On the 12th of June every year, Philippines commemorates the Filipino: Araw ng Kalayaan or the Day of Freedom- the very historic day when Filipinos finally achieved their true independence.
All Filipinos have enjoyed this freedom ever since and to our brave and great heroes we owe this lifetime opportunity to live Free! But to you, what is really the true meaning of Freedom?
May I express my answer to this question through this Community Outreach that we did on Independence Day?
It was a random plan with other teacher colleagues and with @selflessgem and @melit79 to conduct a community outreach program and it's our first time doing it in our place.
And I'm more than humbled to share with you in today's blog A Day with the Children In the Community: An Independence Day Special!
I actually came across this question in one of the lessons we tackled with my Grade 10 students in my Values subject - the true essence of Freedom. It is something that every Filipino should ponder on!
The Community Outreach was to conduct a Reading Tutorial and Feeding to Daycare, Kindergarten, Grade 1, and selected Grade 2 pupils of barangay Kal-anan. This barangay is where the secondary school where I and my colleagues are teaching.
Being a resident of barangay Kal- anan, I facilitated the communication and coordination with the barangay officials to conduct the said activities. It was with great joy and delight that the barangay local government unit (LGU) didn't fail us but was happier that we chose this beautiful community with their children as beneficiaries.
Learned about the plan, the barangay communicated with the parents or guardians about it to gather and be at the venue on the said date and time.
Before heading to the venue of the program, we attended first the symbolic flag raising ceremony on Independence Day in order to pay respect to the Philippine flag, the symbol of our independence. It was conducted in school about a few meters away from the venue.
Having made the preparations ready -the food packs and the reading materials, we headed immediately to the place to see the cute and innocent faces of the children with their parents or guardians waiting for us!
Being used to teaching high school students, it should be a different experience teaching kids! And we're excited to do so the day before the activity.
With about 50 kid beneficiaries present, each of the teachers was assigned to a group of pupils in the same grade level. Some male and female teachers managed the 5-year-old daycare pupils bringing with them some flashcards with letters, shapes, and numbers to teach the kids.
While other teachers facilitated the kindergarten and Grade 1 children, I managed the selected Grade 2 pupils, the oldest children in the group.
As we started the reading tutorial, the children were attentive, cooperative, and participative. They also showed their interest and eagerness to learn listening carefully to their new teachers that teaching them reading was never difficult!
And the prize for being well-behaved and attentive?A festive snack- spaghetti and bread with juice!
What brought great joy not only to the children but also to the parents is the giving of school supplies and bags to these beneficiaries sponsored by the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) or the Youth Council of the barangay.
And we were more than honored to have been given the authority to distribute these school supplies to the very grateful faces of the parents and children.
Yes, the true essence of Freedom is being able to perform our own will and duties in service to others. The genuine happiness that you see in the eyes of others whom you showed kindness is what matters.
According to Booker T. Washington, "Those who are the happiest are those who do the most for others."
It was, truly, a beautiful day with the children in the community!
And this is all for today's blog dear Hivers. Thank you for reaching this far. See you again in my next. Until then.....
Some photos are grabbed from our group chatroom and some others are mine.