Concert For A Cause: A Fundraiser for the Scholarship Project of Ex Libris Philippines

                                       (Please click on poster to enlarge)

Our NGO, Ex Libris Philippines, a SEC-certified, nonstock, nonprofit organization of book enthusiasts, is raising funds in order to help send deserving but financially challenged UP students to school. Our last two fundraising projects held March 2007 and April 2008 have funded the education of seven deserving students at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. 

We are now holding our third fundraising project for our NGO's Scholarship Project. This year's fundraising project is a Concert for a Cause, with performances by faculty, students and alumni of the UP College of Music. All funds to be raised will go to the Scholarship Project. The concert will be on May 21, 2010, Friday, 6 p.m. at the UP College of Music, Nicanor Abelardo Hall.

 

Treat yourself to a night of music and magic, and help out in a good cause, too! You'll be helping send students to school.  Please also help spread the word to your friends and family, and invite them to come as well! 

 Tickets are at Php 300.00 each. For tickets, please contact Tata Francisco at 0920-947-08-61, or Gabi Francisco at 0920-947-08-35. You can also email us at teachertata@gmail.com, or gabitwin@gmail.com.

By simply forwarding this email to your friends, you'll be helping us A LOT already. Please help us spread the word about this Concert For A Cause! Thank you so much.

A Repost of Fr. James Reuter's Article on the Philippine Star (March 2009): "Graduation"

The graduations begin, now. Some students get medals: bronze, silver, gold.

Some students do not get any medals. . . . Some are not allowed to march. . . . Some are not allowed to graduate.

It is really a time of joy and sorrow, a time of laughter and tears, an emotional time.

Education is the complete and harmonious development of all the physical, mental, and moral faculties of man. The end product, at graduation, is not the medal, or even the diploma. It is the boy, standing on his own two feet. it is the girl, coming down the aisle with her diploma, to kiss her daddy.

Every teacher who has ever gone into a classroom knows that the best boy in the class, the best girl, is not necessarily the one who gets the gold medal for academics.

There might be a girl in the class who has many friends. She loves everybody, and everyone loves her. When they need something, they come to her, because they know that she will give. . . . There is no mark for that.

There might be a girl who is selfish as sin, who has no friends. No one comes to her, when they are in need, because they know that she will not help anyone. . . . there is no mark for that.

There might be a boy who is a natural leader. He has a sense of humor, and courage; he likes his family; he likes the school; he is at peace with God, with his friends, with himself. . . . there is no mark for that.

Another boy might be all mixed up. He hates his father. He hates the teachers. He is planning to kill himself, tonight. . . . There is no mark for that.

We give the marks for mathematics, for English, for history, for physics, for chemistry, for biology — but there are other sides to a boy, and to a girl.

At this graduation, the end product is not the medal. It is not even the diploma. It is your son. It is your daughter.

If he has learned to be a man, if she has learned to be a woman, that’s enough.

That’s a superlative, already.

What teachers make

This beautiful story came to me from the son of my staff through the internet.

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with the education. He argued, “What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?”

He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” To stress his point he said to another guest, “You’re a teacher, Bonnie, be honest. What do you make?”

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, “You want to know what I make?”

“Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor. I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can’t make them sit for 5 without an iPod, Game Cube or movie rental. . . . .

You want to know what I make?

I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn’t everything. I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know English while preserving their unique cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.

Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn’t everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. . . . You want to know what I make?

I make a difference. What do you make Mr. CEO?”

A Repost from the UP Alyansa Web Page

Speech Delivered at the LSG Candle Lighting and Indignation March against Midnight Appointments

Speech delivered by Simoun Salinas, USC Councilor-Elect and ALYANSA Vice Chairperson for Education, Research, and Training, at the Law Student Government (LSG) Candle Lighting and Indignation March against midnight appointments by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on March 19, 2010.


As law students, we all know that repetition is the key to memorizing and understanding statutes or provisions of the law. Read the provision. Understand it. Read it again. Repeat ad nauseum.

