Los Cabos Events
KidSmart Celebration
Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo and Los Cabos area of Baja California Sur, Mexico
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In support of the Cabo San Lucas Optimist Club and Project KidSmart's celebration of a very special occasion on July 8th 2006, Tyson Promotions (Los Cabos Magazine, Los Cabos Visitor's Guide, loscabosguide.com) and Pez Gato, sponsored an unforgettable sunset tour onboard Pez Gato, one of Cabo's best-known sunset and snorkel cruise catamarans. The reason for the celebration was Carmen Aguilar Valenzuela's high school graduation. Carmen is one of the 42 students sponsored by the Cabo San Lucas Project KidSmart program and the fourth to have graduated high school.
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Maggie McLean and Carmen Aguilar
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On Saturday, July 8th, Carmen and her graduating class celebrated more than just her top of the class, 9.6 GPA, and more than the conclusion of their studies, they celebrated opportunity, good will and hope. With their young faces bathed in the afternoon sunlight, sailing by the world-famous arch and into the vast Pacific, they laughed, danced, and spoke of the past and of what's yet to come. And Pez Gato itself seemed to be cruising through happiness.
Also present at the celebration were: Maggie McLean, Optimist Club member and KidSmart sponsor, as well as Sabrina Lear, Jazmin Lopez and Anna Urbanik representing Los Cabos Magazine.
Carmen has been with Project KidSmart for almost three years, sponsored by Cynthia Lewis, a junior high school principal from Vancouver, B.C., who plans to continue helping Carmen throughout her university studies.
Project KidSmart was created in August 2002 by Ileana Garcia Formenti de Ceseña, Erlinda Weyer and Cathie Smith and is sponsored by the Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo Optimist Clubs. It's purpose is to help high-achieving, economically disadvantaged students, like Carmen, to get a high school diploma, providing them with on-going financial support. Uniforms, school supplies, lunches and bus fare are some of the necessities covered by KidSmart sponsors. Other donations are used for English and computer classes. If it weren't for the Cabo San Lucas Optimist Club and Project KidSmart's dedicated founders and ever-increasing members and sponsors, who by opening their hearts offer a helping hand, this kind of event wouldn't be possible and, more importantly, these students may not get their chance for a better future.
Carmen says she feels very happy to have accomplished her goal of graduating high school and that she appreciates everything the KidSmart program has done to help her. She wants to take full advantage of this opportunity and continue studying. She has already been admitted to a local university where she will pursue a degree in Tourism.
As much as this might seem the normal course of events in developed countries, Mexico still has a lower percentage of high school graduates. Even fewer go on to study at university level. In Carmen's class, 55 students were enrolled three years ago, with only 18 in the 2006 graduating class. This phenomenon is caused by various factors. Oftentimes older children have to drop out of school to take care of younger children while the parent(s) work or have to work themselves to help maintain the family. Unwanted pregnancy is also a reason.
Touched by the event and driven by the Optimist Club mission of “bringing out the best in kids", one of Carmen's former teachers, Javier Lino, expressed genuine interest in supporting Project KidSmart. To learn more about the Cabo San Lucas chapter of the Optimist Club and Project KidSmart or how you can make a difference, visit:
www.loscabosguide.com/kidsmartcabo |
Copyright © 2010 - Joseph A. Tyson - Tyson Promotions, Inc - All Rights Reserved
Los Cabos Magazine - Los Cabos Visitor's Guide - Promociones Tyson, S. A. de C. V.
Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico - Last Revision - 14 July, 2006 - JCH
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