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Our Trip to JPSS – by Bob and Debbie Clark
Though we are relative “newcomers” to the John Paul Secondary School board, we are so very thankful that we have become involved. Sharing our time, along with “some” talent and treasures for the benefit of JPSS, has been rewarding above and beyond ever imagined. Our feeling that we have been blessed by being involved were confirmed with our recent visit to the school located in a very remote area in Eastern Uganda We traveled with the Berrigan family along with the Comerfords … fellow board members and great travel companions. To reach Chelekura, Uganda (where the school is located), we traveled unpaved, often very rutted roads, but thankfully our experienced…
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My Trip to JPSS – by Shannon Carrier
My name is Shannon, and I’m Paul and Nancy’s oldest daughter. Obviously I’ve heard about the school since they first rolled the architectural plans out on our dining room table to show us what they envisioned. I was lucky enough to travel this summer with my parents to Uganda, and after a few days of driving through many cities and towns we passed many different schools and hundreds of children, of all ages, walking every morning and afternoon back and forth to school. As we drove to JPSS, we headed down some very bumpy “roads”, watched families work in the rice fields, waved to children that came out of their…
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My Trip to JPSS – by Emma Carrier
My first impression of the school was taken aback. I obviously had seen pictures of the school and the campus, but seeing it in real life and seeing it all being run as a full community, was amazing. The students were so welcoming and curious, as was I, but I was able to go and talk and get to know a lot of them to see how they lived their daily lives. I was surprised that there is so much space for the kids to be entertained, more than any other school that we passed, but even then, there is still so much more that could be added to improve…
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Join us at the 9th Annual FOJPS Wine Tasting
Once again, we will be holding our annual Charity Wine Tasting at the chic Silver Spoon Ristorante in Rochester, Michigan. For your enjoyment, five premier wines will be paired with a like number of gourmet tastings. Register for individual tickets or purchase a table and invite your friends. We have a limited number of tickets that we expect to sell out quickly. Please join us on Thursday, October 5th!
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2023 FOJPS 5K Results and Winners
Thank you so much to everyone who participated in or donated to our third annual virtual 5K – benefiting the students and teachers at John Paul Secondary School in Uganda! The 5K week was a huge success: we had 265 participants from all around the world and we received tons of great photos of people walking, running, rolling for the kids. With the $50 per participant pledge, that works out to $13,250 in pledged amount. Combined with tickets and donations, YOU raised over $43,850 for JPSS! We are thrilled with the results! Congratulations to all of you, and especially our photo winners below!
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Walmart Round Up
Anyone who uses Walmart.com or the Walmart app can donate to Friends of John Paul School —just visit Walmart.com/SparkGood, sign up to participate, and designate Friends of John Paul School as your charity of choice on your account (use zip code 48308 in the search to find us). Walmart will round up your purchase total to the nearest dollar at checkout and donate your change FOJPS. As simple as that. What a great way to help the kids at JPSS!
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Student Spotlight – Government Scholarships
Our students just completed Term 1 on April 29, 2023. They continue to excel in their academics and we look forward to another successful year for all of them. Last year, all 108 S4 JPSS students passed their UCE exams. These impressive results made John Paul Secondary School the #1 ranked school, of 28 secondary schools, in the Pallisa District. In addition, 24 of our S6 students sat for their UACE exams. The results of this exam determine a student’s ability to move on to University. Twenty-three of our students scored well enough to qualify and four of these S6 students are now eligible to receive government scholarships to University.…
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Water, Water, Everywhere
Water, water, everywhere, but not enough to drink. That is the position we found ourselves in recently. When the school first opened its doors in 2007 there was no water on the campus. As is the case in most of Uganda, those living in Chelekura had to spend an inordinate amount of time standing in line at a community well, waiting their turn to fill Jerry cans. Students at JPSS were no different than the local citizenry; they took their turn also at the community well. Then in 2015, we commissioned drilling for a well and were successful in bringing good clean water, with a purifier on the hand pump,…
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The Need for Clean and Abundant Water
Thirsty? Walk 20 feet to the fridge and get a glass of clean, cold, filtered water from the dispenser. Ready for bed? Wash your face and brush your teeth with warm and cool water from the faucet in your bathroom. We forget what a blessing clean, running water is, available wherever and whenever we want. In rural Uganda, running water is not the norm. Little children learn early to help the household by carrying water back home from a local well, if they are lucky enough to have access to clean water. A full Jerry can (like below) can weigh up to 40 lbs. When the first well was completed…
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BREAKING NEWS – JPSS RANKED #1
We are extremely happy and very proud to announce that all 108 of our S-4 students passed their UCE (Uganda Certificate of Education). This is a remarkable achievement for the students and teachers. These students returned to classes in January 2022 after no schooling for 22 months due to COVID-19, so to all pass their exams is awe-inspiring! And because of this, JPSS was ranked the top school (of all 28 secondary schools) in the Pallisa District! We offer them our sincerest congratulations!! The exams that these students take last for several days. Students take 10 subject exams and can earn scores of 1-10. A “1” means the student scored…
