The Foundation of Bodwell High School - An Interview with Paul Yuen
Bodwell High School offers many students from abroad, a chance to learn, experience, and immerse themselves in a multicultural environment.
Purpose as a Social Worker
Paul Yuen’s migration journey is about finding his place in Canada. Together with the support of his wife, Cathy Lee, he went on to build Bodwell High School, an institution deeply rooted in multiculturalism. He was born in Hong Kong, China, where he would complete schooling at every level and then study sociology and philosophy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. During his university years, he joined an exchange program with Keio University that gave him the opportunity to sojourn in Japan with homestay families. He then visited Taiwan, South Korea, and other parts of China. Being exposed to different cultures not only deepened Paul’s appreciation for them but also sparked his desire to travel more. Hence, after graduating from university in social work, Paul backpacked for six months across Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia.
Javier interviewing Paul Yuen at the Bodwell High School Library
“I traveled to Europe, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, which opened my eyes to the different cultures,” he says.
“Being exposed to such diversity planted the seed for my belief in multiculturalism and wanting to become a social worker—to help those at the bottom of society,”
Paul would then become a social worker and work with young folks. During that time, he met his wife Cathy Lee and soon settled to have a family. His first job was working at a youth centre in a disadvantaged neighbourhood. Later, he became the CEO of a non-profit organization, running children’s homes for kids from broken families. After that, he taught at a college, training future social workers.
Canada Immigration
In 1988, Paul Yuen and his wife Cathy Lee immigrated to Vancouver, British Columbia, to find new opportunities careerwise. He also chose Canada because his two brothers were already living in Vancouver. Despite being fluent in English, Paul found it challenging to adapt to Canada, as he was unfamiliar with the country’s laws and culture, and was subjected to bigotry from xenophobic strangers. However, as time passed, he saw adapting as a benefit; as an instrument to thrive in a new climate.
While working with youth was integral to Paul’s identity, setting up a school was not planned. When he arrived in Vancouver, his focus was supporting his family by trying different jobs like wholesaling and house building. The catalyst to Bodwell High School was Paul meeting students from Hong Kong and Taiwan who lacked a sense of community.
“In 1990, I met young people from Hong Kong and Taiwan who were studying here alone because their parents were still back home,” he recalls.
“They needed more than classroom instruction — they needed care, community, and activities to balance their lives. I realised my background of working with youth could offer something better than what smaller schools were doing.”
Bodwell High School Founding and Eclecticism
In 1991, Paul and his wife Cathy founded Bodwell High School in Kitsilano before relocating to North Vancouver; the place the school resides in today.
Paul talks about why they had to move to North Vancouver:
“Unbeknownst to my wife and I, a competitor bought the building we were leasing. At first, we were concerned for the future of Bodwell High School, as we didn’t know where the school would end up. But then we saw it as a blessing in disguise, as we could now buy land and build our own campus in the waterfront of North Vancouver.”
Bodwell High School West Gym
In the first semester, the school merely had six students, so they couldn’t adhere to a standard secondary curriculum; basic English courses were the only classes offered. However, four months later they had forty-two students, and in the second semester, they had over a hundred.
With each semester that passed, Bodwell became a much more eclectic institution. Unique backgrounds and perspectives left space for students to learn from one another and have an open mind about different cultures.
“Bodwell High School offers many students from abroad, a chance to learn, experience, and immerse themselves in a multicultural environment,” Paul says.
“We’ve had students from 50 different countries. They learn from each other’s perspectives. We want them to see the world with an open mind, to respect different cultures and lifestyles.”
Language is a key focus in the Bodwell curriculum. While most students are learning English as their second language, they are encouraged to keep their mother tongue and learn a third language as well.
“Some students learn Spanish, French, Mandarin, or Japanese,” Paul says. “By living together, they naturally pick up words from each other’s languages — it creates a beautiful exchange.”
Core Competencies
While language is a significant part of Bodwell’s curriculum, a healthy lifestyle is vital to a student’s success. Because Bodwell is a boarding school, it can accommodate students with dormitories, allowing the staff to take better care of students and encourage diligence and productivity.
