NEWS
Commencement speakers urge graduates to strive harder to achieve dreams page 3
The
FEATURES
NEWS
Living the Union College Core Values
UC teachers and instructors undergo rigid training
page 5
page 6
Union Times
Vol. 76 No. 3 March - May 2018
Union College of Laguna
aim high, unionites!
450 Unionites graduate with 21st century skills by | Myhren Bless Morales
F
our hundred-fifty Unionites graduate this school year equipped with innovative learning strategies for the 21st century as Union College held its 71st Commencement Exercises from April 3-4, 2018 at the Cultural Center of Laguna. This year’s Commencement Exercises begun with the conduct of the Baccalaureate Services attended by the graduates of different college schools, the graduate school, senior high school
and elementary level together with their parents and guardians. During the undertaking, students were reminded of the hardships that they went through as well as the sacrifices that their parents had made. More so, the success that each one attained was offered to the Almighty. As the ceremony proper begun, emotions and atmosphere of success filled the venue. The graduates, with their proud parents, received their diplomas
symbolizing reap of their hard work. The School of Accountancy, Business Administration, Technology and Hotel and Restaurant Management, School of Education and School of Arts and Sciences totaled 191 graduates this year. On the other hand, the graduate school, composed of Masters in Public Administration and Master of Arts in Education major in Supervision and Management, continue to page 3
2
News
The
Union Times
The
News
Union Times
SHS Valedictorian shares “hashtags” of Success
3
450 Unionites graduate with 21st century skills
Union College produces first Senior High graduates
from page 1
by | Cynthjhune Dela Torre
produced 75 graduates. As for the Union College School of Integrated Preparatory Studies, 154 students were the pioneer graduate of the institution’s Senior High School Program. Additionally, 14 finished Grade 6 and 16 marched as Kinder 5 Graduates. Commencement addresses were delivered by the UCSIPS three-star medalists and valedictorians, Jeroll Opinion, Grade 12, and Trisha Solomon, Grade 6. Angel Llarena, Cum Laude from the School of Education also delivered her speech. The Commencement
F
irst Union College Senior High School (SHS) Valedictorian inspired his co-graduates, April 4, as he shared his way to success through the use of the millennial term, hashtag, during the 71st Commencement Exercises of Union College at the Cultural Center of Laguna. Jeroll Opinion of Grade 12 Roxas, Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMMS) strand caught the attention of the students and other graduation attendees after beginning with the #WalangForever which he expounded on the latter part of his speech. Opinion took a look back at his journey with his hashtags remember and throwback. According to him, he used to be a shy type of kid until he realized his other talents and potentials at Union College.
After giving sincere gratitude to his parents, teachers and friends, Opinion proceeded with explaining that #WalangForever does not only mean that they, the graduates, shall part ways with one other but also that hardships and sacrifices would soon be gone and fruits of their labor shall be harvested. He concluded by a resounding statement which stated “It’s not about how hard we fall for it’s about on how high we bounce back.” Meanwhile, the first SHS graduate of UC consisted of 154 students from HUMMS, Accountancy and Business Management (ABM), General Academic Strand (GAS), Science, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) and TechnicalVocational Track (TVL).
Exercises were graced by Dr. Rosemarie Sabado, Dean, College of Education of Laguna University, as UCSIPS guest speaker and Dr. Diosdado San Antonio, Regional Director (CALABARZON) of the Department of Education, as College guest speaker. Union College Management Council also hailed the event led by the Chairman of the Board, Dr. David A. Sobrepena. Also present were the Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Lito F. Norona and the UCSIPS Administrator Mrs. Sahlee A. Gallardo among others.
Commencement speakers urge graduates to strive harder to achieve dreams by | Donita Mae Punongbayan Perseverance and looking-back highlighted this year’s speeches of Union College Commencement Exercises speakers, April 3-4, 2018 at the Cultural Center of Laguna. Dr. Rosemarie Sabado, Dean, College of Education of Laguna University, was the School of Integrated Preparatory Studies’ guest speaker. She shared she, too, had been a part of the Union College family as she wore many hats in the institution by being a
teacher and a guidance counselor among others. Dr. Sabado expressed her gratitude to the people of UC that honed her to become who she is today. She also emphasized this to the graduates that they have to look back and thank the people who helped them. Dr. Diosdado San Antonio, Regional Director (CALABARZON) of the Department of Education, inspired the college and master’s graduates as he shared his formula to success. Dr.
Dr. Diosdado San Antonio
San Antonio expressed his happiness as the core values of the institution is started by punctuality. According to him, punctuality is of great essence in assuring that every task assigned will work well and thus success
Dr. Rosemarie Sabado
becomes more possible. As he shared his experiences from being a simple teacher to becoming a regional director, Dr. San Antonio stressed the importance of humility in achieving one’s dreams.
