A GOOD seed in good soil bears good fruit; so does a good idea.

In the case of St. Benedict Childhood Education Centre Inc. (SBCECI), more familiarly known simply as “St. Ben,” it was the idea of Lygia C. Ibañez to open a preschool in her home in Adelfa St., Cebu City to meet the pre-school needs of little children who were too young to be enrolled in regular schools. She opened St. Benedict’s Pre-School in 1967 with just two teachers and 15 pupils.

In 1971, with the growing number of students, the pre-school moved to the Redemptorist Plaza where it continued to grow and flourish, and where, from pre-school, it was renamed St. Benedict’s Learning Centre and became an elementary education school. Now, 50 years later, the school has flourished and continues to fulfill its mission of educating children.

Ibañez was a pianist by education and “stumbled” into childhood education when she was asked by a nun of St. Theresa’s College if she loved children. When she said yes, the nun told her to come back the following day to substitute, for a week, a kindergarten teacher who went on leave—that week became 14 years. Because she did not have an education background, she read books and eventually became a member of the Associated Childhood Education which yearly had a summer education conference which she attended; what she learned there she made sure would be adopted by her school where the individual student is nurtured into developing according to his/her individual capacity, personality and innate talent.

Ibanez died on Jan. 22, 2011 and the running of the school was given to Teresita Cabatingan Zosa, a first cousin of the deceased, who finished AB-BSE and who has a teaching background. A board of trustees was formed, headed by Rev. Fr. Ernesto O. Javier who, providentially, had just returned to Cebu after a year’s sabbatical following his retirement from running Sacred Heart School - Ateneo de Cebu. By this time, the Redemptorist campus had become too small for the school’s growing population so in 2012, it temporarily transferred to the vacated Gen. Maxilom Ave. campus of Sacred Heart School, and in 2013, transferred to its new location in Cabahug St., Kasambagan. The current board decided to open the school to high school students and now has the permit to operate a junior high school with some students now in third year high.

When the school turned 50 years old this year, the board decided to celebrate it with a grand concert at Theater One of SM City Cebu. The celebration, named “Gold! SBCEC in Concert,” recalled the history of the school through movies and musicals: almost everyone in the school was involved—all the students, the teachers, and even the parents and alumnae. It was a beautiful evening of music and nostalgia and somewhere up there, Lygia C. Ibanez must have applauded, played the piano or sang along with the community she nurtured in her lifetime.