TFS - Canada's International School

THE QUARTER CENTURY CLUB "TFS has always been an extended communi of people from every background and every place on earth," says Senior School teacher Jonathan Mo-Trille. "We embrace differences unlike anywhere else." This sense of community has made TFS a home away from home for many students over the years, but also for many staff. To honour staff who have devoted 25 or more years to TFS, the school recently established the Quarter Century Club, of which there are currently 88 members. Mr. Mott-Trille has the unique distinction of having been a TFS student who is now a teacher and a current parent. He has also taught at both campuses. When he began as a student in Junior Kindergarten, it was at a time when parents were instrumental in the development of TFS, even housing teachers who were new arrivals to Canada. "It was a real community effort to get this place started," he recalls. As a result, it wasn't unusual for teachers to socialize with families back then. He chuckles as he tells the story of Mme Bouchard, a social sciences teacher, who frequently visited his family. Every time he made a French grammar error, she would push him into the pool. Line van Kempen, born in France to Dutch parents, was teaching at a French army school in Germany when she decided to move to Toronto to improve her English. Needing a job, she spotted a Toronto French School sign above the A&P store at Yonge and St. Clair. Thus began a career at TFS that spanned 46 years, 24 as a principal, both in Mississauga and Toronto. In the 1970s and '80s, as the Toronto branches began slowly consolidating onto the new campus at Bayview and Lawrence, Mme van Kempen was instrumental in bringing them together as one school. Now retired, Mme van Kempen was originally hired in 1969 to teach French to adults, since TFS also ran an adult education program at the time. Before she started, however, she was asked to take over a Grade 1 class in Mississauga instead. "Mrs. who?" she asked. Without a car, she quickly realized she would need to move closer to the school. A TFS family in Mississauga opened their doors. "Parents were very generous with their time, their help and in being there for us," she remembers fondly. When she found her own place the following year, the family gifted her with a sturdy, wooden arm chair that she still enjoys today. "It was a very happy and warm environment that felt like a big family," says Nancy Plourde, the teacher-librarian at La p'tite école. She came to Toronto from Trois- Rivières 31 years ago and never looked back. "I didn't speak a word of English when I arrived, and while I was teaching French to the Intro students, they were teaching me English." She also introduced students to some French-Canadian traditions along the way, such as dressing up as Bonhomme for the Carnaval celebration in a special costume that was shipped every year from Quebec. Amrish Sachdev, the senior manager in the business office, credits the unique sense of community as something that stood out for him too. Originally from Kenya, he began working at TFS in 1989 when the business office was on the third floor of 296, now the Junior School. Mr. Sachdev has worked under eight CFOs, six heads of school and has held six different positions since he first began. Despite the changes, he maintains that "the core of TFS is still there – the tradition of creating a family-like environment lives on." In the early years, many French teachers arrived on TFS' doorstep in lieu of serving two years of mandatory military service in France. New to the country, they formed lasting bonds and often lifelong friendships with their TFS colleagues. In essence, they became each other's support network. Denis Huppe, a Junior School teacher, came to TFS via this route. He was originally assigned to a teaching position in Ethiopia, but at the last minute received a call about an opening in Toronto. His contract at TFS was for 16 months, but 36 years later, he is still here. "I felt very comfortable," he states, "and I know how lucky we are to have two languages in the school. I could never move back to France now; it would feel like I'm missing something." In truth, love also intervened for M. Huppe. But he was not the only one who met his future spouse at TFS. As Mr. Mott-Trille describes it, when he returned to the Mississauga branch from a sabbatical year in Jamaica, he found that a "beautiful blonde" had taken his job. Today, that teacher is his wife, and their two children attend TFS. TFS 27 TFS CELEBRATES ITS LONG- TERM STAFF BY SUSAN MARKLE

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