Listen Here:
Pleasant afternoon to each and one of you. I thank everyone present in this momentous occasion today. We are so thrilled to have all of you here to witness the significant event for Ateneo de Zamboanga University’s School of Education, and the Social Development Units, Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation and AHA Learning Center.
First, allow me to begin by saying that it is an honor for me to address and welcome everyone to the launching of Ateneo Learning and Teaching Excellence Center or what we will be calling ALTEC. And I wish to thank everyone and extend a very warm greetings to all of you.
The Ateneo de Zamboanga University School of Education, through its Educational Leadership and Development Program, established in 2012, has been in the frontiers of teacher education in our city and region. Over the years, Ateneo de Zamboanga University has been serving as an arm of the institution for helping partner schools through its various programs, partnership projects, teacher training, and consultancy opportunities, adhering to AdZU’s vision and mission to promote sustainable development through quality education in Western Mindanao, as well as living up to its mission, as the sole CHED awarded center of excellence for teacher education in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
Our School of Education continues to engage in professional activities towards capacity building among school leaders and managers. Also, allow me to commemorate one of our successful programs organized and led by Sir Kiko Miranda and Sir Rogin Eribal, as well as their team. The SUGPAT program started as an arts for development program, such as photography, puppetry, participatory filmmaking workshops and visual art workshops, and eventually scaled towards offering interventions that will result in quality teachers and ALS implementers, efficient and effective school leaders, and managers and quality teaching geared toward social transformation to its expanded ELDP of the School of Education.
It is without a doubt a manifestation of God’s grace and how the Holy Spirit provided guidance to these great leaders. We acknowledge that all of these efforts have their own uniqueness, goals and dreams. But we also recognize all of these characteristics will lead to quality education and sustainable development in Western Mindanao and further society as a whole. Hence, it is pivotal in creating the Ateneo Learning and Teaching Excellence Center. The creation of the center is strategic in order to provide support and assistance to the teachers, administrators, implementers, and our community practitioners. It is their mission to educate, and inform future leaders who will provide quality education as well as a way of life for people in Mindanao and become enablers and co-creators in its lifelong mission to improve our education system in the country.
What is more important also is, as an educational institution, as a Jesuit educational institution, the center will provide integrated formation to an evolving educational landscape. Our partners and clients will be integrated with topics and sessions that are in harmony with our Jesuit values and principles. The Ateneo de Zamboanga University is celebrating its 110th year, #CientoDiez; it is with utmost gratitude that AdZU has been in this mission for a century and a decade, and we owe this to our Almighty God.
Today, as we mark another history of Ateneo, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to our University President, Fr. Karel San Juan, and to our Vice President for Higher Education, Fr. Rene Tacastacas, Dr. Dorothy Joan Lei Rabajante, Dean of our School of Education, Rogin Eribal, Director of ALTEC, for sharing the common dream of establishing a new center that will be pivotal to impact quality of teaching and learning in our communities. To our brilliant mentor and partner, Dr. Anton Lim, for guiding us and providing us the necessary motivation and resources to make this vision a reality. To Jaton Zulueta, thank you for providing us your talents, sharing your energy, the insights, and wisdom you have given to walk us through a clear direction. As I can vividly remember, the email sent to us by Father Karel have connected us to this partnership and with that we’ll be forever, forever grateful for this development. To Sir Kiko, as your colleague, we can now see that the center we are institutionalizing, the SUGPAT program, in which you and Rogin and your team have founded, that the Ateneo community and its stakeholders are proud of what you have achieved. To our partners from the Department of Education, UNICEF Philippines, and other stakeholders present today, thank you for trusting Ateneo.
To formally, and I like to say some realizations, I see that people in this very room are believers. Me and you, we hold a strong belief in attaining and achieving, achieving quality learning. We wish you all success and blessings for ALTEC and we hope that you are with us in this endeavor as our official collaborators and partners. I hope you are all excited to listen to the testimonies, hearings, and messages which we will hear later on. And before I forget, we have our IT Monsters here, we will be also unveiling the official logo of the Ateneo Learning and Teaching Excellence Center. They helped us conceptualize and made the logo.
Once again, muchisimas gracias and let us have a memorable lunch.
