Confront COVID19 Head on

Ladies and gentlemen,  Good afternoon.

This is the second time I’m representing our school, Iloilo Scholastic Academy, to receive the award as First Placer in the Scholastic Readers Cup. While I congratulate the ISA learners, and the ISA facilitators and parents who have stood behind and inspired these children, I would also like to express my gratitude to the men and women behind the Scholastic Readers Cup, these are high-minded individuals who have brought us one of the best products in the field of humanities, if not the best product that brings our children to the wonderful world of reading, where they meet Jack and Annie in Magic Tree House adventure, interact with the resourceful and passionate Ms. Valerie Frizzle in her various, sometimes dangerous scientific encounters, admire and befriend the iconic Big Red Dog Clifford, and many more. The stories and characters capture the senses, manage to help deepen the imagination, and sharpen the analytical faculty of our children. 

Last year, when the Grades 2 to 10 ISAers hit the highest spot with an average of 192 books read per learner, they challenged themselves saying that they will exceed that number in the next school year. And we believe them. After a year, the children hit the highest spot for the second time, with an average of 280 books read per ISAer, a staggering increase of 47% against their own record the year before.

This year the COVID19 strikes. This seemingly formidable hindrance creates a gloomy atmosphere of uncertainty, face with this unprecedented challenge, we are left with two options: one is to mellow down, ask the children to slow down on reading as normally is expected of them who are under the constant stress of on-line learning, the other is to sustain the momentum, though appropriately slacken the vigor that was seen in the past years. We choose the second option. And what’s more, grade 1 kids join the reading program starting this July. I hope Ma’am Cecille will not say that it needs COVID19 to finally convince ISA to include the grade 1 kids in the program. 

In my sharing last year, I mentioned it was the collective community efforts, it was the mixture of the support coming from the parents, the board of directors, the administration and the faculty that effectively gave rise to a community of readers in ISA. To the first C , that is Community which I mentioned last year, I should add this year another 3 C’s to that magic mix, these are Convincing skills, Conviction, and Collaboration. With the 4 C’s we are sure we can successfully elevate our campus reading program this year to a greater height. Thank you.

(Below is the link to the video of the virtual awarding ceremony)