Annual Luncheon 2016

By Cassie Bingham, Communications Specialist 

This month Guadalupe School was able to celebrate and raise funds through its annual luncheon - a traditional event that allows generous sponsors to support a great cause and highlights a few of the superstars who attest to how their lives have been benefited through Guadalupe's academic programs. The Workers Compensation Fund insurance company supported as the premier sponsor, in collaboration with several other corporate and individual sponsors who are listed here. All who attended enjoyed a lovely ambiance in the grand ballroom of The Little America Hotel downtown Salt Lake City, a delicious lunch, and the privilege of listening to the Salt Lake Tribune columnist Robert Kirby, along with some very inspiring Guadalupe students. 

Anthony Rodriguez, Elania Marquez, Francisco Flores, and Aubrey Lopez are Guadalupe sixth graders who have worked hard to earn good grades and success while attending - three of the four have been in Guadalupe School programs since infancy. They shared some of their favorite memories and stories after years of being Guadalupe kids. 

Anthony drew laughs when he related, "One of my favorite Guadalupe School memories was our fieldtrip in 5th grade to Junior Achievement Biztown at Discovery Gateway. We got to work like adults and had to pay bills and write checks. I worked at Workers Compensation Fund, an insurance company. I was a CEO, and I had to sign a lot of things."

Elania comes from an entire family of fans of Guadalupe - she happily told the crowd, "There are 8 kids in my family, and 5 of us have gone to Guadalupe School. My family loves Guadalupe School!"

Aubrey and Francisco opened up about the challenges they had overcome at Guadalupe. Aubrey shared, "It was difficult for me because I had barely gotten back from Mexico, where I had to learn Spanish...When I was about to go to third grade my mom put me...into Guadalupe School. It helped me continue to learn English and now I speak it well!" Similarly, Francisco told how, "In first grade I didn’t know how to read, even though a lot of kids did. When I looked at a book it looked very hard. My teacher Ms. Summer helped me progress more and more until I became one of the best readers in my class."

These amazing speeches were followed by the inspiring story of Fabian Mecalco, a student in the Adult Education program who has learned English with the help of his community volunteer tutors and Adult Ed instructors. He expressed his gratitude for having had the opportunity to learn, thus giving him the chance to find success in America with his lovely family, providing for them through his local carpentry business. 

All in all, the luncheon was a success. Old and new friends of Guadalupe socialized and enjoyed a display of the tremendous things being accomplished through our programs. We want to thank everyone who was involved in making the event such a great time! We look forward to many more years of positive results as the Guadalupe programs continue to run thanks to community support. 

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