Supporting the future of wellness

TFS parents Simone Philogène and David Carmichael have been loyal supporters of the school, contributing to student financial assistance and other initiatives, for many years. With their son Alex graduating this past June, they made a generous commitment as part of the Class of 2024 Fund and became one of the first families to make a gift in support of the future Wellness Centre, which will be a part of the Master Campus Plan expansion set to start construction in 2025.

“TFS has made a significant difference in Alex’s life and in the whole family’s sense of community,” says Simone. “We wanted to show our appreciation and pay it forward.”

For Simone, David and Alex, TFS is not only figuratively part of their community, but literally in every sense. They live down the street and Simone drives by the school everyday. They selected this neighborhood because of TFS and they wanted Alex to be able to walk to school. For the family, donating is a way of giving back to a TFS community they hold so dear. The family’s gift to the Wellness Centre was made in honour of staff members Michelle Douglas, the Associate Director of University Advising at TFS, and Krista Bryndza, Department Co-ordinator of Learning Strategies. They donated to the Class of 2024 Fund and the future Wellness Centre to help ensure that the opportunities that they benefited from can also be made available to others. 

The Learning Forum at TFS helped guide Alex along his academic journey and toward his professional future. The future Wellness Centre will complement the guidance available through the Learning Forum, providing new space and wraparound supports for students, bringing together experts and practitioners to deliver a complete model of care that promotes cognitive, psychological, social, physical and emotional wellbeing. It will be a safe place where students and families can seek confidential guidance, develop the skills and tools to confront the challenges they are facing, and access one-on-one health and wellness support from registered health professionals. 

“I always felt, throughout Alex’s 15 years at TFS, whether it was a teacher, a guidance counselor, Head of School or principal, that they knew our child. And that makes a huge difference,” says Simone. “There is no denying that the IB is hard, so the Learning Forum becomes a vital resource for students. It was an important part of Alex’s experience,” she adds. “Sometimes kids also need non-academic support because there are other things going on in their lives. Thankfully we have Michelle and Krista who, in addition to being so inspirational, positive and good at their profession, are really great at understanding the students and communicating with them where they are.”

Being an administrator in post-secondary education, Simone understands the challenges students face at the university level and has witnessed firsthand what happens when they do not have the support they need. She notes how we all know now that everyone learns differently and she believes that as a society we are just starting to figure out what that means. It’s not one size fits all. 

Alex has always been very active since before PK. When Simone and David first visited TFS and saw the ravine and the paths, and learned about all the activities the children would do there, they knew it would provide a unique and beneficial experience for their child. Alex is also very athletic. Over the years he was on a variety of sports teams. He became the Athletic Prefect in his graduation year, so naturally the athletic department and his gym teachers were a big part of his time at TFS and were important to him. Top of the list for Simone and David as parents was the academic rigour and the IB, but they knew it would be challenging and they considered the other aspects of the school as well. Those considerations were also part of the equation in deciding where to direct their support.

“To just focus on academics, you’re not developing the other parts of you,” explains Simone. “If you look at TFS’s mission, vision and values, they look at the whole person. A child at TFS has the Learning Forum, has athletics, has extracurriculars, and I think it is absolutely necessary with an academic rigorous program to have those other pieces,” she adds. “Soon the school will also have the Wellness Centre. We’re happy to support that at TFS and we hope to encourage others by focussing on this particular area.”