Seven new students have been selected to enter the FOB CANAM preparatory school scholarship program for the 2014-2015 school year. These students were selected on the basis of their academic achievement and the quality of their application form. In total, forty students are benefitting from FOB CANAM scholarships. Please click on the “Our Student Scholars” tab at the top of the page to review the status of these students as it has changed. The scholarship program has a few changes as well this academic year. Due to the strength of the US dollar vs the Mexican peso, the cost to support a Barron prep school student this academic year is $700 USD. That is less than $20 a week. For $20, you can enable a student to attend grades 10, 11 & 12 and graduate, many the first in their family to do so. Historically, a significant percentage of scholarship students who complete three years of prep school in our program continue on to University studies. Right now, all three of our University scholarship students from last academic year have successfully competed their first year of study and are still enrolled due to the continuing support of their sponsors. Seven additional University applications are being considered, four of whom are prep school scholarship recipient graduates. Depending upon support from people like you, scholarships will be awarded. Details of their applications will become available after the selection process is complete. The cost to sustain a University student varies from $700 to $1200 USD depending upon their curriculum, approximately 50% of the total cost of education. To be sure, FOB CANAM is the conduit through which those who feel a need to give back to disadvantaged neighbors can achieve their goal. Together, the students’ families and the EDM residents and friends are making a difference in the student’s lives. All for $20 a week. Please consider sponsoring one or more of these deserving kids. They are:

Carolina

Carolina – Carolina is 15 years old and a resident of Mazatlan. She has an excellent academic record with an average of 9.43 and completed her last year of secondary school where she  studied Spanish, English, Math, Science, Technology, History, Civics, Education and Art. Her goal is to become proficient in English. Carolina is Aida Alvarado’s niece and has already found a sponsor in Rene Carlson. In her essay she writes, “I want my family to be proud and to benefit from the career that I have chosen in life and in the kind of work I will ultimately do. My ultimate goal is to help my family progress towards a secure future and to become an independent woman. I want to be able to live my life without having to depend on anyone else. My goal is to become an accountant and a good businesswoman. I’d like to have my own firm and be able to manage the finances of that firm.”

Naydelin

Naydelin – Naydelin is 14 years old and is a Barron resident. She loves to play soccer when she is not in class. She aspires to attend University and pursue her interest in psychology. The only thing preventing her attendance is finances. She is a 9.2 average student and finds her classes easy, with the exception of her English class. Her father works as a farmer and fisherman. Her mother is only able to find work a few months a year. Naydelin needs a sponsor to help her defray the costs of attending school.

Amairany

Amairany – Amairany is 15 years old and likes soccer and volleyball. She wants to be a dentist and aspires to one day help her parents and her community “like FOB does”. She has a perfect 10 GPA. In her essay Amairany writes that “the only way for me to succeed and achieve my objectives is to get a good education. I consider myself a kind, sensitive and responsible daughter. I always try to be one of the best students. My family of five is poor. My parents work as farmers but can only work when there is work. My parents only completed primary school. My brother is in 5th grade and another brother is in 3rd year prep school at UAS. This puts a real strain on the finances of the family.” With the burden of supporting her older brother at UAS, Amairany’s parents need help to send her to school also.

Luis Fernando

Luis Fernando – Luis Fernando is 15 and likes baseball, riding bicycles, listening to music with his family and helping out his grandmother. He has a GPA of 9.9, one of the highest of the group applying this year. He also has 2 older brothers. He is very close to his grandfather and works with him every day. He considers his grandfather his “true father” because his father left when Luis was 3 years old to live with another woman. He writes in his essay, “My examples in life are my grandparents. My mother has worked hard over the past 12 years to keep the family together. My mother and grandparents have instilled in me the importance of education from the beginning. I would like to become a computer science major in college.” The FOB scholarship would really help Luis to pay for his daily transportation costs into Mazatlan.

Briseida

Briseida – Briseida lives in Barron and is 14 years old. Her grades are straight “10s” except for English (6) and Math (7). Her essay was very well written. Her parents have encouraged her from a young age to pursue her dreams. She likes to help people with their problems. In her essay she writes,”I am very proud of my parents because they have worked very hard so I can continue my studies. My parents work as farmers and many times don’t earn enough to pay for my schooling.” She has 2 brothers and wants to be a marine biologist because she loves the sea.

Fatima

Fatima – Fatima is 14 years old, a Barron resident and a straight “A” student. She writes in her essay, “I am a very responsible person in almost everything I do. I am a good worker and I have been able to perform well in almost everything I have dedicated myself to, including my studies. I want to finish secondary school with good grades to make my parents and grandmother proud of me and so I can be proud of myself. If I get this scholarship, I promise to get good grades and to finish prep school. The problem with attending prep school in Mazatlan is that it’s a difficult proposition from an economic point of view, especially the daily transportation costs to and from Mazatlan. This scholarship will help greatly in relieving my family of some of the economic burden of continuing my studies, ” She would like to be a teacher or a nurse and to use her education to contribute to her community.

Jesus Idelfonso

Jesus Idelfonso – Jesus is 15 years old and loves soccer. He has an “A” average after graduating from secondary school in Barron.  He will attend prep school at CETMAR, the prep school for marine related studies. In his essay he writes, “I am a very energetic and enthusiastic teenager. I do well in school and I want to continue my studies but my parents don’t have the resources to help me advance my studies. I want to go to University and become a professional in naval engineering so I can show my parents that I can make something of myself and make them proud. Thank god there are people like you, FOB, to help kids like me achieve my dreams. I think this is the best career for me. I’ll be able to find a decent job and help my parents and people who are less fortunate than me. I understand that in my chosen career, the studies are very difficult. But I don’t think anything is impossible. I think with my enthusiasm I can come out ahead in anything I want to do, achieve anything I want to achieve.”

Again, please also review the biographies of our older students by clicking on the “Our Student Scholars” tab at the top of the page. Most sponsors from last year have chosen to continue their support but a very few have not found it possible this year. Their students need new sponsors in order to continue in the program.