We also know that it has been a while since the members of the Supreme Court have relished the law school experience. Apparently, it has been a while since the members of the Supreme Court, especially the 9 assenting justices in De Castro vs. JBC, have taken the time to realize the necessity of precision of language in our Constitution.

Therefore, in the hope that, as we repeat this simple provision in the Constitution, maybe they will hear our collective pleas for reason and our collective indignation. To the Supreme Court, we say: “Article 7, Section 15 of the Philippine Constitution states that “Two months before the next presidential elections and up to the end of his term, the President…shall not make appointments….”

Again, we repeat: “To the Supreme Court, we say: “Article 7, Section 15 of the Philippine Constitution states that “Two months before the next presidential elections and up to the end of his term, the President…shall not make appointments….”

Then again, maybe repetition will not be enough. Maybe now, it’s time to unleash our weapon of unified indignation and communicate our anger to the erring interpretation of the Bench.

Thus, this outrage against the bastardization of our Constitution must not only be heard; it must be felt, realized and concretized. This outrage against the bastardization of our Constitution knows no limit or boundary. This outrage knows no party lines, no affiliations, no organizational biases or ideologies.

Therefore, I encourage everyone present here, and the entire nation to continue to express their outrage and the indignation in any way possible. Express this outrage with as many fellow students, workers, lawyers or Filipinos as you possibly can. Take this outrage to the street. Take it online. Take it to the family, at the dinner table. Maybe then, if we keep on saying it, repetition and collective action can make a difference.

With that, once again, we said it before, and we will never tire of repeating it ourselves, in the interest of understanding, in the hope that they will understand: 

No to the midnight appointment of the Chief Justice by GMA!

No to the bastardization of our Constitution!

The Seven Storey Mountain

   I first heard of this spiritual classic when I read "The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage" by Paul Elie (which deserves a longer entry all its own). The latter book was a 500+ page biography of four great Catholic authors: Flannery O'Connor, Dorothy Day, Walker Percy and Thomas Merton. They wrote to change lives, seeking to draw others to the Christian faith the same way that these four converts were led to salvation through literature.

   After reading "The Life You Save...," I was filled with immense curiosity about these four amazing people, whose lives demonstrated immense grappling with faith in post-war America. The lives of Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day, in particular, captured my imagination, and I immediately sought books by these authors.

   The Ateneo library had several well-thumbed copies of Thomas Merton's "Seven Storey Mountain," and for good reason. I imagine that many young men in generations past have read the very book I'm now holding, so that they may learn of the kind of contemplative life one might expect when joining a religious order. 

   Merton was born to a family of artists in France. Baptized an Anglican, he was brought up with a cosmopolitan education, living in various European countries and soaking in everything that the modern world had to offer. He gorged himself on movies, jazz clubs, women, wine and song. He studied in Cambridge but moved to Columbia University in New York after fathering a child in England. His life pretty much fits the stereotype of the brilliant aesthete. Immersing himself in Kafka, Marx and Joyce at first, he eventually moved on to Hopkins, Blake and Eliot, and eventually Augustine and Kierkegaard. He speaks of his love for Blake as "having something in it of God's grace."

    I am in awe of how Merton was able to capture the emotional drama of a lost soul seeking God. I felt his pain, his anguish as if it were my own... I rejoiced when he finally converted and was filled with curious longing at his descriptions of life as a Trappist monk in the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky. It is no wonder to me that this book is said to have sent thousands of young men to monasteries.

     Here are some quotes from Merton's autobiography:

    "...This is the pattern and prototype of all sin: the deliberate and formal will to reject disinterested love for us for the purely arbitrary reason that we simply do not want it... Perhaps the inner motive is that the fact of being loved disinterestedly reminds us that we all need love from others, and depend upon the charity of others to carry on our own lives..."

   "The devil is no fool. He can get people feeling about heaven the way they ought to feel about hell. He can make them fear the means of grace the way they do not fear sin. And he does so, not by light but by obscurity, not by realities but by shadows; not by clarity and substance, but by dreams and the creatures of psychosis. And men are so poor in intellect that a few cold chills down their spine will be enough to keep them from ever finding out the truth about anything."

