La Catalina Foundation’s

Wings High School Scholarship

Become a sponsor for our Wings scholarship program!  For just $1100usd, you can make a difference in the life of a graduating student from La Manzanilla Middle School by sponsoring his or her first year of high school and giving them the wings to fly!  This provides a student with a full scholarship, covering all of their expenses for their first year of high school.  In 2009, approximately 40% of the students graduating from La Manzanilla Middle School dropped out of school.  In 2006, the drop out rate was approximately 50%.  Some of the factors inhibiting students from attending high school include the following:

• Limited economic resources coupled with the need to start working to assist the family with earning money
• Inconvenience of not having a high school in La Manzanilla (students must travel anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes by car, and much longer by bus, to attend one of the high schools in neighboring towns)
• Lack of interest and motivation or occasional teenage pregnancies

By becoming a scholarship sponsor, you can give a student, who has the interest to pursue a high school education but not the financial means, the life-time gift of education.  Below is a budget of the costs for one year of study in the public high schools along with the scholarship administration fee incurred by our foundation:

Cost (in Mexican pesos) to attend Melaque, Cihuatlan or Miguel Hidalgo High School for the 10-month school year
Cost Description	Cost	Number of Pmts	Total
Admission Cost	500	1	500
Tuition per semester	300	2	600
Books (5 courses/semester)	500	2	1000
Transportation per week	100	40	4000
Lunches per week	100	40	4000
Uniforms (300 each)	300	2	600
LCF scholarship administration cost	500	2	1000
		Total	11700	pesos

Our rationale for providing a first-year scholarship is:

• The first year of high school is usually the hardest for students, with the highest drop out rate occurring right after middle school. 
• If the student has one year of financial support, they will be a little older the next year and will have gained skills so they could perhaps work to continue funding additional years of study.

If the sponsor is pleased with the result of the student they sponsored, they may choose to continue the sponsorship of this student for another two years, until he or she completes high school. (High school in Mexico is just for three years.) This is not expected, however, and the student will receive the scholarship with the understanding that it’s for their first year only to help them get a jump start on their education.

Selection Process:

La Catalina Foundation Board Members will work with the middle school principal and teachers to select the scholarship recipient, using the following criteria:

• Graduating middle school student who would like to attend the high school
• Demonstrated financial need
• High academic merit
• Participant in community service work -
• Participant in one of La Catalina Foundation’s educational programs (English classes or math program)
• Participant must maintain at least an average grade of 8 on the 1 – 10 point Mexican grading system is (equivalent to a B average) to be elegible.

The scholarship recipient will be announced at the middle school graduation ceremony held in La Manzanilla in the beginning of July.

How the Scholarship is administered:

The Foundation pays the 2700 pesos directly to the high school to cover the student’s school expenses, including admission cost, tuition, books and uniform.  8000 pesos for the transportation and lunches is paid directly to the student in two installments.  They receive 4000 pesos at the beginning of the first semester and then the remaining 4000 pesos at the beginning of the second semester, upon successful completion of their first semester.  The remaining 1000 pesos will go towards administrative costs associated with running this program.

Meet the Student You Sponsor:

Sponsors will receive a thank you note from the student they fund.  We can set up the opportunity for the scholarship recipient to have direct contact with the student and their family to get to know them and learn about their progress in school through letter correspondence (and e-mail if possible) or in-person visits.  The recipient’s photo will be posted on our website with a personal message from the student.  Donor may also request a copy of the student’s first and second semester progress report.

Sign Me Up as a Sponsor!