CORPORATE Contributors !

AESF needs your support! 

Contact Cathy Wagner at cathy@az-esf.org or by phone at

520-320-1386 for more information.  

CORPORATE CONTRIBUTIONS may also be eligible for an

Arizona State Tax Credit for a Contribution to a Private School!

When Darth Vader first appeared on the scene, a joke went around the Episcopal community: "How do you know you're watching Star Wars with Episcopalians? When someone says 'May the Force be with you,' the Episcopalians say 'And also with you."

Imago Dei Middle School is using the Force to transform downtown Tucson, and in this case the Force is more than just a sci-fi way of saying "the Peace that passeth understanding:" it's the talents of our whole community, the Arizona Episcopal Schools, individual supporters and cultural institutions from around Southern Arizona. The Arizona Theater Company comes twice a month to perform Shakespeare, the Tucson Museum of Art provides lectures and tours, and astronomers and architects from the University of Arizona have helped develop and oversee our astronomy and design projects, so they're on the cutting edge of modern science.

Imago Dei employs rigorous educational standards and innovative teaching styles to help low-income children thrive. Our students all qualify for the Federal Free/Reduced lunch program, meaning that their families live in poverty, and we charge them no tuition, no fees for books, and nothing whatsoever for the nutritious meals we serve during the school day: all our students have to do is come to school, work hard and learn each and every day. And they do!

Students who had been failing in public schools are working above their grade level at Imago Dei and winning national academic competitions. We really care about our students and give them one-on-one attention, and our students discover that the hard work they give to their studies changes their lives. As one of our students, Maricela, put it, "I love my days at Imago Dei. I used to hate going to school, but now I think I'd like to go to college and become a teacher, so I can help other people know how awesome it is to learn about the whole world."

Individuals who give to Imago Dei through Arizona's Individual Income Tax Credit for Schools have made a huge contribution to our success. We are now in our sixth year and have moved into a spacious building in the heart of Tucson, and the faithful support of individuals in our community is helping us transform our little corner of downtown even as we're transforming the lives of low-income pupils.

We are so proud to be a part of the Arizona Episcopal School network and so grateful to the people who support Imago Dei. Mostly, though, we are proud of our students. One day, a fifth grader named Luis asked his math teacher, completely out of the blue, if she thought the Force could be real. After a few questions to determine that Luis had, indeed, been watching Star Wars, his teacher tried to decide how to answer, to talk about the possibility of prayer or magnetism or the unified field theory, but before she could answer, Luis said, "Because I'm thinking of making up an experiment to see if it exists."

That's the Force! And may it be with you.