Teagan McGinnis Scholarship Fund
Donation protected
In honor and in memory of Teagan McGinnis, Graduation Class of 2015.
When I was pregnant with Teagan, before I even knew his gender or his name, as soon as we found out his due date- I knew that my baby, my 3rd child, would be in the graduating class of 2015. I remember how crazy "class of 2015" sounded to Tim and I back in 1996. We were so excited for our new baby and all the hope and love and promise that comes with a precious new life.
Throughout his life, Teagan was a dreamer and a doer. I have never met a kid who talked so much about what he was going to be when he grew up as Teagan did (until Tristan. I think it's a tie) There was always a dream, a plan, a hope for his future.
The phrase "when I grow up..." was used by Teagan a lot.
When Teagan was little, he pronounced his "tr-" sounds with an "f". This may sound cute( and it was!), but it gets tricky when your 3 year old is obsessed with trucks. OBSESSED. He saw them and talked about them EVERYWHERE we went. It was simultaneously hilarious and embarrassing to have your kid dropping the F-bomb at any given moment. My favorite was at Boeing Employees Credit Union near Christmastime, with huge lines of people out the door. There was a lull in the holiday noise and chatter and, of course, that's when Teagan pipes up in his loud raspy, robotic voice, " Mom, when I grow up, I want to be a dumbf**k! Or, maybe a firef**k!!!" ....stunned silence throughout the bank. Me:"( loud and overly exaggerated) Oh! You want to be a DUMP-TRUCK OR A FIRETRUCK when you grow up?!!! Those are great ideas Teagan!" Laughter throughout bank.
He eventually moved on from his lofty ambitions of becoming inanimate and inappropriate-sounding objects, and, inexplicably got caught up in the Backstreet Boys craze. For years, you would often see Teagan wearing only a vest with his jeans, and a large, fake gold necklace from a vending machine, hung proudly around his neck. He insisted on his bangs being spiked 'just so' every morning- and asked me several times a day if he could dye them blonde and get his ear pierced. He would put on shows and was so clearly and passionately into the music when he sang. It was adorable. Burger King did a promotion with their meals where you could get a Backstreet Boys video with purchase, and of course we had to get all 4! Apparently those videos had plenty of product endorsement for Burger King, because at Thanksgiving one year, I tried to convince my picky child to try the turkey, Me:" The Backstreet Boys love turkey!" Teagan: "No they don't ! They only eat Whoppers with cheese!"
He wanted to be so many things when he grew up; a professional soccer player, an "army guy", a builder, a pastor, a coach, an engineer.
A husband. A father.
I dreamed of those things for him too. I dreamed of his graduation from high school, his college, his future.
He struggled so much after Tim's death, but in even in his deepest pain, his dreams were still there- just buried deeply in darkness and loss of hope. With love and guidance from amazing mentors, he dug deep and chose to step into the light, to walk through the sorrow and reach for his dreams again. He wanted to go to college, to join the Coast Guard reserves and to maybe be an engineer or a children's pastor.
This would all happen after that Big Day. The big day that every parent envisions and every child anticipates and dreams of. High school graduation.
June 13th, 2015.
The day Teagan would be...should be...graduating from high school with the rest of his class at Kentridge High School.
That dream was stolen on the morning of November 12, 2013, when another car illegally pulled out and pushed Teagan's car into oncoming traffic.
June 13th. One year, 7 months and one day to the day we lost Teagan in that horrific car crash.
Instead of renting him a tux for prom, bugging him about his culminating project, receiving college acceptance letters, making a video of his growing up years to play at his party, planning his graduation and celebrating this amazing milestone...I will be hiding. Hiding from all of the celebratory posts and college announcements, grad invites and senior celebrations.
It's just too painful.
Teagan's group of friends are so special to me for so many reasons; they know who they are. There is a huge group of them from schools all over that are graduating this year; close family connections, former students, Teagan's soccer teammates and our community, lifelong friendships, Renton Christian School family, New Life Church and Highlands Community Church family, and more. There are so many amazing young people that I truly love who will be walking across the stage this year accepting their diplomas for the graduating class of 2015.
I am happy for them. I am so proud of them- but I am too sad to celebrate with them.
So I will be hiding. I've even imagined taking a cruise far away or going to a foreign country- to avoid all the happiness and joy of milestones reached and futures anticipated.
I will be hiding, and I will be grieving for all that was lost. I will be grieving the future that Tim and I had imagined and hoped and prayed over for Teagan. I will be grieving the future Teagan had dreamt of and worked towards and talked about with passion and excitement. I will be grieving the loss of my handsome, blue eyed boy who was excited about family and friends and college and life and had such incredible promise and a bright, impactful future.
He was 16 and he was a world changer.
