Issue link: https://publications.tfs.ca/i/1531851
Each year, millions of people run in the name of finding a cure for cancer. With roots planted across Canadian schools, neighbourhoods and communities, from sea to sea to sea, the Terry Fox Run is a national tradition that has gained global reach. But did you know that TFS has a special connection to those who supported Terry? e Canadian hero who began the Marathon of Hope was not alone in his campaign. In 1994, TFS held its first Terry Fox Run. Terry's mother, Betty, visited TFS earlier that year to champion the run, more than 10 years after her son's death. During its early years at the school, the run was organized and made possible by staff and parent volunteers. "The run took a lot of time, so much so that they were considering doing it every other year and limiting which grades could take part. As volunteers, we established a large committee and worked hard to make it an important annual event at the school. It became huge, with every student from every grade participating," recalls former volunteer, past parent and TFS alum Nancy Cohen '78. A year later, in 1995, the West Campus officially participated in the Terry Fox Run, bringing together the whole of the TFS community to take part in the initiative. RUNNING FOR TERRY THE WEST CAMPUS WAY Brigitte Matthey, a retired West Campus Grade 1 and SK teacher, helped keep the run on track at our Mississauga branch and says this about its importance there: "We gave our best and encouraged each other during each run, which takes place at the very beginning of the school year. This event presented the opportunity to foster a stronger sense of community." "The West Campus event is a family event," adds Shawn Dorman, former athletic director of the West Campus. "Parents, teachers, teaching assistants and administrators run alongside our students. We are all in it for Terry. The youngest students run hand in hand with the oldest students of the campus, and our entire community comes out to celebrate an amazing cause." One year, Level III student Greta K., then a West Campus student in SK, encouraged her classmates with the following motto: "If Terry Fox did it, we can do it." Darrell Fox reunites with Isadore Sharp outside Giles Hall on October 5, 2023. 21 TFS