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Canadian School- named “Tiger Jeet Singh Public School” officially celebrated
Toronto, Oct 22, 2010
Staff Reporter
Shouting "TJS, TJS, TJS", students at Tiger Jeet Singh Public School officially celebrated the opening of their new school on October 22 - and Tiger Jeet Singh himself with his family celebrated along with them.
Celebrations began on the school playground with two special events. Roger Hadfield, father of NASA Astronaut Colonel Chris Hadfield, flew his bi-plane over the school, followed by a presentation by a Bhangra dance group.
Students, staff and guests proceeded to the school’s gymnasium for the formal opening ceremonies, which were hosted by students and included a performance by the school choir. Among the 1,500+ attendees included members from three levels of Canadian government and a large media scrum made up of all major television networks, including as far as Japan. It was an emotional day for the entire Singh family. Tiger Ali Singh, who was the only one of the three sons to follow his father into a wrestling career, was given the privilege of introducing his Dad to the crowd.
“My Dad has not only been my Dad, my Dad has been my best friend,” said Ali Singh, choking back tears. “My hero. And I feel so honoured sharing him with all you children today. ” He commanded the students wear their association with Tiger Jeet Singh Public School, ”like a badge of honour.”
Accordingly to Tiger Ali, his father’s fountain of youth is children; “seven grandchildren later, and now all of you are like an extension of our family.”
Tiger Jeet Singh was welcomed onto the stage by a roaring standing ovation with the students chanting “Tiger, Tiger, Tiger.” He provided an inspirational message for students, urging them to live a healthy life, respect everyone and working hard in school.
This is the first time a public school has been named after a person of South Asian decent and only the second time in the world to be named after a professional wrestler.
The name Tiger Jeet Singh was chosen by trustees of the Halton District School Board as the official name for the school in recognition of his past and continuing philanthropic and humanitarian work in Canada and India. As a humanitarian, Tiger has served as Milton’s economic development ambassador to Asia since the early 1990s. He is a recognized leader in Canada's South Asian community.
Further, whether in Canada, the United States, Japan, India or elsewhere, Tiger's humanitarian outreach is typically directed toward parents and their children -- and his message to them is a simple and relevant one: Stay in school. Stay away from drugs. Stay Tiger-fit.
The Kindergarten to Grade 7 School opened its doors on September 7, 2010 to approximately 775 students. In following years, the school will include Grade 8 and will have French Immersion programming at all grade levels.
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Canadian Public School- named “Tiger Jeet Singh Public School”
Grand opening on October 22, 2010
Toronto, Oct. 09, 2010
By A Staff Reporter/& Gary Singh
Rick Nodwell, Principal of new School, 650 Yates Drive, Milton, Ontario wrote:
On behalf of the children and staff at Tiger Jeet Singh Public School and the entire Tiger Jeet Singh family, we would like to formally invite you to attend our Official Opening. We are very excited and proud to share our new school with you! This will mark the first time in Canadian History that an individual from South Asia will be honoured in this way. The Tiger family will be present at the ceremony along with the students, staff and special guests.
Our Junior Kindergarten to Grade Seven Elementary School opened its doors on September 7, 2010. At present, we have 775 students and our capacity is 804. Our community celebrates a variety of different cultures where respect and tolerance are hallmarks of our school. We have children receiving their program in English as well as Grade One French Immersion. Our school is located just south of Derry Road, east of Highway # 25 and west of Thompson Road in Milton, Ontario, Canada.
Our Official Opening will begin at 11:15 A.M. in our Gym. Prior to this, we are inviting our special guests, visitors and family to join our students outside at 11:00 A.M. for two special events. Roger Hadfield, Father of Colonel Chris Hadfield will fly his bi-plane over the school to help kick -off our celebration followed by a Bhangra Dance group on the pavement. Children, staff and guests as well as the family will proceed to our Gym for the formal part of our Opening! Please confirm your attendance to Rick Nodwell, Principal
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It is seldom a school is named after a person who is currently living, but with Mr. Singh's strong involvement within the community this was an appropriate decision. Tiger Jeet Singh, as we all know, is a feared Wrestler who does not accept the word loser in his vocabulary. This strength of attitude will I am sure reflect on the graduating students for years to come. He’s donated $100,000 towards a Milton hospital, $25,000 to Milton’s Historical Society as well as helped with local toy drives. He also does a lot of philanthropic work in his homeland with son Tiger Jeet Singh Jr., a WWE wrestler known as Tiger Ali Singh.
Donna Danielli , Public School Trustee, Milton said:
Tiger Jeet Singh has served as "MIlton's Goodwill Ambassador" by the Mayor's office since the 1980s. He was recently honoured as one of the inaugural members of Milton's Walk of Fame.
On a community level, he is a role model for humanity around the world, a humble man from humble beginnings who worked hard, achieved success and now advocates to thousands of parents and their children about drug and alcohol awareness, the importance of staying in school and the need to be physically fit. Mr Singh, along with his son, are very positive goodwill youth ambassadors and models for our youth community. The list of his philanthropic and humanitarian works is an incredibly long one.
All the data shows that students are more engaged in their learning when they see themselves reflected in the culture and community of their school. This means seeing people similiar to themselves within the school community, textbooks, events and more. Students who are engaged achieve better learning. He has committed to involvement within the school, to mentor students and to promote that message of education and anti drug/gang use. The board says Tiger Jeet Singh’s philanthropy and humanitarian work won them over.She dismissed concerns about his life as a wrestler, for which he was known to put a sword in between his teeth or “attack” audience members. “That’s a persona...in the same way an actor” takes on a role, she said.
Tiger Jeet Singh wrestled as a crazed heel, coming to the ring with a sword in his mouth. He attack wrestlers with sword by taunting fans.
According to one fan:
· In Japan, he is very popular, people call him a villain whom they love to hate. · They want their pictures taken with him but at the same time they are literally afraid of him as he walks in the streets with a sword and a stick, indiscriminately beating people with no fear of any prosecution·
Tiger said “If I slap some Japanese lady or man, they won’t wash themselves for weeks. Because they’ll say, ‘Tiger slapped me there.’ This is the respect they have for me." · He got into a brawl with the bodyguards of Antonio Inoki's wife in a shopping centre, after he slapped Inoki's wife in the face; the resulting publicity propelled Tiger into the limelight.
Tiger Jeet Singh, 65, said:
I feel great and I'm so excited because we are so much involved with children. My main message will be good health and studying well. · It is such an honour for me.
If anyone is concerned about his wrestling “that’s my job. What I am doing in the ring, that’s part of my job, that’s not the real Tiger Jeet Singh. Outside, I am a family man” who is devoted to the community
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