   "It is that Sacrament (the Eucharist), and that alone, the Christ living in our midst, and sacrificed by us, and for us and with us, in the clean and perpetual Sacrifice, it is He alone Who holds our world together, and keeps us all from being poured headlong and immediately into the pit of our eternal destruction. And I tell you there is a power that goes forth from that Sacrament, a power of light and truth, even into the hearts of those who have heard nothing of Him and seem to be incapable of belief."

   "Corruptio optimi pessima...The greatest evil is found where the highest good has been corrupted."

      "If the impulse to worship God and to adore Him in truth by the goodness and order of our own lives is nothing more than a transitory and emotional thing, that is our own fault. It is so only because we make it so, and because we take what is substantially a deep and powerful and lasting moral impetus, supernatural in its origin and in its direction, and reduce it to the level of our own weak and unstable and futile fancies and desires."

   "Souls are like athletes, that need opponents worthy of them, if they are to be tried and extended and pushed to the full use of their powers, and rewarded according to their capacity."

   "I (used to) believe in the beautiful myth about having a good time so long as it does not hurt anybody else. You cannot live for your own pleasure and your own convenience without inevitably hurting and injuring the feelings and interests of practically everybody you meet."

   "I had enough sense to know that it would be madness to look for a group of people, a society, a religion, a church from which all mediocrity would absolutely be excluded... but God loves them, and He will not withhold His light from good people anywhere."

   "Consider how in spite of centuries of sin and greed and lust and cruelty and hatred and avarice and oppression and injustice, spawned and bred by the free wills of men, the human race can still recover each time, and can still produce men and women who overcome evil with good, hatred with love, greed with charity, lust and cruelty with sanctity. How could all this be possible without the merciful love of God, pouring out His grace upon us? ... The quietness and hiddenness and placidity of the truly good people in the world all proclaim the glory of God."

   "No idea of ours, let alone any image, could adequately represent God... but also, we should not allow ourselves to be satisfied with any such knowledge of Him."

   "All our salvation begins on the level of common and natural and ordinary things. Books and ideas and poems and stories, pictures and music, buildings, cities, places, philosophies were to be the materials on which grace would work."

   "Virtues are precisely the powers by which we can come to acquire happiness: without them, there can be no joy, because they are the habits which coordinate and canalize our natural energies and direct them to the harmony and perfection and balance, the unity of our nature with itself and with God, which must, in the end, constitute our everlasting peace."

   "There are ways that seem to men to be good, the end whereof is in the depths of hell. The only answer to the problem is grace, grace, docility to grace."

   "Why should anyone be shattered by the thought of hell? It is not compulsory for anyone to go there. Those who do, do so by their own choice, and against the will of God, and they can only get into hell by defying and resisting all the work of Providence and grace. It is their own will that takes them there, not God's. In damning them He is only ratifying their own decision -- a decision which He has left entirely to their own choice. Nor will He ever hold our weakness alone responsible for our damnation."

   "There is nothing wrong in being a writer or a poet... but the harm lies in wanting to be one for the gratification of one's own ambitions, and merely in order to bring oneself up to the level demanded by his own internal self-idolatry."

   "The logic of wordly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men!"

   "That contact (with God) is something which we all need: and one of the ways in which it has been decreed that we should arrive at it, is by hearing one another talk about God."

    "He is much more anxious to take care of us, and capable of doing so, than we could ourselves. It is only when we refuse His help, resist His will, that we have conflict, trouble, disorder, unhappiness, ruin."

   "The beginning of love is truth, and before He will give us His love, God must cleanse our souls of the lies that are in them."

    And there is a lot more. This book is a spiritual treasure trove! I wish it were available in our bookstores.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

      The academic year is almost up, and with Summer comes more free time... something which I have little of, and I have to seize precious moments for reading and contemplation. It annoys me that the busier my external life, the emptier my inner life becomes... but it is the one that truly matters. I look forward to reading more Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day this summer!

