Excitement and anticipation envelop me as I look forward to the realization of a long- time dream: bringing the ‘gospel’ of journalism to the education sector in my hometown, Cauayan.
It was in Cauayan, where the seed of journalism and the love for reading (or was I pretending to read at that tender age!) newspapers and magazines began to sprout.
As early as 4 years old, I was told by my parents, I started poring over publications my father subscribed to.
These included a. daily newspaper (Manila Times). The paper came ‘fresh’ at 6 p.m., about 10 hours after it was flown from Manila to Bacolod City as it was delivered by the driver of the last passenger bus plying the southern route.
The magazines my father got through the post office included “Free World”, published by the U.S. Information Services, and the Christian publications – The Beacon (U.S.) and The Prairie Overcomer (Canada), among others.
The large photos in Free World had an added appeal to my young mind then, as they mentally transported me to the universe beyond the realm of my remote hometown.
That love for reading newspapers and magazines spurred the wonder of how they are made. “One day, I’ll write for newspapers and magazines and maybe establish one,” I remember telling myself during grade school days while going over the day-old newspaper in our home.
That desire to write gained fruition when I was chosen as editor of our high school paper, “Sea Breeze” despite my then limited grasp of writing techniques. Later, at the university, I became a staff member since freshman and later rose to the editor-in-chief’s position of the CPU ‘Central Echo’, which served as my springboard for a professional career in information work later highlighted by a journalism graduate fellowship.
With such experiences, I eventually became an editor of several dailies and had the opportunity to continue until today a career both in news-magazine work and journalism education.
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It is the realization of the promise of spreading the word about the value and exercise of journalism that has kept me excited in the past days.
On Oct. 19, the decades-long dream will be realized when my team and I will conduct the first-ever town-wide Journalism training for basic education editors and school paper advisers in Cauayan.
Through the training, schools will be encouraged to activate and strengthen student publications in keeping with Republic Act 7079, or the Campus Journalism Act, and use them as platforms to inform, entertain, educate and shape community thought and, at the same time, reach members of the community, too, as campus newspapers reach confines beyond the gates of the school.
Thus we have chosen the theme, “Strengthening Communities through Campus Journalism” to highlight the potentials and power of the press.
The training is supported by Cauayan Mayor John Rey Tabujara and is hosted and sponsored by Tuyom National High School with the assistance of Quipper Learning System.
I am grateful to TNHS Principal Milrose Rubi and school paper adviser Wilvah Rapha Colimbo-Necesito for taking the plunge with me in pioneering the town-wide Journalism training, particularly in establishing and strengthening the DepEd Journalism Program in the Cauayan.
Ma’am Rubi’s commitment and that of her faculty and staff serves as an assurance of the success of the training, which, otherwise would not be possible, considering the expanse of the Cauayan school sector – from the remotest villages in the mountains, down to the hills, lowlands and coasts of the town.
I understand that Ma’am Riza Gea, Journalism program in-charge of the Division of Negros Occidental, is showing her support with her presence on Oct. 19.
I’d like to think that through this initiative, TNHS, is establishing itself as a livewire and a center of campus journalism education in southern Negros.
My sincerest thanks, too, to Mayor John Rey Tabujara, who values the role of information in the development of communities, especially in remote areas.
The same appreciation is extended for the support of Quipper, a Learning Management System, through Western Visayas Area Manager Mark Jenel Magdato, who has been our partner starting early this year, in promoting campus journalism, particularly to private schools in southern Negros.
We are looking to the fruitful outcome of this pioneering initiative.
Thank you, Lord, for another opportunity and occasion to share the knowledge and skills that You have given.
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1) | NWI
