Chapters:

00:00 – Welcome and Guest Introduction
01:47 – A Life in Catholic Education
05:47 – Founding St. John Paul II Academy
10:57 – Building a School from the Ground Up
18:30 – Faith, Motto, and Mission
24:17 – Stories of Student Transformation
29:01 – Bursaries and Financial Accessibility
37:00 – Why Catholic Education Matters
39:34 – Teachers, Faith, and School Culture
46:11 – Athletics, Arts, and Trades in Catholic Schools
01:01:15 – Legacy, Values, and Final Reflections

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https://www.sjp2academy.com/

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What does it take to build a Catholic high school from scratch—and why does it matter more than ever today? In this heartfelt episode of Catholic Education Matters, host Troy Van Vliet reconnects with his former teacher and the founding principal of St. John Paul II Academy, Michel DesLauriers. Together, they reflect on the leap of faith it took to launch the school, the stories of students transformed by Catholic education, and the powerful mission behind the motto “Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve.” From humble beginnings to a legacy rooted in service, this conversation celebrates the passion, perseverance, and purpose that make Catholic education so impactful.

Transcript:

[00:00:00] Troy Van Vliet: Welcome to Catholic Education Matters, the podcast that celebrates the beauty of Catholic education. Join us as we share the stories of those making a lasting impact on Catholic education. Let’s begin.
[00:00:18] Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us and welcome to Catholic Education Matters. My name is Troy Van Vliet, and I am the foundation board chair for the St. John Paul II Academy Foundation. And, um, I am so excited today to have with me Mr. Michel DesLauriers, my old grade eight teacher from St. Thomas Moore, way back in the day.
[00:00:41] Michel DesLauriers: Yes.
[00:00:41] Troy Van Vliet: And, uh, who eventually became principal.
[00:00:45] Michel DesLauriers: Yes.
[00:00:45] Troy Van Vliet: Of, uh, St. Thomas Moore. And you were also a principal of Vancouver College.
[00:00:50] Michel DesLauriers: Assistant principal.
[00:00:51] Troy Van Vliet: Assistant
[00:00:51] Michel DesLauriers: assistant just for the record,
[00:00:52] Troy Van Vliet: technical assistant principal of Vancouver College. And um, also the. The, the first principal principle that we had for, uh, st for, um, St.
[00:01:03] John Paul, the second academy.
[00:01:05] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:01:05] Troy Van Vliet: So welcome Mitch so excited.
[00:01:06] Michel DesLauriers: Thank you.
[00:01:07] Troy Van Vliet: We’ve got so much to talk about.
[00:01:08] Michel DesLauriers: I’m happy to be here.
[00:01:08] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. Yeah. And just for the record, um, you taught me when I was in grade eight and it was only your second-year teaching, so
[00:01:15] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:01:16] It seems like a hundred years ago, it seems like.
[00:01:17] Oh, yes.
[00:01:18] Troy Van Vliet: Uh, yeah. For me as well. For me as well. Oh, so welcome and thanks so much for coming.
[00:01:22] Michel DesLauriers: Oh, you’re welcome.
[00:01:22] Troy Van Vliet: We have so much to, uh, to talk about and delve into today. When comes to Yeah,
[00:01:26] Michel DesLauriers: A great topic
[00:01:26] Troy Van Vliet: comes to Catholic education. So, um, of course the title of our show, it’s Catholic Education Matters. Uh, there’s many matters that come up in Catholic education, and of course we’ll talk about why it.
[00:01:38] Matters actually.
[00:01:39] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:01:40] Troy Van Vliet: Um, in today’s society in a big way. So, you’ve got a long history of teaching in the Catholic school system.
[00:01:47] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:01:47] Troy Van Vliet: How many years before you officially retired?
[00:01:49] Michel DesLauriers: 43.
[00:01:50] Troy Van Vliet: 43?
[00:01:50] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:01:51] Troy Van Vliet: Is that including your retirement years? Because you’re still teaching, you’re still doing some teaching?
[00:01:55] Michel DesLauriers: I’m doing some subbing.
[00:01:56] Troy Van Vliet: Some subbing.
[00:01:56] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah. I, I, I, I, I don’t include those years because it, it’s so different.
[00:02:01] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:02:01] Michel DesLauriers: In fact, I’m thoroughly enjoying that part of it. Yeah.
[00:02:04] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. So, take us back a little bit to the beginning. You were also, okay, you come from a big Catholic family.
[00:02:09] Michel DesLauriers: I do,
[00:02:10] Troy Van Vliet: yeah. How many siblings?
[00:02:11] Michel DesLauriers: I have six.
[00:02:12] Troy Van Vliet: Six siblings.
[00:02:12] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:02:13] Troy Van Vliet: So, great.
[00:02:13] Michel DesLauriers: So, I have, uh, an older sister who’s, and then I’ve got, um, an older sister and brother, and then I’ve got, uh, another, uh, there’s five of us.
[00:02:23] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:02:23] Michel DesLauriers: That are all one year apart. So, my older sister and is nine years older. Older brother, seven years older than me. And then there’s, right. I’m third and then.
[00:02:33] Troy Van Vliet: away you go.
[00:02:34] I think I know I had met. Five of you, I believe. Oh, no. Six of you. I think I just haven’t met your sister.
[00:02:40] Michel DesLauriers: Right?
[00:02:41] Troy Van Vliet: Yes. Right. So, over the years, whether they were coaching or whether they were, uh, well, Pierre was my chiropractor for a long time.
[00:02:49] Michel DesLauriers: Yes. Still is doing that.
[00:02:51] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. So, Roger I believe was refereeing some of our games.
[00:02:55] Um, uh,
[00:02:56] Michel DesLauriers: Phil would be refereeing. And now, uh, my brother Lou ref, referees. Referees, yeah. Is he okay? Basketball. And then Roger is, uh. Still working. He’s, uh, principal over at Notre Dame.
[00:03:07] Troy Van Vliet: At Notre Dame, yeah.
[00:03:08] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:03:08] Troy Van Vliet: That’s awesome.
[00:03:09] Michel DesLauriers: And we worked together at, uh, Vancouver College
[00:03:11] Troy Van Vliet: and all great athletes. I’m going to say it.
[00:03:13] You are, you all came from a family of great athletes. You all did.
[00:03:17] Michel DesLauriers: Well, yeah.
[00:03:17] Troy Van Vliet: A lot of
[00:03:18] Michel DesLauriers: it was a way of my parents just keeping us busy. Yeah. All boys. We had to be busy, and it was a great way to do it. Great outlet.
[00:03:25] Troy Van Vliet: And did all of you go to St. Thomas Moore? All the boys that is.
[00:03:30] Michel DesLauriers: No. My older brother started there.
[00:03:31] Yeah. cause it was all boys at the time, as you know. And, uh, he ended up leaving the school, but uh, the rest of us all graduated.
[00:03:38] Troy Van Vliet: All went through there.
[00:03:38] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:03:38] Troy Van Vliet: There you go. All that’s great. That’s great. Um, then you got into teaching.
[00:03:44] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:03:45] Troy Van Vliet: Um, like I, I think you were 24 or something like that when I was, there.
[00:03:50] Michel DesLauriers: Actually, I was 23 when I started.
[00:03:52] Started.
[00:03:53] Troy Van Vliet: You started?
[00:03:53] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah. I got, I got, uh, I got the job almost immediately after I finished at UBC.
[00:03:58] Troy Van Vliet: Yep.
[00:03:59] Michel DesLauriers: They called me up from. St. Thomas Moore and
[00:04:02] Troy Van Vliet: yeah.
[00:04:02] Michel DesLauriers: Told me what I would be teaching. And I mean, they could have told me, uh, they would’ve thrown janitorial duties and all sorts of other things. I would’ve, uh, I would’ve said yes to everything.
[00:04:12] Troy Van Vliet: Wow.
[00:04:12] Michel DesLauriers: I was just so delighted to be part of it. Yeah.
[00:04:15] Troy Van Vliet: That’s great. Mm-hmm. So, and how many years were you at STM all before, before you went? because you went to Vancouver College for a while.
[00:04:23] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:04:23] Troy Van Vliet: And then came back.
[00:04:24] Michel DesLauriers: So, I was 17 years.
[00:04:25] Troy Van Vliet: Yep.
[00:04:26] Michel DesLauriers: At Thomas Moore. And then I moved and 11 years at Vancouver College.
[00:04:31] Troy Van Vliet: Okay.
[00:04:31] Michel DesLauriers: And then another six years back at as principal.
[00:04:34] Troy Van Vliet: As principal at St. Thomas Moore
[00:04:35] Michel DesLauriers: And then five more years at St. John Paul II
[00:04:39] Troy Van Vliet: yeah. So, and that was, that was a major, like, like you were leaving St. Thomas Moore.
[00:04:44] Michel DesLauriers: Oh, yeah.
[00:04:44] Troy Van Vliet: We were just starting SJP. And, um, I remember talking with Archbishop Miller, uh, saying, we need, we need to get started.
[00:04:53] We need to hire principal for this company. And, uh. He’s like, you know, we were getting a little bit of pushback, um, saying like, well, who are you gonna get for a principal? I’m like, well, I think I might know somebody. cause I had already,
[00:05:05] Michel DesLauriers: I’m glad.
[00:05:05] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. I had already talked to you and
[00:05:08] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:05:08] Troy Van Vliet: Um, uh, so that, and it worked out from there.
[00:05:11] And starting up a high school from scratch. Now, St. Thomas Moore was very established already, obviously.
[00:05:16] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:05:16] Troy Van Vliet: Vancouver College the same.
[00:05:17] Michel DesLauriers: Oh, yeah.
[00:05:18] Troy Van Vliet: Very established. And that they were founded by the Christian brothers.
[00:05:21] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:05:21] Troy Van Vliet: And, um, then you come over to us, which we’re, uh, different. We’re not even A-C-I-S-V-A school.
[00:05:27] We’re an archdiocese school. We’re affiliated with the C-I-S-V-A.
[00:05:31] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:05:31] Troy Van Vliet: And, um, we set up a whole new corporate structure. We were basically reinventing the wheel in terms of a startup school. And, um, but you jumped on board, and not only did you jump on board, but you jumped on board with passion. You poured yourself into,
[00:05:47] Michel DesLauriers: yeah.
[00:05:47] Troy Van Vliet: What are some of the most compelling stories, I guess, in, in, in the startup? Like, you know, cause you were, we, we, we laughed about it so often.
