The Beads, June-July 2014 by The Beads

Back to School Special Page 2 News: SG spearheads ‘Divergent’-themed LTS Page 4 Editorial: Solving for x Page 6 Feature: On loom bands Page 8 Sports: HRC Boys’ Volleyball Team Profile VOLUME II, NO. 2 - JUNE-JULY 2014

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By Steven Ilagan In the morning of Monday, June 9, Holy Rosary College once again opened its gates as parents and students came rushing in for the first time as school year 2014-2015 began. The first two days of school were dedicated in orienting the students with respect to the subjects that they will be taking up for the year and their corresponding teachers. An exception to this rule were the Grade 7 students who were scheduled for a set of diagnostic sectioning examinations during the first day, after which their orientation process went ahead. The advisers for each class spearheaded the orientation process. Continued on page 2

BACK TO SCHOOL. Students and parents make the long walk to classrooms during the first day of school. PHOTO BY ALORRAH PETRAS

By Mara Dulog

By Steven Ilagan

It is now the third year since the implementation of the K to 12 program. Only one more year to go before all year levels in all high schools will be subjected to the curriculum. While the Philippine government has stated that this will be beneficiary to us in the long run, it is still noted that current fourth year students and their parents have reportedly expressed relief into not being included in the curriculum. Alyssa Malapitan, a student of Fourth Year Newton, has stated that while she approves of K to 12 itself, she and her family are happy that she had not been included in the program’s domain. “You don’t exactly grow money on trees,” saids Malapitan. “Studying high school for two more years is going to be a serious drain”.

Albert John Patupat of Grade 9 Priestley was one of three Filipino number crunchers that achieved a mark that was a point away from the perfect score in the international Fryer Contest last April 17, The Fryer contest is a Grade 9 math challenge run by the Center of Education in Mathematics and Computing (CEMC) of the University of Waterloo, Canada. It is an opportunity for students to write fullsolutions for problems, and it is one of the fun ways to develop mathematical problem solving skills through a written mathematical activity, as stated by the CEMC website. The Fryer contest is composed of four questions with multiple sub-questions requiring either short answers or full solutions. The perfect score is 40 marks

Continued on page 3

By Vanessa Tapay The Student Government and the Pupil Government of Holy Rosary College conducted the annual Leadership Training Seminar (LTS) at the Audio Visual Room (AVR) last May 27-30. The seminar's theme was "Divergent", a movie based on the novel of the same name by Veronica Roth. On the first day, the participants were divided into groups. Each group was given time to get to know each other while making their own flag and chant. The day was highlighted by former SG Mayor Hilarion Yanza discussing what to think about when making decisions. The second day was highlighted by the "water games", wherein the groups should capture the flags of other groups while keeping their "lives", or tissues, safe, was held in the afternoon. The participants were given water guns and water balloons to aim at the "lives" of their opponents. "The purpose of this activity is to train the students to strategize with their groupmates by protecting each other in order to win," said SG Vice Mayor Reginald Lunar. On the third day, each group was given a genre for their skit for them to perform in the last day of the seminar. Afterwards, De Troz along with Lunar conducted a discussion on how to be an effective leader. The first part of the amazing race was held in the afternoon in which each group has to pass into five different stations. On the fourth day, school administrator Ms. Myla Pauline Pecson discussed how to organize a fundraising event and made the participants plan their own fund-raising strategies. After the last part of the Amazing Race, the groups then performed their skit. After their performance, the participants were given candles for them

PHOTO BY ALORRAH PETRAS

to exchange with others while saying "I value you" during the fellowship activity. The SG was satisfied with how the event turned out overall. "There were a lot of difficulties during the event. But in my view and as my classmates say, 'It was very successful,' and we are very thankful for that" said Lunar. â&#x2013;

