Enrolling in Life 101

“Have faith in your skills, negative thoughts kill. Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” by  Suzy Kassem

School Bells are ringing!

The Learning Center’s doors have swung open and more than 58 students will be storming through to learn English among other topics including conservation, recycling, and other environmental studies. There will be other lessons in life learned at the Learning Center…”Life 101″.

Anne G. Broady Scholarship Fund Drive        Goal=$1,500.00                    Actual=$1,800.00

Congratulations… We have met our minimum goal based on both the donations received and donations pledged to date. As we begin day one of the new school year, we are already making huge differences in lives of several young students. The  Copey community is very aware of the support and impact our donations have on the families and the futures of their children. Your generosity is so amazing! Thanks.

We are treated with photos of Fiorella and Nataly’s first day at the Learning Center. Their parents are convinced there is something very special about these “Friends of Copey” folks who willingly help make it possible for their children to attend the Learning Center.

I commend the Executive Director, Ana Yancy and others who have been working very hard during the break to improve the curriculum and educational services for the students coming in to learn. Some conditions are not the best…and we know there are many areas that make it a real challenge to provide quality education. The Learning Center staff know how to make it all work. The enrollment increases and the demands for these educational services grow each year. We met two of the best examples of success in Noelia and Celeste. And we are getting ready to witness two more outstanding students with the arrival of Fatima and Ariana when they arrive in our country in June.  The year 2017 will be a banner year because we are on target with our expectations, commitments, and plans to continue to find ways to enrich the educational experience at the Learning Center.

Executive Director Salary Support             Goal=$2,000              Actual=$1,750.00

The support for the ED position has also shown a lot of success. The amount donated already exceeds the amounts we raised at this point over the past two years. We are close to meeting our goal without having to do a specific fund-raiser later on. This is one indicator that many of you realize the value of having a very qualified and competent ED in charge of the day-to-day operations and the long-term success we all want. If you have pledged a donation, please send it in soon so we can close our fund-raising campaign.

The new volunteer teachers are on board and ready to start off the new year. I am waiting to get more information about the two volunteers and will share it all with you once it is received. Speaking of volunteers, last week we had a very special Skype session. The Skype guests included Dr. Lin Church, Dr. Celeste Gaia, E&H College volunteer student Melody, and both Angela and Ana Yancy.

Dr. Church, our co-Chair for the AGB Scholarship Fund sat in on our recent Skype session. This was his first time visiting with representatives from the college and from the Learning Center. It was a very special thrill for me to have Dr. Church join us and meet some of those significant players who help make “Friends” a success. The team in Copey met Melody for the first time and I believe Dr. Gaia met Ana Yancy for the first time. This is what a fine example of “partners at work” looks like. People from all parts of the US and in Costa Rica planning for events taking place in the next few months. I invite any interested “Friend” to take a couple of minutes to sit in on a Skype session.