Paying It Forward: How are the Children Doing?

"How are the children doing?"

That question is the traditional greeting “Kasserian ingera?,” of Africa’s Maasai tribe. "They believe that monitoring the well-being of their children is the best way to determine the future health and prosperity of their whole society,” shared Liz Ozono, Executive Director of San Antonio ISD’s, College Readiness team. Gonzalo Robles, TAMU San Antonio Community Partners and I visited this past Tuesday in preparation for their future “La Familia” parent student workshop encouraging the culture of college education.

Café con Leche’s Community Café has years of success with WFISD. Financial aid events provide families with access to scholarships (available dollars exceed requests) and establishing the family’s expectation of a college education for their students. Believe, Plan, Execute to Succeed.  Submit 50 scholarship applications and attend the college that costs the least.

My great-grandmother was illiterate, unable to read or write at the end of the 19th century.  Her son, my grandfather obtained his PhD in Geography from Peabody University. One of the first 24 professors at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches. He was a first-generation college graduate, the only of eight siblings.

Progressing from engineer to executive at Motorola, 40 hours of annual training was required of each of our 100,000+ employees. Our growth mantra was, “50% of future revenue comes from products less than three years old.” We believed in reinvention and speed of execution. On Tuesday morning, I enjoyed breakfast with Tom Gunter, “Father of the 68,000” and other team members. From 1970- 2000, the team’s belief in providing computing performance across all markets drove what is a multi-billion-dollar business.  As we recalled our shared experiences anecdotally, we observed that belief is inspiring. Chris shared, “My initial timeline included ‘Miracle Happens.’ Tom didn’t receive that well; but the engineering team’s creativity yielded success with Apple.”

Haynes Head Start, WFISD
Haynes Head Start, WFISD

After a snowless 2023, freezing temperatures, and precipitation threaten. Consider our community with regard to shelter, food, education, jobs, and health, so that we all can answer for our community:

The children are fine.

Live in the moment, aware of surroundings, minimal impact as you observe. How long has it been since you just enjoyed your surroundings? Children and plants flourish with little effort. Volunteer to make our community better for the future, no better way to start than with our children and their education.

How Are the Children Doing?

https:/www.newcollarcoach.com/

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Paying It Forward: How are the Children Doing?