Sakler Moon has been accepted to the prestigious Albany Academy.

Ali and I and his mother and elementary teacher met with the school’s financial aid and admissions head for several hours in Albany this morning.

Today, I’m launching the Sakler Moo  Education Fund. I am committed, along with Ali and his family to supporting this very gifted young man and helping him get through this highly regarded private school.

Admission to the Albany Academy (founded in 1813) is a game changer for Sakler, who was born in the jungles of Thailand while fleeing with his family to Burma and a United Nations  Refugee Camp  to escape a brutal civil war.

I’m opening a separate bank account over the next two weeks and am accepting donations and contributions from the outside world. You can contribute by writing a check to me, Jon Katz c/o Post Office Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected]. Please mark all checks and payments: The Sakler Moo Education Fund.

We need $6,000 a year for four years to supplement the scholarship the school gave Sakler, a 14-year-old refugee from Thailand who had the highest honors of any student in his middle school, from which he just  graduated.

His mother Lae Pwy, who is very eager for Sakler to attend the academy, one of the best private schools in the country, signed a contract to pay $2,000 a year to the school if she can, I  committed to paying $6,000 this year and $5,000 in the three subsequent years until Sakler graduates.

I also paid $375 to pay for the school’s lunch plan. All told, I wrote checks for $3,375 today. And I need $3,000 additional dollars for this coming year.  I might also need to help Sakler’s mother with her payments. She is very anxious about being able to meet them.

It is a pleasure and an honor to help this remarkable person get the education he needs and has worked so hard for. Talk about doing good.

Lae Pwy is hoping to pay the money from her tax returns expected in the Spring. The family’s only income comes from Sakler’s father, who works at a local Wal-Mart stacking shelves. The family has no extra funds.

I assured Lae Pwy that if she had trouble, we would help her.

Sakler’s elementary ESL (English as a second language) teacher Caroline Espinoza was also present, she was one of the first people to spot Sakler’s intelligence and intellectual gifts, she has been supporting his schoolwork and  ambitions ever since he was her student in the fifth grade. She is a remarkably dedicated and committed teacher.

She translated the contract talk with Lae Pwy and helped calm her, she made sure she understood what was happening.

We talked for a long time. Bramble explained registration, the school’s uniforms, advisor programs and policies, and we went over the payment structure for all of us. Caroline, who has strongly supported Sakler ever since she met him, wanted to pay for part of his tuition, but I discouraged her, she lives on a school teacher’s salary with two small children.

I chose a monthly payment plan option just in case, but I am hopeful I can pay my share quickly and early each year, and not spread out any payments.

I’m concerned about Lae Pwy, she very much wants Sakler to go to the Albany Academy, but $2,000 a year is an enormous sum for her to raise, especially in a family of four whose only income is a minimum wage job. I told her not to  feel great pressure, she should do what she can.

Let us  handle it if you stumble, I said, the Army of Good is pretty powerful. Afterwards, I took all of these good people out to lunch to celebrate, it was the first time Lae Pwy had ever eaten in a restaurant. She told me she was very grateful.

I was much drawn to this good and shy woman, she wants me to come to dinner at her house.

Sakler, who is not demonstrative or emotional, was clearly excited. His life has just changed and he knows it.

This is a remarkable thing to happen for this family, It was Ali’s idea, and the rest of us embraced it.  We wanted to sponsor another member of the soccer team, but I said it just seemed too much to me to commit to supporting two different students through four years of private school.

Life in America is hard for the refugees, especially now, this will be a great inspiration for them and for their children.

I have never seen Ali so happy, one of his soccer team children is leaving the team to set out in the new world of this very well-known private academy. This is just what he has been working so hard to achieve for his player.

I know how much Ali will miss him, he and Sakler have always been close.

Salker has come a long way from the jungle in Thailand where he was born.

I told school officials I wanted to follow Sakler on  his journey through the Albany Academy, take pictures and write his story. They said they would be delighted.

I’ll be writing about this regularly,  we were all near tears today. I know what that family has been through, this is a proud and important moment, Sakler is living out the American dream. The school has a wonderful reputation, the atmosphere was impressive.

And yes, I will be fund-raising for Sakler. We are already more than half way there for this year.

So we need some help. If you want to help, you can contribute to Sakler’s education by sending  a check to my refugee fund (soon I’ll open a separate fund account for Sakler, I have to file some papers) c/o Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected]. (Please mark the checks or payments “For Sakler Moo.”)

I’ll first pay off the money I owe for this year, $3,000 and start saving the $5,000 I will need in each of four future years, possibly more of Lae Pwy has trouble. I am fully committed to helping Sakler Moo get this very high quality education, he is the American Dream.

Please mark all money or payments for Sakler “The Sakler Moo Education Fund,” or just “Sakler Moo.”

And thanks, the donations have already begun to come in.