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It is our belief that “the opportunity to accomplish challenging tasks inspires young people to give their best.”

 

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The Leadership Program welcomes students who are motivated, hard-working, and eager to take on new challenges. We look for individuals who lead through action, strive to grow as learners, and are committed to environmental stewardship and social responsibility. Our students cherish opportunities to connect with nature, seeing outdoor experiences as essential to personal growth. They also value community involvement and know that volunteering with local partners helps them feel connected and part of something bigger. 

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We believe that learning extends beyond the classroom—shaped not only by academic rigour but also by meaningful experiences in the world around us. Through community-based learning, nature-infused outdoor education, and active engagement with local and global issues, we help students build deeper connections—to themselves, to others, and to the environment. This approach empowers students to draw meaning from their past, engage fully in the present, and move confidently toward their future.​

 

Here is a testimonial from a UBC instructor: 

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“Graduates of the Windermere Leadership program excel in our courses. They are strong conceptually and in challenging group processes. They demonstrate strong leadership skills in a traditional form (i.e. the individual that drives group performance) as well as in a dynamic, distributive manner (i.e. by allowing others to lead and being supportive of group harmony). Simply put, their experiences and development in the Leadership program puts them ahead of their peers within the faculty, and it is evident in the classroom and evident in the community. They enter our undergraduate degree programs with a level of understanding of the complex connections between food, health, culture and the environment that we aspire to attain for our students by 3rd or 4th year.”

 

–Dr. Will Valley, Instructor in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia.

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