[00:05:55] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:05:55] Troy Van Vliet: cause you were, um, the principal, you were the PE teacher, you were the bus driver, right. The janitor on some days.
[00:06:01] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:06:01] Troy Van Vliet: You were everything. So, you’d gone from being in these biggest established schools.
[00:06:05] Michel DesLauriers: mm-hmm.
[00:06:05] Troy Van Vliet: To all of a sudden, this little, teeny startup.
[00:06:07] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:06:08] Troy Van Vliet: So, what, uh, what, can you take us back to some of that?
[00:06:11] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah. I, I, I, I still remember you coming into my office and
[00:06:14] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:06:15] Michel DesLauriers: And talking about this and I mean, you know, I was, my, my time at STM was coming to an end and I was, I was intrigued by the prospect, but I had heard about many a proposal.
[00:06:26] Troy Van Vliet: mm-hmm.
[00:06:26] Michel DesLauriers: Of a new school in South Surrey.
[00:06:29] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:06:29] Michel DesLauriers: And, uh, and unfortunately for whatever reason, they didn’t come to fruition.
[00:06:34] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:06:34] Michel DesLauriers: So, but I was really taken by your own excitement about this project. Mm-hmm. Your, um, wanting to move this ahead. And move it ahead quickly.
[00:06:47] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:06:47] Michel DesLauriers: Not just, okay, well we, you know, in a few months time we’re gonna do this.
[00:06:51] It was like, we’re gonna do this now. And, uh, I was taken aback by it a little bit, but, uh, you know, I talked to my wife who’s my biggest supporter.
[00:06:59] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:07:00] Michel DesLauriers: And she was equally as excited about this opportunity. Cause I was closer to retirement Troy, than I was to the start of my career, as you know.
[00:07:09] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:07:10] Michel DesLauriers: And I was thinking, oh, am I going to, you know, what energy am I gonna be able to bring to this project?
[00:07:16] And, but I was really delighted to hear that not only yourself, but Archbishop Miller and the superintendent at the time, Dan Mark.
[00:07:23] Troy Van Vliet: Dan Mark, yep.
[00:07:24] Michel DesLauriers: Were sincerely interested in me becoming that first principal. Yeah. And I recall when, one of the first things we did, Troy, was we, um, established the name for the school.
[00:07:35] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:07:37] Michel DesLauriers: And I remember us, uh, meeting here in this building with the archbishop and, uh. We were supposed to bring our ideas. Of course, I think the archbishop already had it in his mind what the name of the school was gonna be. But we had some ideas, and I threw out Mother Teresa High School. I think you threw out.
[00:07:51] Troy Van Vliet: Maximilian Mac Colby, yeah.
[00:07:54] Michel DesLauriers: Was one of, and, um, uh, I mean, previous to that, it was called South Surrey
[00:07:59] Troy Van Vliet: Catholic Sec Secondary School. School, school or something like that.
[00:08:02] Michel DesLauriers: Yes. And then he, uh, he suggested the name and recommended the name St John Paul II Academy.
[00:08:08] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:08:09] Michel DesLauriers: And what a name it was. And it, it didn’t really roll off the tongue initially.
[00:08:13] Right. It was quite a mouthful.
[00:08:14] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah, it is.
[00:08:15] Michel DesLauriers: to kind of take in.
[00:08:16] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. it is.
[00:08:17] Michel DesLauriers: But I was really inspired by this modern-day saint, you know, and there was so much that he stood for.
[00:08:23] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:08:24] Michel DesLauriers: And so much information about him that it really made me excited about, again, you know, all the things that we could do and all the decisions that we had to make.
[00:08:34] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:08:34] Michel DesLauriers: With that name behind us.
[00:08:37] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:08:37] Michel DesLauriers: It was, it, it, you know, um, very exciting.
[00:08:41] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah,
[00:08:41] Michel DesLauriers: yeah,
[00:08:41] Troy Van Vliet: yeah. It was, it was. And we started with a grade eight class first.
[00:08:45] Michel DesLauriers: Yep.
[00:08:46] Troy Van Vliet: And, um, we actually started, it’s funny you were, you said how quick we wanted to do it, and we actually started a year sooner than what, because my daughter was gonna be going into grade seven, and I thought she would be the first, or going into grade eight.
[00:09:00] I thought she would be the first grade eight class. We ended up getting it open a year earlier than we had originally planned. Um, and we, we didn’t even know we were, we thought we’re just gonna set up some portables in the elementary school parking lot. Um, we didn’t know we were pushing that. And Father Dion was scratching.
[00:09:17] He said like, what are you doing? Like, oh my
[00:09:19] goodness, this is, oh yeah. So, and then he ended up giving us the old school down the street. Yeah, yeah. The old star of the Sea elementary school, which was an elementary school. Built in the sixties and we’re trying to convert it into a high school.
[00:09:32] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:09:32] Troy Van Vliet: You know, temporarily.
[00:09:34] Michel DesLauriers: Yes.
[00:09:34] Troy Van Vliet: Uh, and we ended up staying there a lot longer than what we anticipated.
[00:09:37] Michel DesLauriers: Well, I remember Father Dion calling me here.
[00:09:38] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:09:38] Michel DesLauriers: And, um, um, and saying, you know, I’ve got something I want to show you.
[00:09:42] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:09:43] Michel DesLauriers: Can you get here? And I said, when? He said, well, can you come down as soon as possible? And it, I mean, it rarely snows here, but it was snowing that day.
[00:09:50] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:09:50] Michel DesLauriers: It took me a long time to get there. And of course, he was standing out in the snow, and he was looking at his watch, and he was the first thing he says to me is, you’re late.
[00:09:58] Troy Van Vliet: You’re late. Yeah.
[00:10:01] Michel DesLauriers: But and then he showed it to both of us. And I think both of you and I were on the same page the minute we opened that door.
[00:10:08] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:10:09] Michel DesLauriers: We were like, yeah, yeah. He, he doesn’t have to ask us twice about using this space.
[00:10:13] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. We were so excited. cause we were thinking we were just gonna be in portables and just kind of trying to build something.
[00:10:18] Michel DesLauriers: And now we had a gym. We had some rooms; we had a roof. We had
[00:10:22] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah, yeah.
[00:10:23] Michel DesLauriers: It was all there for us.
[00:10:24] Troy Van Vliet: We had a lot of renovating to do, which we did quickly. And uh, and we got it started, and then we started with a grade eight class of, yeah. 20 kids or something like that. Or 18 kids.
[00:10:35] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:10:35] Troy Van Vliet: Do you remember how many it was in the first year?
[00:10:36] Michel DesLauriers: It was 18 altogether.
[00:10:37] Troy Van Vliet: 18. There you go.
[00:10:38] Michel DesLauriers: I was counting them on the picture the other day and it was, yeah, 18.
[00:10:41] Yeah.
[00:10:41] Troy Van Vliet: 18 kids.
[00:10:42] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:10:43] Troy Van Vliet: So, and then we added a year every year. Yes. Until we got up to, uh, the, when the first, um, the first graduating class was that grade eight class that went all the way through. That’s when they graduated. Yes. And then you, you handed the torch over
[00:10:57] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:10:58] Troy Van Vliet: To, uh, to Lorraine.
[00:10:58] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:10:59] Troy Van Vliet: So, what, uh, what a, a humble beginning.
[00:11:03] We’re still in that building right now.
[00:11:05] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:11:06] Troy Van Vliet: But we’re gonna be open to new campus and this fall coming up for 2025. So,
[00:11:10] Michel DesLauriers: you know, it’s funny, you know, you grew, uh, attached to things.
[00:11:14] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:11:14] Michel DesLauriers: And it’s funny talking to some of the teachers that I first hired there and how attached they are.
[00:11:20] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:11:20] Michel DesLauriers: To that building.
[00:11:21] Even though, I mean, you know, we’re so excited about moving to the new building. There’s something kind of nostalgic about being in those humble beginnings.
[00:11:31] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah, yeah. Even the students, there’s some students that they’re like, we like it here. We don’t want to go to the big building. We, we like the old little.
[00:11:41] So yeah. Which is really quite amazing. So, um, and some of the kids that have gone through, they’ll, there’ll be three classes that have graduated from the, uh, original campus. We’ll call it. Um, that don’t get to see the new building. Um, and they’ve had, uh, great success stories. They’ve all, anybody, anyone that graduated that wanted to go to university had the university of their choice.
[00:12:04] They, they’ve all, they’ve all got the, uh, the top pick, uh. Um, and, um, uh, they got a real special education while they were there?
[00:12:14] Michel DesLauriers: mm-hmm.
[00:12:15] Troy Van Vliet: In that, in the old campus.
[00:12:16] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:12:16] Troy Van Vliet: And they’ll always be graduates of, uh, SJP II.
[00:12:19] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:12:19] Troy Van Vliet: You know, forever. Um, and, uh, their names are gonna be etched in the glass at, uh, those three graduating classes in the new campus. Cause we want them to be a part of the, the new campus as well going forward as alumni. Yeah. So, so, and we’re so grateful to those.
[00:12:34] Michel DesLauriers: mm-hmm.
[00:12:34] Troy Van Vliet: First graduating classes because, you know, if we didn’t have them, if those families didn’t come and join up and say, yeah, we wanna do this, we would’ve never had this, this new campus. So,
[00:12:43] Michel DesLauriers: no. Um, no, that’s true. And, and those families and, and those students had to invest themselves. Yeah. It wasn’t just investing, just coming nine to three, they recognized that they had to be the leaders in more ways than one.
[00:12:59] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:12:59] Michel DesLauriers: And they had to get out of their comfort zone the same way myself, teachers yourself. We had to get out of our comfort zone and look at the bigger picture.
[00:13:11] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:13:11] Michel DesLauriers: Which was sometimes hard to do.
[00:13:13] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:13:13] Michel DesLauriers: You know,
[00:13:14] Troy Van Vliet: but always challenging. It was, it’s you, you look, if you’re gonna set up a sports program, it’s like, well then everybody has to play. Like everybody. You can’t opt out because then we don’t have enough for a team.
[00:13:24] No. You know, so, um, which, which gave a lot of opportunities to kids that maybe would not have been athletes.
[00:13:29] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:13:30] Troy Van Vliet: And they’re like, okay, I’ll, I’ll give it a go just because I have to. Cause you guys are counting on me.
