ACROSS the roomy pavilion was a delicate and lithe frame of a boy yet bursting with energy and excitement, tinkering with raw colored papers, pens and strings — eagerly wanting to piece together some cut-outs.

Sitting in a corner near the stage, dwarfed by other kids in frenzy, an adult watched in amusement, overzealous of an art-in-the-making.  Fourteen-year old Jade Bulalla, a third year high school student of the Mt. Province General Comprehensive High School traveled almost forty-eight hours to get to Cebu City.

Along with his adviser, Jade left his place early dawn of Friday and arrived at the Ecotech in Lahug late evening of Saturday.  On the adviser’s permission, I disrupted a bit of his time to ask how he handled the long trip.  “It doesn’t matter.  I am here to learn and develop my skills,” he said.  Before I could even ask another question, he confidently resumed, “Each kid like me is entitled to participate…my opinion should matter.”

He plans to take up nursing in college.

Jade Bulalla patiently awaits the finished product.

Jade is among the one hundred high school student-broadcasters and writers who attended the TV KIDSWATCH!, the First National Youth Festival on Media from December 6 to 9 in Cebu City.  Organized by the National Council for Children’s Television (NCCT), Kidswatch!  came at the heels of the pilot program called Kidspeak! in 2007 whose participants at that time gave their opinion on various programs they liked and disliked on television.

As a result, these kids produced their own short videos -  shot and edited the scenes, wrote the scripts, and starred in them.  From Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, select-high school students were sent this time to assess and validate what they have learned from the previous activity and watched their video productions.

A sample poster shows how kids are serious about being a watchdog of television.

Ecotech sits amiably in the unkempt lush enclave of Lahug whose foliage came to life even more with the heavy downpour.  Slowly but surely, half of the venue was being adorned with banderitas, Christmas lights, and illustrative posters identifying the unique characteristics of each region in the country, both the kids and their advisers created out of atypical things.  Voila, the whole pavilion was transformed into a fiesta that undermined the stormy weather.

The bundle of joy that was the kids were now impervious to the soaking outdoors.  Their deafening yells and cheers that significantly echo their thoughts were enough to dilute the occasional thunders.

Frantic yet organized, kids know how to have fun while learning.

The National Council for Children’s Television (NCCT) was a product of Republic Act No. 8370, otherwise known as the Children’s Television Act of 1997 whose main functions are:  to promote and encourage the production and broadcasting of appropriate programs for children and to monitor the implementation of the Act.  Its mandate underscores regulation, enforcement and sanction.

Dr. Alice A. Pañares, NCCT project director and a staunch advocate of child participation herself said, “Ang bida dito ang mga estudyante.  What they have to say about television and what they want to see are very important.”  She said that interactive learning on different literacies in both print and broadcast media is essential for kids to maximize their talents and skills.  Her ultimate dream is for NNCT to become a watchdog of children’s television.  True to its objective of making it interactive,  the Kidswatch! made the student-delegates participate in every activity that elicited from them various opinions on programs they see on television, without their advisers coaching them.  At one point, during an informal survey, it turned out that the kids would want to see more of educational game shows and newsmagazines.  They were one in saying that they like informative but entertaining shows.

Dr. Alice A. Paňares and her dedicated team make sure they listen to the kids every step of the way.

An advocate of English literacy and author of Check Your English Language Using Tagalog Language, Erlinda Curro, observed during the discussion that kids criticize not to hurt but to give their sincere reaction.  “Children are very honest.  They speak from the heart. At an early age, their communication and writing skills should already be honed outside the limits of the classroom,” she said.  During the video presentations,  Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya of the Department of Education lauded the kids for their impressive productions.  “What with the limited resources, these kids were able to produce videos whose topics are closest to them and how they made them with the limited time,” he said.

At the end of the second, still gloomy day of the festival, the kids were still combusting with gusto and raring to face the next challenge.  Each region-group was assigned to open each segment through group dynamics (GDs) and a re-cap of activities of the previous day in a creative manner they knew best.  The last day was reserved for a tour of the city.

Merry Jade, along with the other ninety-nine merry kids would travel back to his beloved Mt. Province and their respective hometowns; notwithstanding the long hours of travel, he now carries with him a treasure trove of experiences and a renewed confidence of speaking up what he thinks matters to him and the other kids who remain voiceless but again hopeful this Christmas, of beautiful things to come.

The author (extreme right) poses for a souvenir shot.

Klyde Glenn Gonzales Grade 5- Gratitude

HAVE you ever wondered why malls put at least two trash cans in one corner—one labeled “biodegradable” and the other “non-biodegradable”?

Biodegradable and non-biodegradable are actually two different kinds of garbage.

Biodegradable materials are those that rot, like all kinds of food, paper, animal poop, plant leaves and other parts of plants and trees. Non-biodegradable wastes are those that do no rot like plastic, glass and metal.

Biodegradable stuff can be made into fertilizers to fatten the soil and make plants grow better. Non-biodegradable stuff can be reused or made into other useful things. For example, softdrink bottles can be cleaned and refilled or they can be smashed and heated up to make new bottles.

Houses like yours and mine should also separate these different kinds of garbage. We should have two trash cans, one for biodegradable and the other for non-biodegradable trash. You can put labels and signs on each and tell your little sister and brother where to throw different kinds of stuff.

If you want to make some money that you can put in your money box or bank, you can also collect the newspapers that mom and dad had finished reading and other used paper (including used notebooks and books). You can bring your collection of old newspapers and used paper on the first Saturday of the month to SM City or to the nearest junk shop—a store that buys old or used stuff like damaged stereos, household machines, boxes and even cars. The price per kilo of old newspapers and paper may not be much, but the more paper you have the more money you make.

