iCARE:Sowing Joy

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth; anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

Mark 10:13-16


We had a wonderful and meaningful celebration of Christmas with the pupils of the three schools where we have our teaching ministry during our meeting last week. The student catechists of my two classes in LS 307 and LS 407 prepared the party to make the pupils happy. I reminded them of just having a simple party with their pupils since the school has no budget allotment for this kind of activity, but they insisted on having snacks, gifts, and game prizes for the kids out of their own pocket.

My students had experienced the true meaning of joy through giving of their time, energy, talents and even their own savings just to make other people happy. We’ve responded to Jesus’ call of blessing and caring for the children entrusted to our care for the kingdom of God belongs to them.

iCARE 407: small groupings

We have been encountering situations in teaching the grade three pupils in the apostolate area. As I have observed, my students are having difficulty disciplining the kids. The kids have been very unruly, noisy, and fidgety in the classroom for the past three meetings. I had to assist the group the last time and helped them pacify the pupils, telling them to stay on their seats and to refrain from standing on their desk. The kids do these every time their teacher goes out of the room to give way to the student catechists.

To address the situation, I suggested to the team to divide the class into three groups and execute the lesson plan in that small group each member is handling. The strategy was very effective. The kids were indeed listening attentively to their big sister sharing some bible stories related to the topic of the day.

We hope to do this regularly to manage the unruly behavior of the pupils entrusted to our care.

CareVille: New shirt-New Enthusiasm

We've got a new CARE polo shirt that we are going to wear every time we do our Lasallian mission of teaching the minds, touching the hearts, and transforming the lives of the public school pupils entrusted to us.

My students are so excited to teach wearing the new shirt and the positive feedbacks of students regarding the new uniform has been an inspiration that leads us to actively make a difference in the lives of the pupils we teach. I believe that now is the perfect time to get motivated to tackle goals that we've set this year.

A special thanks to our administrators for approving our request to have the said polo shirt as our official uniform. May they continue to assist us in fulfilling our goals and help us to move forward during these exciting yet challenging times.
Animo La Salle!!!

Lasalle Ville: Bringing out the best in people

The story of a woman who quit her high-paying job to be a school teacher reminded me of my duty to bring out the best in my students entrusted to my care this year. In the first day of school, she made a different approach by telling her students to write their names, addresses and interests on one whole sheet of paper. While they were doing it she walked up and down the rows and secretly memorized their names.

Then, she told the class that they were going to have the test, they complained, but the test was not for them, it's for her. If she could memorize all their names then all students would get a perfect score in the first test. She correctly called out all their names and the students were impressed. She had their attention. She told them that she's there to encourage and bring out the best in each one of them.

Similarly, it is my commitment to bring out the best in my students as adviser and a subject teacher. In the previous years, I used to criticize and focus on the weakness of my students rather than on their potentials. However, after some soul searching and exploring some ways to find my purpose in life, I was able to find my purpose and decided to live my best life now.

I have shown my concern and care for my students by providing a venue for them to hone their skills, interests, and signature talents to improve themselves in all areas of their lives. Three programs have been implemented to bring out the best in them. These are the i-CARE or Integrated Catechetical and Religious Emissary for my two cream classes, LEAP or the Lasallian Education Assistance Program for the academically–challenged students in my advisory class, and the B.E.C. or Basic Ecclesial Community Program for the rest of the classes I am handling in level 9.

I am convinced that through these programs and the experiences that I have shared with them, they will be encouraged, motivated, inspired, and challenged to bring out the best in them and leave this year level better off than they were previously.

LasalleVille 9: Living B.E.C.

BASIC ECCLESIAL COMMUNITY
(Curriculum Innovation)


Introduction

Many of Level 9 students today would admit they do not have a profound and sufficient knowledge about the Christian faith in its personal and communal nature. Most of them got their simple knowledge of Christian life from the Christian Living classes and ceremonies which are connected to family celebrations and practices such baptism, marriage ceremony and funerals. Only those who are members of Youth for Christ and Search-inners have experienced faith as personal relationship with Jesus the Lord. Furthermore, not many of them recognize the social and communitarian nature of faith. They are not in any way involved in various issues on faith and morals. What they do most of the time is focused on gadgets, not on people.

These situations imply the need to make the faith understands and accepts Jesus’ teachings, to develop faith which is something personal, and to make the faith more active in community involvement. This can be done through the implementation of the program called BEC or Basic Ecclesial Community.

Basic Ecclesial Community is basically a parish-based program which seeks to form small communities in the parish to address the urgent call of informing, forming, and transforming individual’s faith. This program helps the parish priest to facilitate the spiritual, communal, and social formation of the people in the context of community living.