4
Features
The
Union Times
21st Century Learning: Union College’s Answer to Education Reform
U
nion College has the mission to strive for excellence in knowledge, wisdom, and skills, a mission that could be attested by the successful graduates of the institution since its humble beginnings. On the other hand, 70 years of providing excellence in education would not let the institution to settle. With the inevitable innovation of trends and practices in the field of education, Union College would also continue its noble mission. This year, the service of Union College to its students and stakeholders shall be anchored to the theme ‘’Union College Education: Preparing Students for Innovative Learning Strategies for the 21st Century.” Starting from classroom activities to outside tasks, the students shall be exposed to experiences that will equip them with knowledge, wisdom and skills to face the 21st century world. The broad move to infuse 21st century skills to students could be critical but possible. Some scholars still claim that a 21st century skill is a very complex and divergent concept. Having this would mean having the ability to possess interdisciplinary skills, cross-cultural skills, cross-curricular skills and applied skills among many examples. Accordingly, possessing a 21s century skill is tantamount to using higher order thinking skills, i.e., going beyond remembering and applying critical thinking, problem solving, rationalizing, interpreting, and, analysis and synthesis. Since the realization of the goal to inculcate 21st century skills to the students could be very critical, Union College started with preparing them with strategies that go beyond the conventions, strategies that are innovative and authentic. This critical task starts with the teaching-learning process that applies cross-disciplinary approaches to let the students achieve divergence in skills and knowledge. The use of cross-disciplinary approach does not only include academic areas like teaching writing through science
topics, but also the use of technological advancements as major outsource of learning. With regards to this goal, Union College is now implementing Project-Based Learning (PBL) which is a more realistic approach to the ideal 21st century approaches in pedagogy. In this approach, students learn by the actual doing of tasks, therefore applying theories to practice. The multifaceted characteristic of PBL makes it more beneficial for students for they are allowed to integrate knowledge and skills acquired from school to different areas and activities. Another important goal of the PBL integration is the exposure of the students to analyzing and investigating real-world problems as the primary basis of the outputs expected from them. By doing so, students dig deeper to the complexities and ambiguities of issues that concern not only the academe but the society as well. Since the focus of the expected outputs are real-life issues or events, learning that the students acquire also becomes authentic. Upon analytical inquiry and intelligent proposition of possible solutions, students get the chance to have first-hand experience of learning by doing. The integration of these principles shall serve as the primary resources of students learning strategies towards the 21st century world. Although, Union College shall never cease in assuring that its students are always at par with the global standards of the innovating world.
The
Features
Union Times
5
Living the UC Core Values
S
even decades of noble service to the youth by bringing quality education to the countryside has surely been a never-easy yet fulfilling task. Despite this, Union College prides itself by producing not only graduates that possess utmost professionalism but also goodness in character and personal development here and abroad. As long as the institution provides quality education, it shall also provide an avenue in developing the students’ personality in order to live by the college’s Core Values. What makes a Unionite different from othintellectually formulated which roots from experience er students or people is his goodness of character of the decades of academic and community service. embedded to his personality by being a part of The six-line core values may be short in form Union College. The main foundation of this realizabut succinct in essence. Each of the six core values tion could be no other than the Core Values that the function greatly for a unionites academic and personinstitution aims to provide, the Core Values that are al development. Let us go through these six.
I am Punctual.
Time, among many factors that abide students’ life, is considered to be essential. With this in mind, Unionites are being trained to possess punctuality not only with their academic responsibilities but also with other aspects of their lives. Being able to perform a task or fulfill an obligation in a specified time equals the value that Unionites give to whatever they may be doing.
I am Honest.
Unionites should know what is right and what is wrong and therefore should have integrity in thought and actions. By being honest, one may gain others’ trust and loyalty. This leads to the positive eradication, if not, lessening of lying and cheating in the various areas of life.
I am Disciplined.
Although Union College is a non-sectarian institution, it still implies value to Christian ideals. The institution believes that by obeying, one may find success and acceptable behavior. Being a disciple of Christ leads to a life that is ideal. This is an ultimate goal of the institution but aside from this, UC wants to begin with making the students disciplined and
obedient with the school policies and protocols as these policies only exist for their own good and development.
I am Respectful.
It is true that respect begets respect and Unionites know this by heart. By respecting others, which could be classmates, teachers, staff of the school up to the people at home and the community, a Unionite is showing admiration and attention to something they are doing or showing hence valuing the relationship between them.
I am Kind (because).
Unionites are well aware that kindness transcends to people of any race, culture, social group and age bracket among others. With this, the value of sharing and giving including the importance given to being helpful to others are always being inculcated to the mind and hearts of the students.
I am a Child of God.
By possessing the earlier mentioned characteristics, Unionites live by being not just a disciple but a child of God --- ensuring that love of God is love of every Unionites fellow men.
