We are very grateful to Thomas and Daniela Lackner, Richard Tan, and the students of Florida International University for their donations toward our annual Bike to the Future graduation fundraising campaign. This year we expect over 100 students to graduate from sixth grade. For the past eight years we have been able to furnish every graduate with a bike, a new uniform, and a basic set of school supplies. These necessities enable each of our graduates to continue their education at middle school. With the help of these generous donors, along with the annual fundraiser by Wei Ling Tan in Malaysia, we are able to provide this opportunity to our graduating students.

Three staff members of our Spitler School Foundation (SSF) schools were exuberant beneficiaries of SSF’s ongoing partnership with Kids Play International (KPI). Vebol Srey, Kurata School Campus Manager; Vanh Sokkein, Spitler School Accountant; and Say Sovanna, Spitler School Librarian; are all part-time coaches for KPI. Due to their commitment and hard work, these teachers were selected to travel to Park City, Utah, where they participated in a week-long training and team building.

This cross-cultural exchange was funded through the Sports Diplomacy Division of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. This International Sports Programming Initiative uses sports to help underserved youth around the world develop important leadership skills, achieve academic success, promote tolerance and respect for diversity, and contribute to their home and host communities.

KPI conducted this coaching workshop using interactive games and sporting activities, which provided these coaches with opportunities to learn and apply new techniques to become better coaches. Additionally, KPI shared their Fair Play foundational skills of respect and moral courage to help the coaches promote gender equity and build better relationships with the youth that they coach. KPI provides skills to the coaches that are highly transferrable in the classroom, at work, home and in the community.  

SSF is thrilled to partner with KPI, and we are proud to see members of our hardworking staff be rewarded with a once-in-a-lifetime experience of traveling to the United States, which included experiencing snow for the first time!