Blog post from our educadores: Bestabeth, Yuliana and Misael

Values and Morality: Where have they gone? 
In today's modern culture, human society has lost many of its morals.  Unfortunately, in our worldwide family and education system, morality and values are not taught in schools as they should be.

Currently, our Starfish Foundation has the goal of including these values in its programs, in order to instill a sense of morality and community in the children and young people of our community. Our goal in this work is not only to help form well-educated, cultural, and justice-seeking young students in the classroom, but for the students to go out and apply the moral values that they learn. 

Our mission is to guide our students so that they may accomplish goals and objectives, and we hope that they carry these values into their professional work and future careers. 

In conclusion, the Starfish Foundation desires that all of its students develop good, positive attitudes that will infiltrate into their professional lives as future men and women. 

Do you want to be a part of our Starfish family? 

~Betsabeth, Yuliana, Misael~ 

Betsabeth 

Yuliana 

Misael 

VALORES!!!! ¿Dónde SE HAN IDO?

En nuestros tiempos la sociedad humana ha perdido los valores morales, ya que lamentablemente en el núcleo familiar no se ha dado el aprendizaje debido.

Actualmente nuestra Fundación “ESTRELLITAS DEL MAR” tiene como objetivo inculcarle estos valores a los niños y jóvenes, nuestra labor no solo queda ahí, sino ayudarle a que reflejen lo que están aprendiendo, tanto dentro como fuera de la Fundación.

Nuestra misión es guiar a los chicos para que puedan cumplir sus metas y objetivos, ya sea corto o a largo plazo es decir que lleguen hacer profesionales y que su futuro mejore.

En conclusión la Fundación “ESTRELLITAS DEL MAR” desean que todos los chicos se desarrollen con buenas actitudes tanto moral y como profesional y sean hombres y mujeres de bien.


¿QUIEREN FORMAR PARTE DE NUESTRA FAMILIA “ESTRELLITA”?

Reflection on Values - What is Excellence?

Today I want to draw attention to our values, one of the results of the retreat we had with our advisory board back in March of this year.  We were able to re-define and focus our mission statement and our core values that guide us in our work both in the U.S. and with our scholars in Ecuador.

Joselyn, younger sister of a Starfish Scholar, is a big part of our Starfish community,
always willing to lend a helping hand.

Our core values are: Community, Life-long Learning, Determination and Excellence.  Excellence is the one, that for me really encompasses the heart of our mission.  Creating a community of scholars, our Starfish family, makes us unique because we create an environment where success is possible together.  We encourage our scholars to seek knowledge in all aspects of their life through life-long learning, and I'm pretty sure I never knew what real determination was before meeting some of our Scholars who have had to persevere in the face of challenges I never even imagined.  However, I keep coming back to Excellence.

Gema & Jasmin helping Julio with a school project.

What is "Excellence" to you?  To me, it is a mindset.  It is the mindset that is going to change our Scholar's lives, no matter what their social or economic circumstances, and no matter what craziness occurs in the world around them.  To me, excellence doesn't have so much to do with being "the best" at something, but rather not conforming with the status quo.  If you are frustrated that the government says they are going to pave your road but they never get around to it, or the workers are slow or irresponsible and turn a 6 month project into a 2 year project - does that make it okay for you to do the same with your studies? your job? your own neighborhood projects?  Because the rest of your friends choose not to go to school on the first day because "we don't do anything on the first day," does that mean you can extend your vacation one more day as well?  No - as an excellent Starfish Scholar (or Starfish supporter/friend/donor/volunteer,etc.) you know that you may not see the fruits of your labor right away, and others may wonder why you bother to put in that extra effort, but you know you are being the most excellent "you" that you can be!

Abraham, studying hard at "Refuerzo"

Excellent people lead others - sometimes at the head of a classroom, sometimes from a government position, and sometimes quietly by example in your family, school or community.  All of these leaders are equally important.  This year we challenge our Scholars to not settle for the status quo.  With this knowledge that we all know they can be excellent, there are no longer excuses.  That B+ is good, but could it be an A-?  We believe it can.  We challenge our Scholars to challenge themselves and each other. Striving for excellence will change their lives and it can change yours too.  Strive to be excellent in everything that YOU do, and expect big things from our Scholars this year!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world"(most often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi)

Betsabeth with her parents at her graduation this past March

Sponsor a Scholar today!

Have you had a chance to check out the changes on our website?  There are updated pages on the need for Starfish, Community Partners, our Employees, bios from our Core Team, and a chance to meet all of our 41 Starfish Scholars for this school year.

Please also don't forget, we are still looking for sponsors for this current school year.  Please let us know if you are able to financially sponsor these young students and/or if you would like to participate in our Sponsor a Scholar pen pal program.  Even if you are not able to financially support a student for the whole year, you may still be eligible for the pen pal program.  The following students are still without pen pals for the current year:

Miguel

Briggitte

Joselyn  

Betsy

Evelyn  

Yesenia

Sofia

Nagelhi

Andreina

Contact Jenn & Beth for more information!

First Ever Advisory Board Retreat

This past weekend, after our U.S. Advisory Board had the chance to meet in person for it's first-ever weekend Retreat.  During the weekend we worked on long-term objectives for Starfish.  

Don, Kathy, Ashley, Taylor, Beth, Melissa, Dave, Dr. Klingler, Jeff

Our Advisory Board serves to advise on all things Starfish and is comprised of people with a wide variety of expertise.  We are so blessed to have these people guide us as Starfish continues to grow exponentially.  Some of their exciting accomplishments include: Former CEO, Former Teacher, University Business Professor, Accountant, Teacher, Law Student, Former Starfish Volunteers, Former year-long volunteer in Paraguay, Former Fulbright in Honduras, and much more!

Beth, with mentor and Advisory Board member Dr. Klingler from Villanova University.

Stay tuned in the coming months to hear news about our 1-year and 5-year plans.  Get ready for big things!

Jenn got to join the fun from Ecuador via Google Hangout!