In just one day, McDonald's of Laredo provided UISD schools and students with more than $17,000 in funds for education. The morning of May 8th, the President of McDonald's of Laredo Mike Marasco presented checks totaling $7,027 to nine schools that participated in the Spring McTeacher Nights and that evening, 20 UISD senior students who work at McDonald’s received $500 scholarships each for college. It’s a partnership that allows both McDonald’s and UISD to work together for the benefit of the students.
McTeacher Night is a bi-annual event that allows teachers and administrators to volunteer for approximately 3 hours at different Laredo locations to help raise funds for the students. McDonald’s generously gives 20% of the day’s sales for that period of time to the schools that participate. McDonald’s prides itself in being a part of the community and giving back to the families that have grown up visiting its establishments.
“I think it’s very important to help with education efforts throughout our community,” said Marasco. “As a business here in our community, it’s also the lifeblood of our future employment. We’re kind of known as America’s favorite first job, and there’s a lot of people who come to work at McDonald’s to start their career off because of some of the things we offer, like flexible schedules and entry level experience.”
The partnership brings everyone together for one cause – to better educational opportunities. Marasco says it’s great to see students, parents, teachers and administrators interact in a fun setting to raise money for the schools. The nine UISD elementary schools that participated in the Spring event were: Salinas, Trautmann, Ruiz, Fasken, Bonnie Garcia, Robert Santos, Arndt, Newmann, and Centeno. School representatives were presented checks for money raised at a district press conference.
Later that day at the McDonald’s location on Jacaman Road, 20 UISD high school seniors and their families gathered at a scholarship celebration where the students each received $500 for college. All the students, employees of McDonald’s, wrote an essay explaining what they have learned working at the fast food restaurant, which included answers like teamwork, customer service, accountability and leadership.
“We are celebrating our employees who are graduating from high school this year for 2024," said Marasco. “We are very proud to be awarding them the gifts at this special ceremony.”
Out of 62 high school seniors employed at the Laredo restaurants, a total of 32 applied city-wide for the McDonald's of Laredo Scholarship 2024, the highest number of applicants since the program began.
The four UISD high schools were represented United, United South, Johnson and Alexander, and a student from United South wrote the best essay on his application and was recognized by the President of McDonald’s of Laredo.
Additionally, McDonald's offers its employees tuition assistance through a program called Archways to Opportunity. Eligible employees can get financial assistance at any accredited four-year university, community college or trade school in the U.S.
Marasco says the school partnerships have taken place for more than a decade, and he looks forward to following the education of all the students that have made McDonald’s an integral part of their career success.
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