June, 2021

 

Hello, Everyone:

We’re happy to see our lives slowly begin to return to some sort of normalcy. Our high school seniors had a modified graduation ceremony this month and all our kids are looking forward to returning to campus in the fall. Nearly all of our EE family (kids 12 and over and parents) are vaccinated, which gives us the ability to once again get up close – even give big hugs.

We had two 2021 high school graduates who enjoyed the significant event at a socially distanced ceremony:

Diana will be starting at the University of Redlands in the fall. She was eagerly recruited by the school and the financial package offered reflects how much they value her as a student. She’s very excited to be joining another EE member, Nancy Alvarez, who will be starting her junior year at the U of Redlands.

 

 

Mathew hasn’t decided his immediate future yet. His older brother, Andrew, a sophomore at Humboldt State University, is a good role model for him.

 

Marlene (Social Work) and Josh (Music) continue with their graduate studies and John (Construction Management) will be graduating from California Baptist University at the end of the summer. Along with these three, we currently have 10 other EE kids in college, and they're doing wonderfully. Just as an example, Tammy Patterson made the Dean's List both of her first semesters in graduate nursing school at Loma Linda.

 

Jeffrey, in San Diego for Marine Corp boot camp, writes that he’s always tired, but doing well and actually enjoying it. I believe that’s true. The only disciplinary issue he’s suffered has been a slight punishment for smiling when he was expected to be serious! His graduation is in early August.

 

Richard, one of our youngest and best runners, proved that remote learning wasn’t going to hold him back. He received a 2020 award for Outstanding Academic Achievement, signed by President Biden and the Secretary of Education.

 

Our kids are traveling for the first time – experiencing some of the world they’ve only heard and read about. Recently, Karen explored both Washington DC and New York City.

 

 

And, of course, our training program is back in full swing. We've been logging each kid's times on our favorite 3-mile run course and urging them to better themselves with each outing. That kind of motivation is paying off beautifully. As you know, the goal is not to turn out world-class athletes but to use sports as a way to teach the kids to set goals and work hard to achieve them.

 

 

Reflecting on what our EE kids have accomplished during this unusual past year reminds us once again that our program is working – one kid at a time. And this happens only with your help.

You, our loyal followers, help us in so many ways. Your financial support helps pay expenses related to education and racing and your engagement with the kids at events helps develop their social skills. Your caring makes them realize that many folks out there have great expectations for them. And they are responding by exceeding expectations!

We thank you very much and we wish you all a very good rest of 2021.

 

-Cherie