Jayla is currently a 3rd grade student at Holmesburg Baptist Christian Academy. Please find below the questions and answers we posed to Jayla, her mother Latasha.
Jayla
Q: What do you like to do for fun?
A: I like to go out for recess and watch television.
Q: What is your favorite school subject?
A: Math.
Q: What is your favorite part of your school day?
A: I like to be in class with the teacher.
Q: What is your favorite thing about your school?
A: I like riding the bus and looking out the window on the way to school.
Q: What do you want to be when you grow up and why?
A: A veterinarian because I would like to take care of animals.
Q: What is your favorite thing about living in Philadelphia?
A: I like my neighborhood.
Q: Who do you look up to and why?
A: My dad because he plays with me a lot.
Q: Why is going to school important?
A: Going to school is important so that you can learn and go to the next grade.
Q: What are you most excited about for this new school year?
A: I am excited to learn about new things.
Latasha (Jayla’s Mother)
Q: How would you describe your child?
A: Jayla is opinionated and a sweetheart. She is talkative and inquisitive. She is always asking questions and debating.
Q:Where do you see your child in ten years?
A: I see Jayla going to college to study law.
Q: What is your favorite thing about your child’s school?
A: (1) It teaches values and (2) Holmesburg is really advanced. I compared Holmesburg’s curriculum to that of my relative’s school. He was in fifth grade when Jayla was in second grade, but she was using his book as a reference.
Q: Why do you think that it is important for your child to get an education at a tuition-based school?
A: Public school was great when I was younger, but now I think that the public school system has become too political. I want to invest in my children now, so that they become successful later.
Q: How did you feel when you were notified that you won the CSFP lottery?
A: First, I thanked God because I never even heard of these scholarships before. I saw CSFP’s lottery on the internet, applied, and then I got it on the first try. I was ecstatic, and I thank God all day long because it is meant for my children to go to Holmesburg Baptist Christian Academy!
Q: How does your scholarship from Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia affect your life?
A: It helps me to send more than one of my children to Holmesburg. I would not have been able to financially afford tuition for that school. I had been debating whether to put my children in charter school or home schooling them because I would not put them in public school. I had my daughter in public school for two or three months, and every day she would come home from school with stories of yelling and disorder. I could not wait to get my children out of the public school. I am not trying to say that every public school is bad. I would just say that the two public schools that I dealt with, which were our neighborhood schools, were bad.
Q: Why is it important for CSFP to provide scholarships to children in Philadelphia?
A: Because of public schools like those in my area. The more structure a child has, the more of his or her natural potential he or she can show. You really don’t know how smart your child is or what they can do until you put them in that right environment. If the child is stressed out, feels like he or she has to defend himself or herself all the time, is scared, or does not do certain things because he or she might be seen a certain way, then he or she is not going to try to do or cannot do his or her best. This is because of the environment.
Q: What would you tell others about CSFP?
A: Don’t think that because there is a lottery, you won’t get chosen. Don’t second guess your hard work. Not only does CSFP give you money, it helps you with other resources like CSFP’s Weekend at the Academy, which I love! CSFP has different activities and resources for people who don’t have the income necessary to send their child to a private school.
Q: What is your biggest challenge as a family living in Philadelphia?
A: I wouldn’t say my challenge is in Philly per se, I would say that my biggest challenge is in this neighborhood. Raising kids in this area is the biggest challenge.
Q: What are you most excited about for this new school year?
A: Gymnastics. I knew that Jayla should be in gymnastics, but I just didn’t have the funds before for that.