[00:13:34] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:13:35] Troy Van Vliet: And uh, and then we had some success stories with early on,
[00:13:39] Michel DesLauriers: right away
[00:13:40] Troy Van Vliet: with athletics.
[00:13:41] That was, it’s crazy.
[00:13:42] Michel DesLauriers: It was crazy. Yeah.
[00:13:43] Troy Van Vliet: That, that a lot of times schools have to go for a long time before they get a banner hanging in the, in the school Oh yeah. For a championship banner. And I think we have nine or 10 now.
[00:13:52] Michel DesLauriers: It’s incredible.
[00:13:53] Troy Van Vliet: A small little school.
[00:13:54] Michel DesLauriers: It’s incredible.
[00:13:54] Troy Van Vliet: Currently 72 students, so that’ll be transferring over to the new campus and, uh, nine banners. So, it’s, it’s funny. Watching, uh, some of the other big schools that were playing, you know, schools was 2000 or 2,500 students. And, uh, you know, we had a girl’s volleyball team that’s kicking their butt.
[00:14:12] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:14:13] Troy Van Vliet: You know?
[00:14:13] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:14:13] Troy Van Vliet: And they’re like, what is it? Who is this St. John Paul? What, what is this school?
[00:14:17] You know, I hadn’t even heard of us. And we’re in there tuning ’em up. So, it was pretty, it’s pretty fun.
[00:14:22] Michel DesLauriers: It is.
[00:14:22] Troy Van Vliet: Some of the humble beginnings that we’ve had have been, uh, very successful.
[00:14:26] Michel DesLauriers: Oh, oh, for sure. And I mean, in a weird way, and bear with me here.
[00:14:31] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:14:31] Michel DesLauriers: It reminds me when I first decided to climb the, the Grouse Mountain Grind.
[00:14:38] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:14:38] Michel DesLauriers: Let’s just stay with me with this for a second. There’s a connection.
[00:14:42] Troy Van Vliet: Okay. Okay.
[00:14:43] Michel DesLauriers: Because, you know, you, you read about it, you hear about it, you think about it, you think, oh yeah, I can do that. And you don’t realize how challenging it is until you’re actually in the parking lot and you’re about ready to start.
[00:14:57] And then you get up there and you, uh, and, and I was thinking, I, I had planned for this. I had prepared for this. I’d gone to the gym and
[00:15:04] Troy Van Vliet: mm-hmm.
[00:15:05] Michel DesLauriers: You know, I, I was ready for that. I wasn’t just this, a first timer. I, I was ready. At least I thought I was.
[00:15:10] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:15:11] Michel DesLauriers: And I started going at a good clip.
[00:15:12] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:15:13] Michel DesLauriers: And, um, with the, I was determined.
[00:15:15] Troy Van Vliet: mm-hmm.
[00:15:16] Michel DesLauriers: Not to stop.
[00:15:16] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[00:15:17] Michel DesLauriers: Make it up to the top in less than an hour, I was determined, and I went.
[00:15:22] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:15:23] Michel DesLauriers: And then you get to that first sign, and I’ll tell you, it was quite discouraging. Cause the sign says you are a quarter of the way to the top. And you, I was sweating profusely. I had been drinking water.
[00:15:37] I was like, thinking what? I thought I was way further ahead.
[00:15:42] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:15:42] Michel DesLauriers: And it reminded me of a quote that I, I said it, you know what? It it, it, it’s not enough just to, uh, stare at the steps. I. You have to step up the stairs.
[00:15:53] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:15:53] Michel DesLauriers: You know, and a, and, and, and this is the connection we had to step up.
[00:15:57] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:15:57] Michel DesLauriers: Those stairs.
[00:15:59] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:15:59] Michel DesLauriers: You know, because it was, it, it was challenging.
[00:16:01] Troy Van Vliet: one at a time. Yeah. Every year creating a new curriculum every, every year. Yes. You know, having to hire teachers Yes. Every year. Yeah. Because you’re adding a grade every year,
[00:16:10] Michel DesLauriers: being evaluated every year because of that.
[00:16:13] Troy Van Vliet: Every year. Yeah. Um, and then when grade 11 and grade 12 come along, then you’ve gotta add a bunch of courses.
[00:16:19] Mm-hmm. So extra courses.
[00:16:21] Michel DesLauriers: That’s right.
[00:16:22] Troy Van Vliet: You know, that, um, weren’t part of the plan, so having to bring in different teachers for that.
[00:16:26] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:16:27] Troy Van Vliet: So, yeah.
[00:16:27] Michel DesLauriers: And of course, one of the a a lot of those steps, as you remember, and we talked about stories, um, was, you know, establishing the school uniform.
[00:16:36] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:16:37] Michel DesLauriers: And I think you remember we hired a bus.
[00:16:39] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:16:40] Michel DesLauriers: We all met at Start of the Sea Elementary. Yeah. And we asked kids from all sorts of ages, but in in particular, we, we got the kids, uh, that were going to be our first grade eight. Mm-hmm. They were still in grade seven.
[00:16:52] Troy Van Vliet: mm-hmm.
[00:16:53] Michel DesLauriers: To get on that bus, go to Cambridge uniforms. Yeah. And, uh. Tryon what we thought, thought, thought would be the perspective.
[00:17:02] Troy Van Vliet: You’re our models. Yeah.
[00:17:03] Michel DesLauriers: Yes, exactly. And then, uh, it was a lot of fun.
[00:17:07] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:17:07] Michel DesLauriers: It was so much fun. Uh, and the, the, but it was, you know, again, another step along the way.
[00:17:14] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:17:14] Michel DesLauriers: And then, um, and then we, we started on the school crest. Yeah. And we had a professional company put together all sorts of designs and we, we, we came up with one.
[00:17:24] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:17:24] And then we, um, it had that Latin phrase, you always have a Latin phrase with it that Totus.
[00:17:30] Totus Tuus yes.
[00:17:32] Michel DesLauriers: Totally. Yours, you know,
[00:17:33] Troy Van Vliet: totally.
[00:17:33] Michel DesLauriers: Yours talked about, uh, and that was St. John Paul II model.
[00:17:36] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:17:37] Michel DesLauriers: You know, and his devotion, um, to Jesus Christ. Yeah. But through Mary.
[00:17:42] Troy Van Vliet: Through Mary,
[00:17:42] Michel DesLauriers: yeah. Yeah.
[00:17:43] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:17:43] Michel DesLauriers: And so, I mean, all those connections. And then I, the other thing that I re recognized, and I’m just gonna refer to the notes, is that it’s, it also expresses, our effort to give our all to every young person we encounter, that’s what that Totus Tuus actually means. And, and I thought Wow. How I propose that for me as principal.
[00:18:09] Yeah. You know, to give our all to all the young people.
[00:18:13] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:18:13] Michel DesLauriers: That we encounter.
[00:18:14] Troy Van Vliet: That’s amazing.
[00:18:15] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:18:15] Troy Van Vliet: I love it.
[00:18:16] Michel DesLauriers: And then you and yeah,
[00:18:18] Troy Van Vliet: there, there’s so many, there’s so many phrases that have come out, um, little slogans and things like that with our school. And we’re sorting through right now our vision and mission statement to kind of formalize some of this stuff.
[00:18:30] Um, and uh, one of those was entered to learn and leave to serve. And I didn’t, I didn’t, that didn’t resonate a hundred percent with me, I’ll be honest. Right. In the, in the beginning I was just like, what is that? Okay. Alright. I guess. We’ll, we’ll, we’ll, we’ll go with it. You’re the man. Right. You know, we, we’ve hired the guy with all the experience.
[00:18:49] So, um, and tell us where that phrase came from, because we were just talking about that earlier today.
[00:18:53] Michel DesLauriers: Well, I mean, you know, I, I mentioned to you before we got on the, we started the broadcast that.
[00:18:59] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:18:59] Michel DesLauriers: You know, you, you, you spend a lot of time beg, borrowing and stealing.
[00:19:03] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:19:03] Michel DesLauriers: Things, you know, to,
[00:19:03] Troy Van Vliet: yeah.
[00:19:04] Michel DesLauriers: Because, you know, there’s nothing now in this computer age, you could look up everything.
[00:19:08] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:19:09] Michel DesLauriers: And so, I was looking up about St. John Paul II and you know, a lot of phrases came out “Be not afraid. Being not afraid. Yeah. You know, all these kinds of things that we are kind of adopting. And one of the phrases was “Enter to learn. Leave to serve. ”
[00:19:23] Troy Van Vliet: Wow.
[00:19:24] Michel DesLauriers: And I pushed it aside at first, but it kept coming back to me.
[00:19:27] Troy Van Vliet: Hmm.
[00:19:28] Michel DesLauriers: And I, I just think that it was inspired by God. Yeah. And, and, and I thought, okay, yeah. Look, let’s, this, this, this simple phrase profound. Yeah. In my opinion fits us. Perfect. Wow.
[00:19:40] Troy Van Vliet: Well, we’re gonna have to make sure that that stays in the forefront of our school as well.
[00:19:45] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah. Because when you think about, and I, you know, I mean, I think about it now.
[00:19:48] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:19:49] Michel DesLauriers: I didn’t think about, cause you’re going a hundred miles an hour. You push it aside, you’ve got it. We’ve had the, the crest, we were ready to move on to the next thing. But the “Enter to learn” really applies to all of us.
[00:20:02] Yeah. That were involved in the project, in these, in these early days. It applied to all of us, the parents, uh, the, the, the people that were putting together all the, you know, the, the behind the scenes, the building committee.
[00:20:14] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:20:14] Michel DesLauriers: Yourself.
[00:20:15] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:20:16] Michel DesLauriers: Everybody, it applied to me. The teachers coming in, we were all learning through this.
[00:20:21] Yeah. And it’s, you know, if you look at it, it doesn’t just apply, but it mainly applies to students. Yep. You know, you, you graduate.
[00:20:29] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. That’s the obvious.
[00:20:32] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah. That, that is the obvious thing. And so, when you think of enter to learn, you think of the informative, the information piece.
[00:20:38] Troy Van Vliet: Yep.
[00:20:38] Michel DesLauriers: You know, but it goes beyond book learning.
[00:20:42] It’s, um, it’s that, you know, where you, uh, learn from each other and that, you know, in between classes you learn from your teachers.
[00:20:51] Troy Van Vliet: mm-hmm.
[00:20:51] Michel DesLauriers: And your coaches, and you know, the influence that they have on you. And then the leave to serve is the transformative piece.
