The Friends of Barron Adopt-A-Student Program was initiated on 20 April 2010 with seed money provided by the Fiesta Gala held at Estrella del Mar (EDM), La Lagunita Palapa on 3 March 2010. EDM is a Residential Community on Mexico’s Riviera, just south of Mazatlan, Mexico. Because many of our employees live in the neighboring town of Barron, Friends of Barron was formed to assist in improving the educational status of Barron’s children. Some of the monies raised have gone to establish a Scholarship Program for Junior High School graduates. Applications along with an explanation of the program and its administration were provided to the 40 students who will graduate in June 2010 from the Junior High School in Barron. Each scholarship awarded is for the 2010-2011 school year to attend a preparatory school in Mazatlan. The total cost is estimated to be $1600 USD per student/year. Each scholarship is for 50% of that amount or $800USD.

A committee consisting of the Junior High School principal, teachers and parents was formed to review applications. The application period opened on 20 April 2010 and closed on 1 May 2010. Forty applications were received and of these, 13 were selected as qualified candidates. Two candidates were considered marginal with respect to grades and were awarded probationary status pending their performance on the last 2 academic periods of this school year.

Full funding of the Scholarship Program will depend on additional cash contributions (any amount you are willing to donate) and/or a willingness by donors to Adopt-A-Student for one full or 1/2 school year ($800 or $400 USD). One of the benefits of Adopting a Student could involve a mutually beneficial cross cultural experience with a local family. Friends of Barron will facilitate introductions of Adopters and Adoptees and their families.

Donations need to be received by 15 Jul 2010. Please contact FriendsofBarron@aol.com to receive information on exactly how to contribute. Your donations will be accumulated in a bank in the US and transferred to a bank in Mexico where the school principal and/or the head of the parent committee can access the funds for distribution to each family pursuant to the program rules.

Generally, the rules are as follows:
Scholarship payments will be made to each family every two months beginning 15 Aug 2010. There will be five payments of $2000 pesos each for the 2010-2011 School Year.
Continuation of the scholarship and payments will depend upon attendance and grades of each student during the previous two months.
To receive scholarship payments for the next two months, the parents of the student will be required to present proof of attendance and grades for their student to the Committee.
The program will be administered by the head of the Parent/Teachers Committee and local ranch owner.
Get to know the student candidates!
To see the students and read a brief bio, please click on the header link above “Adopt-A-Student” tab. Then scroll down through the list. If you see someone whom you would like to adopt, send an email to FriendsofBarron@aol.com. Please include the student’s name in the subject line and be sure to identify yourself in the text body. Any comments or questions you have will be welcome. If you would like to donate any other amount of money to the program, simply click on the Chip In.com link on the sidebar.
Thank you for your support!