Thistletown Collegiate Institute

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Thistletown Collegiate Institute is a high school in northwest Toronto in the Etobicoke area. Built originally for the Etobicoke Board of Education and now a part of the Toronto District School Board.The school was erected between 1956 and was constructed in the late 1960s. The school is located at the corner of Fordwich Crescent and Islington Avenue. The split level school is located next to the Humber River. The school building is a square complex with a curved auditorium. Thistletown has a very diverse student population and its students have consistently performed adequately in both athletic and academic endeavours.Thistletown CI offers many new resources to its students. From a free breakfast program every day of the week that started in 2008 to multiple after school help, clubs, and an in school police officer. Thistletown CI has also launched its well-known charity event "Cuts for Cancer" where students donate and shave their hair in efforts to raise cancer awareness. This event has raised on average of $2500/year in donations to the Canadian Cancer Society. Other student philanthropy initiatives include the annual World Vision 30 Hours of Famine, the UNICEF CN Tower Climb, and Red Cross Relief Efforts.AthleticsIn 2009 Thistletown C.I. started its football program up with a very successful season. They were crowned champions in 2015, primarily due to not letting a single touchdown occur. They won for a consecutive time in 2016.In 2005 Thistletown C.I.'s varsity hockey team won the city championship and the year before they went undefeated all season.Athletic triumphs include the Etobicoke senior football championship, earned in 1969 by defeating the Etobicoke H.S. Rams, led by John Villiers, Al Thomas, John Griffin. The senior basketball team reached the T.D.I.A.A. finals (consisting of all the outlying boroughs of the metropolitan area in those days, including Etobicoke, Scarborough, North York, East York, and York) in 1972 and 1975, only to suffer defeat at the hands of the George Harvey Hawks. Prominent contributors from that era include Edgar Jaunzarins, Steve and Ross Quakenbush, Trevor Bennett, and Ken King.