[00:21:00] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:21:01] Michel DesLauriers: It’s the result of those experiences.
[00:21:04] Troy Van Vliet: Right.
[00:21:05] Michel DesLauriers: And the result of those experiences helps you to leave that place, not just a better person, a better man or woman.
[00:21:14] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:21:15] Michel DesLauriers: A better Christian person, you know? Yeah. So
[00:21:20] Troy Van Vliet: service, it’s, uh, such an underrated word. Um, when it comes to students, you know, we talk about, uh, creating servant leaders as a goal within our school as, as one of our missions.
[00:21:36] And that is, that’s resonated with so many people when we talk about our school. It’s amazing when, um, even with a part of our capital campaign and yeah, we’re talking about people, like what does, what makes your school different and what is, you know, these are some of the things that we talk about is we, we want to create servant leaders that go into our society, that give back, and that give back in the form of, and, and be leaders in that sect of giving, you know?
[00:22:02] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:22:02] Troy Van Vliet: And sacrifice. Um, which is huge. And I’ve, I’ve found that that’s something I learned as well, you know, enter to learn, leave to serve. I was like, I scratched my head originally, but that was like, okay. I guess. And then creating servant leaders and well, what does that actually mean?
[00:22:16] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:22:16] Troy Van Vliet: You know? And, um, these are powerful things.
[00:22:20] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:22:20] Troy Van Vliet: That, um, that we’re really rallying around right now. Like, we’re really starting to say, okay, these need to be in the forefront and they have to remain in the forefront with our school. So, and I have a meeting tomorrow, I need to remind myself to bring that up.
[00:22:31] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah. And it really sets the, the foundation.
[00:22:34] Troy Van Vliet: it does
[00:22:35] Michel DesLauriers: for your school.
[00:22:36] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:22:36] Michel DesLauriers: And, um, and we have to be, we have to lead by example. Yeah. Troy and I can’t think of a better person to be honest than you leading the way, the leading the charge, getting this going,
[00:22:48] Troy Van Vliet: You’re too kind.
[00:22:48] Michel DesLauriers: And then, you know, and then all of us just kind of catching onto that fire. Yeah. Right.
[00:22:54] Troy Van Vliet: A lot of it was, um, a lot of it, of course I have the, I was driven by my youngest daughter with Down Syndrome.
[00:23:01] Yeah. Both my daughters I should say, but my youngest especially.
[00:23:05] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:23:05] Troy Van Vliet: Um, and, um, I really wanted a special place for her to go to school and to be able to, you know, stay closer with a bunch of her classmates from elementary school and to be able to continue on to high school. So there’s the selfish motivation on my side, but being able to, to, to give back and realize, you know, we’re building a school for a hundred years and that this is something that yeah, tens of thousands of kids are gonna benefit from going forward.
[00:23:33] Um, and that servant leadership is huge in terms of what we can turn out for. It’s gonna be, we want this school to be a, um, a true beacon of how our Catholic schools should be run and. The product that it can produce. I mean, you’ve, you’ve taught at two great Catholic schools, right? For your entire career?
[00:23:58] Well, three including ours. But before that you saw, I mean, I went to one of them. Um, and um, it’s funny, as a student, you may not, you may not appreciate it as much when you’re going to school, but when you start reflecting back on that, the older I get, I’m like, wow, did I get a lot of great foundations when I was in that school?
[00:24:17] Right. Um, and it takes, you know, getting older to appreciate that. Um, but, um, you, you must have, and I know that I, we didn’t forward these kinds of questions, but I’ve asked a few people, some of these that are involved with the Catholic school. You may have, you must have, um, a couple of students maybe in your mind that maybe that you can think of that you helped, or the school helped transform their lives.
[00:24:42] Um. Do you have any that may come to mind with that? I’m putting you on the spot with this question, but you think like, okay, this person, you know, they were going this direction, they came to our school and now they, or they turned out and they’re doing this now? Or do you have any great success stories?
[00:24:57] Michel DesLauriers: Oh yeah. If, if, just look at SJPII.
[00:25:00] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah,
[00:25:00] Michel DesLauriers: let’s just look at them, for example. cause there’s a lot that come to mind with some of the other schools as well.
[00:25:05] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
[00:25:05] Michel DesLauriers: But I think of a young man that came to us, um, in his grade eight year. He decided he didn’t want to go to school anymore. He, he had a lot of learning difficulties.
[00:25:21] He, um, um, you know. And because of that, he didn’t have much confidence in himself. His parents wanted to; they were desperate. They didn’t know what to do. Yeah. They sent him, uh, they asked about St. John Paul II Academy, they couldn’t afford it.
[00:25:39] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:25:40] Michel DesLauriers: Uh, we helped them out and, and, and I remember initially talking to him and sometimes when you talk to a student, you got a feel for it.
[00:25:47] Well, there wasn’t much feel here because he was, he was at the point where he had had it.
[00:25:54] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:25:55] Michel DesLauriers: He was only grade eight. Wow. 13 years old. And I’m thinking, wow. Okay, we’re gonna take a flyer. Yeah. We’re gonna take a chance.
[00:26:04] Troy Van Vliet: Yep. Yep.
[00:26:04] Michel DesLauriers: But I told the parents, I said, we’re just, we’re just doing this for a few months.
[00:26:07] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:26:07] Michel DesLauriers: We’re gonna go to the end of June. We’re gonna evaluate it, we’re gonna see if it’s a good fit.
[00:26:11] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:26:11] Michel DesLauriers: If it is, we’ll continue on. If it isn’t, we’ll part ways. Are you okay with that?
[00:26:15] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:26:16] Michel DesLauriers: Fine. He went all the way to the end of June. Our teachers worked really hard with him. Um, he was a bit of a rogue.
[00:26:22] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:26:23] Michel DesLauriers: But you know what? He, uh, did enough that we said, let’s keep him in September. Well, that September turned into years and those years turned into him graduating two years ago with that legacy collect.
[00:26:36] Troy Van Vliet: Wow.
[00:26:37] Michel DesLauriers: And that turned into him going to post-secondary and that, you know, it, it was a great feeling.
[00:26:43] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:26:44] Michel DesLauriers: Uh, giving him a hug and, um, talking about how special he was, you know, and, and he talked about that, that he wasn’t sure if he was gonna make it.
[00:26:55] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:26:56] Michel DesLauriers: And now he’s talking about not just making it but doing something with his life.
[00:27:01] Troy Van Vliet: Wow.
[00:27:02] Michel DesLauriers: And then there was another young lady that graduated last year.
[00:27:05] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:27:06] Michel DesLauriers: She was a gem. She was, she was the opposite of this young man.
[00:27:12] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:27:12] Michel DesLauriers: In terms, she came into our school gung-ho with enthusiasm, excitement. She, uh, was was involved in everything but quiet, just quiet, quiet person. You know that.
[00:27:24] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:27:25] Michel DesLauriers: She had recently lost her dad.
[00:27:28] Troy Van Vliet: Mm.
[00:27:29] Michel DesLauriers: And her mom was still grieving, trying to figure out what her life was gonna be like.
[00:27:33] And, um, uh, and she needed, they needed help too.
[00:27:38] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:27:38] Michel DesLauriers: Financially.
[00:27:39] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:27:40] Michel DesLauriers: And it was a big stepping stone. She could have sent her daughter to the local public school.
[00:27:45] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:27:45] Michel DesLauriers: But she wanted her at St. John Paul II Academy.
[00:27:49] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:27:49] Michel DesLauriers: And through the grace of God and through a lot of help and people, we were able to have her.
[00:27:53] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:27:54] Michel DesLauriers: Well, I remember going to the graduation ceremony last year, Troy and this girl’s name came up time and time again for different awards and just really, really, it just, I was, I was getting emotional listening to her, you know, and how um, uh, you know, she was so happy. About what had transpired. And she still needed help to get to where she was.
[00:28:25] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:28:25] Michel DesLauriers: And she advocated for herself. She won all sorts of scholarship money that.
[00:28:29] Troy Van Vliet: I can’t believe how many scholarships she won. I know who you’re talking about.
[00:28:32] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah. And but if she didn’t do that, yeah. She wouldn’t be where, I think she’s gone joined a Trinity, Trinity West
[00:28:38] Troy Van Vliet: Trinity, Trinity Western Private, uh, private university.
[00:28:40] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah. And I think she’s going into nursing.
[00:28:42] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:28:44] Michel DesLauriers: She’ll be wonderful.
[00:28:45] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:28:45] Michel DesLauriers: With that program.
[00:28:46] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. Yeah. That’s a, those are two fantastic.
[00:28:49] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:28:50] Troy Van Vliet: Um, stories about, or success stories, let’s call ’em their school. And there’s actually many more in our school as well that I think we can attest to. Um, talking about bursaries, you mentioned that.
[00:29:01] Michel DesLauriers: Right?
[00:29:01] Troy Van Vliet: Actually, with two of those students being great success stories and they were on a bursary. Um, how important. Do you believe that is, is to have bursaries for a school that would normally be charging in the private sector?
[00:29:15] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah. Well, we have, so I, it’s, it’s so important, Troy. And you know what, I think it was ironic that one of the first things we talked about when you talked to me about the financial plan of the school, I said.
[00:29:25] Troy Van Vliet: mm-hmm.
[00:29:25] Michel DesLauriers: This has gotta be a school for everyone.
[00:29:27] Troy Van Vliet: You Yes. You did.
[00:29:28] Michel DesLauriers: Not just people who can afford it.
[00:29:30] Troy Van Vliet: Another thing that took me back that you said, I was like, oh, okay. Yeah. How do we do, how do we make that work?
[00:29:35] Michel DesLauriers: Right. Another step to climb.
[00:29:37] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah, exactly.
[00:29:38] Michel DesLauriers: And, and, and, and, and you said to me, absolutely. We’re gonna make that happen.
[00:29:42] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:29:43] Michel DesLauriers: And, and you have kept your word to this day. And, and I’m, I’m, I’m really proud of that.
[00:29:47] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:29:48] Michel DesLauriers: About the monies that have been raised on this behalf.
[00:29:51] Troy Van Vliet: Yep.
[00:29:51] Michel DesLauriers: Because it’s so important, because we do have so many families who are in need. It’s surprising. And as, as a principal or assistant principal, and being on those committees, I heard firsthand those stories and they’re gut wrenching. Because they’re gut wrenching just from the fact that people have to talk about it. Nobody wants to talk about it.
[00:30:10] Troy Van Vliet: No.
