Me & Stephanie Garcia, who struggled mightily through most of her school life but finally came through and completed her first year of high school with flying colors.
Longtime followers of my blog know that I financially support my 5-year-old Belizean daughter Paulita (Miss Belize) McKay and her siblings: Stephanie and Felix Garcia, ages 16 and 13, respectively.
Stephanie–who completed her first year of school at the Catholic St. Ignatius High School in June — finished the year with a 3.4 grade point average, a solid B!.
It was quite an accomplishment for a young lady who could barely read and write English when I started tutoring her and Felix five years ago.
Stephanie has blossomed academically and I’m hoping she will complete three more years of high school and, possibly, advance to college as well.
But the high cost of the private high schools in Belize — where 95 percent of the schools are church schools and therefore expensive — is too much for me to pay on my limited income. I support the entire family financially with needs other than schooling.
Stephanie in the mestizo dress her mom made for her during Culture Week at St. Ignatius High School. I vastly underestimated the cost of Steph’s high school education because of the many expenses required for her to participate in events like Culture Week. I do want her to be involved in all the extracurricular events she can get in, however, which could help her application to college in three years.
All this is to say that I’m asking for financial help from folks willing to donate money for the costs of Stephanie’s second year of high school, which begins soon.
This year, I’m hoping to raise $1,100 ($2,200 in BZ currency) for the entire 2017-18 academic year.
Last year, my goal was $800 — which was not nearly enough because of so many expenses I didn’t anticipate in budgeting.
Tuition for Stephanie’s second year is covered. On July 3, I paid a down payment on tuition of $150 ($300BZ). Between what I will pay of the $40 and a Belizean government grant of $300BZ that all first- and second-year students receive, Stephanie’s tuition for the 2017-18 is covered.
It’s the massive number of costs that pop up throughout the school year that are too much for me to keep Steph in school on my retirement monies.
So I’m asking once again for the many generous donors who have contributed dollars since last year to consider another donation toward the $1,100 goal.
Also, I’d ask the many new readers of the blog and new friends on social media to consider a donation.
I have learned that most donors much prefer to contribute through my PayPaul account at revpaulmckay@gmail.com.
I have set up a new fund for the second year, however, at GoFundMe, for those who prefer that system. The downside of GoFund Me is the significant dollars in fees that the fund takes off the top of every donation. PayPaul’s fee is a few pennies. (The payment processing fee is 2.9% plus $0.30 per donation.)
Whatever route you may choose, please know that I’ll keep you posted on the payments and on Stephanie’s academic progress as it did last year.
And many thanks in advance from me and Stephanie for whatever amount you give — and know that $10 is appreciated as much as $100!
Here is the like to the GoFundMe site where I give more detailed information on the breakdown of expenses I didn’t anticipate for the first year of Stephanie’s high school education. Trouble is, GoFundMe, which has a deserved reputation for being technical problems, is not allowing me to post a link here. If you want to find it, go to the link and do a search in Education for Steph’s Education Fund, 2018-19.
Stephanie finished her first year of high school with a 3.4 GPA on a 4.0 system. She had a C and a C+ in what is always her most challenging subject, English.
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