The Placencia Breeze
Page 26
June 2018
Rotary to Award Secondary and Tertiary Level Scholarships varies year to year, child to child, and the government also contributes a portion towards the freshman and sophomore years.
By JENNIFER DALY Rotary Club of Placencia Press Volunteer dalyjennifer709@gmail.com
The members of the Rotary Club of Placencia have been preparing for back to school time! One of the club’s most important undertaking is the Rotary Scholarship Program that assists students with a high school education. In Belize, primary school ends at Standard 6 (the eighth grade equivalent of elementary school, for our U.S. readers), with most students finishing at about 13 years old. Unlike most government and church-run primary schools in Belize that are either fully covered or mostly subsidized by the government, secondary education in Belize comes with a relatively great financial cost. This can discourage many students, especially those living in rural Belize -- and many whose parents have survived without a high school education working manual labor in the agricultural, fishing and tourism industries -- from attending. The Rotary Club steps in with funding qualified students from the Peninsula with the complete four years of high school. This translates to approximately BZ$750 (US$375) per student per year. The amount
into the program as some of our scholars graduate from high school and move on to the tertiary level. We received 25 excellent applications, and our Scholarship In order to maintain a Ro- Committee will review each tary Club Scholarship, the application and make their student must maintain a 75% decisions soon. grade point average, demonstrate a continued financial The Rotary Scholarship need and have good standing committee is comprised of in their school and communi- Diana Fell, Linda Cazin, ty. The Club finances what- both of whom are co-chairs, ever portion remains unpaid David Payne and Margaret along with registration fees, Smyth. These fine folks orientation fees, social fees, monitor everything the stutextbooks and even the req- dent may need such as tutoruisite physical education ing, helping to source books, class uniform. collecting report cards, and offer any advice that may be The Rotary scholar can needed. Sandi Johnson, Gail choose from enrolling in Smith and Judy Lutz also two secondary education helped to mentor students institutions in our area -- this year. Twice a year the Independence High School committee meets with all or Georgetown Technical the participants, and this is High School. Both of these a mandatory part of their schools are located off the commitment to the program. Peninsula as there is none At these gatherings, an inhere. Students are bussed vitation is also extended to back and forth by the gov- the parents, so everyone can ernment, which means long help to build camaraderie days for the children, as and have fun! this bus ride alone can be upwards of 90 minutes. [Ed- In addition to maintaining itor's Note: Private pre-K excellent grades and good to eighth-grade primary behaviour, the pupils must school, Peninsula Interna- complete 20 hours of comtional Academy, is currently munity service. This can be seeking grants to establish a accumulated in many ways. private high school in Pla- This past year, the kids volcencia Village. See our May unteered for The End of the issue article by Aaron Krohn World Marathon, the Seniors for more information.] Christmas Food Baskets Program and our Beach The Rotary Scholarship Pro- Olympics. They can also gram began in 2010 and this help in other ways such as school year, we assisted 30 helping an elderly neighbour scholars ranging from ages or participate in beach and 14 to 16, representing both community clean ups. Seine Bight and Placencia Villages. This year we are After our students complete inducting eight new students Fourth Form (senior year of
Trades 4 Life to Resume in January 2019 By JENNIFER DALY
This January, The Rotary Club of Placencia joined a new venture called Trades 4 Life. This is a post secondary, trade school program that covers specialties in plumbing, air conditioning/ refrigeration, mechanics, computers, welding, plumbing and electrical. Rotary covers all the costs associated with each course along with registration fees. Trades 4 Life has been active in
Belize for a few years, and Rotary's first year participating has been a huge success. We will send another group of students to complete the program in January and may even arrange another session before the year is out. January's six graduates represented Seine Bight, Red Bank, Bella Vista and Independence Villages.
faculty is located in Belmopan, and the students spend an intensive six weeks away studying 12 hours a day, five days a week. All of their meals, lodging and transportation costs are covered. At the moment this program is restricted to males only because separate facilities must be built to house the females. Trades for Life is working on accepting females by At this time applications for next year. Please contact Trades 4 Life are limited to Bill Dejardin to submit your men ages 18 and up. The application. ▪
Rotary Club of Placencia High School Scholarship students accompany longtime Rotarian Harold Wallen during a delivery of Christmas baskets to Peninsula seniors.
high school), they can apply for a Higher Education Scholarship from the Placencia Rotary Club. Higher education includes junior college, (Sixth Form) and university, offering majors such as business, liberal arts, vocational, tourism or science. Any student from the Peninsula or within the vicinity that has completed high school can apply for a Higher Education Scholarship, and they do not have to be a previously funded Rotary scholar. This past school year we sent scholars to Independence Junior College, Ecumenical Junior College, St. John’s Junior College and the University of Belize.
school. CXC exams are the equivalent of SAT exams in the United States and Canada. The tuition for higher education can be upwards to a couple thousand Belize dollars per year depending upon the school. In addition to the tuition, there are other fees such as registration and book fees. Unlike the High School Scholarship Program, students applying for a Higher Education Scholarship must do so each year; whereas, only one application is needed to secure the four years of the high school scholarship while meeting maintenance requirements. The higher education scholars also manage their courses independently.
Our tertiary level scholarship is funded differently than our high school program. The government funds a portion, as long as the student has passed their Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) exams, including math and English while maintaining a 75% grade point average in
If you would like to sponsor a child through our scholarship program, please contact Diana Fell or Linda Cazin. You can find them on Facebook or through our Facebook page, Placencia Rotary. Please ask to join our page so you can follow along with all of our activities. ▪
Did you know that the Rotary Club of Placencia is 13 years old? We celebrated with cake, a celebration and friends of Rotary!
The Placencia Rotary Club is always busy! We meet every Tuesday under the Pickled Parrot’s thatched roof at 12:30 pm. We are always looking for new members so drop by any Tuesday and say hello.
