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Hello
Folks, 2016
is underway and Exceeding Expectations is kicking-off our sixteenth
year. Hard
to believe that training 12 kids to ride bikes in the Redlands sprint
triathlon so many years ago has turned into the EE program of today.
Some of you were there at that first event, donating your bikes, your
swim & run expertise and your general support for a group of kids
who were taking their first step into a new world. Jose
Lopez, hanging on to Cherie all those years ago, Fast
forward 16 years to Exceeding Expectations today: EE
kids at the Swimathon on January 24: -As
of June 2016, we’ll have three EE college graduates (2 from UCSD; 1
from Berkeley). -Nine
EE kids are currently in college and two more will be starting their
freshman year in September. Archi
Lai (UCLA 2018) and Josh Rodriguez-Irons (UC San Bernardino 2018)
-Our
group includes one career Marine and, thanks to a loan from EE, a small
business owner. -Over
sixty elementary, middle school and high school kids currently have the
goal of getting an education. -A
large group of supportive parents know that their kids have an
opportunity they never had. January
is EE Swimathon/Runathon time. In
the early days, we used this event to teach the kids communication
skills. You folks committed to take a call and each kid phoned to ask
for sponsorship, a donation per lap of swimming or running. This worked
well when we had a small group, but it became impractical as our group
got larger. Now we use the event as a goal-setting exercise: they each
set a personal goal and work like crazy to accomplish or exceed that
goal. This
year Ana Campos set a goal of 50 laps and swam 58, winning the top
Swimathon award for exceeding her goal as well as for swimming the most
laps. At
the Runathon we had a large group, most of whom had done the Swimathon
just prior. (Does it sound like we’re raising a bunch of triathletes,
or what?). Everyone
went home with a participant’s medal (thanks to all of you who sent us
your race medals) and the group pictured below went home with an
additional medal for special achievement on the day. Last
weekend we had a reunion of sorts.
Our very first race in 2001,(training for the Redlands Tri), was the
Highland YMCA Half Marathon, 10K, 5K run in 2001 and we’ve
participated there every year since. This
year was a cold, blustery, wet day, which bothered the kids not one bit.
Although the course is extremely challenging, we had many outstanding
performances, including: -John
Alvarez posting a 1:37 Half Marathon -Enrique
Campos placing 3rd overall in the 5K with a time of 17:59 -Sam
and sister Abigail winning big in their 10K age groups Sam
Medina and sister Abigail, with Joseph Patterson BTW
– Lee has become an EE racer. The good news is the kids love having
him on the course with them. The bad news is we’re getting far fewer
photos of the kids racing. Small price to pay for having the Big Guy
joining in on the fun.
On
the academic front: -John
Alvarez received a scholarship from the Talbert Family Foundation,
long-time supporters of our EE kids. This funding will be used at Cal
Baptist University, where John has already been accepted, and will be
renewed annually for four years as John maintains progress towards
earning his degree. -The
Mayorga brothers continue to be recognized for their high achievement in
school – Arian (High honors) and Ahris (Exceeding reading goals). -Michael
Williams will represent the state of California at the Congress of
Future Science and Technology Leaders in Boston next July.
John Alvarez
Arian Mayorga As
always, I’d be writing about none of this if it weren’t for all of
you and the great support you’ve given us for the last sixteen years.
We’re in this for the long haul and we’re hoping you’ll continue
to see the value in what your contributions are accomplishing – one
kid at a time. Thank
you very much. -Cherie
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