Month: April 2025

Celebrate Vaisakhi!

Tomorrow at our school we celebrate Vaisakhi. Be sure to join in on the festivities at lunch and throughout the day. The official date for Vaisakhi in 2025 is April 14.

Vaisakhi is a major festival on the Sikh calendar, and one of the most important days of the year. Sikhs in Canada, India, and around the world will celebrate the founding of the Khalsa, or the worldwide body of Sikhs, as established by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699. Sometimes Vaisakhi is referred to as Khalsa Day.

Vaisakhi, or Baisakhi, was traditionally a spring harvest festival, and for some, a New Year’s Day. All across northern India, particularly in the Punjab, many different groups will celebrate Vaisakhi for these various reasons, including Hindus and other non-Sikhs. Vaisakhi is traditionally observed on April 13 or 14, but may be celebrated on different days in different places. Vancouver will hold its Vaisakhi Parade on April 12, while Surrey will hold its parade, one of the largest in the world, on April 19.

The overwhelming majority of Indo-Canadians (people of South Asian origin) in our school and in our neighbourhoods are Sikhs. As such, Vaisakhi is a major holiday here in Surrey and other cities in British Columbia with concentrated populations of Sikhs, such as Vancouver and Abbotsford.

Join with us in your School Library as we celebrate Sikh Heritage Month by learning more about Vaisakhi and other aspects of Sikh culture and history.

Find out more:

Around the Clock Schooling

Government officials announced this morning that they approved plans for a new schedule for Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary and all schools in the district, effective September 2025. In an effort to maximize the efficient use of space, time and all resources, all schools will be adopting a year long and around the clock schedule.

There will be 3 different groups who will be assigned to one of the following schedules:

Schedule A: Monday to Saturday 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Schedule B: Monday to Saturday 5:00 PM to 1:00 AM
Schedule C: Monday to Saturday 1:00 AM to 9:00 AM

Sunday will be reserved for 24 Hour Detention, for students who have been late, absent, misbehaving, not completing homework, using cell phones, or not paying attention during the regular schedule. Students in Detention will be required to clean and maintain the school, as none of that will be done during the regular schedule.

This schedule ensures maximum use of the school building. Assignment for schedules will be based on an auction system, with preferred spots going to the highest bidders.

Anonymous sources have hinted that there will be no human teachers in the buildings during the school day, as all students will be learning via remote connections to AI instructors, but that has yet to be confirmed. Officials did acknowledge that security guards, contracted from local prison populations, would be patrolling the hallways so there will be at least some adults present.

Many observers were quite shocked by the announcement, however it was clear that pressure has been mounting from influential parent groups such as “Moms for Our Kind of Indoctrination” and “Dads for Schools that don’t let Children Mooch Off the Taxpayer.”