ACE adds Super Student Status!
For many years now, ACE has focused on helping our students and their families push through the barrier and challenges of living in poverty to achieve a higher level of education through the child sponsorship program. ACE is now on its 10th year of sponsoring St. Mary children. We thought we would give you some factual information on how education can impact a student and their families if we make a commitment to stick with sponsorship.
Tahjeb Suer is making the Super Student Status with ACE. 
It’s not every day that a student like Tahj comes along, but when he does we have to highlight his hard work and desire to move forward in his studies. We told you about him back in July’s newsletter. Several years ago, when little Tahj was just in Primary school, ACE began sponsoring him at Hampstead and then on to high school at St. Mary where he graduated top of his class. Tahj has a vision to become a Ship Captain, and last year in faith he applied to the Caribbean Maritime University located in Kingston. This is a prestigious school with 100% job placement that costs an average of $12K US per year to attend.
Tahj was accepted and worked with ACE all summer to earn money for his books and food. While he was busy helping ACE, we were praying about where the money was going to come from. By now, we should all know God comes through every time when He is brought into it – and, as usual, several men and women who have followed Tahj and his family heard God’s call, stepped up and committed the funds needed to get him through this first year.
Last week, Tahj was given the prestigious award of being the number one student in his class for excellence and grades!! We are so proud!! That’s why ACE has a created a new level of child sponsorship called Super Student Status – Tahj, this is for you and your family! Look for Tahj this summer as he intends to be working full time with ACE again. Let him know how proud you are. We certainly smile every time we hear that name.
Now, comes year two. We are praying again for the funds to come in for his second out of four years at school. Want to help? Let us know!
ACE Adopts a Very Special School….
For years, we’ve been talking about building our own school. Then our plans changed, as God withheld the property we had hoped would open up for a school, at least for now. Believing God’s timing is far better than ours, we pulled back. ACE wanted to build a special needs school at one time but found that putting both schools together would not attract the local families, as there seems to be a stigma with joining a special needs school with a regular school.
Every day for the past five years, as we drive to the ACE Campus, we pass a school called Edge Hill . You might have seen it – the name is on a big Digicel sign. In checking online, we realized that the Digicel Foundation had in fact built this school for the 30+ students who were assessed as special needs. Remember when your parents and teachers would say to you, “Never assume, always ask?” Well, I must have forgotten that because I assumed Digicel was actively involved in the day-to-day needs of running the school. I was wrong.
After meeting the vice principal, Mrs. Lee when ACE donated the stove a few months ago, we learned that Digicel only built the building but doesn’t support the actual operation and costs involved to run the school. And that’s when ACE enthusiastically said, “We will!!!” We became partners this year with Edge Hill Special Needs School and feel honored to have access to the students and wonderful teachers.
Our first interaction with the students was last week, when our friends and partners at Castine Church conducted our first home economics and shop classes for the students. Eyes got wide and smiles began when we opened the chocolate chip cookie mix and the peanut butter cookies. Who doesn’t love cookies?!
While the cookies were being made, another class on table-setting was being conducted across the hall. Setting a table with forks and knives might come in handy if the Mayor were to stop by. The best part of was cutting the peanut butter sandwiches before eating them.
In another class room, the shop students all built sailboats. Using drills and an electric saw, our expert volunteers allowed the students to actually cut and drill into their wood for their boats. I’m not sure which had a greater impact, using the equipment or finishing their boats! It was a wonderful time. The school asked if we would be willing to sponsor some of their students as the need is great. Of course! We are honored to have so many volunteers on a waiting list to adopt/sponsor students so that should be an easy ask.
Next time you visit us in Jamaica, bring us some home economics stories and cooking items. Cookie sheets, pots, pans,, bowls, spoons – you name it, they need it. And if you are the shop kind of person, bring your old tools, new tools, levels, safety goggles, measuring tapes, and anything to build. They love it and, frankly, so do we!!
Education
From the beginning three decades ago, ACE has been heavily involved in the educational process of our sponsored and unsponsored children. Currently, ACE sponsors 250 students in St. Mary. Their needs are great: food, taxi, clothing, tutoring, medical/dental needs, counseling, safe places to live. All this takes lots of people and resources. Without your support of love and funding, we would be at school without a pencil.
