Holy Cross Anglican School

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!On Sunday, June 20, thirty-five students graduated from Holy Cross Anglican Primary School. Mrs. Carol Babb, former General Manager of the Anglican Schools and currently the Deputy Chief Education Officer, was the guest speaker. Mrs. Babb told the graduates that there were great possibilities for their future, but they must remember to be self-disciplined and determined, and they would have to make sacrifices in order to excel. Mrs. Grace Williams, Principal, and Mrs. Francis Wilson, Local Manager, also had praise for the graduates and words of wisdom. Rosa Lopez (Valedictorian), Zoila Canek and Ethel Villatoro were the top students in the 2009-2010 Standard VI class.

Twenty-five students received scholarships that will allow them to attend high school. The majority of the scholarships were funded through a very generous donation from Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Kingwood, Texas. Representatives from the church were on hand to meet the graduates and to present the scholarships.

The graduation ceremony included tributes to the Class of 2010 in poetry, songs and dance by the children in each division of Holy Cross. The traditional Torch Passing ceremony was also a part of the day. Prizes, a backpack full of school supplies, were awarded to the top two students in each class. At the conclusion of the festivities, children and their families were treated to cupcakes, also provided by the good folks from Good Shepherd Church.

Dear Friends, Holy Cross Anglican School was honored by a visit from the Rt. Rev. Philip Wright on Sunday, May 30th. Bishop Wright was here to administer the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist. Eleven children were Baptized, nine students were Confirmed (our FIRST Confirmation class!!) and participated in their first Eucharist. Please see photos.

The entire Holy Cross family rejoices with the eleven children who were Baptized. We are also extremely proud of the students in our first Confirmation class. The Confirmands were prepared to receive the Sacrament by School Principal, Mrs. Grace Williams and Deacon Jan Lamb from St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Durham, NC who has been volunteering as school Chaplain since January.

Bishop Wright presented copies of the New Testament (donated by friends like you) to each family who had a child Baptized. In addition he gave Study Bibles ( thanks again to our friends!) and wooden Crosses to each student who was Confirmed. What an incredibly special day!!!

UPDATE ON THE SUMMER 2010 CORPORATE DONATION MATCHING PROGRAM..........

Great news...we received a commitment of an additional $5,000 to be used as part of the corporate matching funds. Many thanks to our good friend in California!!! That brings our Corporate Match total to $20,000.00 USD!!!!!! PLEASE take this opportunity to make a donation to Holy Cross Anglican School knowing that your contribution will be DOUBLED!!! We are hoping and praying to raise $40,000 in desperately needed funds to help support our Feeding Program and building program.

All donations sent to the Holy Cross Education Foundation by credit card or check receive an equal amount from the Corporate Matching Program. All money will be given to Holy Cross to cover the school’s Feeding Program, operational and construction expenses.

The children of Holy Cross really need your help! We are committed to continue the Feeding Program which provides a healthy breakfast, mid-morning fresh fruit snack, nourishing lunch, purified water and daily vitamins to over 500 children every day who might otherwise be malnourished. The kitchen staff does a wonderful job keeping costs low but we still spend $1US per child per day. That adds up to a lot of money!!! Holy Cross needs every penny of that potential $40,000 (and tons more!) to remain the state-of-the art educational facility you helped to create. Without your contributions, we cannot be supportive of our children who are hungry, in need of uniforms, shoes, school supplies or sick. Please don't let us down. Tax deductible contributions can be sent to:

Holy Cross Education Foundation
7550 Corporate Way
Eden Prairie, MN 55344

OR, made via credit card on the Foundation's web site: www.hcefoundation.org For additional information, please feel free to contact the Chair of the Foundation Board: Brian Ostenso at bostenso@aol[dot]com

MORE GOOD NEWS: The results of the National Exam for Standard VI students (PSE) are in. I'm thrilled to report that 30 of our 37 Standard VI students passed the exam and several came within a point or two of passing. We are overjoyed with our passing rate of 81% - a great average!! Of course we always aim for 100% but several of these children came to Holy Cross with no knowledge of English - quite a hurtle to overcome in an English speaking country. Congratulations to teacher, Mrs. Joy Elliott and the many volunteers who helped tutor these young folks.

STATE-OF-THE-ART BATHROOM FACILITY: Construction continues on our new bathroom complex. (Please see photo). We are counting the days until 26 toilets and 2 large trough urinals are ready for action. Many thanks to the Episcopal Church Women for their generous grant which provided the money to get this project underway. And, a huge thank you to the many volunteers who have worked and continue to work in the hot Belizean sun to make this incredibly needed facility a reality. When completed, Holy Cross will have the most environmental friendly bathrooms in the country. We are thrilled to be ecologically sound and to get rid of the huge lines at potty break - smile.

Registration is well underway for the next school year. Once again it looks like we'll have a 'full house' and be forced to turn children away. That is the hardest thing in the world to do. With your help and continued support we hope to soon have the money needed to buy land fill. Once we can fill more of the property we can look to building a much needed pre-school and additional classrooms along with a playground...Church....art and science classrooms....and...and... The dreams for Holy Cross continue to grow. Please join in helping make them come true!!! Many thanks and blessings, Francis

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