Paying It Forward: How are the Children Doing?
Paying It Forward: How are the Children Doing?
That question is the translation of the traditional greeting, "Kasserian ingera?" Africa's Mosai tribe's imperative for their society's future health and prosperity.
By Jack Browne
That question is the traditional greeting “Kasserian ingera,” of Africa’s Mosai tribe. They believe that monitoring the well-being of their children is the best way to determine the future health and prosperity of their whole society,” shared Liz Ozono, Executive Director of San Antonio ISD’s, College Readiness team. Gonzalo Robles, TAMU San Antonio Community Partners and I visited this past Tuesday in preparation for their future “La Familia” parent student workshop encouraging the culture of college education.
Leveraging Wichita Falls ISD success with Café con Leche’s Community Café the program shows families how to apply for scholarship money and shares that every year funds remain unclaimed. Key to each student’s success is establishing a family expectation of a college education for their students. Believe, Plan, Execute to Succeed. Submit 50 scholarship applications and attend the college that costs the least.
Data sources:
Kasserian ingera? From sermon, Reverend Dr. Patrick T. O’Neill, 6/22/2017
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NCAN Report: $3.6 Billion in Pell Grants Went Unclaimed in 2022
According to NCAN, states with the highest rates of FAFSA completion for 2022 high school graduates included Washington, D.C. at 74%, Tennessee at 71%, Louisiana at 69%, Illinois at 68%, Texas at 63%, Rhode Island at 63%, and Alabama at 62%. Several of those states (Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas) require students to fill out the FAFSA in order to graduate high school.
$100 Million In Scholarship Money Goes Unclaimed Every Year.
My great grandmother was illiterate, unable to read or write at the end of the 19th century. My grandfather, obtained his PhD in Geography from Peabody University (Now part of Vanderbilt University). He was one of the first 24 professors at Stephen F Austin University in Nacogdoches; first generation student and the only of 8 surviving siblings to go to college.
As I progressed from engineer to executive at Motorola, 40 hours of annual training was required of each of our 100,000+ employees, as our growth mantra was, “50% of future revenue comes from products less than three years old”. We believed in reinvention and speed of execution. Tuesday morning, I enjoyed breakfast with Tom Gunter, “Father of the 68000,” and other team members. From 1970- 2000 the team’s belief the need for computing performance across all markets drove what is a multi-billion-dollar business. As we recalled our shared experiences anecdotally, we observed that belief is inspiring. Chris shared, “My initial timeline included ‘Miracle Happens.’ Tom didn’t receive that well; but the engineering team’s creativity yielded success with Apple.”
After a snowless 2023, freezing temperatures, and precipitation threaten. Consider our community with regard to shelter, food, education, jobs, and health, so that we all can answer for our community:
The children are fine.
Live in the moment, aware of surroundings, minimal impact as you observe. How long has it been since you just enjoyed your surroundings? Children and Plants flourish with little effort. Volunteer to make our community better for the future, no better way to start than with our children and their education.
Kasserian ingera?
How Are the Children Doing?
