Mary Quintieri
Class of 2008
Mary graduated from McMaster University in 2014 with a Commerce degree and is currently completing her CPA with Deloitte. Mary has continued the service focus she learned at Fern Hill by mentoring first year students in McMaster’s Commerce department and she is currently starting an organization designed to mentor young women to inspire and empower them.
“Fern Hill was a foundation and pivotal point in my life. The school and its leadership taught me how to believe in myself and my ability to follow my dreams”.
In 2022, Dream was accepted into the Queen’s University Accelerated Route to Medical School (QuARMs) program in Health Sciences, an exclusive pathway for only 10 students annually. This program allows students to complete two years of undergraduate study before progressing directly to Queen’s Medical School without the MCAT.
Now in her first year of the Queen’s Doctor of Medicine (MD) program, Dream’s passion for medicine began while she was at Fern Hill in Grade 1 when she became captivated by science and math and received her first doctor’s bag.
Dream’s experience includes participation in numerous student internship programs, including the Oxford Scholastica Academy and Hamilton Health Sciences. Dream is also a two-time consecutive recipient of the prestigious NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award, through which she has conducted research on triple-negative breast cancer tissue using mass spectrometry. Currently, she is actively involved in research on plastic surgery and health equity, collaborating with platforms like Peel Region’s Black Health and Social Services Hub.
In addition to her academic pursuits, Dream is a Lead Equity Ambassador at Queen’s University and a founding contributor to the University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s BIPOC Health Hub, where she continues to advocate for equitable healthcare initiatives.
While a family move after grade 3 took Dream to a new school to Toronto she reflects on her early education saying, “Fern Hill was more than a school; it was a launchpad. Its dedication to excellence taught me to pursue my dreams with relentless drive and purpose. That foundation continues to shape everything I strive to achieve today”.
We are so proud to see all that Dream has accomplished and can’t wait to see her reach her goal to become a plastic surgeon.
Dream Tuitt-Barnes
Queen's Med School and future surgeon
Samarth Athreya
Class of 2016
Samarth graduated from Fern Hill confident that, if he wanted to learn something, he knew he could. Through a combination of in-class and online sources, Samarth is completing his high school education while also exploring opportunities well beyond the average classroom. We are very proud to see one of our grads taking on challenges and being recognized for his innovative thinking.
Kabir Walia
Class of 2015
Accepted to Coveted Queen’s QuARMS Program
Imagine being admitted to a prestigious Canadian Medical school before even finishing high school. The Queen’s University Accelerated Route to Medical School (QuARMS) has been offering this exclusive and unique opportunity to only 10 exceptional undergraduate students each year since 2013.
“I can’t imagine a more coveted offer to an Ontario undergraduate,” said Kabir’s University Placement Director, Mr. David Huckvale. “There’s not another program like it in Canada.” After two years in QuARMS, Kabir will transition to Queen’s Medical School and be well on his way to an MD.
Kabir Walia first expressed an interest in pursuing medicine in Grade 6 while studying the body systems in science class. He was fascinated by the cardiovascular system and how it worked. When his parents enrolled him at The Country Day School in King for Grade 9, he wasted no time immersing himself in the sciences with a laser like focus across all subjects, as well as a wide range of extra-curricular activities.
We congratulate Kabir and wish him success in this exciting and challenging journey
In 2012, while attending Fern Hill, Vishal and Ishan Vijay witnessed extreme poverty first hand on a family trip to India. They were inspired to try to make a difference and when they returned home, they set their mind on a service project to help children in Canada and throughout the world. This project has evolved into EveryChildNow a national, youth-run, non-profit organization (based in Oakville, ON) that fights for children’s rights through development projects, campaigns and events. With school clubs from B.C. to Nova Scotia they have raised over $50,000, collected over 30,000 school supplies and helped thousands of children.
Graduating to high school at Oakville Trafalgar Secondary School, the boys continue to inspire students across the country to create similar service projects in their own schools. They have presented at Me To We Day celebrations and have been interviewed by many publications.
