Quest University is opening its doors to 撸奶社区and is inviting the community to come take a look at the school on the hill.
The university's first-ever open house is planned on March 18 and the Dean of Student Affairs Melanie Koenderman is looking forward to seeing new faces come check out the school.
"We've never really done anything like this before," she said. "And one of the reasons we wanted to do this is because we get so many questions about the school from people in town and we decided to answer some questions and celebrate the fact we've been here for four years now."
Koenderman pointed to the recent Maclean's magazine article about Quest as part of the school's growing exposure. She said officials want to help create more of a bond with the town of Squamish.
"We definitely want to be an active and visible part of this community," she said. "We want to be the type of school that local people can be proud of and our students do a great job of volunteering and tutoring in the community."
She pointed out that several students work with volunteer organizations in 撸奶社区and that they will also play an important role in the open house.
"The students I've talked to who are volunteering at the open house are thrilled to be a part of the event," she said. "It's great many of our students volunteer at Big Brothers/Big Sisters and 撸奶社区CAN, but they want to try and develop even more connections locally. It can sometimes feel like you're living in a bit of a bubble on our campus and we want to be more integrated with the community."
From 6 to 7 p.m., those in attendance can attend a sample class taught by a Quest faculty member, participate in a tour of the school or take part in games on the soccer field led by varsity athletes. Koenderman said some of the classes will be astronomy, which will be taught by Quest president David Helfand, a neuroscience class, a French class and theatre.
Afterward will be an open house expo, which will give locals a chance to learn more about the opportunities at Quest, sample appetizers and listen to music played by Quest student musicians.
To cap off the evening, Helfand will discuss Quest's current status and future plans as well as allow locals to learn more about collaboration between the community and the school.
"With the articles in Maclean's and the Vancouver Sun, there seems to be a lot of interest in it," Koenderman said. "We decided we should give an opportunity for locals to get a little more information and we're hoping to turn this into an annual event. Sort of like a state of the union address."
The open house is also a chance for Quest to build up some interest in advance for the first-ever graduation ceremony in the school's history. The first 100 撸奶社区residents to RSVP to the open house will receive a ticket to the ceremony, which takes place on April 30.
Koenderman said the open house is completely free but people may want to RSVP so they can get in a particular class or activity they don't want to miss. Those interested in attending can send their RSVP via email to [email protected].
For more information on the event, visit www.questu.ca/news_and_events/quest_open_house.php.
