February 25, 2015
Winter’s chill was no match for the warmth and goodwill generated in the Senior School Penturn Library on the evening of January 27, 2015, where the annual reception for Le cercle des philanthropes, our school’s donor recognition society, took place. Each year this casual and friendly reception is held to recognize and appreciate our TFS family of donors for their generosity and support during the previous year.
Despite the weather, this year’s reception was well-attended. Mirna Hafez, Acting Head of School, cordially welcomed guests, who had braved plummeting temperatures that frosty Tuesday to mix and mingle over wine and hors d’oeuvres. “Your gifts are making an impact already,” she told the group, listing the numerous milestones made possible in 2014 by their Soaring Beyond: The Campaign for TFS contributions. Among the notable highlights, the Mississauga campus has raised almost 85 percent of their Learning Forum goal, which means that the Mississauga Learning Forum will be completed during the summer of 2015. Also on track, with only $1 million left to raise, is the Senior School Learning Forum project, a critical goal for 2015 given that the library is now operating at full capacity.
Board Chair, Mitch Frazer, brought a message of appreciation from the Directors, noting too that monies raised were hard at work, laying the foundations for the Learning Forum, enriching programs and building the entrance scholarship fund. “I speak for the entire Board when I say how grateful we are that you have so enthusiastically embraced the most ambitious fundraising campaign in our school’s history.”
The Learning Forum was top of mind at this year’s reception, and not only because of the amazing milestones reached. The Learning Forum @ TFS is partnering with the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Hospital and York University on a study to optimize classroom learning in school-age children. So a timely addition to the evening’s event was a lecture hosted by the TFS Parent's Association in partnership with the Learning Forum.Following the donor reception, 110 guests assembled in La Terrasse to listen to “Cutting Edge Research on Memory and Retention in Teenagers,” presented by Drs. Shayna Rosenbaum and Alice Kim.
Prior to the lecture, however, our own Dr. Susan Elliot, Executive Director of the Learning Forum @ TFS, drew the link between research, program innovation and its ultimate beneficiaries, our students. That link is actually a circle – a Circle of Care that includes teachers, parents as well as education specialists, which together work to ensure an exceptional learning experience.
But you could argue that to make this circle truly complete we should include another circle — Le cercle des philanthropes de TFS! TFS philanthropy has helped to shape and build the school we so proudly share today, brick by brick and program by program in support of great education. And that’s worth celebrating.