Nineteen members of the Benjamin Aguilar Elementary School (BAES) Chapter of the Goducate Junior CDW (community development workers) Club graduated on March 24. Among the club members, nine graduated with academic awards that included first honors, second honors, third honors, five with honorable mentions, and one with special award.
BAES is located in Anabo, Lemery. Lemery is a fourth-class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. Provinces in the Philippines are divided into cities and municipalities (also known as towns), and municipalities are classified by income according to their average annual income over the previous 4 calendar years, with first class municipalities having an income of PHP 55,000,000 ($1,243,938) or more, and sixth class less than PHP 15,000,000 ($339.251).
Junior CDW Club is Goducate’s program for elementary schools in Iloilo, Philippines. Its mission is to educate and empower youths to be readily available and able to assist in helping meet the needs of their community. Goducate believes that the hope of a country lies in the children. The vision is that all Junior CDW Club members will actively participate in helping develop their families and their own communities and will train others to do likewise.
Members of Junior CDW Clubs are students in grades four, five, and six who are willing to participate and be trained. The officers and members of the clubs meet every Saturday, from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. They do fun activities and learn the values of good leadership. They are mentored on how to handle activities, lead songs, organize programs, and be good leaders. They also learn livelihood skills such as making moringa powder and doing vermiculture.
During the School’s 43rd Recognition Program in the morning, BAES awarded a certificate of recognition to Goducate and to Goducate community development workers for their help to the school and its pupils. The 43rd commencement (graduation) exercises were held in the afternoon.
*Our guest writer is Joanna De Leon