By dad, Frank.
We have lived in Las Vegas for eight years now and we have three kids: a sixth grader, third grader, and kindergartner. We wanted them to go to a good school. But we made the mistake of moving and not checking the schools when we moved. We found out that the schools in Las Vegas are among the worst in the country.
I originally went to school in Chicago. My wife went to school in the Philippines. In Chicago, I was in a good neighborhood. But, in public schools, from fifth grade until high school, I literally had to get into a fist fight every single day.
“I did not want my son and my little girl to have to fight their way through school and to learn nothing.”
It’s hard to learn when you’re going to school knowing you have to fight your way through school again: on the bus, at school, on the way home. Sometimes you just want to go to school to learn and not get into another fight. Sometimes I walked home five miles to avoid fights on the bus.
When we moved to Las Vegas, we learned that the city was tougher than the suburbs of Chicago. I did not want my son and my little girl to have to fight their way through school and to learn nothing.
We don’t make a lot of money, but everything we make goes to our kids. Every penny. I don’t buy new clothes for myself. All the money goes to the kids.
So we applied for a scholarship and got a letter in the mail saying we got partial scholarships. That doesn’t cover everything, but it helps a lot. My wife and I both broke down crying when we found out. It helped us out a lot and took a little pressure off.
My kids get straight As. Every time they do the Iowa testing, they rank two grades higher than they’re in. My girl, who was in second grade, is reading and doing math at fifth grade level. My son who was in fifth grade, is at the seventh grade level.
It would be tough to attend these schools without the scholarships. But even if we couldn’t eat, we would try to make it work one way or another. Even if we had to sell what we own, we would do it.