That’s right, Kidsters! What is the best way of getting the attention of readers and the audience as a whole? Start by telling a story. Haven’t you noticed that when we start with “Once upon a time,” you immediately get interested?

I remember that whenever my teachers would teach a lesson by giving stories, the more I get interested and the more I remember the lesson.

Even when you are asked to give a speech in front of your classmates, remember this: if you want to catch their attention right away, start by giving a story. See how you get their attention. It’s like they want to hear what else you have to say.

Do you know the meaning of the word “boring”? It’s when you feel like sleeping and you do not want to listen to what the person is saying anymore. That’s when you are already bored. People who talk long are boring people. I always say that people who want to listen to their voice think that others want to listen to him too. Wrong. We can only get the attention span of our audience for the first 5 minutes and after a while, they start to think of other things. They start to get distracted.

So remember this, Kidsters. If you are going to speak before a big number or people, or if you are going to write something, start by telling a story.

But sometimes it’s hard to live that way

There are very many temptations

That’s why we are not simple in some situations

Save your money and never borrow money always

For your simlicity forever stays

Those expensive things are worth someone’s life

For you’re like stealing their money that can relieve their strife

Live simply so that others could simply live

That’s a poem I believe

<b>Daryl Mitz M. Garces</b>

Grade 5, Colegio dela Inmaculada Concepcion

Although not really considered as “heritage” in terms of age (since the National Historical Institute states that what can be considered as heritage buildings are those that have been standing for at least 50 years), the Heritage of Cebu Monument, located in historic Pari-an District is still a feast to the eye.

This breath-taking tableau, created by national sculptor Eduardo Castrillo in 2003, features some of Cebu City’s important heritage sites and events in history.

It can be viewed at the former plaza across the Pari-an Fire Station. According to cebuheritage.com, the fire station “stands at the very site where the church of St. John the Baptist, which was demolished during the Spanish colonial period, once stood”.
Among the buildings featured are some of the Cebu’s prominent Spanish churches like the church of St. John the Baptist in Pari-an, the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, and the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño.

The historical events that were depicted in thsis huge sculpture include the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in Cebu and the finding of the image of the Sto. Niño.
One should visit this “one-stop-shop” of Cebu’s rich history. <i>(Compiled by the United Architects of the Philippines Sugbu Chapter; photos from www.pbase.com/iabasolo by Ian Abasolo)</i>

That’s right, Kidsters! Let me tell you something about a good habit that you can start while you are young.

This is by saving money. How? By getting a piggy bank where you can put your extra coins.

A piggy bank need not be shaped like a pig. It can be in the form of a coin box or bottle made from cardboard or even wood. If you ask your grandparents, during their time, they would have this so-called “piggy bank” even in the shape of a cloth bag which they would hide under the bed, or inside their closet.

This was the time when banks as we know it now, were not as many or conveniently located near our homes.

It’s really strange how words or phrases come to be. A bank is where you keep or store money, or even important papers or jewelry. They added the word “piggy” because, as I can just guess, the first were in the shape of a pig with a hole on top just big enough for the size of a coin.

Today, we have in many stores the so-called “coin banks” where extra change are placed for various charitable causes. Do you know what the real purpose of piggy banks are? It is to help you, Kidsters, save money while still in grade school.

When the piggy bank is full, you then bring it to a real bank with your parents and break it there. The bank teller will then count the money you have and you are given your first bank account and in your name, too! It is an exciting feeling.

You will then have your own savings account in your name. You are not supposed to touch the money for months or years so it can earn what you call interest. It is a good habit to have since saving money is so important today when many things are happening in the world around us.

It is always good to have cash of your own in the bank. It will help you when you are older and you can watch it grow in amount, maybe enough for you to have money to go to college or even to buy something you may really need when you are grown up.

So there you are, Kidsters! Get a piggy bank right now.

They convey special attention to a friend
And a lot of worship for them to send
Friends are great companionships
So nothing can describe noxious friendship

Friends bloom like beautiful flowers
Communicating with them for many hours
Dearest Friends, please show us love
For God will send you a glorious dove

Angel Phebles L. Altejar
Grade 6, Colegio de la Inmaculada
Concepcion, Gorordo Ave.

Now I fully understand how difficult pressure is. It is like a waterfall thrashing on my back.  It is like the times when I jump in the water and go down too deep.  While I slowly start floating back up, I always run out of air and my lungs start to burn.  It suffocates me.  I have so much to do in so little time and it peeves me so.

I am so very cross with school.  Requirements, homework—everything is smothering me.  I am desperately struggling to get some air back in my lungs.  I am struggling in the water so deep, so far from my want—my need.  Why is everything so difficult, so pugnacious with my life?

But once I think about it, my problems deserve a manic guffaw or two.  I mean, what problems? So what about school?  It is not like Noah’s burden to make an ark while everyone thought he was crazy.  I do not need to lead an oppressed group of slaves out of Egypt like Moses.  And God definitely did not send me to save mankind, spread His will and die for sinners all in the same lifetime.  My burden is a selfish one.  If I fall, I fall alone and if I succeed, the glory is mine.  What is my burden that it cannot be compared to theirs?
Actually, as I think more about the times when I fall too deep into the water, I realize that I was only focusing on the bad, and not the good.  I was always expressing how I felt so suffocated.  Desperate and all but not once, not once, did I mention always ending up breaking into the surface and finally taking that gasp of air and pressure. It suffocates us all.

(Tiffany, 13, is on her sophomore year at the Sacred Heart School Hijas de Jesus.)