TFS - Canada's International School

TFS 33 Diane Campbell's parents came to Toronto, a new start as Irish immigrants, with neither speaking French. Ms. Campbell's mother, having seen an advertisement in a store offering bilingual education, became inspired and enrolled her children in Toronto French School. Her mother's motivation evolved into a close connection with the school. Both of her parents became fully committed to the vision of the school and contributed along the way. Ms. Campbell's father was active in fundraising and was also on the board for many years. Of TFS, she said that the grounding in the sciences and math gave her enough insight to be able to see herself in a science-focused career. "When I was pursuing my first job, my confidence going to those interviews and getting a practical job I attribute to Toronto French School." She similarly recalls the richness of the curriculum that not only allowed students to follow what they were interested in, but also engaged them in inspirational outlets to develop leadership skills, be a "citizen" of the school community and aspire to create positive change in the world. An environmentalist, and as the Head of the Meteorological Service of Canada – Canada's national weather service, Ms. Campbell bases a large part of her thinking on trying to solve the issues of both today and the future. She advocates for students to become passionate about and involved in global challenges such as climate change, to contribute and do something about it. "What I've learned through all this: if you are a citizen, you dedicate an effort towards something, you use your voice, you use anything at your disposal to contribute, you can make a difference. Because that's how policy gets shaped." A DIRECTION FOR ADVOCACY Greg Sharp, on his time at Toronto French School, believes it provided the two educational threads most important to him: the ability to experiment and innovate. "The school always tried new things and restyled their curriculum; it suited me and carried me through my career," he said. Mr. Sharp attended the University of Toronto's architecture program after graduating, which also had an unconventional teaching style. "Toronto French School wasn't too different, and even afterwards my whole life followed that unconventional nature." He took those two approaches to heart and kickstarted several entrepreneurial projects. "I was a 'sorta' entrepreneur, 'sorta' because a real entrepreneur would have been more aggressive," he said. "I wasn't driven by the bottom line. I was a little too nice of a guy to be a real entrepreneur." In IT for over 30 years, Mr. Sharp has been involved in many projects and ventures, such as an online poker business, being a website builder during the dawn of the internet, working in accounting and as a spreadsheet software consultant, and even creating a social networking company that preceded Facebook. "I was good at those things all the way through. And it was like Toronto French School, always trying new things, being unique and inventive. I've held onto that spirit throughout my life." THE PURSUIT OF EXPERIMENTATION AND INNOVATION GREG SHARP '77 Anna Giles Medal Anna Giles Medal DIANE CAMPBELL '77 Governor General's Award Governor General's Award

• Cover