In 2018, through your financial support, ACE has employed three Nationals dedicated to our schools, children, families, and learning. These men are college-educated and come with a knowledge base and love for early child development. Saskia, our Administrator, has gone through extensive training the past three years and is overseeing the day-to-day activities of all children and their parents. ACE hosted five birthday parties in 2018 for our 250 sponsored students. In addition, we have employed two mothers of children in our sponsorship and built six homes this year, offering a true safe haven to families in need.
This year, ACE held 24 CFMs (Community Family Meetings) for the parents or guardians offering speakers from the community that teach/speak on topics like positive discipline, nutrition, hygiene, and spiritual needs in a child, just for a start. Speakers are leaders in our Parish and take great joy in delivery these topics to parents of the children.
ACE held summer school for the 26 Second-Story students who made it to the second level of public education offered in Jamaica. Our US educators and local staff held a one-week critical thinking program where students solved a mystery of who stole Ms. Shirley’s cook book. Students actually showed up early to attend the class… WOW!
While we still don’t have our own school or our children’s village, it’s never left our mind. We wait on the land to come available so we will ensure it’s permanent. Let’s see what God will do in 2019.
Did I mention ACE is sponsoring the high school boys volleyball team at Oracabessa High school? In fact, on behalf of ACE, D’Vaun – one of our Child Sponsorship employees for ACE – accepted the award last week for supporting and sowing into our community of Galina and Oracabessa. Let’s hope they win the National Title this year – that means scholarships for University and abroad for some of the boys!
A note from Dawn Wheeler, Child Sponsorship Coordinator
Dear ACE Family;
I am writing to let you know that, for a period of time, I will be stepping away from my position as ACE Stateside Child Sponsorship Coordinator. This is necessary due to some health issues that I am currently dealing with. If you think of me, I would appreciate your prayers. The Lord has already answered many prayers regarding my situation and we know that He will continue to move. He is in control!
During the time that I am away, please know that you will be in good hands. Many of you may know ACE’s wonderful previous intern Beth (Barnett) Pitts. Beth has graciously agreed to step in and handle the Child Sponsorship program while I am off. THANK YOU, Beth! We appreciate you very much!
At this time, I do not know the exact date of when I will be returning, but I looked forward to reconnecting with you when I do.
God bless you all!
In Christ Love,
Dawn
A Special Wellness Program comes to Jamaica
Most of you know about the wellness side of ACE. It’s one of the four impact areas of ACE where we focus on physical wellness in our communities. This month was extra special as we had some old friends of ACE return with Buckie the Tooth Giraffe. They performed fluoride treatments in our primary schools and our newest partner, Edge Hill, our special needs school. What a great time! Dr. Frank, a former Chairman of ACE, returned with his brother Dr. Bill and their dental team to work non-stop at our Wellness Center using the new equipment a friend donated earlier this year. “The new dental chairs and units are fantastic!” was the general comment by all. The week ended with over 400 students being treated with fluoride and over 190 community friends served in the chairs.
While the dentists were busy filling and extracting teeth, the medical side of our wellness initiative was taking on other challenges, both inside and outside our wellness center. Dr. David and Dr. Alice from Trinity On The Hill and their team saw and treated over 100 community friends daily. With water supply being low in the areas where the doctors were working, it took a lot of extra effort to make it work. It makes us feel great when we have such continued support, especially when we see our numbers for extended care in the districts actually go down as a result of continued care.
Thank you to Trinity, Dr. David, Dr. Frank and all the workers and providers that gave their time away from home to help us in Jamaica this fall.
Marla’s Minute: Second Story Summer School (A Big First)
When Amanda, one of our newest board members, rolled on the ACE board this year to serve, the first thing she and her husband, Digger, requested to do was to provide Summer School for our Second Story students in the Child Sponsorship Program.
I have never seen our students so excited as I did this summer, as I watched our eager teenagers coming early each day to attend class. You see, Amanda, Digger and their team of teachers have a unique way of teaching topics that make anyone want to learn. And learning is exactly what these students did. Amanda put an entire mystery together for the students to figure out how to find the thief who stole Ms. Shirley’s cookbook.
