New England Tae Kwon Do of Connecticut
	Scholarships enable at-risk youth to benefit from our programs The Sidekick Foundation is a national charity that provides scholarships for at-risk children to take martial arts lessons where that training can help their mental or physical health. "At-risk" is a very broad term. A one-parent child is "at-risk". A child with attention deficit disorder is "at-risk". New England Tae Kwon Do of CT offers scholarships for those whose parents cannot afford the tuition. Scholarship opportunities are limited. Please call Mr. Fontaine for information at (860)779-7903. Children coming to New England Tae Kwon Do of CT can expect to get strong leadership. Martial arts classes are geared to teach children respect and discipline and to avoid fighting. At risk or not, kids today need to hear more from the community about how to behave and New England Tae Kwon Do of CT provides that; along with the lessons they receive from parents, religious groups and their schools. The overall mission is to change children’s lives. Resiliency is enhanced through the values and philosophies taught through the Martial Arts. Children coming to New England Tae Kwon Do of CT can expect to improve their ability to focus and concentrate, increase their self confidence and self esteem, learn self discipline, and improve their ability to make the right choice at the right time. Martial Arts training serves simply as the vehicle to instill the values and skills necessary to accomplish the overall mission. The core philosophy of Martial Arts stresses the vital importance of a healthy mind and body necessary to lead a productive life. A Martial Arts program replaces many missing elements of students' lives including offering a role model, a figure of authority, a chance to set and reach goals, physical and mental conditioning and very importantly, a feeling of hope for the future and belief in themselves. New England Tae Kwon Do of CT frequently receives calls from concerned parents who would like an at-risk child to participate in martial arts programs. While we would like to work with everyone, the fact is that funds are required to maintain training equipment and facilities. In order to help accommodate more at-risk youths, we have partnered with the Sidekick Foundation, a 501(c)3 non profit organization, to help raise funds. Despite our good intentions, we simply can not raise all the funds on our own. New England Tae Kwon Do of CT hopes over the next few months to raise the much needed funds to begin the scholarship awards. We will do this by soliciting local businesses, holding fund raising events and by applying for local area grants. If you feel you can help us in any way please feel to contact us. There are two main ways students as well as interested third-parties could assist. First, we would love for someone to donate time and effort in applying for grants from corporations and other charitable institutions on behalf of the Sidekick Foundation. Secondly, we ask that students who are able to provide financial assistance - no matter how small - consider the efforts of New England Tae Kwon Do of CT in helping to bring the benefits of martial arts to our community, by making donations to the Sidekick Foundation. If you itemize on your federal tax returns, your donations are tax-deductible. New England Tae Kwon Do of CT can use the funds on behalf of at-risk students in a number of ways. If sufficient funding is available, we can offer temporary or long-term tuition reductions to those in financial need. Training in the martial arts also requires students to obtain personal items, such as sparring gear and uniforms. We can use funds to help reduce or eliminate the cost if necessary. In addition, at-risk students who are in financial need sometimes may have just enough resources to attend the school, but not enough to participate in competitive events, annual banquets, or other school outings. The Sidekick Foundation program provides enough flexibility to allow us to assist students for these types of expenditures when necessary. How do we select scholarship recipients? We ask that only those who are in financial need ask for scholarship funding, as the scholarship resources are very limited. When considering a child for the scholarship program, there are a variety of factors we look at including declining grades, parental status, mild to severe physical or mental disorders, or a child who is not yet in trouble but is "at-risk" of going down the wrong road. There are many factors that put children "at-risk". If you think you may qualify, please contact us to see if a partial scholarship may be possible.