Vishal & Ishan Vijay
Classes of 2014 & 2016
William Leathers
Class of 2014
William Franklyn Leathers is a young, gifted musician at the forefront of the classical trumpet music industry. Born in Mississauga, Canada, he has been noted for “the sparkling clarity” of his trumpet solos and has performed across Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and the Caribbean. A proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, William graduated in 2022 with his bachelor’s degree and in 2023 with his master’s degree. In 2022, William won the principal trumpet position in the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and the Santa Fe Opera. He has performed with the New York Philharmonic Brass and the Cleveland Orchestra. He has also served as guest principal trumpet with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and he has served as guest associate principal trumpet with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
In 2022, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation listed him on their list of ‘30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30’. In the same year, he was also invited to perform with the renowned National Brass Ensemble, composed of the finest brass players in major American orchestras. William has performed with various chamber ensembles, including the American Brass Quintet, the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass, and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival Orchestra. In 2021, he received the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award and, the following year, was appointed to the Glenn Gould Foundation Prize jury and to the jury for the ITG Orchestral Excerpt Competition. He was also on the panel list for the Toronto Arts Council’s 2022 Music Creation and Audio Recording Assessment.
Today, whether imparting knowledge in masterclasses, gracing the stage for a recital, or taking the spotlight as a soloist, William is consistently in high demand.
He is a performing artist for Bach Brass and has also been signed to the trumpet mouthpiece company Vennture Mouthpieces, where he is working in collaboration to develop a line of trumpet mouthpieces in his name that will be on the market soon.
Sarah began dancing at a young age, and while in school was accepted into the Professional Division at Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. While at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School she appeared in company productions such as The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty. In 2008 Sarah was honoured with two jury awards for her original choreography for the student competition “First Steps”. After graduating in 2009 Sarah continued her training in Washington, DC, and performed with The Washington Ballet in Twyla Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove and The Nutcracker. Sarah has trained at the National Ballet School, Rosella Hightower School in Cannes, France, Ellison Ballet in New York City, and with the Corella Ballet in Segovia, Spain. Sarah currently dances with Canada’s Ballet Jörgen and is one of our proud Fern Hill alumni.
Sarah Koekkoek
Class of 2009
Tara Joseph
Class of 2016
Director’s Award winner, Math Contest Gold Medal Winner and a brilliant Maria in our Sound of Music production, Tara moved to California after graduation and attended Homestead High School – alma mater to Steve Jobs. Tara distinguished herself throughout her high school years both academically and through her leadership in school events including a district-wide concert with five different high schools and 200+ performers, She graduated with a 4.0 unweighted GPA and academic distinction awards in 16 subjects, and was a valedictorian at her graduation. Tara was named a National Merit Scholar for the Class of 2020, an honor awarded to about 7500 students across the US, as well as a National Advanced Placement Scholar for her performance in AP exams.
In 2020, Cornell University invited Tara to attend not only into her preferred major, but also into two scholar programs: the Tanner Dean’s Scholar program, offered to the top incoming students academically in the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Meinig Family Cornell National Scholar program, which recognizes around 50 incoming students per year who best demonstrate the qualities of leadership and service to the community.
Tara graduated early (December 2023) from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in Neurobiology and a minor in Global Health, summa cum laude with honors and distinction in all subjects.
In Spring 2024, she stayed on at Cornell to continue her research on the molecular basis of epilepsy in the Deitcher Lab, while also continuing her clinical volunteership, on-campus leadership roles, and community service projects focused on improving healthcare access for underserved populations both locally and internationally.
At Cornell’s yearly graduation ceremonies in May 2024, Tara received a Phi Beta Kappa Extraordinary Senior Scholarship for her strong academic achievement and leadership record, having maintained a 4.25 GPA and having served as the President of the Cornell Undergraduate Research Board, the President of GlobeMed at Cornell, the President of the American Lung Cancer Screening Initiative at Cornell, and the head teaching assistant for Cornell’s genetics course.
She was also honored with the Meinig Family Excellence in Leadership Award, given to the graduating senior demonstrating the highest level of commitment to leadership in the realm of community advocacy and service.
Tara is currently an MD-PhD student at the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program (a collaboration between Weill Cornell Medical College, The Rockefeller University, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center) in New York City, supported by an NIH T32 Grant and attending both medical and graduate school with a full scholarship and stipend. She plans to pursue her PhD in neuroscience, focusing specifically on neuroimmune and neurodevelopmental conditions that disproportionately impact lower-income communities. Tara looks forward to a career spent at the forefront of biomedical research, clinical care, and health advocacy for vulnerable and underserved populations.
(Stay tuned as we know this trajectory will continue and we are excited to be able to share Tara’s amazing journey).