The said program is adopted and modified to fit the Christian Living Curriculum of De La Salle Lipa Integrated School. Its primary goal is to lessen the academic or intellectual nature of Christian Living subject and make its objectives focus on God’s purpose for man, that is, to serve Him faithfully, to worship Him fully, and to love Him more dearly.

It also aims to provide venue for the students to (a) develop a personal relationship with Jesus, (b) experience a new way of being in the Church, (c) share their faith experiences with the group in the context of fellowship prayer services, (d) and to translate into actions the values they have learned from the different activities of this program. To turn these goals into reality, each class is divided into seven small groupings which we may call “Cell groups”.

Methodology

1. Procedure of Implementation

A. Classes were divided into seven groups with 5-6 members each. The servant leader, tapped by the CL teacher, facilitated the choosing of a secretary of the group who documents all the results of sharing and other related activities of this program.
B. All appointed servant leaders served as members of the Core Group of the class. They assisted one another in the implementation of regular activities of the groups.
C. The three meetings in Christian Living subject were spent for each activity.

C1. First Meeting

The class spends the 15 minutes for reflection writing using the Gospel Reflection Book. Then the remaining time is for transacting God’s business, that is, for sharing reflections, thinking of 1 ARK 1, monitoring spiritual growth, and deciding what group intensification activity or G.I.A. will they have for the week.

C2. Second Meeting

The teacher takes the lead in discussing to students the topic of the week taken from the CL syllabus-based work text. He integrates all the elements of the program with the lesson of the week.

C3. Third Meeting

It is spent for prayer service or praying of the rosary which is facilitated by the assigned group. Through this fellowship in the context of prayerful atmosphere the students are able to experience the presence of God in a new way.

LasalleVille: Sowing time for the Aged

When Tom Sawyer was told to work outside to paint the fence, he did not feel to do the work, what he wanted was to play with his friends. Instead of complaining and be negative about it he decided to make the most of the activity. He painted the fence with excitement and enthusiasm. When his friends came, they saw his positive attitude of working with joy. So they asked Tom if they could help to do the work simply because he was working with great joy in his heart. As what the story told us, Tom was just sitting back watching his friends do the work.

Similarly, when our Curriculum Coordinator reminded us of our exposure trip to Sagip Buhay Home for the Aged in Bauan, Batangas I was not disposed to go because I was tired of proctoring for three days, checking papers of my students, making reviewers for my two kids, and encoding grades. Aside from that, the weather was not good, it was raining hard. However, instead of complaining and be negative about it, I decided to go out and meet the elderly there. I wanted to give a little of my time to make them happy. So I prepared myself, put on the best get up, and went to the loading area ahead of time.

When we arrived in the place, I helped my coworkers bring the boxes inside the house. I put a smile on face, put a spring in my steps and approached two of the elderly women with excitement and enthusiasm; I really felt their happiness shown on their faces. I initiated the conversation and told them that we were there for a visit. I called other coworkers to meet other elderly longing for love, care and compassion. When other teachers were already entertaining the elderly, I just took my rest, had my merienda while watching them enjoying the moments in this place called Sagip Buhay.

I realized that I need to do my work with enthusiasm and excitement so that by doing so others would surely help and be there to assist me simply because I approached my work with positive attitude. Meeting the elderly at the Home gave me an opportunity to sow my time with them believing that whatever I sow, I will reap.

It's our time to HELP!

Our family, community, and the Lasallian Family here in Lipa were spared from the wrath of typhoon Ondoy. We just experienced 10 hour brown-out during the time typhoon Ondoy was bringing great rains and severe flooding to different areas in Luzon.

The damages caused by Typhoon Ondoy are tragic and devastating. But this situation shows our resiliency and steadfast support of each other during these difficult times. We need to help our brothers and sisters who are suffering, waiting for whatever assistance we can give them.

Here in our school this morning, we just had our offering activity as part of the opening of our Marian month celebrations. We informed and encouraged the teachers, staff, and the students yesterday to offer relief goods for the victims of typhoon Ondoy for the said activity. They responded positively and we were able to contribute in our own little way to alleviate a bit the situations of our affected brothers and sisters in Metro Manila and other provinces.

We are still knocking at the hearts of kind people to help. Our school is accepting donations for the typhoon victims. WE ARE WAITING FOR YOUR HELP!!!

Let the games begin!!!

We just started our Intrams last Tuesday and the class has been preparing for this event since last week of August. My class LS 309 is gradually improving in their performance everyday in every way. I often tell them to give their very best in every thing they do because that is what Lasallians are known for. This is also the right time for me to deepen my rapport with them and to take a temporary rest from the classroom setting. I hope that they will also cherish the moments they have with one another each day of the Intrams 2009.

