A school renovation project amplifies the potential of deaf community

 

A dedicated teacher from PSD provides a hands-on lecture inside their newly rehabilitated school building.

Being hearing-impaired is a challenge in itself, navigating a world where communication relies heavily on spoken words. 

  

In the Philippines, this challenge further creates a gap, as opportunities for the deaf are limited, particularly in education and employment. The struggle is intensified as only a few secondary learning institutions are catering to their unique needs, with affordability and facility conditions further hindering their pursuit of skills and knowledge. 

  

A personal advocacy 

Shery Funcion, the Principal of the Philippine School for the Deaf (PSD) in Pasay City, is no stranger to these challenges. 

  

Her dedication to the cause began with her college thesis, focusing on job opportunities for deaf learners. Since then, she has immersed herself in various organizations and volunteer activities, gaining firsthand insights into the limited opportunities available to deaf learners. 

  

She eventually became a SPED teacher, before taking on the role of principal in PSD. 

  

"The immersive experience really showed me how important these projects are for our students—kung gaano kahalaga ang pagbibigay ng mga pasilidad sa mga mag aaral lalo na sa mga bingi," she underscored the importance of providing facilities for students with hearing impairment. 

 

A facility that produces opportunities 

The collaborative project of the Henry Sy Foundation, SM Foundation (SMFI), and the Department of Education's Schools Division Office of Pasay City equips students with in-demand skills that will prepare them for employment upon graduation.

In the century-old PSD, their senior high school laboratory building serves as the training ground for students. Its classrooms and halls, no matter how old, have always played their role in honing and preparing deaf students to have solid career prospects after PSD. 

  

Amidst the competing priorities within the school and the broader Philippine educational system, the facility barely had enough funds for the rehabilitation and major repairs it needed. For years, students and teachers worked around issues ranging from dim lighting and leaking roofs to uneven floors. These not only presented structural concerns but also hindered the overall learning experience of students. 

  

"Our deaf learners need special accommodation to fulfill their special educational needs. They need to have a conducive learning environment so we can optimize the activities and learning programs," Funcion stressed. 

  

Funcion further shared that the 2023 collaborative project of the Henry Sy Foundation, SM Foundation (SMFI)—the social good arm of the SM Group, and the Department of Education's Schools Division Office of Pasay City could not have come at a better time. 

  

 "The rehabilitation of the Home Economics (HE) laboratories is crucial because students need to fulfill their performance tasks. These are vital components of our senior high school program to ensure that they acquire essential skills and competencies for employment post-graduation from PSD." 

  

Through the collaboration, PSD has been provided with the much-needed facilities in dressmaking, beauty care, cookery, electrical, bartending, food and beverage preparation, ICT, and dance. 

  

For Funcion, their Henry Sy. Sr. building serves as a great beginning that will help pave equal opportunities and create a future where deaf students’ abilities will shine within and beyond the four walls of classrooms. 

  

Through the collaboration, PSD has been provided with the much-needed facilities in dressmaking, beauty care, cookery, electrical, bartending, food & beverage preparation, ICT, and dance.

SM group turns over 104th school building

In time for the school year opening, SM Prime through SM Foundation turned over a fully furnished two-storey building to the President Manuel Roxas Memorial Integrated School-South in Roxas City, Western Visayas.

The 104th school building made through the collaboration is built in accordance with specifications set by the Department of Education (DepEd). It holds four classrooms, each furnished with desks, chairs for left-handed students, toilets per classroom, including a special toilet for PWDs on the ground floor.

It also includes concave blackboards, electric fans, and LED lighting. Emergency lights were installed in the stairways for emergency-preparedness.

Supporting DepEd’s commitment to ensure that learners have access to water for hygiene and sanitation, SM Foundation installed a handwashing facility along with liquid soap for the community’s use.

To further assist, the SM group will help with the maintenance and upkeep of the said school.

Social Good 

SMFI School Building head, Juris Soliman (center) leads the preparation if the school building turnover. 

It was earlier announced by DepEd that roughly 21 million students enrolled this school year 2023-2024. Amidst this, the agency reported that only over 100,000 out of the more than 300,000 school buildings are in good condition.

Believing in the power of education in uplifting communities, SM Foundation has been an active member of DepEd’s Adopt-a-School Program since 2002, turning over more than 100 school buildings to grassroots communities nationwide. The said program intends to address overcrowding in schools and provide an environment conducive for learning.

SM Stationery donates school supplies to children

SM Stationery recently donated school supplies to ChildHope Philippines and Caritas Manila, to support the education initiatives of these non-government organizations for less fortunate children. While schools are not yet open, ChildHope and Caritas have come up with innovative programs to educate the young.

