La Catalina Foundation Fall Newsletter

Posted by La Catalina Educ. Foundation on November 7, 2012, 4:17 pm
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Please read on for a recap of summer events and a glimpse of what is currently going on with the foundation! For a better-looking version with colors and pictures please click here. La Catalina Foundation Fall Newsletter Wings Scholarships Update The Wings scholarship program has grown from serving 19 kids in 2011 to 24 kids in 2012! Thanks to our many generous scholarship sponsors, more and more students are going to high school and some are even continuing on to university. Through believing in these kids their dreams are getting bigger and bigger, demonstrated by a survey administered to 17 scholarship recipients last spring. Of the 17 teens surveyed, 100% declared that they plan to finish university. These results were unexpected as the highest grade level that the parents of these children had completed was elementary school or middle school. We are proud to have had Mayan Henze join our team as the new Wings Scholarship Coordinator. Having gone to school in La Manzanilla herself, Mayan is thrilled to be able to help other students attain their dreams. Mayan studied Performing Arts at the University of Guadalajara and came back to La Manzanilla to run her mother’s business, La Manzanilla Homes, and raise her 1-year-old son with her husband Rodrigo. The new scholarship students jumped into the Wings program by helping out as Jr. camp counselors at the LCEF Art & English camp for local kids. Now they are attending weekly classes with Rodrigo, focusing on enlightening topics from philosophy, to literature, to environmental studies and more. Rodrigo is helping the students develop their critical thinking skills and improve their written Spanish. There are still eight La Manzanilla students who need your help to have a better chance at succeeding and staying in school. To learn more about these kids and how you can become a sponsor, please www.lacatalinafoundation.com/potential-wings-recipients - click here. Summer Camp Thirty kids attended our summer camp for three weeks this summer. The camp, directed by Lin Magali, was once again a smashing success! Intern Ryanne Fujita-Conrads came on a grant from Reed University in Oregon which funded our summer camp program. Angie Ortiz, a mother from Ingenios, ran the art segment of the camp offering new and creative projects each day. LCEF Staff We want to thank Nancy Wyeth for 1 ½ years of service as our Program Director. As many know who had contact with Nancy, she was highly dedicated and well-loved in the community. After two months working in Canada this summer, the charm of La Manzanilla has drawn her back and we are happy that we will have Nancy’s help on a part-time basis as a project consultant. We are still in need of a Volunteer English Teacher. Please contact us if you or someone you know is interested. Housing is provided and more details can be seen - http://es.idealist.org/view/internship/nGB4jXpWxHmD - here. New Literacy Project The LCEF team welcomes Sue O’Riley who is the founder of Rural Literacy Project (RLP) which has established libraries in Latin America. She will be helping to set up a small library in our Educational Center, where local kids and adults will have access to a variety of reading material. If you have books in Spanish or bilingual (Spanish/English) books that you would like to donate for the project, please contact Sue at: sue.oriley@gmail.com or visit her website. Board Member Wins Prestigious Award Victor Amezcua, one of our founders, demonstrated his dedication to education and was awarded a prestigious first place award this summer in the 2012 Contest “Digital Resources and Educational Materials for Mexico City” sponsored by the Science and Technology Institute in Mexico City. The math project that he submitted focuses on teaching math through an interactive math software program, Descartes. His project will remain in the knowledge base in Mexico City for other educators to access and follow the interactive model of teaching math through a virtual tutor. Fall School Supply Drive June Nery, of www.visitlamanzanilla.com and LCEF are gearing up once again for the annual La Manzanilla school supply drive. How can you participate? Pack an extra suitcase with school supplies or better yet, buy some of the supplies locally to also support local merchants. Supplies should be delivered to June in La Manzanilla where they will be collected and distributed to our three public schools, the local daycare and LCEF for their educational programs. A complete and updated list of items that are needed will soon be published on our website but in the meantime pencils, glue, scissors, paints, craft supplies, crayons and other basic school supplies are always needed! Computer Lab The dream of the computer lab is moving closer to its fruition. We are still looking for a source for computers and need to raise an estimated $4917US US to finish the classroom (constructing the roof, putting in a door and windows, laying tile floors, installing outlets and light fixtures and painting the building) so it is ready to use. Please contact us if you would like more information on this project or to find out how you can help. A big thank you to all of our 2012-13 scholarship sponsors: Ann & Tim Edwards & family Deborah & David Dagoli Duane &Cheryl Chaves Gabriela de la Vega Helping Hands Bookstore Jacqueline Walters Joanne & Ross Kipp Larry & Judy Buttress Marcia Grothe Paul & Silvia Brock Sandy Hill & Don Binkley Sara Henze Scholarship Scholarship 6 group: Nelson Ames, Gail Russell, Gary Ockenden, Anna Purcell, Jan Engemoen & Graham Hill Shanna McClarnon Tyler & Taylor Merrick Universidad de Londres Valerie Denford & Dave Willoughby William Albritton

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