[00:30:10] Michel DesLauriers: There’s a lot of embarrassment. There’s some shame, there’s some guilt.
[00:30:14] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:30:14] Michel DesLauriers: All sorts of things associated with it. But at the end of the day, they want their child to have a Catholic education and we’re saying, we do too.
[00:30:23] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:30:23] Michel DesLauriers: And we’re gonna do everything we can to help you.
[00:30:25] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:30:26] Michel DesLauriers: And we have.
[00:30:27] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah, we have.
[00:30:28] Michel DesLauriers: And I’m, I’m, I’m extremely proud of all of that.
[00:30:31] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:30:31] Michel DesLauriers: Because I remember my own parents, if you could imagine five boys one year apart. Okay.
[00:30:38] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:30:38] Michel DesLauriers: So, I’m 18, my youngest brother’s 13. We’re all going to Catholic school.
[00:30:44] Troy Van Vliet: You were all at SDM at the same time.
[00:30:46] Michel DesLauriers: We were all just about,
[00:30:47] Troy Van Vliet: just about Were, were five of you in in grade? Eight.
[00:30:50] Michel DesLauriers: Four At four.
[00:30:51] Troy Van Vliet: Four. Okay.
[00:30:53] Michel DesLauriers: And one, or, or we were all in Catholic school.
[00:30:55] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:30:55] Michel DesLauriers: So either we were at, you know, a, a Catholic elementary school.
[00:30:59] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:30:59] Michel DesLauriers: Across the way or at Thomas Moore.
[00:31:00] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:31:01] Michel DesLauriers: All tuition.
[00:31:01] We rented my dad. We didn’t own a home.
[00:31:04] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:31:04] Michel DesLauriers: Finances were a struggle. And if it wasn’t for the generosity of the Christian brothers
[00:31:09] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:31:10] Michel DesLauriers: We would’ve gone somewhere else. We would’ve had to go somewhere.
[00:31:13] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:31:13] Michel DesLauriers: If they said, no, we’re gonna make this happen. You wanna be here, we’re gonna make this happen.
[00:31:20] And it was, my parents were, were so grateful, you know, to them and, and, and, and not just them. It was so many other people who have, um, have done that. I mean, as a parent, I know the sacrifice you have to make. I sent our four children to Catholic school. I know it’s a huge financial sacrifice. I mean, you’re driving them just long distances or they’re taking the bus or doing all sorts of other things, but that sacrifice financially is big.
[00:31:46] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:31:46] Michel DesLauriers: But it’s worth it.
[00:31:47] Troy Van Vliet: It’s worth it.
[00:31:48] Michel DesLauriers: It is. It’s worth every penny. I’ll tell you that right now. I don’t even wanna think about how much money we spent on that, because it’s not, that’s not what’s important.
[00:31:55] Troy Van Vliet: No, but what an investment. I mean, people have no problem.
[00:31:58] Michel DesLauriers: Huge investment
[00:31:58] Troy Van Vliet: investing in university for their kids.
[00:32:01] No. You know, they think, oh wow, we gotta do that. We have to pay for university. It’s like, okay, well what about the, those forming years?
[00:32:06] Michel DesLauriers: Well, yeah.
[00:32:07] Troy Van Vliet: You know, and elementary, these young years and the teens when they’re, they’re getting influenced. They’re figuring out where they’re
[00:32:14] Michel DesLauriers: mm-hmm.
[00:32:15] Troy Van Vliet: What, what tribe are they in, you know?
[00:32:16] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:32:17] Troy Van Vliet: And, um, um, it’s so important that they’re getting that great influence.
[00:32:21] Michel DesLauriers: mm-hmm.
[00:32:22] Troy Van Vliet: In those years, like, so important.
[00:32:24] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:32:25] Troy Van Vliet: Um, yeah. You had said, getting back to the bursaries again, I, I believe you, you quoted, we never want to turn a family away,
[00:32:31] Michel DesLauriers: right.
[00:32:31] Troy Van Vliet: For financial reasons, right?
[00:32:34] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep.
[00:32:36] Troy Van Vliet: Okay. We gotta do that. And we are proud. We haven’t, we haven’t yet.
[00:32:39] Michel DesLauriers: No. I think, I think the efforts that you, um, and your team have made to raise funds specifically for that cause.
[00:32:49] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:32:50] Michel DesLauriers: Speaks volumes about, okay, this is a Catholic, when we talk about Catholic education matters, we’re not just saying, you know, some people say, oh yeah, you’re just an elite group.
[00:33:00] No,
[00:33:00] Troy Van Vliet: no, no,
[00:33:01] Michel DesLauriers: no, no, no, no. We’re a community. Yeah,
[00:33:03] Troy Van Vliet: yeah. What we did is we wanted to, I was determined to have not just a new Catholic school in terms of facilities, we wanted to have a fantastic one. Because we, we were literally looking out, Vancouver College had celebrated a hundred years, you know? Um, and we’re like, okay, we have to look way beyond today.
[00:33:24] We’ve gotta look a hundred years out. And, um, so we were gonna create this facility like a, a, a university style campus. Um, and that costs money. cause we said, our, our kids deserve, you know, they deserve this. Um, but not all families are gonna be able to afford it.
[00:33:41] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:33:41] Troy Van Vliet: So, um, some families will be paying full tuition, some will have partial bursaries, some will have full bursaries.
[00:33:48] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:33:48] Troy Van Vliet: You know, and um, so when it’s something that we’ve stuck to, we want to continue to stick to we la in the last year, just with our two events are the, the first Royals Ball.
[00:34:00] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:34:00] Troy Van Vliet: And the first alumni golf tournament. We’ve combined with those two, we’ve raised a quarter million dollars for bursaries in the name of our bursaries.
[00:34:07] Michel DesLauriers: Incredible.
[00:34:08] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:34:08] Michel DesLauriers: So that’s incredible.
[00:34:10] Troy Van Vliet: That is something that we are gonna take pride in going forward. And we’ve started, um, also, uh, with a, um, an endowment. Thank you.
[00:34:19] Michel DesLauriers: Oh, yes.
[00:34:20] Troy Van Vliet: So, we, we’ve started that in the name of, uh, Ken Prout, who sadly passed away.
[00:34:25] Michel DesLauriers: Yes, yes.
[00:34:26] Troy Van Vliet: Um, he was one of our founding, um, uh, founding board members from the Foundation as well.
[00:34:31] So in his name. Uh, we’ve started this, uh, endowment and we’ve got some monies going into it. So, all of the money that we raise in the future. Or the bursaries, 10% of it’s gonna go into that endowment, which will never get touched. So that can build and build and build over the years. And, um, and then that interest will then be able to be used for, uh, for bursaries as well going forward.
[00:34:54] So, cause as we know, the, the, the Catholic church is, is, has been in history, the largest charity on the planet.
[00:35:03] Michel DesLauriers: Mm.
[00:35:03] Troy Van Vliet: The largest charity on the planet.
[00:35:04] Michel DesLauriers: Mm.
[00:35:04] Troy Van Vliet: So when kids come to, when families come to us and they want to go to St. John Paul II Academy and they can’t afford to, we wanna be able to say, you know, if they’ve met the, the criteria that they, you know, get interviewed.
[00:35:18] Yes. We want your son or daughter to come, and we will help you out financially as well, if need be.
[00:35:24] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:35:24] Troy Van Vliet: So, yeah. Yeah. We’re, we’re, we’re so proud of that. So proud. Yeah. And that, and you know what? We have you to thank, thank for that because it’s not something that I would’ve thought of.
[00:35:32] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:35:32] Troy Van Vliet: I’m not a school builder.
[00:35:34] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:35:34] Troy Van Vliet: You know, I’m not an educator.
[00:35:35] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:35:36] Troy Van Vliet: Um, I’m a parent, a motivated parent. And, um, so with, uh, the guidance of people such as yourself, we’re like,
[00:35:43] Michel DesLauriers: right,
[00:35:43] Troy Van Vliet: this is what we gotta do. I’m like,
[00:35:44] Michel DesLauriers: yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, but, you know, and, and, and that’s just, uh, you know, I talked about my own family needing help.
[00:35:51] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:35:51] Michel DesLauriers: I talked about, um, you know, the schools I were at, at, I was at previous to St. John Paul II. That was huge.
[00:35:59] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:36:00] Michel DesLauriers: And, um, and the monies that they set aside and raised was utilized every penny of it. Yeah, yeah,
[00:36:08] Troy Van Vliet: yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s, uh, one of those things. It does cost money to run these schools.
[00:36:12] Michel DesLauriers: It does.
[00:36:13] Troy Van Vliet: We get very limited. We get zero government funding for the infrastructure, for the, for the buildings that’s, or anything like that. We didn’t need anything. And we get 50% for, um, education.
[00:36:23] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:36:24] Troy Van Vliet: For of funding. And then the rest all has to come from, from us. From tuition.
[00:36:28] Michel DesLauriers: Tuition. That’s
[00:36:28] Troy Van Vliet: right.
[00:36:28] And what, that’s why there’s tuition’s in there. So, um, but it’s been a great, uh, a great journey getting the, the school set up. It’s still, still long ways to go.
[00:36:37] Michel DesLauriers: That’s fantastic.
[00:36:38] Troy Van Vliet: You know, and of course you’ll have to be a part of our great grand opening next year.
[00:36:41] Michel DesLauriers: Oh yeah, for sure.
[00:36:43] Troy Van Vliet: Um, I can’t wait. I’ve said this to many that I can’t wait to have our first open house in our new building. Cause families are gonna be so excited when they come in there to see that. Cause, um, just touring families. You’ve been through a tour through the camp?
[00:36:56] Michel DesLauriers: Yes.
[00:36:56] Troy Van Vliet: The new campus, although it’s not finished, but you’ll have to come back again.
[00:37:00] Michel DesLauriers: Yes.
[00:37:00] Troy Van Vliet: Because it’s that much further along. There’s, it’s, it’s a lot of wow factor.
[00:37:04] Michel DesLauriers: right.
[00:37:04] Troy Van Vliet: In this campus.
[00:37:06] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:37:06] Troy Van Vliet: Um, but at the open houses in the past that you did, um, at SJPII, one of the things that, um, you had said to the families, cause you always reflected back on yourself and Michelle, your wife, um, when your kids were growing up, you, they were like, you, you, you had the conversation where it wasn’t, where are kids gonna go to high school or what high school, but it was always what Catholic high school or what Catholic elementary school are they gonna go to?
