When meanings become part of you

When the selected Petron Gurong Kaakbay (PGK) participants say that this recent conference, now on its 6th year and recently held at the FEU Manila campus, was unlike all others they have gone to before, they are not just being lavish with their comments.

The conference was carefully designed to address the total persona of teachers.

Thus, the initial group sessions focused on the individual philosophies and beliefs on education which merit honest and candid conversation. This was a way to establish shared perspectives from which common strategies grow. One day was devoted to educational trends and classroom intervention strategies. The last day provided time for teachers to enjoy pampering sessions and to polish up their image as classroom star and performer. The last sessions for the day were inspirational and deliberately meant to leave them with nuggets of counsel to walk away with.

Who could have inspired better than Roselle Ambubuyog who lost her eyesight at age 6? How could she ever be able to continue reading the books that she had just begun to enjoy? Despite this, Roselle went on to graduate summa cum laude from the Ateneo in 2001 as a math major and a minor in actuarial science, even winning all possible awards for a graduating student. A UP master’s degree holder in applied mathematics, today, Manila-based Roselle works as an access technology specialist for several software and hardware companies in Europe and North America. She has designed software to enable the visually impaired and learning disabled to use technology in their lives.

It has not all been easy to get to where she is now, of course. And she recounted highlights of her journey with much humor and candor.

Clearly a wunderkind from her grade-school days as valedictorian, it was still difficult for her to be accepted in the regular school she wanted to go to. At the Ramon Magsaysay High School, which finally allowed her admission, she gained the label “Ingleserang bulag.” When she won all math contests, her Braille reader came under suspicion, but when it was taken away from her, Roselle simply devised a system of doing computations using the Braille setup in her head. While sitting for the Ateneo college entrance exam, her seatmates were incredulous at the speed with which she was doing her tests which had been set into Braille for her to read.

Accepting her special needs, she never allowed these to master her. On her reading life, certainly allowed to flourish now with technology, she says, “It is not really the number of books you go through, but what gets through to you, what meanings become a part of you. ”

Another inspirational speaker who drew much admiration and laughter was comedian and singer Dyords Javier. He lauded the teachers for their role and contribution to country not to put more pressure on them, but to put value on their unique status. The audience especially appreciated Javier’s own crusade of promoting the Ang Galing ng Pinoy mentality and reminding everyone that happiness is a decision one makes each day.

The PGK is a conference one applies for with the principal’s recommendation and a detailed documentation that provides a profile of the teacher’s potential as a literacy advocate and leader. The applicants are carefully screened and only the most qualified are selected – in this case, the 121 elementary school teachers selected from a pool of 257 applications from Regions 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and NCR. Petron Tulong Aral teachers and Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation’s group facilitators brought the total attendance to 175.

What three-day conference comes with a roster of high-caliber seasoned speakers, a subsidy of travel, accommodations and meal allowances, and a no-nonsense schedule from 7:30 to 6 p.m., plus the mandatory requirement of follow-up reports on specified deadlines (June 30 and Aug. 30) which would lend evidence to prove how they have grown as reading advocates?

An important component is the well-produced Teacher’s Manual for the conference, the bible for all aspiring literacy advocates. It is a sturdy, sleek binder, the heart of which is the School Based Activities section from which the teachers can plan for their activities in the classroom, with their colleagues, with the community and parents, and even with other schools. But often the teachers must be encouraged to really use and write on its pages for their everyday teaching and planning, rather than keeping it immaculately clean on their bookshelves.

In the spirit of transparency, I must disclose that I have been closely associated with Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation since its inception over 10 years ago, but I am not directly responsible for the conference, so I cannot claim any credit for it. Thus I should be allowed this immodesty of continuing to talk about the event, as a model for similar other endeavors. Good news such as the Petron Gurong Kaakbay conference should be heralded and not kept a secret. And there is more to tell.

Neni Sta. Romana Cruz ([email protected]) is a member of the Philippine Board on Books for Young People, the Eggie Apostol Foundation, and a trustee of Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation.