The Seed of the Future: Karis and Teddy, a Link of Values and Growth

The year is 1974. A group of parents, united by their Christian experience, met to discuss a project for the education of their children. A first nursery school was born. There was no lack of difficulties: bureaucracy, lack of resources... Classrooms, desks, teachers and everything else was needed to make everything work. But no one gave up; on the contrary, the parents rolled up their sleeves and managed to make their idea a reality. The project took off and other families became aware of it. The number of enrolments increased and, over time, the primary school, the middle school and, finally, the secondary school, which now has three sections: classical, scientific and linguistic.

Karis Foundation's history is made up of values consolidated over time and of people who believe in this project. A path that accompanies children from childhood to adulthood, a path of education and training that is complete and unified.

“Fifty years have gone by” says President Samuele de Sio. “What started as an idea for a small group of families has become an important educational service for many families and for the whole area. A lot of time has passed, and we have grown, always with the same mission: to raise conscious, passionate, curious children”.

TraKaris schools are located in three centres between Rimini and Riccione. One of the sites, the "Comasca" colony, was purchased and donated to Karis by Vittorio Tadei, the founder of Teddy, together with another well-known Rimini entrepreneur. It was 2004, and on the day of the inauguration, the entrepreneur said the following: “I hope that in this structure young people, men, can be educated and inspired by ideals such as justice, solidarity, honesty and a sense of responsibility, which are essential for a serene and fruitful life”. And so it was.

“Teddy and the Tadei family," continues De Sio, "are our greatest supporters. Vittorio was a far-sighted man who really cares about young people’s education. We at Karis will always be grateful to Vittorio. Now this relationship with a friend and supporter also applies to his family”.

The success of these schools is largely due to the excellence of the educational path they offer, which is designed based on each student's requirements. "In the Karis Schools," he adds, "the focus is on the individual students, on their journey, not only on learning subjects, but also on personal growth, development of individual human skills and talents, and all of this thanks to the teachers’ passion, who strongly believe in the project and deeply love their work.

Always true to our mission - which we have recently decided to make public - we also pay close attention to how society and jobs are changing, and therefore how school systems need to evolve and grow. For example, in recent years we have developed an English language programme that is unique in our area to meet the needs of families. We have native-speaking teachers from nursery through to high school, and we build classes based on each student's level of English on arrival. This enables everyone to achieve excellence. It is no coincidence that children leaving our high schools have higher certified skills than the national provincial average. For years we have been working on digital education in secondary level schools, and this year we are starting a course on computer science and artificial intelligence in high schools, in collaboration with professors from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Verona. 

For kindergarten we organise a pregraphic workshop, for primary school theatre workshops, last year the fifth grade made short films...Basically, we would really like to enrich the traditional educational offer. We are also getting equipped to be able to open secondary schools in the afternoon (this is already the case for primary and secondary schools) so that pupils can meet, study together and take part in extra-curricular activities. In this context, where we often hear about the social isolation of our young people, we feel that this is an attempt that should be made”.

By the time they finish school, students are ready to enter the job market. Karis believes that as well as being prepared for the subjects they are studying, students also need to develop soft skills, as these are useful in any professional environment.

Vittorio Tadei used to say: "I always tell my friends working in schools: 'Give us responsible people, people who want to get to the bottom of things, who are curious, enthusiastic, passionate...'. These people, when they go to work for a company or anywhere else, will be the only ones who can make it thrive". 

“This is our aim and our desire: to be with young people as they learn about themselves and the world, and develop curiosity, the ability to question the value of things, a sense of responsibility and creativity in tackling all the increasingly complex problems they will have to face on the job. This way, they will make a difference"..

A story that speaks of education, care for society, training and the desire to build something great: values that belong to Karis, but which we also feel are deeply our own.