[00:37:38] Obviously it’s been important for you.
[00:37:40] Michel DesLauriers: Absolutely.
[00:37:41] Troy Van Vliet: From day one, and that has resonated with me always. I’ve remembered that. And in your speech, I think you said the same speech five times in a row, at five different open houses.
[00:37:49] Michel DesLauriers: Probably. Probably.
[00:37:50] Troy Van Vliet: Why reinvent the wheel? But it worked fantastic. You know? It was, it was, uh, and I think that resonated with a lot of people. They’re like, yeah,
[00:37:57] Michel DesLauriers: it does resonate with a lot of people. And, and, and it, it’s, I important for a lot of different reasons.
[00:38:04] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:38:04] Michel DesLauriers: You know, um, parents and students will tell you, you know, it may not always be because it’s, um, the Catholic, the religious part of it that they’re interested in. They may be interested in the academic.
[00:38:15] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:38:15] Michel DesLauriers: They may be interested in having a safe environment.
[00:38:18] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:38:18] Michel DesLauriers: They may be interested in having, um, the athletic program, whatever it might be that drives them there.
[00:38:24] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:38:24] Michel DesLauriers: Initially, um, I think they all get caught up in the environment there. And I think the school, the new school, someone coming into that school just coming into the parking lot will know right away what type of school this is.
[00:38:41] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:38:42] Michel DesLauriers: And then once they go through the doors, it’ll be a different, they’ll, they’ll feel it. I remember someone coming to an open house at one of the other schools I was at, and they told me the minute we walked in the door, we knew this was the right place.
[00:38:57] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:38:58] Michel DesLauriers: He says, I can’t put my finger on it. I can’t tell you what it is exactly, but there’s something about the place. We do the same thing at St. John Paul II.
[00:39:10] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:39:11] Michel DesLauriers: But I think what will also resonate is the people that you attract to be part of that community.
[00:39:17] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:39:17] Michel DesLauriers: And I’m talking about specifically your teachers.
[00:39:19] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:39:20] Michel DesLauriers: And then the students who are gonna be your best ambassadors.
[00:39:24] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:39:24] Michel DesLauriers: By far your best ambassadors of what that school will be.
[00:39:28] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:39:29] Michel DesLauriers: Down the road.
[00:39:29] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[00:39:30] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:39:31] Troy Van Vliet: So, you’ve had a lot of experience with running schools.
[00:39:34] Michel DesLauriers: Correct.
[00:39:35] Troy Van Vliet: Speaking of teachers, um, and having to hire teachers and, um, how important, what is the most important aspect in hiring teachers that you think, what are, what are the most important things that you look for?
[00:39:49] Like specifically for a Catholic high school teacher, what would you, how would you prioritize some of those things?
[00:39:57] Michel DesLauriers: Right away, you want to see someone that is completely invested and passionate about what they’re doing.
[00:40:04] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:40:05] Michel DesLauriers: You know, you, you can’t force that kind of stuff.
[00:40:09] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:40:10] Michel DesLauriers: You gotta see, you gotta see it and feel it.
[00:40:11] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:40:12] Michel DesLauriers: And then people that really, um, are willing to do whatever it takes. Um, and that also have a really good knowledge base. They, they, they know their stuff. They don’t, you know, I think a good teacher, uh, will come into that classroom and, and, and, and really be, um, uh, have a special relationship with kids. You know, and I really enjoy being with kids.
[00:40:40] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:40:40] Michel DesLauriers: That’s another part of it. And that they’re also willing to go beyond the classroom.
[00:40:47] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:40:48] Michel DesLauriers: Every one of our teachers that we hired initially at St. John Paul II Academy, knew that that was on the docket, but you don’t really know it until you’re there. And then you realize, oh yeah, we don’t have a counselor.
[00:41:03] Troy Van Vliet: Hmm.
[00:41:04] Michel DesLauriers: We don’t have an academic counselor.
[00:41:06] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:41:07] Michel DesLauriers: Let alone a personal counselor. So, we have to kind of assume those rules. We have to do those things. We don’t have coaches, you know, we wanted to do all these activities, but I. Some of us coached in different, I was a football coach.
[00:41:20] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:41:21] Michel DesLauriers: You know, I did some basketball, softball. We didn’t offer those things, you know, cross country. Okay, I’ll do it.
[00:41:27] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:41:27] Michel DesLauriers: Junior girls’ volleyball.
[00:41:29] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:41:29] Michel DesLauriers: Okay. We’ll do it.
[00:41:30] Troy Van Vliet: Here you go.
[00:41:32] Michel DesLauriers: Because it was important to the kids, it was important. And if I was gonna ask teachers to do it, I needed to be that example to do it.
[00:41:39] Troy Van Vliet: Right. Right.
[00:41:40] Michel DesLauriers: And uh, so those are some of the things we look for in teachers. You know, that and then, and you know that they’re witnesses to their faith. That when they’re talking casually about, you know, being in Catholic schools, you know exactly what their identity is and who they are as a person.
[00:41:59] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:42:00] Michel DesLauriers: Because of how comfortable they are. It’s comfort in their skin.
[00:42:04] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:42:05] Michel DesLauriers: You know that that, yeah.
[00:42:06] Troy Van Vliet: Because those teachers being witnesses to their faith throughout the school day. Is huge. It’s throughout coaching.
[00:42:14] Michel DesLauriers: Oh yeah.
[00:42:14] Troy Van Vliet: Throughout, uh, teaching, you know, whether it’s math, science, whatever it is, um, um, if they’re a witness to their faith and how they interact with the kids, um, and how they can somehow draw the, the, the, the class, uh, or the curriculum into, um, into faith.
[00:42:34] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:42:34] Troy Van Vliet: Like, you know, and tie those together somehow. Um, you know, there’s Darryl Hall, just, you know, he’s been writing books on, um, uh, um, I, I guess religion and science.
[00:42:45] Michel DesLauriers: mm-hmm.
[00:42:45] Troy Van Vliet: And how they’re, how they go together.
[00:42:47] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:42:47] Troy Van Vliet: Well, specifically Catholicism and science.
[00:42:49] Michel DesLauriers: Yes.
[00:42:49] Troy Van Vliet: And, and, uh, Christianity. Um, and how they go together and how science proves that Jesus, that God exists.
[00:42:57] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:42:58] Troy Van Vliet: You know?
[00:42:58] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:42:59] Troy Van Vliet: So, um, and in the, uh, uh, in a Catholic school, that’s hugely, hugely important.
[00:43:05] Michel DesLauriers: Absolutely.
[00:43:05] Troy Van Vliet: And it’s something that I think a lot of Catholic schools over time in the West, I’m not gonna say here specifically, but in the West, have kind of fallen away from it. They’ve become Catholic schools in name and not just in practice, not, you know, in the, in the deepest form. Um, and um, and that’s something that, you know, our school, we wanted to really be a, a that, like I said, that Beacon, you know, that’s saying, no, this is how it’s done and this is what we should all be aspiring to, to make sure we keep in our education.
[00:43:37] Michel DesLauriers: And ironically, the 50% funding that you alluded to Yeah. Helps us to keep that autonomy.
[00:43:43] Troy Van Vliet: Yes.
[00:43:44] Michel DesLauriers: Helps us to be, yeah. And set our guidelines.
[00:43:48] Troy Van Vliet: Yes.
[00:43:48] Michel DesLauriers: Set our own code of conduct.
[00:43:49] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:43:49] Michel DesLauriers: Set the way in which we run things and do things.
[00:43:53] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:43:53] Michel DesLauriers: You know?
[00:43:53] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:43:54] Michel DesLauriers: And that, that’s critical.
[00:43:56] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah, it is. Yeah. So, we follow the BC curriculum.
[00:43:58] Michel DesLauriers: We do,
[00:43:59] Troy Van Vliet: um, however, um, we have a religious portion in our school.
[00:44:04] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:44:04] Troy Van Vliet: And, and like we say, we try and weave that in everything that we do within the school. Um, which is huge. And, um, the, our school districts, cause a lot of people say, well, you know, why do private schools get any funding from the government?
[00:44:17] And it’s like, well, the government and our taxpayers get a great deal on what, first of all, they don’t have to spend the a hundred million dollars that we’re doing to build a school.
[00:44:25] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:44:25] Troy Van Vliet: With zero taxpayer money.
[00:44:27] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:44:27] Troy Van Vliet: Um, and, um, they only have to. Pay 50% for the operating of the school.
[00:44:34] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[00:44:34] Troy Van Vliet: None in the maintenance, none, you know, in the upkeep or rebuilding or renovations in the school, taxpayers don’t pay for any of that.
[00:44:41] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:44:41] Troy Van Vliet: Whereas every public school, it’s a hundred percent of that that gets paid for.
[00:44:46] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:44:46] Troy Van Vliet: So, um, so it’s a great deal. It’s a fantastic deal for the BC taxpayer and, uh, that’s why I think, and, and yeah. Do we want more than 50% funding? That’s a bit of a, you know, if we had more than 50% Yeah. Then does the government end up having too much say at what goes on to the school?
[00:45:03] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:45:04] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. You know, um, Ontario’s facing that right now, or Alberta facing.
[00:45:08] Michel DesLauriers: huge dilemma
[00:45:08] Troy Van Vliet: that right now. Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s really difficult.
[00:45:10] Michel DesLauriers: And who you can hire, who you can accept into the school.
[00:45:13] Troy Van Vliet: Right.
[00:45:13] Michel DesLauriers: How you, how you go about, uh, doing things. Yeah.
[00:45:15] Troy Van Vliet: Right, right. So, um, yeah, hiring faith-based teachers is huge.
[00:45:21] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:45:21] Troy Van Vliet: Is a huge thing.
[00:45:22] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:45:22] Troy Van Vliet: You have to have, I mean,
[00:45:24] Michel DesLauriers: and this is not to, to say that. Non-faith-based teachers don’t fit in well with the community either, or non-faith-based families don’t fit in.
[00:45:34] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. Cause they’re all welcome.
[00:45:35] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah, exactly.
[00:45:36] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah,
[00:45:36] Michel DesLauriers: exactly.
[00:45:37] Troy Van Vliet: We gravitate, of course it’s a Catholic school. We gravitate to the Catholics first. They would be the first ones that wanna come and then, uh,
[00:45:44] Michel DesLauriers: of course.
[00:45:45] Troy Van Vliet: Um, and then our Protestant friends, you know, uh, we’ve many, um, just in the Christian category. Um, and then we have some other.
