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Helping my son stay enrolled in my school

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Hi all,
I've reached a point in my life that I am reaching out to the community for support in keeping my son, Tyler, enrolled in the program I am a director and teacher for.
 
During COVID, I stepped forward to best support the community in every way I could, including, stepping back into the classroom. During this time, Tyler joined me in the program and the increased COVID enrollment prices were drowning me. I am and have been raising my 9 year old son, Tyler, on my own since he was born. I've made sacrifices accordingly, but I've hit a series of single parent hurdles that make it impossible to stay on top of Tyler's school tuition. In a perfect world, I would love nothing more than his mother to be part of his life. I've stepped up and started a second job and photography as a third source of income. I've reached out to the organization to clear or reduce this debt and unfortunately it's not an option.
 
My passion has and always will be to support children and families in our community. In my sixteen years of teaching within Palo Alto, I'm proud to say I have supported and helped families raise creative, kind, and emotionally strong children. My passion has always been finding connections with each child I teach and acknowledging what makes them unique, special, and embracing their differences. I am happy to say the parents and children I have served are my friends. While there are other high paying jobs in the area, I could never imagine myself not teaching children.
 
Now, I'm in a financial crisis where I am struggling to make his school payments and if I fall behind, Tyler will lose his enrollment. With the financial strain I am under my checks often don't clear and I'm desperately scrambling to borrow money from friends and family. I've worked hard to get to the point I am at with my son, but I'm still falling short. It is a gift that I send my son to the same school I teach at, yet I can't afford to keep him enrolled. Tyler has overcome many adverse challenges and his adjustment to his school created new friendships and experiences during his most difficult times. Compounded with the overdue school costs, Tyler is missing essential activities any child his age would participate in; birthday parties, cub scouts events, and outings with friends.
 
There's a saying that, "teachers are overworked and under paid". Our situation is a perfect example of this. With what I get paid and being a single parent we are barely able to keep food on the table or keep up with basic life demands. I've exhausted all my options and it is for this reason I am reaching out to the community for support. Any little amount will bring us closer to returning borrowed money, keeping his enrollment, and clearing the past due amount for his school.
 
Watching Tyler grow into the loving, fun, smart, adventurous boy he is has been the greatest joy of my life. I am proud to call him my son.
 
I thank you for taking the time to read this and help us reach our goal.
 
 
 

Organizer

Shawn Hott
Organizer
Palo Alto, CA

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