Each of the kits distributed by SM Stationery, the school and office supplies department of The SM Store, includes envelopes, notebooks, crayons, rulers, writing pads, ballpoint pens and pencils.

ChildHope Philippines has already helped in the distribution of the school supplies to poor communities in Marikina, and has worked with community and youth leaders to train mothers so that they can teach their kids basic writing, reading and life skills during the quarantine.  Jem Tumbaga, Resource Mobilization and Communications Officer of ChildHope Philippines, said the other school supplies will be used in their EduKit Project and street learning sessions.

“By donating essential school supplies, SM Stationery has helped ease the burden for these children and their parents, especially now that we are facing a severe health, education and economic crisis,” Tumbaga said.

Caritas Manila, the leading social arm of the Archdiocese of Manila, on the other hand, will use the donations to help its scholars, and sell the other donations in their Segunda Mana stores The proceeds of the sale will be used to fund its projects to help not just students but also poor families struggling because of COVID-19. The SM Group has been regular donor to Caritas Manila’s COVID-19 relief efforts and its Youth Service Leadership and Education Program.


SM Stationery’s donations complement the active participation of The SM Group in providing relief to frontliners and communities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

SM Stationery, which offers a wide range of school and office supply products, is now open in The SM Store branches nationwide. For more updates on its products and its Call to Deliver service, follow its social media pages @smstationeryph on Facebook and Instagram or join its Viber community.

McDonald’s boosts QSR work immersion, provides world-class training for students in Makati City

In a bid to strengthen its commitment to support the learning and development of the youth, Golden Arches Development Corporation (McDonald’s Philippines) signs a partnership with the City Government of Makati and with the Department of Education (DepEd) through the Schools Division Office of Makati City to help prepare senior high school students in the city for employment through the Work Immersion Program (WIP).

Recognizing the potential of every student to contribute to society and to the growth of organizations, McDonald’s Philippines inks a memorandum of agreement with Makati Mayor Abby Binay and with the Department of Education through the Schools Division Office of Makati. Through the agreement, McDonald’s commits to train over 500 Senior High School (Grade 12) students from seven participating schools, namely: University of Makati, Fort Bonifacio High School, Pitogo High School, Nemesio Yabut High School, Maximo Estrella High School, Benigno Aquino High School, and Makati High School. The students will be assigned across the 23 McDonald’s stores in Makati City, and in the company’s head office to learn more about restaurant operations and gain firsthand experience and knowledge in the industry.

“McDonald’s champions in youth employability and is committed to provide young Filipinos equal employment opportunities. Through this partnership, we aim to immerse students in a natural working environment where they can develop values, knowledge and basic competency skills that will be helpful in their future careers,” says Chona Torre, SVP for Human Capital Group of McDonald’s Philippines.

Under the agreement, students will need to fulfill the 80-hour requirement by DepEd as a prerequisite for graduation. Students under the academic track will be exposed to corporate tasks in human resources, IT, and Finance; while students under the technical vocational livelihood track with sub-specializations in cookery, bread and pastries, and food and beverage will be exposed in restaurant operations.

McDonald’s remains steadfast in its commitment to being the partner of the government in the development of young learners by equipping them with life-long skills and work experience that enable them to support their studies and progress in their chosen careers.

Following the company’s recent partnership with Mandaluyong City for WIP, Manila City and Pasig City for persons with disability (PWD) and senior citizens (SC) employment, McDonald’s is aggressive in sealing more partnerships with different cities to roll out employment opportunities for more Filipinos.

Since its establishment in the Philippines in 1981, McDonald’s advocates for equal employment and have practiced direct hiring policy or the non-practice of contractualization for all its restaurant employees.

Lamoiyan Corporation rolls out Kilusang Kontra Kuto Year 4

In partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd), Lamoiyan Corporation’s Licealiz Head Lice Treatment Shampoo rolls out Kilusang Kontra Kuto Year 4 activation at  Silangan Elementary School in Taguig. This is a yearly nationwide shampooing activity in its commitment to battle head lice infestation or pediculosis and eliminate the social stigma associated with it.

Lamoiyan Corporation is visiting 30 schools nationwide and targets to shampoo around 6,000 head lice infested students. Sample sachet products will also be distributed within the surrounding communities through this activity.

Contrary to popular belief, the persistent ailment does not only affect children or people who do not practice good hygiene. Through this year’s campaign, Lamoiyan Corporation aims to emphasize that pediculosis can happen to any people regardless of hair length, gender, age, and even social class.