By Rollan Parakikay The HRC Debate Society (DebSoc) conducted its three-day debate seminar in the Audio Visual Room on June 25-27. A total of 32 students who want to develop their debating and public speaking skills attended the said seminar. During the first day, DebSoc veterans lectured on the roles of each speaker. Sharlotte Sigua, the guest speaker and an alumnae debater, also shared her experiences in debating. The next day, members of the Parliament, the University of the Philippines-Los Banos Debate Soci-

ety, gave an in-depth lecture about time management, speech construction, creating good arguments and judging a debate. During the third day, the participant themselves engaged in debates with the members of the Parliament acting as judges. After the deliberations, the Parliament discussed the flow and main ideas of the debates. "I learned that being a debater is difficult because one needs to think critically while even under pressure," Steven Ilagan, one of the participants, commented. â&#x2013;

The K to 12 Program covers Kindergarten and 12 years of basic education to provide sufficient time for mastery of concepts and skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare graduates for tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship.

INFOGRAPHIC FROM GOV.PH from Page 1

Ms. Laarni Gomez, a Chemistry teacher in the high school department who currently has two children under the K to 12 system, shares this opinion. “I’ve got two children, both of whom are included in the program. It’s going to be a hassle to us parents,” she said. However, Grade 9 student Mariah Musni sings a different tune. Upon being asked if she disapproves of being included in the K to 12 program, Musni refrom Page 1

which are based on the form and style of presentation of the full solutions and answers. The students have 75 minutes to answer the test. While there were seven other number crunchers from Troy, Michigan, the other Filipino number crunchers were Kyle Patrick Dulay of Philippine Science High PATUPAT School - Main Campus, and Terrence Brian Tsai of Chiang Kai Shek College. The other Filipino math wizards in the honor roll of the Fryer Contest were Clyde Wesley Ang of Chiang Kai Shek College, Luke Matthews Bernardo of Philadelphia High School, Shaquille Wyan Que and Adam Christopher Chan of Grace Christian College, Christopher Banzon of Makati Science High School, Alyana Zoie Chua of MGC New Life Christian Academy, Miko Johnson Co of St. Stephen’s High School, Matthew Angelo Isidro of St. Jude Catholic School, Raphael Villaluz of Philippine Science High School – Main, Jaymi Mae Ching of Jubilee Christian Academy, John Aries Ceazar Hingan of San Beda College – Alabang, and Kenneth Shi of Philippine Cultural College Caloocan. In the final tally, the Philippines ranked second based on the average score of the Filipino team in the Fryer Contest. ■

plied, “No, I’m happy to be included. It could be hard on us for a while, but it will work out in the future.” While recent reports show what could be the result of “a rushed implementation” of the program, such as issues regarding Filipino subjects being no longer required and college professors potentially lose their jobs at the absence of college freshmen for two years, Musni and most Rosarian students remain hopeful for a positive outcome in the end. ■ from Page 1

After two days of classroom-only activities, the entire Rosarian community convened at the beginning of the third day with the very first general assembly of the school year held at the HRC Gymnasium. Its purpose was to acquaint new students with new activities including a new fixture which involves assigned sections’ presentation of “Virtues of the Week” every week. The new set of Student Government (SG) and Pupil Government (PG) officers were also introduced. After the Independence Day holiday. the school’s opening week continued on June 13 with the first full day of regular classes highlighted by the first mass of the school year. The second general assembly held on June 16 featured a program which included performances from Mara Dulog who led the doxology, Matthew Malabuyoc who led the singing of the national anthem, and Alyssa Manalang who performed her own rendition of the Rosarian Hymn. Additional song and dance numbers were courtesy of Malabuyoc, the HRC Dance Company, Paulynn Cantos, and the Lights On Band. Introductions occupied the rest of the program. Mr. Gil Pambid, HRC Human Resources Officer, formally welcomed the students to the new school year. Afterwards, assistant principals Mr. Ruben Lambino and Ms. Lourdes Lucino led the introductions for the high school and elementary faculty, respectively. ■

