A SUMMER of fun and learning ends this Saturday for the kids of Culianan Learning Center e-Impact, who have been attending weekly summer classes under the Read-to-be-Smart (RTBS) program of Smart Communications Inc. (Smart).

The RTBS program seeks to address the lack of appreciation and understanding of reading among public school children.

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In Zamboanga, employees from the Smart Wireless Center, headed by Lalaine L. Daguno, adopted a school and taught kids during summer. They prepared learning plans for each week and brainstormed on activities that the children could relate to. The employee volunteers were joined by teachers from Culianan, who helped them monitor the kids' attendance and performance.

Josefina Lacastesantos, Culianan Learning Center principal, said, "This program has helped the school improve reading abilities of some learners in the school. The activities were very interesting and were presented vividly so the children were able to grasp the concepts they imparted."

This year, by training employee-volunteers, Smart incorporated the Silid Aralan Learning Technology (Salt) of Silid Aralan Inc. in the conduct of the summer program. Salt is a teaching technique that enables learning by making the lessons relevant to the students. This is done not only by localizing stories, examples, songs, and other educational materials according to the children's experiences but also by using a teaching method best suited to their inclination. This means that a child inclined towards music might respond more to songs or singing in class.

Smart kicked off its employee volunteerism program in education with the PasaBook nationwide campaign in 2003, where selected schools from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao were given books donated by Smart employees. In April 2004, RTBS was implemented in Makati City under the Department of Education's Adopt-A-School program. RTBS was extended to Pasay City and Cebu City in 2005, and to Cagayan De Oro City and Davao City in 2006.

Read-to-be-Smart programs in Valencia City and Ozamiz City were also concluded this month. (Press release)