[00:45:53] Michel DesLauriers: yeah.
[00:45:54] Troy Van Vliet: Faiths as well that have come to our school that just believe in the overall teachings of the Catholic church as a great foundation.
[00:46:01] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:46:01] Troy Van Vliet: For the kid and, uh, their son or daughter to uh, to be able to excel in.
[00:46:05] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:46:07] Troy Van Vliet: Um, yeah, that’s, uh, those are some really great points going forward.
[00:46:11] Now, sports, I wanted to talk about that a little bit because you come.
[00:46:15] Michel DesLauriers: Sure.
[00:46:15] Troy Van Vliet: From a great athletic family, like we mentioned earlier. Um, how does that fit in and why is it important in a Catholic school.
[00:46:25] Michel DesLauriers: I’m gonna simply put, if it wasn’t for athletics at, for example, St. Thomas Moore Collegiate, I
[00:46:32] Troy Van Vliet: mm-hmm.
[00:46:32] Michel DesLauriers: I think, and you, you talked about reflecting back, I think it saved my life.
[00:46:37] Troy Van Vliet: Wow.
[00:46:37] Michel DesLauriers: You know, in this sense that it, you know, every season you had people, and there were teachers in this case, Christian brothers too, who gave up their time after school at night, on the weekend to be with you to, and it, and it extended beyond that, that classroom that I was talking about.
[00:47:02] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:47:03] Michel DesLauriers: And it really, um, it, it’s really another aspect of, uh, of school life that’s so important in the, in the sense that you are working with, as a team.
[00:47:16] You know, you, you, you, there’s a discipline involved, there’s respect, there’s um, um, a comradery. Um, some of your best memories come from not what you did in the classroom Mm. But what you did outside the classroom and those relationships stay with you forever. Mm. In so many ways. Sometimes just in memory, but sometimes in the people that you know, but establishing that athletic program is, you know, it, it’s part and parcel of developing the whole child.
[00:47:50] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:47:50] Michel DesLauriers: When you talk about, you know, that whole person, it’s not just what you do from nine to three, it’s also what you do beyond that. Athletics did that for me.
[00:48:00] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:48:00] Michel DesLauriers: And I think it does that, and that’s why it was so important to start the athletic program, even though it was very simple.
[00:48:07] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:48:07] Michel DesLauriers: Very small.
[00:48:09] We started it, and we did it.
[00:48:10] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:48:11] Michel DesLauriers: And we needed everybody on board and. Speed of God. They did.
[00:48:15] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:48:16] Michel DesLauriers: And we took it on the chin, but you know, I did it at, at Thomas Moore too.
[00:48:21] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:48:21] Michel DesLauriers: Uh, yeah. It was, it, it, it, it, it, um, it was great for me and my brothers and thank God my, my parents were so supportive of being involved with that.
[00:48:31] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Some of my fondest memories, uh, are, are sports related.
[00:48:36] Michel DesLauriers: mm-hmm.
[00:48:36] Troy Van Vliet: In, uh, in the school. Um, and then, um, or going through St. Thomas Moore. Yeah. When I reflect back, those are some of the biggest, you know, things that you and the, and the school rallies around the sports teams as well.
[00:48:48] Michel DesLauriers: Oh, yeah.
[00:48:48] Troy Van Vliet: Uh, in so many ways, um, as they do in the arts.
[00:48:53] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:48:53] Troy Van Vliet: So, um, we have a complete arts wing that we’re building in the school. Unfortunately, it won’t be completed. Um, right away. We have to raise a little bit more money, um, to get it done we’ll, we’ll, we will have arts, we’ll still have band, we’ll have, you know, drama and whatever, all that kind of stuff.
[00:49:10] Um, but we have the, the future in our school with the, with the arts is huge. So, we’re building a theater for I think 350 seats. Um, and a big band room.
[00:49:24] Michel DesLauriers: That’s great.
[00:49:25] Troy Van Vliet: Big, uh, a choral room. That’s choir.
[00:49:27] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:49:27] Troy Van Vliet: That’s something new. I learned a choral room anyway. Yes. Um, and, uh, yeah, the green room off of the arts, off of the big theater. Um, and the big, uh, theater, uh, set production area, we’ve got, uh, set. So anyway, so that’s a another wing that we have to finish. It’s built, but we have to finish the interior.
[00:49:49] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:49:49] Troy Van Vliet: Off. So, we’ve gotta raise a little bit more money for that. Um, but the arts a big part as well. Do you put that in the same categories as the athletics?
[00:49:56] Michel DesLauriers: 110%. Hundred and 10% and, um, I can’t sing worth a lick. I like to sing loud at church, much to my own children chagrin at the time. But the, um, the arts are so important because again, it delves into another talent base, not a separate base because.
[00:50:18] Troy Van Vliet: mm-hmm.
[00:50:19] Michel DesLauriers: Because you have overlap. Okay.
[00:50:21] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:50:22] Michel DesLauriers: I remember one of the productions we, we, we put in at, uh, Vancouver College was, uh, Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat.
[00:50:30] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:50:31] Michel DesLauriers: And it was just inspiring to see our middle linebacker on the senior boy’s team taking the role as the king, you know? And I was just like, this is amazing that we have opportunity to provide for all these students to be able to participate in various aspects of school life. If they want to. And my own daughters are products of the arts program, both.
[00:51:05] Uh, my oldest daughter, she went to Holy Cross, she graduated, she went to St. Uh, Simon Fraser, got a fine arts degree and is still involved with drama directing and involved with drama productions to this day. My youngest daughter was involved with the drama program all the way through at St. Thomas Moore and loved every minute of it.
[00:51:27] It was a lot of work for a short period of time mm-hmm. When they do the actual production. But she loved it. And the relationships that she established and the people she got too involved and, uh, get involved with were amazing. Yeah. And the teachers of course. Great. And it’s important that you have good people there as well.
[00:51:47] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:51:47] Michel DesLauriers: Right. People who are just passionate about
[00:51:50] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:51:51] Michel DesLauriers: And understand what it takes, you know, to do a good production. I remember our drama. Um, teacher at St. Thomas Moore, she, she did all this work. She directed the play. And normally they, they stand behind the scenes. You know, they’re, they’re prompting kids.
[00:52:07] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:52:07] Michel DesLauriers: She sat in the audience; she didn’t say a word. The kids took ownership.
[00:52:16] Troy Van Vliet: Oh.
[00:52:17] Michel DesLauriers: And the productions run seamlessly.
[00:52:20] Troy Van Vliet: Isn’t that something?
[00:52:21] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah. It was awesome. And I think that it, it’s, it’s so important in the life kids that you have these other opportunities.
[00:52:27] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:52:28] Michel DesLauriers: And you see these other talents. I saw the first drama production.
[00:52:31] Troy Van Vliet: did you?
[00:52:32] Michel DesLauriers: Last year with
[00:52:32] Troy Van Vliet: Oh. Oh good. I’m glad.
[00:52:33] Michel DesLauriers: Because you were trying to do it during Covid.
[00:52:35] Troy Van Vliet: Yes.
[00:52:35] Michel DesLauriers: And it got canceled.
[00:52:36] Troy Van Vliet: The trial of the Wicked Witch. Yes,
[00:52:39] Michel DesLauriers: yes.
[00:52:40] Troy Van Vliet: Great.
[00:52:40] Michel DesLauriers: And, and then I saw it. And just to see all the, the students who I knew were, who were involved in other aspects of school life get involved in that. And again, you talk about stepping up.
[00:52:53] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:52:53] Michel DesLauriers: All kids that may not. Maybe in another school does not do it. Yeah. But did it here?
[00:52:58] Troy Van Vliet: they did
[00:52:59] Michel DesLauriers: Probably had the time of their life because they looked like they were having the time of their life on stage.
[00:53:04] Troy Van Vliet: They did. Did, yeah. They did. And that particular production, like the different characters that those kids had to take on were really extreme.
[00:53:13] Michel DesLauriers: I didn’t recognize some of them. I told them later. Yeah.
[00:53:16] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. That’s a great, that was an absolutely a fantastic production. And, uh, another proud moment for SJP II Academy was the first, uh, first drama production.
[00:53:25] Michel DesLauriers: for sure. Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
[00:53:27] Troy Van Vliet: I, uh, I look forward to another one this year.
[00:53:29] Michel DesLauriers: Absolutely.
[00:53:30] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:53:31] Michel DesLauriers: Absolutely. You want to keep building on that. I mean, you know, we, we had some success, mild success, trying to get a band together, but
[00:53:39] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:53:39] Michel DesLauriers: You know?
[00:53:40] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm. I
[00:53:40] Michel DesLauriers: think that will come as we as you, as you move into the new building.
[00:53:43] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:53:43] Michel DesLauriers: It’s so important. The choir, um, you know, the, uh, um. The band, all the programs, and then the drama, they all work together.
[00:53:53] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:53:53] Michel DesLauriers: You know, the art classes.
[00:53:55] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. Yes.
[00:53:56] Michel DesLauriers: It’s amazing the talent level out there.
[00:53:58] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:53:59] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:53:59] Troy Van Vliet: And we’ve got a big art class. Yeah. Uh, also gonna be unfinished, you know, we’ll have art as well right away. But, um, we’ve got a big wing for that as well.
[00:54:10] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:54:10] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. So
[00:54:11] Michel DesLauriers: a big believer in it, and, uh, passionate about that as well.
[00:54:15] Troy Van Vliet: And another thing that we’re working on with the school, it’d be interesting to hear your take on it. I, I’m a little biased because I’m in the construction industry in building and developing. Um, but, um, we want to get a, a trades program going in the school, industrial design, that type of, uh, program that, uh, can attract other kids to, or not just attract it, but we can encourage the trades in the whole industry that’s kind of this forgotten. Um. Part of a career.
[00:54:51] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:54:51] Troy Van Vliet: That, um, which we need. We are in desperate need of trades people, good trades people. You know, whether you want to be a plumber, electrician, a framer, a
[00:55:01] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:55:01] Troy Van Vliet: Um, a welder, a mechanical, a contractor, or a, you know, a, a rebar company. A friend of mine, he owns a, a rebar company.
[00:55:12] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:55:12] Troy Van Vliet: I asked him, um, the other day, um, you know, what do, what do you pay to get started? I think a guy without any education in anything, I think he gets, they get 25 bucks an hour. I think minimum wage is 15 or $17 an hour here or something like that.