Paul talks about how a typical school day goes for a Bodwell student:
“It’s structured. Morning announcements, breakfast, and classes until 3:30. Then clubs or sports. In the evenings, they have leisure time, then dinner before curfew. We track attendance, meals, and activities through an app so parents can follow their child’s life here, even from thousands of miles away.”
6L’s at the Bodwell High School entrance
At the entrance of the school sits the “6 L’s” code of conduct for students to adhere to.
Liberate the academic mind
Live an active & healthy lifestyle
Look inward & forward
Love the Earth & one another
Lead for positive change
Learn to excel through English
This code of conduct promotes an environment where students can respect diversity, have an open mind to different perspectives and be sensitive to cultural traditions.
“Respect for diversity, openness to different perspectives, and sensitivity to cultural traditions are values that guide my decisions with students and staff. We encourage students to integrate the best of both their own culture and others.”
Other important core competencies at Bodwell are critical thinking, resilience, adaptability and awareness of one’s strengths. These skills not only benefit students in the classroom but outside of the classroom as well.
Bodwell looks at every student as one person with a multitude of skills, rather than an individual with a singular goal. With that methodology, the school can guide each student into a path in which they can find their purpose.
“We shape whole people — not just minds, but character, health, relationships, and values. Academics are just one part of the picture.”
“Blessing of the Salmon” mural in Bodwell High School
Learning through community
Paul recognizes how essential community is for students at Bodwell, as their families are not present with them for most of their academic term. The school provides afterschool activities like clubs and sports for students to befriend each other outside of the classroom, and volunteer opportunities for them to learn about different cultures, such Kenyan and Peruvian culture.
“Students have gone overseas to help build facilities or donate supplies in Kenya and Peru, but we’ve shifted the focus to learning rather than helping,” Paul says.
“We don’t want students to feel superior — we want them to immerse themselves, learn about other cultures, and understand different ways of life.”
Most notably, they have organised trips to visit the Yellowknives people, educating students about First Nations culture and the cultural genocide they faced under residential schools [1] These trips promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and ensure that students from Bodwell High School reflect on First Nations History and are aware of their struggles, such as the “Missing Indigenous Women”, and prioritizing wildfire prevention resources to protect Indigenous communities.
Rewards and Adversities
Leading a multicultural institution comes with its rewards and adversities. While Paul sees lifelong friendships being formed in the school, he worries about global political tensions and misinformation affecting how students interact with each other.
“I’m concerned about the global climate. Political tensions, misinformation, and a closed mindset can affect how students perceive each other. Our role is to foster understanding through dialogue.”, he emphasized.
When asked, how Paul has seen education evolve over the past decade, he said he has seen the popularity of Western-style curriculum. However, he believes “it is time for a genuine exchange — learning from each other’s systems. The future should be more open-minded and less dominated by one model.”
Ultimately, Paul Yuen’s life is about how one’s value for multiculturalism and social work led to building an institution that welcomes diversity and inclusion. Rather than focusing on legacy, Paul values the journey, and he emphasizes on daily interactions, the growth in the community he has helped build, and how Bodwell can become a much more successful and sustainable institution.
“Education is one of the most rewarding industries. Seeing young people grow up is a joy — physically, emotionally, and mentally. Alumni return years later to share their successes. Watching them adapt to a new culture and language and then go on to universities abroad or back home, makes this work deeply meaningful. That is what matters most to me.”
Annotation and Works Cited
[1] Residential schools were a school system created by the Canadian government and administrated by Anglican, Presbyterian, United and Roman Catholic churches with the objective to assimilate and indoctrinate Indigenous people into Euro-Canadian culture.
Alpha Education. 2021. 22 August 2025.
Hanson, Eric. “The Residential School System.” Indigenous Foundations. First Nations and Indigenous Studies UBC. 2020. 24 August 2025.
Yuen, Paul. How a social worker built a school for thousands of students from all over the world Elton Hubner. 14 July 2023.
