It was a homecoming of sorts for me when I was invited to conduct a campus journalism training in Isabela on Jan. 19.
The invitation was extended by Ma’am Maribeth Tolentino, adviser of the student publication of Isabela National High School.
I consider Isabela as the first home of my journalism trainings for school-based writers as I as I conducted most of the early years of my regular campus journalism education activities in the town.
Annually, I had been invited to share my expertise with students and their advisers for more than 15 years, first by then principal and eventual district supervisor, Ma’am Lily Bayona and later by advisers Ma’am Norma Mallorca, an award- winning writing mentor, and her successor, Lalaine Alcallaga.
The trainings lasted until the pre-pandemic period. It was the first time in January that I made the trip to the town since the resumption of face-to-face schools press conferences after I had stroke almost four years ago.
That recent trip brought recollections of the scores of young writers then who have made their marks in campus journalism and the communications media. Among them were the Teorima siblings, the Panzo and Panganiban sisters, the Laureano siblings and a host of others who are now full-fledged professionals, including Francis Ryan Pabiania, who has been part of training team. Francis Ryan’s sister, Frances Marie, who is currently undergoing Nursing studies in Germany, was a consistent writing winner, too. And many others.
Among my recent reconnections was with former INHS editor Romaine Gabriel Gentalada, who first attended my training while in the third grade at Isabela East ES.
Romaine, a licensed chemical engineer, recently took his oath of office as a medical doctor after passing the physicians’ licensure exam last year.
Doc Romaine recently told me that the writing skills he developed through the trainings he attended have proved very useful in his university studies and eventual professional life.
Encouraging, too, was the presence of many parents, who have shown their support to their children in their journalism journey starting as early as the second or third grade, like doc Romaine before.
One of the interactive participants was Isabela-West third grader Liam Drake Panzo, who is mentored by Ma’am Gladys Lim. For someone his age, the questions he asked and the views he shared in breakout sessions were remarkable. And he wants to be a column writer, his Aunt Therese, a champion copyreader told me.
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Like in the past, the recent training was open to various elementary and high schools in the town. About 100 students and advisers attended the training held at Isabela 2 Central School.
Sir Vicvan Callao, adviser of the Isabela 2 Central publication, said participants came from his school, Isabela East ES, Isabela West ES, Tinongan ES, Sikatuna ES, San Agustin ES, Isabela NHS and La Consolacion College Isabela.
A highlight in the opening program was the short inspirational video-recorded message of my former St. La Salle student, Karla Panganiban, who started attending my Isabela trainings when she was in the second grade and continued doing so until she completed her high school education.
Karla encouraged participants to maximize their learning as she also underscored that their writing skills will be valuable in whatever future careers they pursue just like what she realized in her present job.
Karla, an award-winning writer during her student days, is currently holding a communications job with a top technology corporation in Taiwan, where she earned with the highest honors her Master in Global Business Administration degree.
It was such a sentimental and rejuvenating trip to the town, where my campus journalism education activities flourished, shaping the lives of boys and girls who have grown to become productive citizens of the world.
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Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6) | NWI