[00:55:26] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:55:26] Troy Van Vliet: So, they get $25 an hour right outta the gate. Most kids don’t even know these jobs exist.
[00:55:31] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:55:31] Troy Van Vliet: At all. You know, let alone they apply for it.
[00:55:33] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:55:34] Troy Van Vliet: Um, and I also asked ’em, I said, so in your company, um, how long, when, when would you get your first raise? Like, how do you know? So, they, they can earn a raise really quickly without any education, even whatsoever. And then they can actually start running a team and get, uh, 40 to $50 an hour within this organization.
[00:55:53] And then if you become a detailer and work in the office, um, you can get $150,000 a year up to. You know, and these are really great paying jobs that our kids don’t know exist.
[00:56:07] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:56:08] Troy Van Vliet: And it’s crazy. Now it’s, I’m, I’m all for post-secondary education. I’m, especially for it when there’s a goal at the end of it, it’s like, I would like to be this, or I’d like to be that, or what have you.
[00:56:20] Michel DesLauriers: Sure.
[00:56:21] Troy Van Vliet: Um, but we need more introduction, more introductions into the trades. This particular friend of mine, he started this rebar company outta the back of his truck. You know, him and his partner and, um, they, they were working and, you know.
[00:56:37] Michel DesLauriers: mm-hmm.
[00:56:37] Troy Van Vliet: Um, having fun on the weekends and dying rebar during the week.
[00:56:41] And they worked hard.
[00:56:42] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:56:43] Troy Van Vliet: And they ended up buying, you know, other small companies to build up their company. Um, they are like a half a billion-dollar company today. They’re huge. They’ve got well over 300 employees.
[00:56:57] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:56:57] Troy Van Vliet: In, in what they do. And once again, people don’t know these jobs exist.
[00:57:01] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[00:57:02] Troy Van Vliet: You know, and we need leaders in those industries. This school is being built not by robots, by people there on site. When you see this impressive campus and you see how many hundreds of people are employed just to build that school.
[00:57:16] Michel DesLauriers: Yes.
[00:57:17] Troy Van Vliet: And then all of the consultants that we have.
[00:57:20] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:57:20] Troy Van Vliet: So that’s another part, another aspect of our school that we, we are hoping to get going sooner than later. Um, to get some introductions to the trades, you know, like,
[00:57:31] Michel DesLauriers: yeah. That’s great. Yeah. Yeah. Because, um, you know, schools, high schools, I think some of them initially had those programs in their schools, but because space was limited.
[00:57:45] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:57:45] Michel DesLauriers: For various classrooms and these kinds of things, some of those got put aside and then never recovered again. Yeah. Fortunately, like at Thomas Moore, we always had, uh, woodworking.
[00:57:56] Troy Van Vliet: Woodworking.
[00:57:57] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[00:57:58] Troy Van Vliet: When I was there, they had mechanics too.
[00:58:00] Michel DesLauriers: They’ve had mechanics, they’ve had like auto mechanics and all those kinds of things. Yeah. But those things have been unfortunately.
[00:58:06] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:58:06] Michel DesLauriers: Put away. But they still have the woodworking.
[00:58:09] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:58:09] Michel DesLauriers: And, um, and the teacher that did it just recently retired, but they, they’ve invested in getting someone for that.
[00:58:17] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:58:17] Michel DesLauriers: Program.
[00:58:18] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:58:18] Michel DesLauriers: And, uh, robotics and coding and all those kinds of things.
[00:58:21] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:58:22] Michel DesLauriers: Maybe not necessarily fit into that same category, but that’s an interest, certainly a huge interest for kids.
[00:58:28] Troy Van Vliet: Yes. And we do have the robotics of course.
[00:58:30] Michel DesLauriers: Yes. Yes.
[00:58:31] Troy Van Vliet: We’ve got that. It was, it’s like when the tech age came, like all of these trades kind of started just to fall right to the wayside. And, um, uh, and we need to bring that back because, you know, we, we we’re importing people just for these jobs, so,
[00:58:45] Michel DesLauriers: yeah. Well, one of our, our recent graduates with the legacy class just told me at that gala that, uh, he’s got his license to be a plumber. Yeah.
[00:58:55] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. Isn’t that great? Yeah, it was awesome. That’s great. Yeah. And once again, these are high paying jobs. Mm-hmm. You know, and you, you, you can be a plumber and eventually you have your own company if you want and hire other plumbers.
[00:59:05] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:59:06] Troy Van Vliet: You know, so you can be a contractor. So, there’s so many facets. Yeah. I I we wanna definitely promote that. That’s part of that whole person. Yes. And within that whole person, there’s the, the faith side,
[00:59:17] Michel DesLauriers: right.
[00:59:18] Troy Van Vliet: The spiritual side, um, which, you know, Pope John Paul, and now St. John Paul, um, uh, spoke of
[00:59:24] Michel DesLauriers: mm-hmm.
[00:59:24] Troy Van Vliet: And talked about all the time. Um, and I’m proud to say that in our new campus we’ve got the, the largest chapel, which I’ve just got numbers back that will be able to fit over 150 people into our chapel.
[00:59:35] Michel DesLauriers: Wow.
[00:59:36] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:59:36] Michel DesLauriers: Great.
[00:59:37] Troy Van Vliet: So entire grade level will be able to have mass in there.
[00:59:40] Michel DesLauriers: Yes.
[00:59:40] Troy Van Vliet: Uh, and it’s right in the center of the school.
[00:59:43] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[00:59:44] Troy Van Vliet: Um, where you can see the chapel.
[00:59:46] Michel DesLauriers: mm-hmm.
[00:59:46] Troy Van Vliet: From everywhere. So, um, I think everybody coming to visit our school will know what we’re, what we’re all about.
[00:59:52] Michel DesLauriers: Absolutely.
[00:59:53] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:59:53] Michel DesLauriers: Absolutely. That’s great.
[00:59:54] Troy Van Vliet: And we wanna keep that in the forefront.
[00:59:56] Michel DesLauriers: I think that’s great insight and great, uh, decision making in terms of how overall planning of the school, you know?
[01:00:03] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[01:00:03] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[01:00:04] Troy Van Vliet: Absolutely. That’s great.
[01:00:06] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[01:00:07] Troy Van Vliet: Um, Mich, do you have anything else that you wanna share? Any more words of wisdom as we continue on?
[01:00:14] Michel DesLauriers: Wow.
[01:00:14] Troy Van Vliet: With St. John Paul II academy?
[01:00:17] Michel DesLauriers: No, you’re really putting me on the spot.
[01:00:18] Troy Van Vliet: Yes, I am putting you on the spot. If the answer’s no, then that’s okay. That’s fine.
[01:00:23] Michel DesLauriers: No, I think that, um, from the get-go, um, you know, you think about you have your dream, this is what you want, and you talked about who you were inspired by your own daughters.
[01:00:33] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[01:00:34] Michel DesLauriers: And in some ways you think about, well, you already had a daughter now that’s graduated. Yep. And your hope was that she was graduating from that new building. Um, there were a lot of parents that we tried to, we, we, we thought that new building was going to be there sooner rather than later.
[01:00:52] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. Yeah.
[01:00:53] Michel DesLauriers: And, you know, but we persevered, um, we showed a lot of grit. You, particularly yourselves, I mean, and, and determination.
[01:01:04] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[01:01:04] Michel DesLauriers: And, uh, you know, when I think about the legacy awards that we give out every year, a lot of them center around those types of words.
[01:01:15] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[01:01:16] Michel DesLauriers: Perseverance.
[01:01:16] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[01:01:17] Michel DesLauriers: Leadership, grit.
[01:01:19] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[01:01:19] Michel DesLauriers: Respect. And, I mean, I haven’t been in the schools I’ve been in before, were all about different types of awards. We’re kinda look at the person.
[01:01:29] Troy Van Vliet: mm-hmm.
[01:01:30] Michel DesLauriers: You know, and, and, and, and how important that person, especially as we go forward, how important these people are and setting the tone, foundation for a new school. Yeah.
[01:01:42] Troy Van Vliet: That’s great.
[01:01:43] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[01:01:43] Troy Van Vliet: That’s awesome. Mm-hmm. Now I’ll, uh, look at those awards, uh, going forward in a better light as well.
[01:01:48] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah. No, they’re important. Yeah.
[01:01:51] Troy Van Vliet: Alright. Mich, I wanna say thank you. Thank you for coming out today but also thank you for everything you’ve done for St. John Paul II academy. It was a big, uh, leap of faith as you always said.
[01:01:59] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[01:02:00] Troy Van Vliet: In the very beginning.
[01:02:00] Michel DesLauriers: Mm-hmm.
[01:02:01] Troy Van Vliet: Um, jumping in with both feet.
[01:02:04] Michel DesLauriers: Right.
[01:02:04] Troy Van Vliet: And, uh, making the school successful right outta the gate.
[01:02:07] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[01:02:07] Troy Van Vliet: And, uh, I think we’re gonna continue to see the fruits of your early labor.
[01:02:11] Michel DesLauriers: Oh, thank you.
[01:02:12] Troy Van Vliet: Uh, in the school going forward as well. So, um, and you’re always welcome.
[01:02:17] Michel DesLauriers: No, I always feel welcome. So, it’s, it, it, that’s a, a, a tremendous feeling.
[01:02:21] Troy Van Vliet: That’s great.
[01:02:22] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[01:02:22] Troy Van Vliet: That’s great. So, we’re looking forward to the opening ceremonies.
[01:02:26] Michel DesLauriers: It’s right around the
[01:02:27] Troy Van Vliet: corner.
[01:02:27] Of St. John Paul II academy’s new campus. Yeah, it’s coming quick.
[01:02:30] Michel DesLauriers: It is, it is. It’ll be here before you know it.
[01:02:32] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[01:02:33] Michel DesLauriers: Yeah.
[01:02:34] Troy Van Vliet: Thanks, so Mich.
[01:02:35] Michel DesLauriers: You’re welcome, Troy. It was my pleasure.
[01:02:37] Troy Van Vliet: Absolutely.
[01:02:37] Michel DesLauriers: Okay.
[01:02:37] Troy Van Vliet: Thanks, you everybody for, uh, for joining us today and be sure to like, and subscribe us, subscribe to us so that you make sure you don’t miss any future and upcoming, um, podcasts.
[01:02:49] That will be, uh, we’ve got some great, uh, great, uh, people that we’re gonna be interviewing going forward. Thank you.
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