“For the past years, Lamoiyan was able to raise awareness and debunk misconceptions surrounding pediculosis by spreading the correct information. Head lice infestation can occur to anyone and, hopefully, people would start helping affected individuals rather than discriminating because it is a concern that has a solution,” shared Lamoiyan Corporation Marketing Director Ruby Rose Cavestany.

Kilusang Kontra Kuto Year 4 has visited different schools across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao where Licealiz held educational talks, fun games, and free shampooing activity.

Lamoiyan Corporation’s Licealiz Head Lice Treatment Shampoo initiated in 2016 the Kilusang Kontra Kuto, a coalition that has been battling head lice infestation nationwide for a kuto-free Philippines.

Now on its fourth year, Lamoiyan has partnered again with industry leaders such as DepEd, Drugstores Association of the Philippines (DSAP) and Mommy Bloggers Philippines to further spread the correct information about pediculosis and widely reach grass roots level.

Lamoiyan Corporation is inviting everyone to join their fight against head lice and be part of the Kilusang Kontra Kuto Year 4. To know more about the activities of Kilusang Kontra Kuto, visit www.facebook.com/licealiz.

Learning to be a college kid’s mommy

I’m a mom of young kids, and while they drive me crazy sometimes, I tell myself that they will not be this young forever, and I should cherish every precious moment with them.

I was reminded of this again when, during one of those rare mommy me-time with friends (which, like all mommy activities always end up being about our kids), someone shared how nerve-wracking it had been for her to send off her child to college a few months ago.

She was overjoyed that her kid got into the University of the Philippines, but her daughter’s course took her to the Los Baños campus, which was a long way away from their home in Quezon City. We told her that was probably part of the plan—to move away from mommy and daddy so she could be independent. She laughed it off but admitted that was true—weren’t we all like that once?

One thing I wasn’t ready for was my friend’s admission that seeing her child so independent and capable of taking care of herself made her feel less useful as a mother. I wondered if I’d feel that way when my children are grown up.

Anyway, she told us how one time, when her daughter could not come home for the weekend because their class had an urgent project that required everyone to stay, her mommy worries surfaced: what about her allowance, her food, her clothes, etc. She had always replenished her daughter’s needs when she spent the weekend at home. My friend did not know how to send money on a weekend.

Thankfully, there was another child home, who was techie enough to teach her about GCash. Apparently, that’s what her daughter’s classmates use, too, to receive allowances from their parents. My friend immediately downloaded the app and navigated her way through its features with the help of her younger kid.

I was surprised that she had never used the app. Many of us in my mommy circle use it already to pay bills, buy prepaid load, get groceries, etc. Anyway, easily enough, she learned how to cash in at a nearby convenience store and immediately sent money to her daughter’s bank account. That simple thing of being able to attend to her daughter’s need made her feel like a valuable mommy again, she said.

Now, my friend is not only at ease with using the app for sending money, she has also discovered the convenience of using GCash’s money transfers for shopping! I think she’ll snap out of her sentimentality soon, what with the frequent buzz at the door for her shopping deliveries.

World Vision and Procter & Gamble in partnership with Department of Education Malabon Division Office launched “Pag-asa sa Basura”

In line with the back-to-school season, World Vision and Procter & Gamble (P&G) Philippines together with Department of Education Malabon Division Office launched the “Pag-asa sa Basura” campaign, a sustainable waste collection and recycling system targeting several schools in Metro Manila. The project will be done in 25 chosen schools in Malabon and Quezon City.

The participating schools will be outfitted with school-based materials recovery facilities (MRF) for various solid waste materials including sachet packaging. The students who will be participating in the campaign are encouraged to bring sachets to receive incentives such as school supplies. Furthermore, the profits that will be collected from the MRF will be used for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) programs like improvements in their handwashing facilities and WaSH education.

This initiative will not only be benefiting the children but also saving the environment with the goal of preventing at least one million pieces of sachets going to the ocean. Educators, students, and parents will also be trained on the principles of solid waste management specifically recycling.

Official representatives who joined the event were Cynthia Ayles, Schools Division Superintendent/ OIC of DepEd Malabon, Eliseo Raymundo, Head for School Governance and Operations Division, Anna Legarda, Head of Communications of Procter & Gamble, Jun Godornes, Resource Development Director of World Vision Philippines, and Principals from the 20 participating schools in Malabon.

”World Vision Philippines is so blessed with the success of all of our initiatives with our partners and on behalf of our organization, I would like to thank them for their unwavering support to our advocacy. Let’s continue to work together for the Filipino children,” said World Vision Philippines Executive Director Rommel Fuerte.

To know more and support World Vision Philippines activities, visit www.worldvision.org.ph. You may also follow /worldvisionph on Facebook and @worldvisionphl on Instagram for updates.