And yet, I am shown daily...Teagan is STILL a world changer. He reminds us that we all have the power to impact lives, that kindness can change the world and that you can choose to overcome pain and sorrow and darkness in your life. That even in the rockiest path you can find truth and light and love and hope.
In honor of Teagan's graduation year, in memory of Teagan and the amazing young man he was, I am setting up a scholarship fund that will be divided and given to three students this year. One in each 2015 graduating class at Kentridge , Liberty and FUMA. The scholarship amount given by me will be $2000 into a Gofundme account. This is my estimate of the amount I would spend on Teagan's graduation party, cap and gown, prom and his graduation gift. I will also invite our friends and family to contribute what they would have gifted Teagan at his high school graduation through this Go Fund Me account. Each of these schools has been sent submittal guidelines.
It is my hope to honor the qualities that shone so brightly in Teagan, and celebrate his legacy by honoring one student from each of the schools he attended that most displays those same character qualities for which Teagan was remembered.
I am looking for students, like Teagan, who have dealt with hardship and huge adversity and made a change. The students I am looking for have struggled in their first year or 2 of high school, but found the strength to turn it around, to work hard and to make improvements scholastically.
I am not looking for students who are carrying a 4.0 GPA, they may not be headed for Ivy League schools, or make headlines in athletics or arts, but they are young men and women whose character shines through to all who meet them. I am looking for young people who have experienced hardship and persevered. I am looking for students with servant's hearts who care about the people around them, students who exemplify the qualities that Teagan was known for: qualities that inspired The Blue Heart Project.
Be Relational
Love Well
Understand That You Are Here For A Purpose
Enrich Other's Lives.
I'm hoping that whatever amount is raised, it will go to well-deserving students who have a strong desire to love well, and to serve others, impacting lives around them in a positive way.
I am asking our family and friends to honor Teagan in this way, if they choose. To gift these students, via this Gofundme account, whatever they would have gifted Teagan on his graduation day. Teagan was blessed in family and friends and he became the young man he was, in part, because of our amazing community. Because of all of you . Thank you for investing in him and impacting him, and all of my children.
It may not be a lot of money divided by three, but hopefully it will help assist them with their college or trade school education. It is my belief that we don't honor character and kindness enough, that to celebrate those qualities in our youth is investing in our world's future. My desire is to honor Teagan's memory by honoring other students who share the same character qualities that made him the amazing young man he was. These are the true world changers- those who impact lives by how they choose to live and impact others.
Thank you, for helping me honor Teagan in this way.
Love Laura
When I was pregnant with Teagan, before I even knew his gender or his name, as soon as we found out his due date- I knew that my baby, my 3rd child, would be in the graduating class of 2015. I remember how crazy "class of 2015" sounded to Tim and I back in 1996. We were so excited for our new baby and all the hope and love and promise that comes with a precious new life.
Throughout his life, Teagan was a dreamer and a doer. I have never met a kid who talked so much about what he was going to be when he grew up as Teagan did (until Tristan. I think it's a tie) There was always a dream, a plan, a hope for his future.
The phrase "when I grow up..." was used by Teagan a lot.
When Teagan was little, he pronounced his "tr-" sounds with an "f". This may sound cute( and it was!), but it gets tricky when your 3 year old is obsessed with trucks. OBSESSED. He saw them and talked about them EVERYWHERE we went. It was simultaneously hilarious and embarrassing to have your kid dropping the F-bomb at any given moment. My favorite was at Boeing Employees Credit Union near Christmastime, with huge lines of people out the door. There was a lull in the holiday noise and chatter and, of course, that's when Teagan pipes up in his loud raspy, robotic voice, " Mom, when I grow up, I want to be a dumbf**k! Or, maybe a firef**k!!!" ....stunned silence throughout the bank. Me:"( loud and overly exaggerated) Oh! You want to be a DUMP-TRUCK OR A FIRETRUCK when you grow up?!!! Those are great ideas Teagan!" Laughter throughout bank.
He eventually moved on from his lofty ambitions of becoming inanimate and inappropriate-sounding objects, and, inexplicably got caught up in the Backstreet Boys craze. For years, you would often see Teagan wearing only a vest with his jeans, and a large, fake gold necklace from a vending machine, hung proudly around his neck. He insisted on his bangs being spiked 'just so' every morning- and asked me several times a day if he could dye them blonde and get his ear pierced. He would put on shows and was so clearly and passionately into the music when he sang. It was adorable. Burger King did a promotion with their meals where you could get a Backstreet Boys video with purchase, and of course we had to get all 4! Apparently those videos had plenty of product endorsement for Burger King, because at Thanksgiving one year, I tried to convince my picky child to try the turkey, Me:" The Backstreet Boys love turkey!" Teagan: "No they don't ! They only eat Whoppers with cheese!"
He wanted to be so many things when he grew up; a professional soccer player, an "army guy", a builder, a pastor, a coach, an engineer.
A husband. A father.
I dreamed of those things for him too. I dreamed of his graduation from high school, his college, his future.
He struggled so much after Tim's death, but in even in his deepest pain, his dreams were still there- just buried deeply in darkness and loss of hope. With love and guidance from amazing mentors, he dug deep and chose to step into the light, to walk through the sorrow and reach for his dreams again. He wanted to go to college, to join the Coast Guard reserves and to maybe be an engineer or a children's pastor.
This would all happen after that Big Day. The big day that every parent envisions and every child anticipates and dreams of. High school graduation.
June 13th, 2015.
The day Teagan would be...should be...graduating from high school with the rest of his class at Kentridge High School.
That dream was stolen on the morning of November 12, 2013, when another car illegally pulled out and pushed Teagan's car into oncoming traffic.
June 13th. One year, 7 months and one day to the day we lost Teagan in that horrific car crash.
Instead of renting him a tux for prom, bugging him about his culminating project, receiving college acceptance letters, making a video of his growing up years to play at his party, planning his graduation and celebrating this amazing milestone...I will be hiding. Hiding from all of the celebratory posts and college announcements, grad invites and senior celebrations.
It's just too painful.
Teagan's group of friends are so special to me for so many reasons; they know who they are. There is a huge group of them from schools all over that are graduating this year; close family connections, former students, Teagan's soccer teammates and our community, lifelong friendships, Renton Christian School family, New Life Church and Highlands Community Church family, and more. There are so many amazing young people that I truly love who will be walking across the stage this year accepting their diplomas for the graduating class of 2015.
I am happy for them. I am so proud of them- but I am too sad to celebrate with them.
So I will be hiding. I've even imagined taking a cruise far away or going to a foreign country- to avoid all the happiness and joy of milestones reached and futures anticipated.
I will be hiding, and I will be grieving for all that was lost. I will be grieving the future that Tim and I had imagined and hoped and prayed over for Teagan. I will be grieving the future Teagan had dreamt of and worked towards and talked about with passion and excitement. I will be grieving the loss of my handsome, blue eyed boy who was excited about family and friends and college and life and had such incredible promise and a bright, impactful future.
He was 16 and he was a world changer.
And yet, I am shown daily...Teagan is STILL a world changer. He reminds us that we all have the power to impact lives, that kindness can change the world and that you can choose to overcome pain and sorrow and darkness in your life. That even in the rockiest path you can find truth and light and love and hope.
In honor of Teagan's graduation year, in memory of Teagan and the amazing young man he was, I am setting up a scholarship fund that will be divided and given to three students this year. One in each 2015 graduating class at Kentridge , Liberty and FUMA. The scholarship amount given by me will be $2000 into a Gofundme account. This is my estimate of the amount I would spend on Teagan's graduation party, cap and gown, prom and his graduation gift. I will also invite our friends and family to contribute what they would have gifted Teagan at his high school graduation through this Go Fund Me account. Each of these schools has been sent submittal guidelines.
It is my hope to honor the qualities that shone so brightly in Teagan, and celebrate his legacy by honoring one student from each of the schools he attended that most displays those same character qualities for which Teagan was remembered.
I am looking for students, like Teagan, who have dealt with hardship and huge adversity and made a change. The students I am looking for have struggled in their first year or 2 of high school, but found the strength to turn it around, to work hard and to make improvements scholastically.
I am not looking for students who are carrying a 4.0 GPA, they may not be headed for Ivy League schools, or make headlines in athletics or arts, but they are young men and women whose character shines through to all who meet them. I am looking for young people who have experienced hardship and persevered. I am looking for students with servant's hearts who care about the people around them, students who exemplify the qualities that Teagan was known for: qualities that inspired The Blue Heart Project.
Be Relational
Love Well
Understand That You Are Here For A Purpose
Enrich Other's Lives.
I'm hoping that whatever amount is raised, it will go to well-deserving students who have a strong desire to love well, and to serve others, impacting lives around them in a positive way.
I am asking our family and friends to honor Teagan in this way, if they choose. To gift these students, via this Gofundme account, whatever they would have gifted Teagan on his graduation day. Teagan was blessed in family and friends and he became the young man he was, in part, because of our amazing community. Because of all of you . Thank you for investing in him and impacting him, and all of my children.
It may not be a lot of money divided by three, but hopefully it will help assist them with their college or trade school education. It is my belief that we don't honor character and kindness enough, that to celebrate those qualities in our youth is investing in our world's future. My desire is to honor Teagan's memory by honoring other students who share the same character qualities that made him the amazing young man he was. These are the true world changers- those who impact lives by how they choose to live and impact others.
Thank you, for helping me honor Teagan in this way.
Love Laura
Organizer
Laura McGinnis
Organizer
Renton, WA