    There is a movie about her already, entitled "Entertaining Angels." I understand that her cause for canonization is open to the Catholic Church. :)   I want to watch this!

   

 

An Update / The Creative Arts

   Been terribly busy the past several weeks so I haven't been able to update my blog. Hmmm... I think decent entries won't appear until end of March, early April, hehe. In other words, when school ends and summer starts.

   The things I'm busy with are the usual culprits... M.A., work, plus a host of big activities that our school is participating in, namely: the PSAP Inter-school Competition, the biggest one of its kind in Paranaque... and our school's 16th Foundation Week, one of the highlights being our Theater Club's production of Anton Chekhov's The Boor and Ime Aznar's Terengati. Every day is a mini-battle to get lesson plans done as quickly as possible, to do my darndest to teach while combining content + life lessons + F.U.N. in the lessons, and to sneak time in to rehearse for the play and the upcoming competitions.

   I know of some schools that do not encourage their students to compete in Singing, Oratorical, Declamation, Impromptu-Speech contests... the heads of these schools claim that it takes time away from teaching academic content. But then again, we return to the everlasting question... is that really what our students are in school for?

    Each school has a different answer to that. I'm very proud and happy with ours. Regina Maria Montessori encourages its students to be holistic and well-rounded, with majority of our student body being involved in one or two varsity teams, as well as extra activities like the Theater Club. We believe that the more important life lessons (such as discipline, perseverance, and the ability to handle pressure/competition gracefully) can't be learned in the limited classroom activities.

    Research has proven that the Creative Arts are an important part of education. I could name several studies, authors, and years of publication that list down the specific knowledge, skills and values transmitted... but suffice it for me to say that I have witnessed, firsthand, the transformative power of the Creative Arts on students.

    Let's take Teatro Regina, our school drama club. I have seen shy students blossom into confident young men and women after being given roles in the school play, and I'm so THRILLED and EXCITED to see them perform in a few weeks' time! I have seen students with seemingly irreconcilable and clashing personalities bond and become as close as siblings after spending countless hours rehearsing. I have seen them struggle, and I bear witness to their daily triumphs over fear and insecurity. For indeed, the success of our Drama Club lies not just in its ability to deliver a high-quality performance (for the short-term, maybe). Years from now, I'd like to think that these students will treasure their memories of Teatro and remember the life lessons they imbibed. I'd like to think they are more hard working, more professional and disciplined, more passionate about life as a result of joining Teatro. 

   See my previous blog post for my Teatro Regina plug! ;)

   This is late, but I'd like to congratulate RMM seniors Ashley Petallano, Dancille Villarey and Angelique Nebreja for passing the UPCAT! :) From one Reginian to another, GOOD JOB GUYS! Keep up the great work, and continue our alma mater's tradition of excellence and service!

   Congratulations also to the UP Voice and Music Theater Guild for a successful performance at the Philippine Opera Company's 4th Soiree last Saturday! :) Here's to even more successful shows in the future.

Plugging our Play(s)

Dear Friends,

Teatro Regina, the theater club of Regina Maria Montessori, would like to invite you to our 2010 student production featuring two one-act plays, Anton Chekhov’s THE BOOR and Ime Aznar’s TERENGATI. Our showdates are February 24, 26 and 27, 2010, at 9:00 A.M. and 1:00 P.M. Through our plays, we seek to hone the talents of our students and enable them to learn real life lessons through the art and the discipline that is theater.

Chekhov’s The Boor is a romantic comedy that involves a vain and hypocritical young widow, and a no-nonsense, rough man who will not tolerate her female manipulations. Aznar’s Terengati is a Filipino adventure tale, a retelling of the Manobo love story between a beautiful sky maiden and the mortal Terengati who falls in love with her. He undergoes numerous trials and adventures in order to win her.

Your coming will greatly encourage and support our young student actors and crew members, and also encourage them to continue their theater experience even after they have left elementary and secondary school.

Tickets are at Php 150.00 each. Should you have any further inquiries, or should you wish to place orders, please feel free to contact us at the numbers listed below.

