English translation below.
Mi nombre es Teresa y yo me moví a Las Vegas desde California hace ya seis años. Mi niño empezó en la escuela pública y no sabía la situación de las escuelas en Nevada. Es decir, desconocía si eran buenas o malas.
Mi niño empezó a ir a una escuela que se llama Martin Luther King y ahí lo acosaban mucho, porque el es muy pequeño, chaparrito. Le lanzaban lápices y descubrí que se ponía rodilleras para ir a la escuela por que, al jugar soccer los niños, lo pateaban. Empezó a llevar sus rodilleras para que no le doliera tanto cuando le pegaban.
Noté que se estaba poniendo un poquito más agresivo. Creo que debido a todo lo que le estaba pasando y el bulliying que le hacían. Igualmente en la casa estaba también agresivo. Gracias a Dios que me hablaron de las becas. Solicité una y lo pude traer acá (a St. Christopher).
Ahora que viene a esta escuela está más calmado. Su nivel académico también ha subido. Le gusta venir a la escuela. Se siente a gusto porque la clase es más pequeña, hay menos estudiantes. ¡Está tan feliz!, le gusta estar aquí.
Este año aplicamos -como todos los años- y de repente nos llegó una carta diciendo que no iban a dar más becas. No entiendo, porque mi niño no era nuevo en el programa. Así que hablé a la organización que maneja la beca y me dijeron que no iban a poder ayudarme este año. Y realmente necesitamos la beca para porder continuar.No quisiera que se la quitaran.
Le digo a los legisladores que: ellos también tienen hijos y saben que lo único que les podemos dar, el legado más grande que le dejas a un hijo, es la educación. Ni el dinero, ni las propiedades que le puedas dar valen tanto. Lo que le estás dejando a tu hijo es una educación y con ella, él va a salir adelante y se va a poder defender en la vida. ¡Esa es importancia de la educación!
__
My name is Teresa Arevalo and I moved to Las Vegas from California six years ago. My child started in public school and we did not know the situation of the schools in Nevada. I didn’t know if they were good or bad.
My son started going to a school called Martin Luther King Jr Elementary School and there they harassed him a lot, because he is very small; he is short. They threw pencils at him and I discovered that he put on knee pads to go to school because when they played soccer, they kicked him. He began to wear his knee pads so that it wouldn’t hurt as much when they hit him.
I noticed that he was getting a little more aggressive. I think he started getting like that because of everything that was happening to him and the bullying that they did to him. When he was home, he was also aggressive. Thank God I heard about the Opportunity Scholarships. I applied for one and was able to bring my son here to St. Christopher Catholic School.
“Thank God I heard about the Opportunity Scholarships.”
Now that he comes to St. Christopher Catholic School, he is calmer. His academic level has also risen. He likes to come to school. I feel comfortable because the class is smaller, and there are fewer students. He is so happy!
This year we applied -as we do every year- for the scholarship and suddenly a letter came saying that they were not going to give any more scholarships. I didn’t understand why, because my child was not new to the program. So, I spoke to the organization that manages the scholarship and they said they were not going to be able to help me this year. And we really need the scholarship to continue. I don’t want it to be taken away.
“…the greatest legacy you can leave a child, is education.”
I would like to tell the legislators that I assume a lot of them also have children and they know that the only thing we can give them, the greatest legacy you can leave a child, is education. Not the money, nor the things you can give him are worth that much. What you are leaving your son is an education, and with it, he is going to get ahead and he is going to be able to defend himself in life. That is the importance of education!