Even Mr. Moncrieffe had fun! Every day as I passed him leaving in the parking lot, he just shook his head with a big smile and said, “Wow! What a great day. I’m learning so much about making subjects fun for students. We hope this is just the beginning.”
Thank you to Amanda and her team and to all for investing in this wonderful 30-year-old ministry called ACE — where the learning never stops and we always find the fun!
Always grateful for you,
Marla and Allen
Edge Hill gets a new Stove….
Special needs schools are rare in Jamaica. However, in St. Mary, there is a special needs school near the ACE campus. It’s called Edge Hill, and ACE has had a student in our Child Sponsorship Program attending school there for two years. Just the other day, we learned that the school was in need of a gas stove for training students to cook. Without a second thought, ACE jumped at the opportunity to give back to this school that is making a difference in St. Mary to those less fortunate. We bought a beautiful gas stove with a full oven. As the ACE staff was taking it off the truck and unpacking it, we saw the smile of the Vice Principal, Mrs. Charmaine Palmer Lee as she helped point to the location of install.
Thank you all for your treasure. This is one of the many reasons why we do what we do. It makes a difference.
Marla’s Minute: Tahj’s Story
ACE has been sponsoring students for almost eight years now. We started with a few kids in the neighborhood that really needed help with food, clothing, books, taxi and shoes. Speeding forward, we now have close to 250 elementary and kindergarten students coming out of our communities of Hampstead, Galina, Water Valley, Mason Hall, and Heywood Hall.
The one-year commitment we originally made has quickly turned into a lifetime of learning and relationships between Jamaican families and their American sponsors. Even Allen and I have developed a special relationship with the families of our sponsored children, especially one in particular. Tahjebe, son of ACE’s own Lorna from Green Life Farms, is now on his way to the Caribbean Maritime University, a prestigious college in Kingston that has a 100% placement rate. Watching Tahj grow from a skinny little boy in Primary school to a skinny college man (smile) is a great marker to how this program prepares our students for future academic success.
This is Tahj’s last summer with ACE as he is preparing to enter the University and live on campus next month. Lorna, Tahj, and I were sitting around the kitchen table a few nights ago, reminiscing about Tahj as a child and how proud we are to be part of his life. Of course, his mother started crying and then Tahj got embarrassed – a typical mother/son relationship. She has always had big dreams for him, and now he is ready to find them for himself. Tahj wants to be a Ship Captain, which seems very achievable to me.
For those of you who sponsor students with ACE, we’d love to know the stories behind your child and how your stories have impacted your lives. Allen and I, while we don’t have children of our own, truly feel like we have a whole bunch of kids around us growing up fast. We are all making a difference in young lives, some here at home and some right next door.
What’s your story?? We would love to know!
~ Blessings, Marla & Allen
They were singing, and dancing, laughing, and having a great time…
Yes, it’s that time of year again – Vacation Bible School! Each week in July, teams come down to Jamaica to help ACE facilitate VBS in the four communities we serve. Most of the time, the VBS location is the local public school where our Child Sponsorship Students attend. We find that by holding this one-week-a-year Spiritual Outreach program in a public environment verses a church, we attract more children and can refrain from being “branded” in a community as being “those church people”.
Many times, people who live close to ACE-partner schools have been hurt in some way or know of a family member who has been hurt by someone who has attended church, leaving a negative connotation of religion and a bad taste for any Biblical programs. ACE has been successful in reaching these families through this annual program. By not being affiliated with a church yet teaching Biblical principles, ACE has had a great response to the VBS programs we operate, thanks to our ACE partners in the States. Thank you, July VBS teams, for making this our 30th year of outreach!
It’s your Serve!!!
ACE sponsored the high school boys’ volleyball team at Oracabessa High School last year. Following a close win for first place, Mr. Moncrieffe, our PE/Education teacher for ACE, introduced volleyball to our primary schools with the hope that some will be promoted to a higher level of competition when moving to secondary education.
Just learning to serve has its challenges, but with Mr. Moncrieffe leading the team, everyone gets charged to learn. Get ready for some competition when you visit us for PE. We are ready to SERVE!