March 2025
Please save the date for our 2025 annual fundraiser, October 12 from 2 to 5 pm. Additional details to come.
June 2024
Reflections from Clara Moroney (Will’s niece) .
This June I was privileged to experience Guatemala with my grandma. Guatemala is one of the prettiest countries I have ever been to and I am so grateful she offered to take me. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. On the trip, I got to see a lot of Antigua. This is where my grandma, uncle, and mom used to live, go to church, get groceries, work and where Will went to school. Seeing all of this was really special and something not many people get to experience. One day during our trip, we went from one scholarship student’s house to the next. It was very cool to see where they live with their families. I am so grateful to them for sharing their homes with us. When we talked with their families, they were very open about their lives. We talked about how school was going and any concerns they had. We talked about their favorite things to do and study.
We were fortunate to have a sunny day during our time in Antigua and hosted a party for all of the scholarship students. The entire party was spent talking, taking photos, writing thank you cards and eating delicious food. This trip to Guatemala was one I will never forget. I am so thankful to my grandma for letting me tag along with her.
October 2023
Hi Everyone,
I just returned from Guatemala, where I attended the graduation of Jonaton and Amanda. Friday night was the graduation ceremony, Saturday I hosted a lunch for the graduates, their parents, Solomon and Harvey. Sunday we had a meeting with all the students including the three new students.
All of our students are doing very well and Jonaton and Amanda graduated top of their class. Jonaton graduated with a degree in Accounting and has a job at the company where he did his internship. Amanda graduated with a degree in Hospitality/tourism and is currently looking for a job. At the luncheon they all expressed their sincere gratitude and said how the scholarship has been life changing. Amandas father said that when she came home and told them she had been offered a scholarship he didn’t believe it. He told her that it was impossible that someone would want to send her to Colegio Antigua. It wasn’t until Harvey came to their house and explained to them that all expenses would be paid. Their gratitude is overwhelming.
At the graduation ceremony Solomon explained to the 50 graduates and their families how Will attended their school and when he returned to the US he started the scholarship program. He said that Will is now in Heaven watching over the school and his scholarship students. He used the words that he is a light shining down on us. ( and I forgot to bring kleenex).
Solomon and the staff are very proud of the Scheid scholarship program. We have Chino to thank for convincing him to give us a chance when he didn’t want to be involved. He told Chino and I that we should check with other schools and Chino explained that the only school we were interested in was Colegio Antigua because it has the education and values we admire. Muchas gracias Chino.
We had the students answer the questions we provided and have gained a bit more insight into the students. They all have a bit of fear that they will fail and disappoint us, but also have a lot of determination. In translating the questions to Spanish, I made an error with the question “ what is your favorite subject” and instead asked “ who is your favorite family member.” I was a bit confused as they were answering the questions at the lunch by saying “ my father or my mother” but it turned out to be interesting.
Thank you all for your work in making this a reality. We have an amazing program and while we aren’t changing the world we are certainly impacting lives.
Gracias,
Mary Lou