US donations for Dulaang Sibol Foundation now accepted

hello fellow US-based sibolistas,

as you already know, sir pagsi is celebrating his big 60th year of teaching next year. as part of the celebration, the dulaang sibol foundation has been actively pursuing projects for the big 6-0. one of which is a fundraiser/concert this coming december 11th and 12th. although most of us can't be there physically (i know i can't), we sure can still make our presence felt by supporting the fundraiser by sending our donations.

send me an email if you're interested in helping out: nyu_jason [at] yahoo.com

for now, here's some inspiring words from mr. pagsi.

wiki-wiki-WOW

with very very special thanks to the e-brains and server space of dondi dionisio ('87) and lionel valdellon ('89), sibol now has a wikipedia.

in case you missed dondi's iPad-esque announcement, here's his email below:

Greetings Sibolistas,

Lionel Valdellon has generously shared part of his personal domain for use as the Dulaang Sibol Wiki:

http://sibol.valdellon.com/wiki

It's up, it's running, and it's virtually empty :) The wiki is viewable by all, but only editable by people with accounts.

If you are not familiar or comfortable with entering wiki content yourself, I'm happy to transcribe content for you. Just send me a PDF or any other document, and I will endeavor to put those in as they come. If you have content in a format that the wiki does not accept (e.g., Word, etc.), if you send the file to me, I can convert it into a PDF that can then be uploaded.

The wiki accepts image files, PDFs, and MP3s as file uploads; this can be used for storing posters or finished written work, for example. No editable documents however (e.g., Word, PowerPoint, etc.) --- the wiki software has trouble with these.

The wiki uses the same software as Wikipedia, so if you are familiar with that, or any other site that uses this software (e.g., Wikia, Wikibooks, etc.), then you will feel right at home. There is an "About this wiki" link that provides some suggestions, conventions, and guidelines.

If you would like to contribute directly to the wiki (and we hope that a lot of you will, since the power of wikis lies in collective knowledge), please contact Lionel or Dondi for an account. We will need:

* Your name
* Your desired account name (no spaces, first letter is always capitalized)
* Your e-mail address

When your account is created, the system will e-mail a password to the given address. An account also comes with a user page (click on your account name once you've logged in), and you can use that to share any (publicly viewable) information that you'd like to share about yourself.

I think that's all...if you have any questions, send them my way. Happy wiki-ing!

--- Dondi

kilalanin naman si raquel candelario

like may ubaldo, raquel candelario was one of the first sibol-hesus school students. she was one of the top students as well and eventually went to PUP and graduated with a BS in accountancy. she now is an accounting supervisor at pancake house (dencio's division). here she shares what sibol-hesus school has meant to her.

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Markang Sibol

Isang bahay ampunan.
Yan ang malinaw kong tingin noon at ngayong mahaba man ang panahong lumipas sa Sibol-Hesus School.
Sa isang bahay sa hindi ko na maalalang kalye sa QC,may green na gate at laking iilang metro lamang (na hindi ko na din sigurado kung andun pa ngayon), naroon ang isang ampunan.
Isang ampunang hindi ang tipikal na layuni'y magbigay ng matitirahan kundi magsilbing panuluyan ng mga kabataang may malawig na pananaw sa bukas.
Isang ampunang kumukupkop sa mga kabataang may paniniwalang may mas higit pa sa kung ano ang mayroon na sila.
At isang ampunang gumabay at sabay na naniwala sa mga kabataang ito na ang wastong paglinang sa mga kakayahang taglay ng bawat isa ay isang simula sa pag abot ng mga pangarap.
Isang mapusong pasasalamat at isa ako sa mapalad na nakupkop sa ampunang ito.
Isang institusyong nagbigay ng karunungang libre, mas saysay at walang limitasyon.

Libre.
Libreng paglinang sa aking kaalaman.
Iyan ang ginawa ng hindi matatawarang mga guro namin sa Sibol.
Binigyan nila ako ng pagkakataong madagdagan ang mga kaalamang nakukuha ko sa regular na klase sa paaralan.
At binigyan nila ako ng paniniwalang ang karunungang mayro'n ka'y mabuting ipinamamahagi sa iba na walang hinihintay na kapalit kundi ang pribilehiyong makatulong at kayamanang dagdag kaalaman din lamang.

May saysay.
Higit sa anupama'y di lamang pang akademya ang ang naibahagi ng school na ito sa akin kundi ilang mga aral na madadala ko sa araw araw.
Karamiha'y mga aral na humubog pang lalo sa aking pagkatao at nagpaiba sa ilan kong mga paniniwala.
Ang pangarap ay para sa lahat kahit pa ang pinakaimposible.
Pakikipagkapwatao.
Pananampalataya sa Diyos.
Ilan lamang ang mga ito mula sa napakarami.
Mga aral na makabuluhan at madadala sa paglipas ng panahon.

