Hello, Friends:

 Recently we gathered for our annual Exceeding Expectations Awards & Scholarship celebration. This was an opportunity for us to look back on where we started and to recognize the achievements and progress made in the past 20 years.

In 2001 our group was 12 kids, no parents and only a dream of what might be possible. In 2023 we had a group of around 60 people attending the party and a lot to celebrate.

I believe these photos can tell the story better than my words.

 Enjoy!

EE kids, family members and supporters

Isi and Archi, early EE members and now college graduates,
receive Outstanding Volunteer awards

Ms. Veronica Acosta is presented Outstanding Teacher/Volunteer award by Ahris,
 who has benefited greatly from her help, as have all of our EE kids
    

Two volunteer fathers, Salvador and Meli, joined Archi to compete in the IRONMAN 70.3
(half-distance) Indian Wells event, representing Exceeding Expectations with a great race.

Richard presented an award to teammate Eduardo. He spoke of Eduardo as:
“A great athlete who always gives 100% and is a good sport and a reliable friend to everyone.”

Long-time EE supporter Molly Thorpe presented a scholarship in memory of her mother, Goldie,
to Johana, who is graduating high school with honors in June and is currently in the process of
selecting her college.(Lee said he was hopeful that now she will be able to get her pants fixed.)

Nik Keller, a 2013 graduate from UCSD, grew up in EE. He now has a lovely wife, is
doing very well professionally and is Paying it Forward to his younger EE teammates.
Last year Nik established Keller’s Kids, a program which donates an annual scholarship
to each of our college kids - freshman year to graduation. To date, he has contributed to Arian,
Yoselin, Fernanda and Johana. He plans to keep this going with all our upcoming college kids.

McFARLAND FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
Marlene, brand new mom and recent recipient of her Master’s degree; Nancy, graduating
in April with a degree in Business from the University of Redlands; Fernanda, who earned
a 4.0 in her first semester at San Diego State University. The McFarland Family has helped
support these young women through their college years.

Much of our growth comes from within.  Current members recognize potential teammates,
vet them first and then bring them to us. Richard and Ahris brought us this group of 5 (one
not present – playing in a soccer tournament). Each is a focused athlete and aiming for college.

The next generation. Keep your eye on these 12-and-under youngsters.

Thanks to supporters such as Reese, our kids have the
opportunity to race on nice bikes and to look good doing it.
   
 

Miguel, a very talented pianist, entertained us, playing whatever song anyone asked for.
 

Marlene and her wonderful husband, Hilario, with their two daughters,
 Eliana (almost 4) and Amelia Grace (1 week!).

Jacque Irons is the teacher who invited me to speak at Cypress School, which was the beginning
of Exceeding Expectations. She’s retiring from teaching this year, which will be a big loss to the
San Bernardino community. Miguel and Isi were two of our first members and have been a vital
part of our EE family ever since.

At the end of our presentations, I asked for two group photos:

Kids in college or college graduates (missing: those who attend college out of the area)

Parents & families

In the early days of EE, there would have been no one in either of these photos. I see this as a measure of our success.

______________________________

This is a team effort and would not be possible without the generosity of all our wonderful Exceeding Expectations supporters. We look at your support, financial and otherwise, as an investment in us, and we all work hard to make that investment a good one.

Thank you and Happy 2023!

-Cherie

P.S. Those of you who have supported us by making your Amazon purchases through the Amazon Smile program have probably gotten emails from Amazon with the sad news that the program is ending as of Feb. 20. It's a real shame, but thanks so much for helping us out by using it while it was in operation.

www.eefoundation.org