Grade School Outreach
Rationale
• The Grade School Unit tries to develop a more sustained program of social involvement that would cover, not just a Christmas Drive, but more interaction with other children and other sectors of society.
• Social involvement would mean that the “poor” we freely speak about have a face and a history that they can share with us.
• Social involvement is based on a child’s concept of fullness of life and attitude that we, too, can learn and receive from those who have less.
The Program
• The outreach program tries to bring the students at least to a working knowledge of different sectors of the less fortunate.
• As the students go from grade to grade, they would have met different sectors of the poor. They either go to the area or school or the poor have their activity in SSC.
The Outreach Activities of students (Pre-Kinder – Grade 6), faculty and administrators
• Mass offering of slippers during the Feastday of St. Benedict for the children of Marihatag, Surigao del Sur and Tacloban City. (July)
• Grade 2 and 5 interaction with the Aetas from Bgy. Sapang Bato, Pampanga during Earth Day (October)
• Trick or Treat of Kinder students – instead of candies, the different offices they visited gave them school supplies for the children of Zamboanga (October)
• Collection, packing of goods for calamity victims by the Junior Benedictine Volunteers
• “Handog Mula Sa Grade School” – annual interaction with the children from different adopted communities (Santissima Trinidad Parish,GK Onyx, Bgy. 728, 729, 730, SKPP-Pandacan, GK Baseco, GK Napindan, Taguig (December)
• Tindog, Tacloban! A Benefit Show held last Dec. 3, 2013 (SSC Children’s and Teachers’ Theater and Student Activity – Performing Arts Club)
• Donation of books and school supplies to Binatagan and Guinobatan Elementary Schools in Albay, San Joaquin Community and Sogod SPED Schools in Leyte (May 2014)
• Donation of school supplies to the children in Bohol
• Donation of assorted goods to farmers from Leyte
• Witnessed the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing in Tanauan II Central Elementary School in Leyte; giving of school supplies to students and instructional materials to teachers
• Donation of 4 boats to the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation (Zamboanga) – all boats are now being used to transport children to and from school and for livelihood purposes for the parents
• GSUPA Toys for Peace for the children in Zamboanga
• Rummage Sale by the Grade School Faculty Club (May)
High School Outreach
Tanggapan ng Kalinga
The High School Outreach or Tanggapan ng Kalinga (TK) is the social arm of the unit that coordinates all socially-oriented projects and activities to the identified adopted communities of the institution. Its activities are geared towards promoting a just, equitable, and humane society, in accordance with the vision-mission and goals of the institution and in keeping with the theme for the school year “Christ-centered Leaders: Renewing our Culture, Revitalizing our Community, Restoring the Integrity of Mother Earth with joy and hope”
The Outreach Program aims to encourage the participation of the high school community (students, parents, teachers, staff, personnel and alumnae) in social development work and collaborate with community-based organizations and institutions in their efforts to promote a just, loving, equitable, and humane society. It has three major components – volunteer formation, education and advocacy and special activities.
Under the Volunteer Formation program, the community is provided with opportunities to build a more systematic consciousness for a social development work among the members of the community through exposure trips and interaction with the different sectors of society especially the adopted communities of the unit, training seminars and workshops for the Tanggapan ng Kalinga (TK) Student Core and community volunteers, orientations and immersions.
Education and Advocacy Program seeks to encourage members of the high school community to take positive action towards pressing issues facing our society today. The unit regularly conducts its Supplementary Education Program (SEP) to the four barangays of Santissima Trinidad Parish every Friday and Saturday. Students enrolled under this program are assisted through tutorial lessons, liturgical services and other educational activities. Aside from SEP, high school students are also given a chance to be part of a focused – group discussion known as Kulandungan done quarterly. In addition, a member of the TK core is tasked to write an article regarding the activities of the office and is then published under Kalatas section in the unit’s newspaper – Blue Flame.
The Special Activities is an extension of the program which answers to the needs of the school and larger communities. These activities are medical missions, relief operations, tree planting, fund-raising activities, and gift-giving among others.
To fully attain the goals and objectives of the office, the activities for this year is designed to intensify the sense of volunteerism among the members of the high school community.
College Outreach Center
Vision
The College Outreach Center of St. Scholastica’s College, Manila envisions itself as one community synergized for the mission of the whole school in molding our students as agents of social change serving and reaching out in mutual support to enhance the dignity of life of our needy brothers and sisters.
Mission
TO MOVE TOWARD THIS VISION, WE UPHOLD THE FOLLOWING:
– Promotion of collaboration among the various stakeholders of the College Outreach Center.
– Consistent efforts to lead the college unit in critical awareness of current social realities and transformative action
– Regular presence and immersion among partner communities, institutions and underprivileged members of the society.
Goal
– To expose the students to the need of the less privilege and develop in them the capacity to mobilize their inert strength toward empowerment.
– To develop formation programs that will raise competencies and qualitative traits of students and lay volunteers as agent of social change.
– To organize networking among COC partners and association on all levels.
In particular, the COC takes care of the following:
1. National Service Training Program (NSTP)
The National Service Training Program(NSTP) is a 3-units co-curricular subject offered every semester to all college first year students. It falls under the Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS) component of CHED.
Part of the services rendered by the program for the students is exposure/immersion activities and community catechetical instructions to extension communities. With careful considerations, NSTP module was studied and adjustments were made accordingly.
2. Lay Apostolate (LA)
The Lay Apostolate Program is a 4-unit required course that is divided into LA1 and LA2 and taken by students in their second year. The LA program creates opportunities where students can deepen their awareness of contemporary social issues through the direct interaction and service to the marginalized sectors of society. Services are in the form of tutorial to the public school students, orphanages, non-government organizations and private institutions.
3. Benedictine Volunteer Program (BVP)
In keeping with the school’s thrust of social concern and involvement, St. Scholastica’s College opened a volunteer program in 1996. It is a support program that provides volunteer assistance to various institutions and community–based organizations.
The program provides the matching and bridging of the technical expertise with need through volunteerism. Individuals and groups share their talents, skills, and other resources with the different institutions and communities in need of this particular expertise. In the process, there is transference, improvement, sustained development, and transformation in both the volunteers and the institutions and the communities availing these services.
BVP Services
Volunteer Formation – This nurtures the volunteers passion and vocation in serving various institutions and community–based organization of BVP through formation program.
Community Services – BVP offers community services program divided into three programs, namely: SHARE-A-YEAR PROGRAM, SHORT-TERM VOLUNTEER PROGRAM and INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER PROGRAM.
The Share-A-Year program provides an option for new graduates/young professionals as well as alumnae to render a year’s service to any institution or community-based organization connected with BVP to serve for one year program. Under this program, volunteer can serve either as teachers, counselors, program staff or community workers/organizers in socio-pastoral centers. Volunteers who opt for one-year volunteer stint receive minimum monthly allowance and free board and lodging.
Lastly, the International Volunteer Program sends volunteers to foreign countries where they can assist the Benedictine Sisters in their various apostolates.