Young 4 the Aged

My class LS 305 takes a day-off from the classroom setting and goes to San Pablo City to visit the old people who are abandoned, sick and dying; they are now being fed, treated, and taken care of by some volunteers in Nazareth Bahay Pagibig- Home for the Aged. The Home is part of the Church program to address the situation of the abandoned in the community.



The Lolos and the Lolas are very excited to meet my students. They even pray for a meaningful encounter with my class.



The meeting of the old and the young brings joy, excitement, nostalgia, and compassion.

Lasallians in Gawad Kalinga Outreach

One of the Lasallian core values is the concern for marginalized sector of the society and it is imperative to all Lasallian students and teachers to express this value into action. Our Level 10 students and teachers participated in this outreach program under Gawad Kalinga (GK). It is a Philippine-based poverty reduction and nation-building movement launched by Couples for Christ (CFC), a Catholic lay community, to care for worse-off Filipinos and survivors of natural disasters.

Lasallian community is very active in the works of teaching values to the poor community and encouraging them to transform their lives and rebuild their houses towards self-sufficiency. This outreach program provides the venue for students and teachers to participate and contribute in promoting the spirit of community among Filipinos. We are one with the goal of the Gawad Kalinga in their ambitious motto of “No more slums, no more violence, no more poverty” in our own country.

The outreach is spearheaded by the Community and Involvement Office under the leadership of Mrs. Vio Ramirez, the former principal of the Integrated School, and Mr. Arnel Dimaano.

Animo La Salle!

Angels in LS 305

“God began doing a good work in you and I am sure
He will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again.”

Philippians 1:6
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One day the famous artist Michelangelo was standing in front of a huge, unsightly rock. With his hammer and chisel, he was working on the rock, in the beginning stages of sculpting it into a piece of art. He knew it was going to be a long, drawn out process.

Somebody came along and said, " What are you doing wasting your time working on that ugly piece of rock?" Michelangelo said: I see a beautiful angel trapped in this rock and I am doing my best to let him out."

The master artist saw something good that other people could not see. And that's definitely how I should see my students inside the classroom.

Since the start of the school year, I have been working constantly to lead and guide my students to discover their talents, skills, and gifts. The daily encounter with them gives me an opportunity to see and evaluate the things I’ve done, and prepare the next step in addressing their situations. The words of encouragements and the power of reminders serve as a slow and steady work of polishing the rough edges of their behavior and leveling the uneven surfaces of their personality and viewpoints.

The programs that I have implemented in my class aimed at liberating them from indifference to awareness, from selfishness to self-giving, and from the worldly influence of modern technology that makes them focus on gadgets to interest with people. I’ve noticed that little by little they have been improving in their academic performance, in their attitudes toward their studies; and in their point of view of life.

I know this is not going to be an easy task, and that it takes a long process of developing the character of my students. That is why I’m laying the foundation and paving the way for other brave souls to continue what I have started. I hope that they will also see these students in my class as beautiful angels trapped in the “rock of life”, and they should continue the tedious work of helping them and do their very best to let them out.

7 Steps to career Decision Making

Career Decision Making is the topic of our Homeroom Module Session this week. This module would help students to understand the importance of career planning, gain in-depth knowledge of one or more occupations, and apply what they have learned from the activity.

The following are the seven steps to a career decision making:

1. Identify the decision to be made.
2. Gather the information.
3. Identify the alternatives.
4. Weigh the evidence.
5. Choose among the alternatives.
6. Take action.
7. Review and evaluate the decision.

To assist students in their decision making, the guidance office has invited speakers who will share their experiences in their own career planning and decision making, and give tips on how to be successful in their chosen career.

In a borderless world.

I just want to share this speech by Patricia Evangelista that indeed touched my heart and inspired me to work hard to attain my goals in life. To my Mom and my sister May who are now living and working abroad, and to all my Kababayans, may your dreams come to pass and excel in whatever you will do in your life.


Thank you Patricia for inspiring us!!!

A Borderless World

WHEN I was little, I wanted what many Filipino children all over the country wanted. I wanted to be blond, blue-eyed and white.

I thought — if I just wished hard enough and was good enough, I’d wake up on Christmas morning with snow outside my window and freckles across my nose!

More than four centuries under western domination can do that to you. I have 16 cousins. In a couple of years, there will just be five of us left in the Philippines, the rest will have gone abroad in search of “greener pastures.” It’s not an anomaly; it’s a trend; the Filipino diaspora . Today, about eight million Filipinos are scattered around the world.