Considering this article mostly contains stuff about the latest news on the national education, it would not hurt to put a little Math on it. Everyone knows that the K to 12 has been implemented in our school much to everyone’s dismay but knowing what the future holds for this curriculum is like a complicated Math problem like K + 12 = X wherein X is the unknown. Since 2011, the “k to twelve” or K to 12 curriculum has been gingerly implemented by the Department of Education to help students to get better qualities of education than the old and former system of education in the Philippines. This system adds two years to the former system so that students will receive more advanced learning and be more competitive around the countries in the world, because most countries follow this curriculum because it is better than the basic 10 year school system. The system also aims to make a student “job -ready” despite of being a minor or below 18 years of age. The added school years also encourage students to get ready for college especially if they already had chosen their desired courses they will take in college. All in all, the K to 12 proves to have a good side. Since the K to 12 has its positive side, now the not-so-good sides of the system. First up, many students want to graduate so hard that they exert effort on studying to make it to graduation and have a carefree life in college but due to the added two years of the K to 12, students may have to wait some little more time before they finish their studies and make it up to their career. Students will also increase the drop-out rate because of the extra two years. Increased tuition fee and more expenses to the parents of the student may have been an issue due to the added years for studying in school. College professors may also lose their jobs because the first batches of K to 12 students are still in the senior high school. Some schools will also have no time building for the extended facilities and lack of faculties to handle for the Grade 11-12 students. Overall, we need better education, not more years of education. In conclusion, looking at the pros and cons of this system, it is clear to say that the new education curriculum has not yet been thoroughly examined. As students ourselves, we believe that the DepEd is making a haste on establishing the system and therefore, not making a great action to create a comprehensive curriculum that will enable the education in this country to progress as rapidly as they anticipated before they signed the K to 12.

Looking at the status-quo, it is too late to change the curriculum. Having been implemented two years ago, the effects of this system has taken on the students and the school; therefore, it is too consequential to eliminate the K to 12. However, we recommend that the DepEd and even the CHED focus more on the curriculum and the stockholders under it. Considering not all people may be able to afford the standards of the old curriculum much less of the K to 12 curriculum, we recommend that they support these underprivileged families We also suggest that the CHED also help those private colleges who will suffer from high drop-out rates within the next two years and that we suggest that the government solve the high unemployment rate because not all students will be able to afford a college tuition in a few or so years because they will most probably be taking on vocational work. When we were ending this article, we realized that we are nowhere near to solving the value of x. Added the fact that the one who wrote this sentence cannot solve a math equation fast enough even if his/ her life depended on it, there are too many variables to consider. Therefore, the only to find out is to see how it plays out four years later. ■

The Official Student Publication of Holy Rosary College of Santa Rosa, Laguna

Volume II Number 2

June-July 2014

John Loyd B. De Troz EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Steven V. Ilagan

Patricia A. Bautista

NEWS EDITOR

FEATURES EDITOR

Kim Kenneth S. Alinsod

John Adolf T. Sancho

SPORTS EDITOR

ILLUSTRATIONS EDITOR

Reginald A. Lunar

Danielle Gwyn L. Eligue

LAYOUT EDITOR

WEB DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Czethina Joy A. Belen FINANCE OFFICER

NEWS Mara Luiza Dulog, Rollan Paul Parakikay, Vanessa Tapay FEATURES Rey Matthew Malabuyoc, Ria Mae Villena OPINION Shamerry Adato, Fiona Faye Malapitan PHOTOS Alorrah Jaine Petras ILLUSTRATIONS Gian Ludvig Reyes COPY AND LAYOUT Albert John Patupat, Bryan Eric Saban