Happy Days with JB 34

I got plenty of emails commenting on the photo of my former class JB 34 posted by Trixie Pama. I am happy to hear some good words from my former students of this class, so I decided to post all your comments for others to read. Thank you guys and I miss you all!



In this photo: Loradel Quimio, Daphne Jo Valmonte (photos), Ruby Ana Macasaet, Angelica Patena (photos), Avis Alibuyog (photos), Avis Alibuyog, Trish Verzosa (photos), Lynette Azie Generoso, Krisandra Ann Malaluan (photos), Cocoi Mella (photos), Charmaine Rodriguez, Pauleen De Grano (photos), Aira Vida (photos), Carmina Reyes, Trixie Pama (photos), Nikki Sosa, Darlene Gnilo (photos), Mavic Casas (photos), Aaron Cortez (photos), Krist Trizha Mendoza (photos), Raul Paras (photos | remove tag), Yvonne Marasigan (photos), Maria Jezza T. Lojo, Audrey Joy Austria (photos), Michael Valdez (photos), Christian Jordan Diaz (photos), Camille Regina Ramos (photos), Arik Aaron Abu (photos), Matthew Quiban (photos), Kurt Patrick Enriquez (photos), James Laygo (photos), Miguel Jaime, Paolo Ross D. Gonzales (photos), Chamie Llamas, Rk Espiridion, Jiaan Dominguez (photos), Anton Santos (photos)

Paolo Ross D. Gonzales
si sir paras, hehe. the memories. :)
Sat at 10:37pm

Meg
kaklase mo pala c avis nung high school.:)
Sat at 5:37pm

Trixie Pama
haha, yup. small world :P
Sat at 5:55pm

Miguel Jaime
antataba niyong lahat!
Yesterday at 8:21am

Avis Alibuyog
classmate ko si meg nung grade school. :) frequent seatmate hihih. i miss this! :)

Micahel Valdez
no trixie!! i miss all of you!
Yesterday at 9:28

Arik Abu
amhighschool!! so five years ago! nakakamiss
Yesterday at 10:33am

Anton Santos
nakakamiss nga to. :P
Yesterday at 7:03pm

No CARE=No kids: No kids =No happiness

As I was reading and checking the reflection papers of my students in LS 407 the other day, I was touched by their simple experiences of being with the pupils of Tambo School. They really appreciated the ICARE program I made for them. It is indeed true that doing service to others in our own little way gives us genuine joy in our hearts. I am posting the reflections of Raizza and Clarisa for others to read and be touched, be inspired by their simple words.

Last week, Thursday was announced to be holiday. Thursday is the day when we go to other school and meet my class for CARE. When we had no classes, we also had no CARE and because of that I really missed my class. I suddenly realized that I am attached to the kids. I really want to be more close to them. I really want to see them smiling at me, answering my questions, participating actively, and waving goodbye at me with the hope of seeing me again.

---Raizza Mayo of LS 407

To be very honest, I am very self-centered and stubborn person. Being the youngest in the family and having all the adults’ attention to me…. When I was a child I always threw tantrums if I don’t get what I want… As I grew up, I slowly grew mature and opened my eyes to many things... I realized that it’s the right time to leave my old ways behind.

Especially now that we have our CARE and I get to interact with less fortunate children more, who rarely get their needs and much more their wants; I have realized that I should be grateful to my parents for providing me with my basic needs and my lavish luxuries: gadgets, high-quality education, everyday necessities and such. I should also be thankful to God for every single, beautiful thing He gave me from the moment I first took a breath up to now, fourteen years later.

---Clarisa Reyes of LS 407

What's your Final Answer?

It was the first day of examination of my students yesterday in LS 309. Before reading the bulletin I asked them to keep all the notes that they were reviewing. I told them to be calm, dispose themselves by praying their personal prayers and ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten them before taking the tests. I enjoined them that keeping the right attitude is the key to passing the test. They should remember that whatever they write on the test paper will be their final answer, and that will be the basis of their academic performance in each area of discipline this first quarter.

Six subjects: done. There are two more on Monday.
Good Luck!!!

My (+) Viewpoint

This is what I see every morning in LS 309 classroom. It is a daily task to read the bulletin of the day to my advisory class and to remind my students of the things they have to accomplish for the day. I serve as a second parent to all of them taking care of their social, emotional, spiritual needs in school.

It’s a huge responsibility but this is a challenge that I have to face being their adviser. I am doing my very best to respond to this call, and I am sure God is always at my side to give me strength to overcome things that hinder my good rapport with them. I hope God will help me see the good things in every classroom situation.

My Workplace

Everyday I work here… checking papers, making lesson plans, reading books, blogging, and playing the guitar... 5 days a week. It is a monotonous life but I find something meaningful in what I do everyday because this is my vocation, my ministry in life. I thank God for giving me this opportunity to be part of the Lasallian mission of teaching, touching, and transforming lives of my students.