There are those who disapprove of Filipinos who choose to leave. I used to. Maybe this is a natural reaction of someone who was left behind, smiling for family pictures that get emptier with each succeeding year. Desertion, I called it. My country is a land that has perpetually fought for the freedom to be itself. Our heroes offered their lives in the struggle against the Spanish, the Japanese, the Americans. To pack up and deny that identity is tantamount to spitting on that sacrifice.

Or is it? I don’t think so. Not anymore.

True, there is no denying this phenomenon, aided by the fact that what was once the other side of the world is now a 12-hour plane ride away. But this is a borderless world, where no individual can claim to be purely from where he is now. My mother is of Chinese descent, my father is a quarter Spanish, and I call myself a pure Filipino — a hybrid of sorts resulting from a combination of cultures.

Each square mile anywhere in the world is made up of people of different ethnicities, with national identities and individual personalities. Because of this, each square mile is already a microcosm of the world. In as much as this blessed spot that is England is the world, so is my neighborhood back home.

Seen this way, the Filipino Diaspora, or any sort of dispersal of populations, is not as ominous as so many claim. It must be understood. I come from a Third World country, one that is still trying mightily to get back on its feet after many years of dictatorship. But we shall make it, given more time. Especially now, when we have thousands of eager young minds who graduate from college every year. They have skills. They need jobs. We cannot absorb them all.

A borderless world presents a bigger opportunity, yet one that is not so much abandonment but an extension of identity. Even as we take, we give back. We are the 40,000 skilled nurses who support the United Kingdom’s National Health Service. We are the quarter-of-a-million seafarers manning most of the world’s commercial ships. We are your software engineers in Ireland, your construction workers in the Middle East, your doctors and caregivers in North America, and, your musical artists in London’s West End.
Nationalism isn’t bound by time or place. People from other nations migrate to create new nations, yet still remain essentially who they are. British society is itself an example of a multi-cultural nation, a melting pot of races, religions, arts and cultures. We are, indeed, in a borderless world!

Leaving sometimes isn’t a matter of choice. It’s coming back that is. The Hobbits of the shire traveled all over Middle-Earth, but they chose to come home, richer in every sense of the word. We call people like these balikbayans or the “returnees” — those who followed their dream, yet choose to return and share their mature talents and good fortune.

In a few years, I may take advantage of whatever opportunities that come my way. But I will come home. A borderless world doesn’t preclude the idea of a home. I’m a Filipino, and I’ll always be one. It isn’t about geography; it isn’t about boundaries. It’s about giving back to the country that shaped me.

And that’s going to be more important to me than seeing snow outside my window on a bright Christmas morning.

Mabuhay and thank you.

Role Models

In today's world, who would be a good role model? The basketball player having an illicit affair? The movie star taking drugs? The politician involved in graft and corruption? The fallen pop music star? Or the Christian role model?


Of course, we know there are good role models and bad role models, and we all want to be a good role model. However, we do not want to be an exact imitation of that role model person, as we know God has made all of us as different individuals each with different qualities and uniqueness. We do want to adopt a role model's values, virtues, and ethics.


There is one girl named Roselle Ambubuyog who, despite her blindness, graduated summa cum laude at the Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU) and is now pursuing her master's degree in Applied Math at the University of the Philippines Diliman while holding a part-time job in Freedom Scientific Line, Florida firm. She once said: “After I graduated, nobody would remember my name. What they would remember, though, was that a blind student graduated from Ateneo. I could open doors for others like me.”



Another girl named Patricia Evangelista burst into the limelight by winning the 2004 International Public Speaking Competition in London. She delivered her speech about “ Borderless World.” ( http://www.filipinasoul.com/a-borderless-world/ )She bested 59 other contestants from all over the world. She may not be a grand champion of any teen talent search but she is very much a star in her own right. Today she is a refreshing example of youthful vibrancy and idealism, and a model for other young people to follow.


The persons mentioned are just two of the many potential models around whose attitudes, ethics and principles in life are worthy of emulation. They are our guide in facing life’s challenges and successes. Their positive outlook in life would surely inspire all of us to persevere in whatever things we do at present time.

Surely, God would be very glad to know if we keep on honing our talents and using these to help improve and change people’s lives.

How can you start becoming a role model today?

GOD MADE TEACHERS

GOD MADE TEACHERS . . .
Author Unknown

God understood our thirst for
knowledge, and our need to be led
by someone wiser;
He needed a heart of compassion,
of encouragement, and patience;
Someone who would accept
the challenge regardless of the
opposition;
Someone who could see potential
and believe in the best in others . . .
So He made Teachers.