Verlin A. Entena

Marietta D. Bartolazo

ADVISER

SCHOOL DIRECTRESS

Pandemonium SHAMERRY ADATO sfadato@gmail.com

Back then, I used to be quite shy. Most of my elementary days wer spent trying to find ways to defy the laws of science and turning myself invisible so that everyone will cease to notice me. However, all that changed when I entered high school. On the first day, I forced myself to change. I dared myself to make a first impression in front of the whole by being the first one to speak up and luckily, it did not end up horribly. Now looking back on that same day three years later, I realized how much I gained with just that one first impression. Little by little, I started to speak until to the point wherein people will actually talk me into speaking up front. I then thought to myself: That is a first. People may say first impressions are not that important but in my opinion, some are worth noticing while some are not so much. It may not be worth remembering the first time you slipped whilst entering your room on the first day or how you spilled your drink and ended up looking as though you peed your pants in front of the whole school; however, first impressions have a huge impact on not just the people around you but also yourself. In my opinion, the first impression serves as some kind of an initiative for something new. It makes us do new things for the first time without consciously knowing that we are doing it in the first place, may it be good or bad or totally embarrassing. On the other hand, first impressions that backfire may turn out to be helpful in the end because considering the fact that these kinds of impressions are hard to erase from memory, they will always serve as awful reminders to never do them again. Basically, first impressions are either good or bad depending on the people you are trying to impress on, whether it is yourself, your new teachers, or total strangers. All in all, first impressions are at the very least something you will be able to remember a few years later and throw back on. Somehow making yourself think: That is a first. ■

Send in your letters via e-mail to hrcbeads@gmail.com

EDITORIAL CARTOON by Gian Reyes

Structures FIONA FAYE MALAPITAN fionamalapitan_14@yahoo.com

Every student has his or her first day of the school year but others make it some sort of a reunion to see their friends and classmates or even meet their new teachers. The Philippines is one of the countries in the world which students start their school year in June. However, the Department of Education is faced with making the decision whether or not to move the start of their school year sometime in August or September because these months have at least a lesser chance of suspensions due to heavy rains and typhoons, which are unlike months of June and July. For Filipino students and teachers, making the new school start month may affect their learning and teaching cycle due to the new adjustments. As the start of the school year changes, the end of the year also changes. When this happens, it means that we will have classes on April which is a month for Holy Week, and also one of the most sizzling months of the year. Students may have issues of prolonging their school years and making them a few months longer after they graduate. If the change pushes through, students will have an extended vacation for a year but they will also have an “extended” school year. The extended vacation may be fun but they should consider of having a few summer classes so they can easily recall of what they have learned. Otherwise, if students and teachers will have an extended school year, they might get stressed and tired of the endless studying in school. Changing the school year is easy but adjusting to it, is hard because it affects everyone in the society. Given the fact that universities have taken the lead, maybe we should get ready for the inevitable.■

Take a peek at what it feels like to be a transferee student during the first days of school.

PHOTO BY JOHN LOYD DE TROZ

By Matthew Malabuyoc Walking into the entrance of my new school for the first time, it was really tense. I didn’t know what to expect and I had no idea about the environment of the school and how people interact with other people in the campus. I went upstairs to look for the classroom I’d be in. As I roamed around the corridors of the school, it felt like students from all the classrooms I had passed by were all keeping a keen eye at me. I was really nervous during that time. When I finally found the classroom I’d be in for a whole year, the first thing I did was to open the door. I saw students sitting on their chairs chatting with the people beside them. The noise of the students became silence when they sensed my presence standing beside the door of the classroom. I felt really nervous when I went inside the room to find an unoccupied seat. I found a seat at the back and sat there. Quietly, I observed the students around me. I felt isolated because I couldn’t relate to what they were talking about and I wondered if I can become friends with them. A few moments passed, then the teacher came inside the room and explained the school rules and

what we are going to do for the everyday classes. During the discussion, I thought about how I can adjust to the new school policies and how I can practice certain cultures of my new school that the school I last attended didn’t have. Our teacher started discussing lessons. During the discussion of lessons, I felt fear. I thought that the way of teaching in my new school is much harder than the last school I attended. I was so nervous about the new challenges my new school will give me in a year’s time. While the teacher discussed some lessons, I looked around. I got scared thinking that my classmates around me were bullies, but that’s only a weird hypothesis about people I don’t know. I hope that I’m able to have good friends in my new school. Anyway, although I’m a transfer student, I know that I should able to adapt quickly in my new school. I think that I was just too nervous but I should loo forward to new things. As a transfer student I am scared about the new places, faces, and cultures, but then again I’m a transferee. Maybe it’s only natural. Instead of basking in uncertainty, I should just enjoy the ride. ■