Rain or Shine: We CARE!

Thursday, it was rainy day. Even if it was raining we still managed to go to Tambo Elementary School to meet our students and new friends. When we entered the room, it seemed like they really know us that we are not visitors anymore but their friends. They were so noisy, but they participated well in some games and in singing and dancing. They were so active. Even in their young age when I got to ask them about God, they answered many things that you could not believe a grade 4 pupil can say. We asked them to write their prayers and when I got to see them, some of their prayers were made wholeheartedly. You can see how they love their siblings, parents and friends. Truly, CARE has given me opportunities to explore and to see more beyond the horizon.
-----Diane Joy S.

Last Thursday, we went to Tambo Elementary School for the Catechetical Instruction. Unfortunately it was raining so hard, all of us were wet. We looked so haggard when we got to our room assignment, but we were relieved when we saw the smiles on the faces of the pupils. We started the session with a song and they participated well. I realized how happy I was after teaching those kids the value of prayer. I felt that I became an instrument for them to be closer to God.
-----Marie Claire S. of LS 407

The energy and the warm welcome shown to us by the students of Tambo Elementary school wiped away our exhaustion. We also had the sudden urge and interest to teach them seeing how eager they are to learn.
-----Justin Nicole N. OF LS 407

A Walk to CARE

Every Friday LS 307 students who are assigned to teach catechism at Paninsingin Elementary School trudge from the school campus going to the area. Though they are tired of fulfilling academic requirements, facing some personal challenges in their daily lives, I see in their eyes the kind of sparkles that expresses joy whenever we have the CARE Program. The energy, excitement, and the desire to meet the children create a true atmosphere of service without expecting anything in return. They just want to serve the Church in their own little way.

LS 407 iCARE Sharing

It's very heart-touching to see how the students in public school settle in a classroom very different from ours, dealing with daily school activities in a small classroom. I was moved when I saw a boy asking me," kuya, pahingi pencil, wala kasi akong pencil eh.." I reflected on it and had noticed that I am very fortunate that I am capable of buying so many pencils as I could, eating 3-4 times a day, sleeping in a fluffy, comfortable and great bed inside a huge house. I am able to buy things I need and want. I have cellphone, laptop, computer, and music gadgets. I receive allowance everyday and get clothes change every few months. I also thought about sometimes that when I am given things, gifts and the like, I am always complaining, never minding how fortunate I am that I am given those things, while others do not have a 5 pesos-worth pencil.
If only people besides us could realize the true state of our society, if only the people on high status in society would go down even for a day and live how these "other" people live, they'd be touched as I was.
______Charles M.

I felt contented and somewhat happy when we met the children of Tambo Elementary school. We will be teaching them about God for the whole year every Thursday. I was really amazed of how disciplined they are. With one wave of their teacher's hand, they sat upright and all eyes fixed on the board. Whoah! Amazing! I really felt blessed after seeing the children.
-----Marie Rishina T.

Being with all those willing children to learn about God already gives me a great sense of happiness and satisfaction.
-----Patricia Anne S.
I never thought that this activity will put joy in my heart and that I will be this excited to meet them again. I realized that when you open yourself to them, they will also do the same, and that this activity gave me a priceless experience and more experiences to come.
-----Marie Claire S.

At first, I thought that being a catechist will just further burden my already hectic and heavy life. But instead of it burdening my life, it quite had the opposite effect. I felt like I was revived and charge for 5 hours. I felt alive and happy.
-----Maria Quita G.

Let the iCARE begin!

We started to teach catechism last week in Sico, Paninsingin, and Tambo elementary schools. My students were very excited to share their time, energy, and talents to the pupils of the said schools. It was their first time to do this kind of ministry as part of the Christian Living Curriculum this year. I hope that they will keep the fire of faith, zeal, and communion burning for the whole year.

Animo La Salle!

Students with Big Hearts

Yesterday the students, faculty, and Br. Bong, the Director of Mission, attended the send-off Mass for the Lasallian students and teachers who will be involved in the catechetical instruction of pupils in the public schools under the supervision of the Divina Pastora Parish, Tambo, Lipa City.




After the gospel reading, I presented the students to the community by calling each of the three classes assigned to do the ministry of teaching and they were warmly welcomed and accepted by Fr. Cumagon, the Parish Priest, and the parishioners.

In his homily, Fr. Bon Cumagon reminded the student catechists of their responsibilities as representative of the Church to the “little ones” with the work of sharing the good news to them. He also said that they are also part of the “little people” belittled by many in their own community, but they are doing a great work and providing a significant contribution in spreading the gospel; they are little people with “big hearts”.

May the Holy Spirit continue to inspire my students and the adult leaders in faithfully doing the ministry.