6
News
The
Union Times
Teachers and instructors undergo rigid training
Union College welcomes new teaching force members by | Ira Castro
W
ith the continuing mission to bring education to the countryside, the Union College of Laguna spearheaded a month-long Faculty Development Training and Seminar focused on Outcomes-Based Education as the College also assessed teacher applicants. Dr. David A. Sobrepena, Chairman of the Board and President, served as the main lecturer and resource person of the training and seminar which was held for the fifth consecutive time. As the activity commenced, participants were introduced not just to the members of the
Union College community but also with the educational approaches that the institution, as stipulated by Dr. Sobrepena, wanted to acquire and apply. Attended by the applicant teachers, non-tenured and tenured teachers and a number of members from the management council, the training/seminar had provided opportunities to the participants to develop and uplift their professional teaching skills and abilities. Part of the evaluating committee were Dr. Lito F. Norona, Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Mona Lisa Daba, Dean, SABA, Dr. Rogelio Caluza, Dean, SITHOA,
Mrs. Sahlee Gallardo, Administrator, Mr. Rod Faustine Dael, UCSIPS Administrator, Engr. Alexander Carandang, Research and PBL Director and Ms. Lirio Corpuz, Archives Director. Wider View of Pedagogy First parts of the training and seminar focused on providing philosophical and psychological foundations on education for the participants. A film showing featuring the 1962 production, The Miracle Worker, was held where the participants reviewed and reflected
The
Union Times
with the concepts provided. As the film showed the life of Helen Keller in her thrive for communication given light by the teacher, Annie Sullivan, the participants realized the struggles and fulfillments of the teaching profession. In line with the aforementioned film, the training/seminar also let the participants collaborate in creating presentation on Behaviorism. As the presentation proceeded, the participants got acquainted to Behaviorism anchored concepts such as Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning and Skinner’s Operant Conditioning among others. More so, the participants acquired knowledge on the concepts’ application to real-life teaching-learning experiences.
News
7
Global Paradigm Shift The latter part of the training/seminar shed light to the global trend non education which led to the paradigm shift in pedagogy which is Outcomes-Based Education (OBE). Dr. Sobrepena emphasized that OBE’s primary concern is what the students will be able to do after a course of instruction. Further, he noted that with the advent of OBE, the focus of instruction had shifted from the teacher to the students. With the concepts provided by Dr. Sobrepena, the participants were asked to formulate OBE syllabus or learning programs. Engr. Carandang led the syllabuswriting by monitoring and editing the proposed syllabus format. Aside from the format itself, the participants also exerted time end effort in creating learning outcomes as these serve as the core component of the OBE syllabus. The participants were reminded to be guided by the SMART principle in writing the outcomes which means that the outcomes should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound. A series of revisions and rewritings followed the activity. With the conclusion of the training/seminar, the applicants shared their reflections and evaluations about the activity. According to Mr. Renz Vyron Tec, applicant, the training was unique as it provided different learning and opportunities for them. Also, Ms. Sarah Jane Mateo, applicant, shared her eagerness to achieve growth and development at Union College. The closing program included the awarding of certificates of completion with corresponding performance evaluation. The training/seminar ran from April 23 to May 11, 2018 and May 21-23, 2018.
The
Union Times
Vol. 76 No. 3 March - May 2018
Union College of Laguna
RIBBON CUTTING. UCSIPS Principal Ditector, Dr. Lito F. Norona, Buildings and Grounds Director Mrs. Brenda Darang and UC Administrator Mrs. Sahlee Gallardo joined hands in cutting the ribbon of the improved Del Pilar Building of Union College set to be used for SY 2018-2019.
Union College inaugurates improved facilities
Teachers and management gear up for e-learning blended approach by | Ira Castro
T
he Union College of Laguna further revived its urge to bring 21st century learning as it adapted Japanese technology of electronic-supported education for the next school year and improved buildings and other physical facilities. The said improvements were introduced to parents, students and guests during the Campus Open House held May 22 at the Union College School of Integrated Preparatory Studies (UCSIPS) building. As the students step in their respective classrooms for School Year 2018-2019, they shall be acquainted by Quipper, the e-learning blended approach provider that the Union College of Laguna commissioned. Quipper is an international company providing e-learning materials and platforms to the preparatory levels. The goal of the com-
pany is to bring the best education to every corner of the world by harnessing technology in providing limitless learning opportunities. With the help of Quipper, students will be directly involved in the e-learning process as a part of the blended learning approach. Each student shall have an account where the teachers may send specific lessons and activities. Each activity accomplished will correspond to points which will be accumulated by the end of the school year. Hence, the year-long activities will seem like a game-packed experience making the students become genuinely motivated and involved. Aside from this, parents may also get hold of a more direct access the part of the progress of their children’s performance at school. Parents will also be given accounts where they could check if the students have accom-
plished a task given by the teacher and whether or not the students need to redo a task or activity. At present, Quipper has 4,000,000 students registered around the globe with 300,000 teachers and 15,000 video contents. This number is continuously growing as the company adapt with specific needs of different learners. More so, Quipper has major offices at in London, Tokyo, Jakarta, Mexico City and Manila. In order to master and apply the new approach properly, Union College teachers underwent practical training on the use of Quipper. The participants of the training were introduced to how the system shall operate as in sending and recording activities for the students. Additionally, Quipper also informed the teachers that they are free to add and edit content on the system based on the specific needs of their classrooms.