Local News

Seventy five students graduated from Sacred Heart Primary School in Dangriga.  Correspondent Harry Arzu has the details.

HARRY ARZU, Reporter

“Sacred Heart Primary School held graduation ceremony for some seventy five students at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church here in Dangriga yesterday evening.  During the event Project Learn Belize from the University of San Francisco, USA awarded high school scholarships to eleven graduates.  Jeffrey Millan is a professor of education at the university.  He tells us more.”

JEFFREY MILLAN, Professor of University of San Francisco

“Five years ago I started Project Learn Belize at the University of San Francisco, a partnership with Sacred Heart Primary School, Dangriga. I called the project Learn Belize because I realized how much there was to learn here, from the culture, your rich traditions and most importantly from the embraces of your warm and caring hearts.  Next week with contributions of over $30,000 from friends of Project Learn Belize, we’ll begin demolition and replacement of the upper school building crumbling verandahs as well as new paints for the entire building and roof.  My purpose at Sacred Heart last night was to offer a small token of thanks for what we’ve received from the community.  We were able to offer, for the second year, financial assistance to some of the most deserving graduates of the class to ensure their continued education in high school.  The promising, successful and prosperous future for Belize is the education of all children through their high school years.  A family’s ability to pay for schooling should never determine who is educated and who is left without.  It is a matter of justice for all for the strength and vitality of Belize.  The fourteen Sacred Heart students who scored over 80 on the PSE were invited to apply.  We considered students’ academic performance their PSE scores, their demonstration in leadership and most importantly their financial needs.  The first category of awards went to students deserving of recognition but whose financial needs was not as great, for them Project Learn Belize established a small account at the St. John’s Credit Union  which will hopefully defray some of the cost to their continued schooling.  Those awards were presented to: Raven Flowers, Gregory Ovado Jr. and Darra Pasqual.  We were only prepared to offer four high school scholarships this year but after considering the applications as well as their financial needs it was obvious that more students needed help.  Unlike our Project Learn Belize Scholarships which intend to support the winners through all four forms of school, these registration awards can only be offered for the coming year. With these one year stipends covering all of the students’ registration fees we pray for additional benefactors that might make their continued education possible.  Students who received the first form registration awards were: Dorian Leslie, Louise Rivas, Rihanna Sorano and Eric Viatan.  Finally four students receive the Project Learn Belize High School Scholarships.  Each young scholar will receive an amount, not covered by others assistants that received to pay the full cost of their high school registration for the coming year as well as the $300 stipend for books, we also pledge to continue to support these young people for their entire four years of secondary schooling.  Those winners were Jahson Castillo, Kaliya Rowland, Eunice Selenes and Melvin Valerio.

HARRY ARZU, Reporter

“The awardees express their gratitude to the district community.  Reporting for Love News, Harry Arzu, in Dangriga.”