We are proud and delighted to share that on June 18th, 65 elementary students attending the Baruyan Elementary School (BES) in the Philippines completed the Bayanihan Pabasa (Community Collaborative Reading) Program!
The program, launched on February 6th and conducted over 18 Saturdays, was aimed to benefit the students of the Baruyan Elementary School (BES) whose reading skills have been adversely affected by the COVID-imposed school closure. This truly collaborative community effort was created in coordination with the local community leaders, 4-H Club youth volunteers, the school administration and teachers, the parents, and the students. Even the community health and law enforcement officers participated, to ensure sustained health protocols were followed.
Informed by a reading literacy pre-test conducted by the teachers for first-sixth (1st-6th) graders, sixty-five (65) students were selected to participate in this remediation and enrichment program. The pre-test covered phonemic awareness, alphabet knowledge, words recognition, vocabulary development and reading comprehension. Over the course of the 18 Saturdays, the selected students participated in peer-pair reading tutorial, video reading tutorial, spelling activities, and reading with comprehension activities; concluding with a post-test to determine their levels of improvement.
The pictures accompanying this update were taken on the celebratory last Saturday, where all participants and volunteers dressed up and paraded in costumes showcasing different book characters. Several spelling, reading and story-telling competitions were conducted and rated by select judges.
All the student participants received certificates and medals for completion; some families were given cash recognition for those who had perfect attendance and the most improved. UNLAD donated funding for the associated costs relating to equipment, food, supplies and recognition awards for the students, the volunteers, teachers, and the community health and law enforcement workers.
We are grateful to everyone who helped make this happen, particularly: BES Principal Ms. Erlinda Laguerta, BES teachers Ms. Donalyn Calanog, Ms. Mildred Magadia, Ms. Janice Abas, and Ms. Divina Evangelista; 4-H Club Calapan City President Mr. Gio Laguerta; and the community officers and employees, under the leadership of Barangay Captain Henry Dris.
In the words of Ms. Calanog, the program’s teacher lead:
“Reading is a skill. The more it is practiced, the better a learner will become at it. Through Bayanihan Pabasa Program, every pupil realized the importance of reading and how reading affects their future. This program has a significant impact not only to their academic performance but also nurtured their desire to become lifelong learners.
In the end, the program not only achieved its primary goal of improving the students’ reading literacy; it also helped develop their communication skills, reading habits, enhanced their self-confidence, boosted their intra and interpersonal communication skills and supported mentalhealth awareness through exercise and health consciousness by following the health protocols. Pupils and their parents and guardians are thankful for the experiences and learnings benefited from Bayanihan Pabasa Program.”
We share with you the gratitude felt by these students. “Small acts matter”. Let’s continue to work towards making education accessible to our underserved youth.
Wishing you and yours some rest and relaxation before this summer ends!