“The world is the true classroom. The most rewarding and important type of learning is through experience, seeing something with our own eyes.” -Jack Hanna
With this school year’s educational set-up being confined in homes and limited to printed or online modules, we have to make sure our young students still get to experience holistic learning about the world around them, especially as the year 2020 has had a lot to teach this generation.
A little over a month from the start of distance learning classes, the children at the Community Center have more or less adjusted to this school year’s “new normal” and moved their schedule for answering learning modules and worksheets in the morning. Their afternoons are now more flexible, and they are once again able to spend time on other non-academic activities such as gardening. The sponsored kids recently planted pechay (Chinese cabbage) and kailan (Chinese broccoli) in cut-out recycled milk boxes filled with garden soil. In less than a week, the seedlings have already grown and now the plant boxes are almost filled with tiny leaves. They also transferred into larger containers the fruit-bearing trees which they have planted earlier this year. In the coming years, they will be able to harvest and enjoy fresh avocados, papayas, mangoes, chicos, and duhat (Java plum). May the work of their hands bless the land that we live in.
At the Family Care Center, the older kids were able to take breaks from their learning modules and online research through music. This month, they started learning how to play the acoustic guitar and the cajon (box drum) and will continue to do so once every week. It’s the first time they tried to play these instruments but they were able to learn a couple of basic guitar chords and drum beats in just a few hours! May their voices and their music comfort hearts and souls that need healing.
Even though face-to-face classes are not in place, these children’s school teachers still report to their respective schools from Mondays through Fridays to make sure that learning materials are prepared and turned over to the parents and guardians of their students. We want to thank these hardworking teachers and wish them good health! We hope that our donation of face masks delivered to the schools by the Rise Above team will give them extra protection in their daily trips and interactions.
Together we can make a difference!
The students and the Rise Above team would like to extend a big THANK YOU to you, the children’s sponsors, for the never-ending support towards their education, especially in this difficult time of adjustment. Despite the pandemic, they still have the opportunity to pursue their studies and their dreams because of people like you.
To know more about the Educational Sponsorship Program, you can check this link and share this with families and friends who would also like to make a difference in the lives of more children whose families have little or no means of sending them to school.
You can also read more about other projects of the Foundation by visiting our website.