Thank you, and we hope to see you in our performances!


Sincerely,

Gabi and Tata Francisco
(Directors / Club Moderators of Teatro Regina)

Gabi: 0920-947-08-35, Tata: 0920-947-08-61
Work Phone: 820-02-80/81

For directions on how to reach us, please log on to the RMM Vicinity Map.

Ein Abschied bis 2009

   2009 has been a most difficult year for our country, and for the people around the world who have been stricken hard by the global recession. But I feel that it is best to focus on the positive happenings rather than the negative, as it is better to face the New Year with hope than dread.

   I'm very grateful to have been given another year of health and happiness. Since I turned 23 last week (Gurang na ako!), below are 23 blessings from 2009, for which I am most thankful. (Note: These aren't listed in any particular order.)

   I'm grateful for...

   1. The 2 weeks of enforced voice rest I had to undergo as a result of getting laryngitis. You know the saying, "You don't miss the water until the well runs dry?" Well, I didn't fully realize how precious and delicate the human voice is, until that nasty wake up call. It was extremely stressful for me, at the time, as I had to beg off singing engagements and I hated to do so. But I learned so many precious lessons along the way. I've consequently made adjustments in my lifestyle, such as switching to decaf coffee and using my voice more sparingly when I teach. I'm happy to report that my voice box is doing just fine today. :)

   2. The first meeting with Meewa! :)  Dear, is there really no chance of you and your family ever living in Metro Manila again? Hehe.

   3. My job... one that is draining yet exciting and allows me to learn and grow as a person every day. I am especially thankful because it allows me to keep coming back to my beloved CMu!

   4. Passing the Licensure Exam for Teachers!!?! Our oathtaking ceremony was one of the proudest moments of my life. Now I can truly say, "I am a teacher."

   5. Discovering Nutella. 'Nuff said. :)

   6. Discovering Cafe Mary Grace in Serendra, the site of several book sessions with Ex Libris Philippines. Too bad it's so small, it's very difficult to get seats as it's usually full of hungry clients! But if ever you get the chance to eat there, DO drop by. You won't regret it.

   7. The graduation ceremony of friends and college-mates that I was able to witness and be part of. Our whole lives are ahead of us!!!

   8. Witnessing the love lives of friends and learning from their godly examples... learning to be patient and joyful in expectation.

   9. Books. They comfort, uplift and nourish my soul, even when I can't use the piano or am surrounded by people and can't sing. And of course, this includes my book org, Ex Libris Philippines, and the incredible people in it! Looking forward to an exciting 2010 with you guys!

   10.The Rockwell Powerplant Fire in April that taught me never to take safety for granted, and to respect the incredible faith and courage of my Father.

   11. Being able to study part-time in a beautiful, working-student-friendly environment, where I'm able to observe a whole new culture that deepened my appreciation for the one in UP.

   12. Being able to register for elections!! Yay!

   13. The Boy Scout experience in Makiling. Life-changing.

   14. My twin sister, my soulmate, who has joined the faculty at RMM, and is now my seatmate and co-teacher. 

   15. The fourteen hours that I got stranded in the midst of Ondoy. It was the ultimate lesson of seeing the proverbial glass as half-full.

 

   16. Friends... some of whom have gone far away but still exert a great deal of influence on my life. I am a better person because of you guys!

   17. Music... most especially the voice of Ian Bostridge, whose lieder albums are fast becoming the soundtracks of my life.

   18. My students. I really do believe that I'm learning more from them than they learn from me.

   19.  The new Casio keyboard that replaced our 25 ++ year old one. Now the RMM Choir can make more beautiful music during the mass!

   

   20. My beautiful family!!! Including our two rottweilers.

   

   21. Facebook! And multiply. They allow me to keep in touch with friends and relatives abroad.

   22. Avatar and 3D Imax theaters! Life is more beautiful!!!

   23. My "bilbil," because it means that I have more than enough to eat. :) Now my 2010 resolution is to eradicate it.

 

Happy New Year everyone!!! *toddles off to gaze at the fireworks from our glass ceiling*