Heroes in everyone

CEBU, Philippines - We always have our favorite heroes. My generation has the members of the Justice League like Superman, Batman, Wonderwoman and company for heroes. We love them because of their

superpowers. They give bad people a dose of their own medicine. Our heroes can fly, can bend iron fences, parry bullets, can go through walls and hop from building to building. But we also learned from Spiderman that with great power comes great responsibility.

There are heroes within our midst, too. Real people we have not given a close look at because they are just ordinary people. However, it is this ordinariness that makes them extraordinary. Just like six Aboitizland employees working for the Pristina North project in Tawason, Mandaue City who serve as volunteer teachers at the Don Calixto C. Yongco Sr. Elementary School.

Ms. Mary Jean Codiñera, school principal, said that through the Philippine Elementary Learning Competency program, volunteer teachers Gee Ann Jugan, Jypsie Cullano, Cherryl Desucatan, Mary Ann Ramirez and Rea Theresa Fontanosa with their team leader/community relations officer Corazon “Tita Cori” Baybay conduct group dynamics to enhance peer appreciation and perception among pupils. This is in compliance with a Department of Education memorandum on the conduct of a Fun Learning Day wherein the private sector is allowed to assist public school teachers in teaching Mathematics, English, Science and special or enhanced learning sessions for Music, Arts, Practical Education, and even First Aid/Rescue/Safety with the help of the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation.

Codiñera said that film showings and PowerPoint presentations arouse the interest and class participation of most kids. “Wala man god ta ani nga mga facilities. We’re so glad for the assistance of Aboitizland in terms of service and equipment. With digital technology familiar to most of the children, we give them a wider and deeper perspective of their everyday lessons to become more competitive and prepared for the next level,” she said.

It was learned from Tita Cori that the volunteer service is part of Aboitizland’s Hero Program which seeks to bring out the hero in every child and the hero in every volunteer.

For the seven-month program, the volunteer teachers report for class discussions and group dynamics after their regular work - or from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays.

From them, Grade 6 pupils Clint James Hortelano, Miralee Borbajo and Rona Marie Tuason learned of the circulatory system, the organs involved and their respective functions. In their journals, the children have recorded pulse rates when the body is in relaxation and after jogging and have compared the beats in seconds and per minute.

Tuason wrote: “Dear Heart, I will always take care of you. Thank you for your beating and for cleaning my body of its waste.”

Borbajo vowed to “eat a balanced diet as the heart is essential in pumping blood”, while Hortelano penned: “I promise to you Heart that I won’t take any drugs or any bad food because I like to live long. I will eat food from the three basic food groups only to make you, Heart, healthy and strong. I thank God for giving me a Heart to love my family.”

The Don Calixto C. Yongco Sr. Elementary School is an adopted school of Aboitizland. After the school received a library kit for its Book Club, it is now preparing for the turnover of a single storey-single classroom building for the use of pupils in preparatory school who are utilizing the stage as temporary classroom.