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Our Teachers’ Remarkable Journeys to TFS
From the very beginning, one of TFS’ distinguishing features was its teachers. Hired by co-founder Harry Giles from countries around the world, they collectively embodied a vast range of cultural knowledge and experience. And while much has changed since Mr. Giles and his wife Anna started TFS in their basement in 1962, the diversity of our teachers has not.
From Paris to Mississippi to Mississauga
In the spring of 2011, TFS celebrated its teachers with a series of 10 posters, each outlining an individual teacher’s personal journey to TFS. One of those was Ulrik Bedos, who teaches math and science to students at our Mississauga campus. That is, after being born and raised in Paris, and setting out for rural Mississippi as a teenager to learn English.
Then there is Shahireh Rehman. An Iranian who went to school in Iran, England, France and Switzerland, where she graduated from an international high school with an International Baccalaureate Diploma, she went on to become a lawyer with the UN. Shahireh teaches Grade 2 at TFS’ Junior School on the Toronto campus.
Canadians abroad
Internationalism in our teachers does not originate only from outside our borders. TFS’ Canadian-born teachers include many with global experience. After receiving his Master’s in history from the University of Western Ontario, Albertan Kevin Misak headed to Prague following Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, where he taught English to civil servants and worked in the Ministry of the Environment. He then went on to teach at two independent schools in Mexico. Now Kevin teaches Grade 6 and 7 English at our Senior School.
To read more about international journeys of Ulrik, Shahireh and Kevin, and those of seven other TFS teachers, please go to TFS Teacher Profiles.
