Tom Aylesworth Legacy Fund

The Nickle Family Foundation has had a long-standing relationship with Foothills Academy as they were one of the first organizations to help it off the ground. They agreed to help raise the funds to start the school, and in 1979 Foothills Academy opened its doors.

Over the years, Nickle Family Foundation has donated $400,000 towards the building of the current Foothills Academy location, which opened in 1990, and a further $500,000 for the expansion completed in 2012. In the past 45 years Nickle Family Foundation has also donated over $900,000 towards the bursary fund and supplied numerous grants for programming.

The Creation of the Tom Aylesworth Legacy Fund

Tom Aylesworth was many things but, most significantly to Nickle Family Foundation, he was a deeply loved and highly esteemed member of our family. Tom served as chairperson for Nickle Family Foundation from 1995-2010.

Tom Aylesworth was also an instrumental contributor to the creation of Foothills Academy along with fellow educator Gordon Bullivant. In addition to their unflappable belief that every child regardless of ability deserves a quality education, Tom and Gordon shared a vision that a child never be turned away due to their family’s financial situation. As a response to these beliefs, the school and parent community work tirelessly to raise funds for the bursary program.

Following Tom’s untimely passing in June 2015, Nickle Family Foundation created the Tom Aylesworth Legacy Fund. Nickle Family Foundation made a pledge to match donations up to $500,000 and the income from this fund will be donated each year to Foothills Academy’s bursary program.

As of 2024, Nickle Family Foundation has added $370,000 to the fund which in turn will help keep Tom’s dream alive of having no child denied the education they deserve due to financial circumstance.