PHOTO FROM GROUPON.COM.AU

By Ria Villena Just this summer there emerged a new trend of fashion accessories for most teens. The Loom Bands. They are easy to make and you can be very creative by making several designs from different-colored bands. It may seem to be something that is new to us but this used to be an old hobby of girls and even young boys that make their long weekends and vacations to express creativity. Yes, the loom band trend is an old-fashioned project making its way to a new generation of people. Its revival may just be a product of another boring summer for some teens and teenagers, but the colorful loom bands trend is spreading all over the Philippines again. With the fact that they can be easily made, you can also earn from this hobby. They are sold normally at cheap prices ranging from 20-50 pesos. However, loom bands are not for everyone. Creating it requires a lot of patience. For impatient people, it surely is big trouble. The ability to loom and create patterns and even simple figures from

small, elastic rubber bands require a lot of time and patience. You have to have both keen eyes and hands ready for its intricacy and complex features. For people with slow hands, looming an inch would consume more than an hour, but looming it by yourself you will realize, “It’s just a simple pattern that looks complicated.” After all, looks can be deceiving. Be warned though. An online report published recently warned fanatics to check the toxicity level of the rubber bands. It appears that the cheap kinds may be harmful. Being synthetic, they are inferior to natural rubber and they might end up bringing environmental problems if not disposed of properly. In some countries there are reports of veterinarians treating dogs and cats with severe diarrhea caused by ingestion of these bands. For both humans and animals, digestive passages can be blocked when accidentally ingested or choked. Long story short, be careful. In the end, looming and loom bands are fun, but they are definitely not for everyone. ■

HAND DOWN, MAN DOWN. An elementary pupil dives to keep the rally going during a training session with the Elementary Level Boys Volleyball Team PHOTO BY ALORRAH PETRAS

Shootout KIM KENNETH ALINSOD

By Kim Kenneth Alinsod

Coming off last year’s success, the HRC Boys Volleyball Team is faced with several changes in the team coming into play this season. Adjustments would be very vital to the team to carry last year’s winning tradition over to this year. Entering this year, the team will be missing one of its leaders and a key player in the rotation namely, Ian Punongbayan, as he has just graduated last year. This left Manuel Cordero and JM Beato, the team’s seniors, as the leaders of the team. The said loss in the lineup also affected the team’s rotation. Losing one of their best players, the team would have to make key adjustments when it comes to player management and in-game rotations. The other key players including the two former mentioned players, Cordero and Beato, along with Jeztine Martin, Willo Carasco, and Jerico Pablo would have to carry the load and build the foundation of the team. When asked as to what factors would make the team capable of winning more titles, Coach Alvin Manuyag said that it would be experience from the past competitions and the willingness to win that would help them win competitions. Starting the year, the team is looking forward to improve themselves in terms of skills and maturity towards the game, defend the titles they have earned, and be able to perform and play better to take home more awards and recognitions bringing pride and tribute to the school. ■

kenneth_alinsod117@yahoo.com

Another shot at the history of Philippine basketball has been written as the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers wins a Triple Crown sweep to dominate the 39th season of the PBA. The Mixers clinched the 2014 Home Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup to tally their third straight crown in the season, finally taking home the ever dreamed Grand Slam Title. For too many times in the history of PBA, different teams from different franchises dared to win the Grand Slam Title. However, earning the said recognition seems to be as hard as reaching the stars that this has only been the fifth time it has been won. This just shows how hard it is collecting three straight championships in just one season, as every team, player, and coach will say. However, tracing the run of the Mixers through the season, no one has ever thought that they would be the one the rewrite the PBA history. The Mixers had to survive a lot of heart pounding, do-or-die games to reach and clinch each of the three titles they carry as of now. These include several playoff elimination games during the Philippine Cup, Commissioners’ Cup, and the recent Governors’ Cup to get into the top and take the trophy home. Meanwhile, everyone is looking forward to the next season of the PBA, wondering if the Mixers would continue piling up trophies and if Coach Tim Cone would add more titles across his name, things which will leave marks in league history. ■