Walang limitasyon
Ang karununga'y walang limitasyon.
Paulit ulit ko yang natutunan sa loob ng Sibol.
Ang mga kaalamay tumitigil lamang kung ikaw mismo ang maglalagay ng pader na maghihiwalay sayong sarili at sa pagkatuto.
Na ang pagsubok sa mabuti at pagpapahalaga sa kapwa ay walang limitasyon.
Na ang pangangarap at pagpapaunlad ng sarili ay kung pa'nong ang pananalig sa Dyos ay hindi kailanman binibigyan ng limitasyon.

Sibol-Hesus,isang ampunan ng mga kabataang nagsisipag at nagsusumikap upang makamit ang kanilang mga pangarap.
Sibol-Hesus,paaralang nagbabahagi ng umaapaw na kaalaman kasabay ng pagkintil sa isip ng bawat isa na ang lahat ng pagsisikap ay mawawalan ng kabuluhan kung wala sa sentro ang matibay na pananampalataya.
Sa Sibol-Hesus,sa may green na gate,t'wing Huwebes, Byernes at Sabado.

Higit isang dekada na ang lumipas.Madami na akong hindi maalala.
Isa lang ang sigurado, na lumipas man ang panahon, kasamang maiiwan ang malinaw na iminarka ng paaralang ito sampu ng aming mga guro’t kaibigan dito sa aking isipan.

Lumipas man ang panahon,maaalala ko pa din ang mga eksperyensa sa bahay na yon, t'wing Huwebes,sa may green na gate na may purong pasasalamat.
Na maalala man ako o hindi ay patuloy ko pa ding ipagmamalaki na ako ay may markang Sibol.
Nagsisipag,nagsusumikap,nagpapasalamat,nakakaalala at nananampalataya.

Sibol-Hesus School, Magsipag, magsumikap.

Bawat araw sa Sibol ay isa na namang "Pray-Play Day."

kilalanin si may ubaldo

may ubaldo was one of our first students in sibol-hesus school some 12 years ago. she was going to quirino high school back then and would come to the small school in cubao for supplemental english and math lessons. she too was one of the best students back then. the biggest proof of this is that she had passed the ateneo entrance test. with the financial help of the sibol foundation, she pursued studies at the ateneo. and now works at BPI. below is a brief writeup of what sibol-hesus school had done for her in her own words. in true sibol/magis fashion, she even writes in both filipino and english. read on.

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Isang simula. Para sa akin, 'yan ang kahulugan ng Sibol Hesus. Sino ba namang mag-aakalang makakapasok ako sa Ateneo? Ang Sibol Hesus ang naging daan ko sa isang mapangahas na pangarap na 'yan. Sa Sibol Hesus nagsimula ang lahat. Kung ano man ang narating ko ngayon, sa Sibol Hesus nagsimula. Kung walang Sibol Hesus, wala ring "ako" ngayon. Ang simula ng bawat munti at simpleng pangarap na sa kalaunan naging isang malaking ambisyon. Tama ba namang pangaraping makapag-aral sa Ateneo? Wala mang sariling yaman na maipagmamalaki pero sa tulong ng Sibol Hesus nagawa ko. Ngayon maituturing ko ang sarili kong isang Atenista!
Ang Sibol Hesus magiging bahagi hindi lang ng aking nakaraan at ngayon ngunit maging sa hinaharap!

I was just a simple public high school student with a simple dream. The thought of being an Atenean never came to me. For me to finish a college degree regardless of school is enough to fulfill my simple dream. But fate may have a way of playing tricks on me when I was introduced to Sibol Hesus School. I would not call it luck but rather a blessing. For me, I define Sibol Hesus as the START. It was where my hunger and thirst for more was ignited. I wanted to be an Atenean. That was 12 years ago.
After 12 years, being a part of Sibol Hesus School was still the biggest break that I got. I would not be where I am today if not with it. It taught me not just to befriend Math and English. Deeper than that, it taught me everything about not just fulfilling dreams, but realizing it in much greater avenues. And to do that, you just have to be quick to see the opportunity and be able to grab and hold on to it or it may just slip away from you.

sibol gathering NYC style

this past saturday, ozzie purugganan ('82) hosted the hardly annual nyc gathering of sibol friends. in the mix were myself, jake hofileña ('84), and jobet gauna ('89) who drove all the way from scranton, PA (that's where "the office" is set, FYI).

masarap ang kainan (thanks ozzie for the feast), kwentuhan at tawanan. some business and planning were done as well. below are the 10 random thoughts/plans/next steps we came up with.

1. US carolling.
sir pagsi himself had brought it up. and would be cool/nice to get it implemented here as well. funny thing was that it turned out na 4 kaming tenor 1 na andun. SO, calling all other voices and other musically inclined out there. kahit hindi, we have a year to plan things out. ozzie's in charge of gathering the troops (tama ba?)

2. sibol-hesus.
more questions discussed for this item really. for example, demographics of faculty, students, etc. also, success stories, etc. since then, i've reached out to current faculty to get those details. and also have reached out to may ubaldo, a student we had taught on the school's first year and who eventually graduated from the ateneo as a SHS scholar (and now works for BPI). more on her story soon, but in the meantime, click on image above for some sibol-hesus quick facts.

