‘The Bridge’

Among Conchita Razon’s children, it isn’t just pop idol Martin Nievera who’s likely to make the most prominent dent on the next generation. Martin’s eldest half sister Tere del Rosario could well be just as influential as the Concert King.

You see, Tere is a schoolteacher, one who "performs" before impressionable pre-schoolers. In a way, like Martin, she has to keep her audiences enthralled, glued to their seats. She, too, revels in applause, in the undivided attention of people who hang on to her every word. She makes sure they enjoy watching her and being with her and her fellow teachers. And when the members of her audience walk out of her school with a song in their hearts, ready to face the world because of what she has done for them, she takes a bow.

Tere is the directress of The Bridge School, an international early childhood learning center on Cairo Street in BF Parañaque. The school opened in 2001 with eight students. The following year, enrollment more than doubled, just by word of mouth.

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"My Mom was my first pre-school teacher. Her school didn’t even have a name. At that time, she just wanted to make sure my brother Luigi, my sister Gina and I had a good solid foundation. She gathered her friends’ kids (the Ugartes, Genatos, Muhlfelds, Elizaldes, Jordanas). They were just so eager to send their kids to her," recalls Tere, a mother of three. Conchita opened her pre-school in her parents’ house in San Juan

And now, about four decades later, it is Tere’s turn. "My family has always valued education. We believe that we can leave them money, cars, property… but all these can be taken away from them later on by different factors. But a good, education, no one can take away."

So Tere met with her daughter Katrina (who will soon be graduating with a degree in Childhood Education from Mills College in Oakland), brothers Luigi and Martin, sister Gina and Luigi’s daughters Michelle and Denise. "We decided what a fitting tribute to our Mom to continue her pre-school legacy in today’s world, this time, run by her children and grandchildren. We thought this would be the best way to ‘give back’ to others what we have been blessed with," she reveals.

What an enduring Mother’s Day gift!

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Tere believes that the best way to make a child learn, is to make him enjoy school. At The Bridge, according to Tere, the kids enjoy going to school so much they refuse to stay home even if there is a typhoon and classes have been suspended!

"Their moms call me up so I could explain to the kids myself that there really aren’t any classes," laughs Tere. The importance of making children like school was impressed upon her in the US, where Tere, her husband and their three kids lived for almost 20 years. Her kids actually looked forward to school at the Boca Raton Academy (now the Pinecrest School) in Boca Raton, Florida. Tere was such a hands-on mom she went to school with her kids and worked in the early childhood department of their school.

"It was my experience in this pilot program that taught me more than all my years in school about children and their early education. I was eager to bring this knowledge back to Manila, someday," she recalls. The Del Rosarios returned to Manila in 1997. Four years later, she built her Bridge.

For Tere, who majored in Education and English at the Assumption Convent, the formula for success is simple.

"Make children taste success, and they will succeed many times after. Success is the best motivator. A child will tell himself, ‘I did this before, I could do it again.’ And he will, whether it means being able to read a new word or write another sentence. Abilities are built on that."

Success will make a child confident, and a confident child is able not just to cope with school and work – he is equipped to cope with life.

"With confidence and an eagerness to try new things, learn new things, a child then becomes completely ‘teachable’. You can teach him anything!" she swears.

She named her school, which stands on a 1,200 sq. m. property (500 meters of which is pure playground), "The Brdidge" because she believes education is all about "connecting."

"We believe that for education to be effective it must be relevant and connected to life experiences," she says. "A bridge connects. The Bridge connects the child’s prior learning, prior experiences to school experiences."

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The Bridge’s other teachers are Michelle Tabuena, Sheila Sarmiento, Roxanne Gustilo, Diane Quisumbing and Denise Tabuena. Its educational consultant is Maricar Gustilo de Ocampo. The school is in a quiet, gated community, and all classrooms are air-conditioned. Summer camp is now ongoing at the school (for inquiries, call 826-5777 or 0918-9977642.)

Running in the family

With their ability to distinguish professional matters from personal ones, the founding family behind the Active Group of Companies proves that working closely with your next-of-kin is all relative.

Families and friends engaged in business together know all too well that the line between the boardroom and the dining room is a slim, almost non-existent one. Not so for the founding family behind the Active Group of Companies. "There’s definitely a lot of professional differences. But work is work and family is family," assures Antonio "Toti" Turalba Jr., chief operating officer, director and most recently president of the fully-integrated, full-service real estate conglomerate set up by his parents, Antonio "Tony" Turalba Sr. and Maria Cristina Valera Turalba more than 30 years ago. "We can argue in meetings but after that, we can go out and talk about other things over lunch. Our opinions about work don’t affect us personally."

Glowing resumés reveal that Toti and his younger sisters Antonella Turalba and Anjeanette Turalba-Fuentebella are more than heir apparents of a company responsible for premium property developments as well as quality medium-cost subdivision projects. As Active Group’s director and executive vice president, Antonella holds Master’s Degree in Business Administration and Real Estate Development from the University of Southern California. Meanwhile, fellow Active Group director Anjeanette is, like her dad and brother, a licensed architect with a degree from the University of the Philippines. As for Toti, following the senior Turalba to site inspections and serious business transactions since he was a child is an experience he equates to "a one-on-one MBA," he grins. "My learning curve was pretty long."

Long enough to leave a lasting impression on the company’s young Turks. "Think ahead of others; plan ahead; work hard, play hard, pray hard; and work not only for your own good but for others’ benefit as well" are lessons which Anjeanette picked up from her parents and implements in the office. And while Toti took after his father’s ability to determine a project’s cost on sight, it’s his dad’s sincerity that has influenced him the most. "If you say something to your customers and your employees, you must promise it and give it," he says. "That has given me a lot of humility."

For now, leading the company through turbulent real estate times is an immediate concern for the Active Group’s second generation, as is stepping out of the formidable shadows cast by mom and dad. Toti and Anjeanette are clearly up for such challenges. "I expect more output from family because people will always look at you and wonder if you got to where you are by merit or by name," declares the Active Group president. "But that will show anyway, so I’m not in a rush. I’d rather work and let people decide if I’m here because I’m the son – or I’m better!"

(You may e-mail me at [email protected])