Filling Backpacks with the Opportunity to Continue Studying

By Mariela Rodriguez – Communications Coordinator

Concepcion scholarship recipients 2022

Concepcion scholarship recipients 2022

The 2022 school year is in full swing with much excitement as schools are meeting fully in-person for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic! Students are shifting gears in doing schoolwork from printed packets with limited interaction – to participating in class with teachers and doing more groupwork with peers. Hands-on schoolwork also means more expenses for families when buying materials for projects, which can often mean a family choosing between purchasing food for their family of 7 or spending money on materials for 1 child’s projects. But for the 112 students in our scholarship program, your donations are helping to remove one more barrier towards their education.While on-the-ground in Honduras I talked to parents and asked if they would send their promising students to a colegio (7-12th grade), many blatantly said “no” because it is known that more educational expenses come with this stage of study. This decision was made despite the student’s interest in continuing their education and highlights the great assistance our scholarship program provides. Our program coordinator, Nelly Milla, works to meet with each of our 7 municipal schools to put together an educational “kit according to the priorities of each modality and academic grade of the beneficiaries.” This year’s kits were delivered in backpacks, one per student. Below are some pictures with their kits in hand, ready to prosper for this school year.

Magdalena scholarship recipients 2022

Magdalena scholarship recipients 2022

Santa Lucia scholarship recipients 2022

Santa Lucia scholarship recipients 2022

Delivery of Educational Materials

By Nelly Milla Milla – Scholarship Coordinator

Nelly delivering materials to scholarship students

Nelly delivering materials to scholarship students

April and May 2021: I held meetings with parents and student beneficiaries of the scholarship program, in the municipalities of: San Antonio, Camasca, Magdalena and Concepción. In the municipality of Santa Lucia, no meeting was held due to the restriction measures against Covid-19 that it had at that time due to the high incidence of Covid-19 cases. However, coordination was carried out with a counselor from the educational center via telephone. The objective of the meetings was the presentation of those responsible for the scholarship program at the local level, as well as to publicize the new structure of the program that will be executed during this school year.September 2021: I communicated with the Counselors of each Educational Center, to monitor and evaluate the performance of each recipient. Despite being an unusual year due to the pandemic, and due to the dropping out of many young people who left Honduras to migrate to the US, the students did very well.

October 2021: I was contacted by the counselors of the beneficiary institutions to inform me that the graduation dates were approaching and the young people needed help with their graduation costs. StS agreed to provide support to these young people after formalizing the application for financial aid for graduation.

End of School Year 2021: 21 scholarship students have graduated from High School:

  • 7 in Computer Science
  • 5 in Social Promotion
  • 4 in Business Administration
  • 3 in Sciences and Humanities
  • 1 in Accounting and Finance
  • 1 in Electricity

The students thank the Donors for their support!

Scholarship Student Places 2nd in Reading Contest

By Nely Vasquez – StS Educational Advancement Assistant

Carmen is 2nd place winner in Reading Contest

Carmen is 2nd place winner in Reading Contest

Carmen is a seventh grader in Hector Orlando Gómez Cisneros high school, in Magdalena, Intibucá. She is one of the many students who is able to stay in school, thanks to the assistance she receives from the StS Scholarship Program. As the coordinator of the Reading Competition, I had the pleasure of meeting Carmen and listening to her read to me. Of the 75 students who participated in the Reading Contest; Carmen came in 2nd place.Here, in her own words, Carmen explains how being a scholarship recipient, and receiving a computer tablet, have impacted her life.

I did not read before entering this Reading Contest, because I did not know reading was a thing l liked to do. More than a hobby, reading is becoming my passion.

While school was great, the rest of my life was not very easy. I am the child of a single mother so while mom worked, I had to stay at home with my grandparents and my siblings. They encouraged me to be a good student because they said it would bring benefits to my life. And so I did my best at school.

When I got the computer tablet for being a part of the scholarship program, I learned something really important. I learned that I love to read! Now I read to my little cousins, to my grandparents, to my siblings, and to all of my family. 

I am working hard to accomplish all the goals I have in life. My grades have improved a lot and what gets me motivated is knowing that my future matters to me.