith/Religion Divide or Unite Us?”

09 Jan – B.C. Sen. Yuen Pau Woo Speaks at Pearson College UWC

13 Jan – TEDx “We and the World”