A generous gift of $50,000 from alumnus Martin Teplitsky will be used to fund a ground-breaking collaboration between the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law and the Toronto District School Board (TDSB).
On April 28, the Faculty of Law and TDSB launched LAWS (Law in Action Within Schools) - the country's first law-andjustice- themed high school program. The program will be implemented in two downtown high schools, using two separate models. Central Technical School will integrate the study of law and legal themes into the three-year high school curriculum for a cohort of 50 or so selected students beginning in grade 10. At Harbord Collegiate Institute, law and justice themes will be integrated in the curriculum of core classes for all grade 10 students.
High school students from both schools will work with Uof T law students to hold moot courts and mock trials, go on field trips, use the law library and attend special lectures. A mentoring and tutoring program is also in the works.
Nearly 1,000 high school students, parents, teachers, alumni and members of the law school, legal and educational communities packed the auditorium of Central Tech to celebrate the program. A group of high school students kicked off the event with a stirring R&B rendition of O Canada. Students and principals read letters of support for the program from Chief Justice Roy McMurtry, Attorney General Michael Bryant, and Mayor David Miller '84. Alumnus Cornell Wright '00 gave a rousing address urging students to "stand up and be counted" by pursuing their educations, voicing their opinions, and participating fully in Canadian society.
In the keynote speech, the Hon. Frank Iacobucci spoke movingly about his experiences growing up as the son of Italian immigrants, and invited students to realize their dreams, just as he has. The central key to achieving those goals, he said, is education. "I believe education is not just a ticket to earn a living, but a passport to learn how to live." At the end of the ceremony, two Central Tech students presented bronze sculptures made in their art class to speakers Iacobucci and Wright.
The program will commence this Fall and is expected to increase high school completion rates among students and encourage them to go on to university or college. Many of the students are from diverse backgrounds, and will be the first in their families to have an opportunity to consider a higher education. "We are confident that this exciting collaboration will be critical to the lives and futures of the students," says Dean Daniels, who initiated the program.
Born in 1941, Mr. Teplitsky graduated from the Faculty of Law in 1964. Since that time, he has shown an unwavering commitment to the law school. He created a gift at the Faculty in memory of his parents - The Jack & Ida Teplitsky Memorial Bursary, and initiated other gifts, including the Teplitsky Colson Entrance Scholarship. Mr. Teplitsky has also been a supporter of other innovative community justice and outreach initiatives. In 1998, he founded the Law Society of Upper Canada's "Out of the Cold" program, which continues to help feed the homeless in Toronto. Currently, he is a senior partner at Teplitsky Colson Barristers, where he focuses on counsel work before the courts and administrative tribunals. Earning a reputation as one of the country's best mediator-arbitrators, he has been instrumental in settling various provincial disputes including teacher and health-care worker job actions. In addition to his legal and community advocacy, he is also the author of Making a Deal: The Art of Negotiation, as well as numerous academic journal articles on tort law, arbitration and mediation.