3. fundraising.
2 points discussed here. 1 is figuring out the target. and 2nd is the logistics of it. i can speak for the logistics—i am in the middle of partnering with another US-based non-profit that will allow donations to be done online (that covers the convenience part) AND allows US donations to be tax-deductible (that helps donors somehow). more on that soon.

4. archiving.
dondi dionisio ('87 and based in the west coast) brought up the idea of creating a sibol wikipedia. NYC hearts that idea. especially with all the facts here and there that i didn't know and all the songs that i myself hadn't heard of. so paging dondi, let us know how we can help facilitate your brilliant idea.

5. bday videos for sir
would be nice to have bday greeting vids from us overseas sibolistas to send over in time for sir pagsi's 83rd (?) birthday. will iron out the logistics. but possibly it'll be a youtube channel i'll set up and people can post their vids there.

6. regular videos of sir
considering the "success" of sir's youtube video debut, wouldn't it be nice to have a regular video of sir? well, i'm on it. with the help of igo gonzalez ('07), we're hoping to launch some sort of sundays with sir youtube channel where you'll see/hear sir's musings and reflections and "by gum"s and "hanep"s. coming soon. hopefully very soon.


7. sibol directory
would be nice to know the who's where and the where's who. i'm still trying to figure this one out. but my initial idea (and i think it's brilliant coz i'm biased that way) is to set up a sibol census site of sorts. it's really just a fancy way of saying a sibol registration site. that way we'll have everyone's info so we can spam you with all the useless info in the world. no, i'm joking. we'll send only emails for when we'd like to crash into your city/country. cura personalis alumnorum it is.


8. alay kay pagsi song
some years ago in the new york sibol group's life, we had a similar gathering as well. that time, there were more of us. we had it at eugen palma's. and if i'm right, ozzie, jake and i were there. plus getty atienza, ray guinoo, manoling francisco and ding yson (the brains behind "shalom). that night, mano and ding yson had made us listen to their song, "alay kay pagsi". nice song, obviously but we never heard of it again. SO, we're hoping to track it down. i've sent an email to mano and have barok gutierrez ('96) to hunt him down as well.


9. regional gatherings
here's where the new yorkers bring out their new yawk attitude. we're calling out the sibolistas of other states and other corners of the world to have their own sibol gatherings. nah, it's not really a challenge, it's really a hope and invitation. coz it's really fun being able to have no connection whatsover with "random" people yet realize that though you may be batches apart, you share the unifying experience called sibol. just make sure to share with us how your gatherings go.


10. sibol ski trip: feb 20th
yup, you read it right. we're going skiing. mens sana in corpore sano (tama ba pagkakaalala ko?) so far, jake's family is in. i'm in. ozzie's in. and hopefully eugen too. we'll take the metro north to thunder ridge. and the invite's open to all in the tristate or nearby. just leave me a message and will include you on the list. no previous skiing experience necessary (sige na, para naman hindi lang ako ang aanga-angang first timer lampa na andun).

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that's it for now. quite a bit to chew. but if you have thoughts of your own, feel free to comment below.

so what is the sibol-hesus foundation?

below's a writeup provided by pj bernardo ('97, ka-batch ko). to the left is the school's logo (which i designed agessss ago and have completely forgotten about)—

The Sibol-Hesus Foundation, Inc. is a non-stock, non-profit Philippine corporation established in 1997 for the purpose of providing educational opportunities for poor yet deserving high school students. The Foundation is the brainchild of Dr. Onofre R. Pagsanghan, and counts, among its Board of Directors, noted educators such as Roberto Guevara, Henry Totanes, and Sylvia Pagsanghan, as well as lawyer Carlos Lopez and pediatrician, Jojo Mendoza.

Through the Sibol-Hesus Foundation, Inc., volunteer college students, mostly former alumni of Dulaang Sibol – Ateneo, provide free tutorial classes in various public high schools in Metro Manila, as well as conduct inter-school academic competitions in English and Mathematics. In recent years, the Foundation has also provided academic scholarships to the Ateneo University for deserving students from public schools.

Now on its 12th year, the Foundation looks to expanding its tutoring efforts to more public high schools, driven by the core realization spawn from Dr. Pagsanghan’s own experience: kung may pinag-aralan, may kinabukasan . . . kung maganda ang pinag-aralan, maganda ang kinabukasan. (An education opens doors to a bright future, and a good education opens doors to an even brighter future.)

sibol-hesus school: payatas B elementary school

i'm getting really really close to what this blog was primarily built for—to help facilitate raising funds for sibol/sibol-hesus school. the quick gist of that is partnering up with an established non-profit here in the US that has the capabilities for us here in the US or anywhere in the world for that matter to send our help/support online. BUT that's not what this post is for—it's to share some unearthed recent pictures of sibol-hesus in action in payatas elementary school B. so that when the time comes for giving, you'd know that every little (or big) amount you share, supports actual people and children back home. click image for a brief slideshow.

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special thanks to bianong labiano ('03) for providing the pics. And migi soriano ('08) for taking them.