We’re the Huntsakers. We actually started and applied for the scholarship fund when we discovered that our children just needed to have some more specialized education for their their need. We decided that would be actually a really great fit for quite a few of our children uh who have special needs and we there’s specific education that we wanted them to have that was not accessible to us without it.
Challenge over here when he was in kindergarten. He was just so smart and bright that they put him in the corner to read because they didn’t know what else to do with him. And so he really needed to find a way of of finding a good challenge and finding some ways that would be helpful for him to for the way his brain learned.
With the scholarship, we were actually able to get him enrolled in American Heritage School, which has been fantastic for him. He’s been uh going to school and just really being able to take charge of his own education and challenge himself with all of the things that he’s doing. He’s taken several AP classes because he’s able to sit and focus and get the things that he needs to be able to have the challenge.
And Ainsley over here, she oh, she’s so sweet. We just love having her and she was struggling in class to always focus and pay attention to what the teacher had to say. And so we found that she needed something a little bit different. we’ve been able to find some great education opportunities for her. She’s uh she’s very interested in video game development and so we found her a program that she could get some tutoring classes in animation and coding and video game development and help her to get a jump start on the career that she really loves cause she loves all things technology and video games.
I’ve been able to take better opportunities to help me focus. I’ve actually gotten better grades. I’ve been usually I get like C’s or D’s, but now I’m getting A’s and B’s. It’s just been a lot better for me. I’m actually getting assignments in on time.
I really love being is the fact that I’m able to go to a school that’s challenging for me. I love having something that’s difficult and it’s a trial I can overcome. Having challenging academics, having something that’s constantly keeping me on task, something constantly that I’m working on. It has allowed me to become self-aware not only in my academics but in my own in majority of aspects of my life and allowed me to pinpoint things about myself where I need to improve. I’ll find out what my strengths are, what my weaknesses are and allow me to just grow exponentially not only in my own in just all areas of my life and I would not have that.
It’s been a such a blessing in our life to be able to have the right fit for our kids. And what we’re finding is all of our kids have individualized needs and they all need a little bit of just a unique education and so being able to have an opportunity like this has just made a huge difference in our life.
Our children are thriving and they’re loving who they’re becoming and they’re having opportunities they wouldn’t have had before. And we love seeing the that come alive inside them. And that’s because of everything that we’ve had access to because of the scholarship and we’re really really grateful.
I know how difficult it is for parents who have kids with special needs and you are often just wondering where in the world am I going to get help and because of this Children’s First Education Fund and the Carson Smith opportunity scholarship. It opens up opportunities and we hope that it can bless so many other people and thank you to everyone who’s made this possible.
