𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗩𝗘𝗟𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗘𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

𝙱𝚢: 𝙺𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚗 𝙷𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚉. 𝚂𝚊𝚕𝚟𝚊ň𝚊 𝚁𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚂𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗽𝘂𝘀𝗵 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗗-𝟭𝟵 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁, 𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝗶𝗿𝘂𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘀. 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗼𝗻 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹-𝗦𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗶𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘅, 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗴𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗦𝘂𝗿, 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗺𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀, 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲. To visit the school, one must take an arduous three-hour boat ride from Talacogon proper to Sabang Gibong. There is a shorter two-hour boat ride from La Flora, Talacogon. However, this shortcut route requires riding a motorcycle along a muddy and bumpy road. The motor boat has no lateral support floats or "katig" to prevent it from getting stuck with the water lilies and hyacinths. Traversing the river means seeing floating houses, migratory birds, flying raptors, and witnessing sustainable fishing activities and the local's ways of life. On September 15, 2022, as I arrived at the school for the regional onsite inspection of SHS-TVL tools and equipment, I immediately saw the concrete pillars supporting the main building. I also observed that the makeshift classrooms have floating foundations to keep them buoyed during floods. Then I met the school head, Sir Joram Balinton, who served the school for almost a decade. Many of the teachers assigned to the said school have transferred to the mainland, but he stayed as a living witness to the school's history. Balinton shared some features in their school not seen in many other schools, such as the following: 1. The ground improvement is limited to flower pots and classrooms' facades. 2. The TVL equipment and workshop are located on the most elevated part of the school instead of the ground floor. 3. Classroom structuring only includes the essentials. 4. Classrooms and teachers' cottages are made of light materials and tied to the edifices anticipating the floods. 5. Classrooms are not defined by their four walls but rather as places for teacher-learner interaction - even if there is only a roof to shelter the learners and protect them from the sun. Despite the situation, I saw plenty of SLMs, textbooks, and other learning materials. Each classroom has a television, and printers are available for teacher use. Grass cutters, water reservoirs, and other tools are also available. The teachers in this school are so blessed with courteous, kind, humble, and diligent learners. The local government unit of the Barangay maintains its strong affinity to the school by offering the main facade of its building as an extended classroom during floods. When I shared the challenges of improving students' learning outcomes, Sir Joram added that his only wish for the school is to help it survive, knowing that recurring floods slowly ravage their school facilities. Despite the school's location and circumstances, he is proud to say that the school has produced graduates who finished education programs in nearby colleges. He hopes their graduates will soon serve the community to model how education can change one's life. Thinking over the situation, I left the school in awe of its marvels, resiliency, and perseverance. 🅴🅽🅳 NB. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒏𝒐𝒏-𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍, 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒔, 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔, 𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒑𝒐𝒆𝒎𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝑫𝒆𝒑𝑬𝒅 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒂’𝒔 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒆𝒃𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔. 𝑨𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕 (𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔) 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒗𝒊𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 (𝑷𝑴) 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒂𝒕 𝗽𝗮𝘂_𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗮@𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗱.𝗴𝗼𝘃.𝗽𝗵