It's a season for counting blessings at St. Scholastica's Academy in Bacolod City which holds Golden Jubilee activities on Feb. 8-10 with the commemoration resuming on Feb. 28, the day when it was formally opened in 1958.

“The school has been greatly blessed,” says Sr. M. Lucy Togle, OSB, directress of the school which was opened in response to the request of Bacolod-based alumnae of St. Scholastica's College in Manila to bring to Scholastican education to the city.

As the SSA community gears for its celebration this month, Sr. Lucy looks at the past as reflections “of God's blessings”. We have gifted students, the parents of our students are cooperative and the alumnae association is very supportive of the programs and activities of the school, the directress said, adding: “Through the years, we have not experienced any difficulty because the parents and alumnae have always been around to help us.”

What started as a school of 207 pre-school and grade school pupils on its first campus – previously a market stall in front of the present Ceres North Terminal in Bacolod City — and, a year later, moving to it present site, St. Scholastica's Academy has grown by leaps and bounds. This schoolyear, it has 1,686 students, the biggest enrolment so far, with 47 grade school teachers and 25 others in the high school department and more than 30 members of the staff.

SSA, originally an all-girl educational institution, opened its doors to pre-school and grade school boys in 1988 with an enrolment of only four pupils. This schoolyear, a total of 283 boys registered in the grade school level and 17 others in the pre-school program. Sr. Lucy said the school will not open its high school department to boys despite the wishes of some sector for its extending its education for boys to the secondary level.

SSA Bacolod, founded by nuns from Germany is one of the 12 schools run by Benedictine sisters in the country, five of which are located in the Visayas, Lucy says.

It's education is anchored on the philosophy, Ora et Labora (Prayer and Labor), committed to “the formation of the total person in Christ” and emphasizing what is known among St. Scholasticans as 13 Benedictine values – Christ-centeredness, prayer and labor, obedience, humility, sense of community, service, hospitality, silence, stewardship, compassion, stability, good zeal and discipline.

The SSA brand of education has produced individuals who are outstanding in academics and co-curricular activities and are anchored on citizenship and civics as a result of the strong outreach activities students and pupils engage in, the directress points out. SSA students, Sr. Lucy says, have been at the forefront of academic, cultural art, sports and other competitions, always emerging in the Top Three. SSA also takes pride in being the first high school in Western Visayas to earn PAASCU accreditation – in 1969 – and since then both levels have been re-accredited by the agency, and later elevated in recent and current evaluations to five-year accreditation status.

Under its outreach program, SSA has adopted public schools in its vicinity for its academic extension and catechism programs. As early as the grade school, pupils are taught to share with fellow children under the learning-together program where pupils from adopted schools come to SSA on Saturdays.

As a result, the directress says, they have been told by teachers of Mandalagan Elementary School , a key outreach beneficiary of pupil remedial and computer education programs, that school performance in Department of Education evaluation has greatly improved. The academic outreach also includes teacher development and tutorials. High school students also render their tutorial services to outreach children under the Baylohanay Manggad, or Trading treasures program, where they also mutually share life's experiences.

SSA has also a social action center, Kauswagan, established in 1976 to supplement the school's community services, promoting, among others, spiritual renewals, human development trainings, short-term courses and group meetings.

Part of its mission is to provide education for financially handicapped families, thus it has been offering scholarship programs for deserving children. At present, sister Lucy said, the school has 36 scholarship grant recipients in both elementary and high school levels and send 15 students to various colleges under the German-assisted Philbert scholarship program.

SSA has also been actively involved in administering the Holy Family High School , previously the Holy Family Vocational School in Sum-ag, to provide children of poor families the opportunity to avail of good quality educational service.

Citing as an example of the remarkable sense of cooperation of members of the SSA community, Sr. Lucy recounts that SSA has an annual medical mission – with beneficiaries numbering as many as 2,000. “Parents, alumnae, the faculty, the community and students are all involved in this activity,” she says, adding that in its recent mission, about 40 doctors and 30 nurses, many of whom are parents of the students, volunteered their services.

She underscores the active involvement of the SSA alumnae association in community activities, particularly in its donations of much-needed and expensive medical equipment for the Western Visayas Regional Hospital and its medical mission in the past few years. The association has been very quiet about its activities but they are doing something to help the community, Sister Lucy says, apparently as a result of their Scholastican education that has taught them the need to care for others, finding joy in doing it as a spontaneous act in their life. She cites that the 2007 medical mission, dubbed “Aloha” conducted by medical personnel from Hawaii , benefited more than 6,000 Negrenses. Many alumnae today, she adds, are occupying leadership positions here and abroad, including those engaged in community and civic service and non-governmental organizations.

As SSA celebrates its 50th year, Sister Lucy points out that they are also looking forward to updating and further strengthening school curricula to include greater emphasis on multi-media and inter-disciplinary schematic webbing as she adds that today computer literacy among St. Scholasticans is very high, with a 1:1 computer-student ratio in computer classes.

All these, she says, are in keeping with a wholistic education that we are providing our students, the directress stresses, which is reflected in all activities we undertake – both in the classroom and outside, including in field trips and special celebrations on campus, where we encourage learning experiences not only in one or two areas but in as many disciplines in an activity.

As SSA marks its golden anniversary, focused on the theme “Through 50 Years – Soaring High and Reaching Out”, Sr. Lucy reiterates a mission and a prayer: that they can realize by the end of 2008, the setting up the SSA Golden Jubilee Gawad Kalinga Village, which will have a total of 50 homes.

“We have the money now but what we need is a lot within the city where the village will stand,” Sr. Lucy says, adding that she is praying that God will touch the heart of civic-minded Negrenses to offer a small parcel of their property for the eventual home of 50 families “and make a big difference in their lives”.

“With all the graces and blessings we have received from God, in return we are building 50 homes on our 50th year,” Sr. Lucy further says.

Activities

An institutional mass, a cultural show, field demonstration, motorcade, a fun run and an awards and recognition night are among the highlights of the Golden Jubilee activities of St. Scholastica's Academy.

The major activities will be held on Feb. 8 and 9 and Feb. 28, the foundation day.

The Feb. 28 activities will include a prater service at the Shopping Center, where a marker will be unveiled.

A fun run will follow the prayer service participated in by parents and their children, with prizes for the first 10 families with hands clasped as they cross the finish line.

A motorcade will be held after the fun run featuring representations of the 13 Benedictine Values and countries where OSB Nuns have missions – including Argentina , Australia , Brazil , Bulgaria , China , Germany Korea, India , Italy , the Philippines and African nations.

Capping the anniversary activities will be the awards and recognition program which will pay tribute to individuals for their contribution to the growth of SSA. Among the recipients are the Montelibano, Locsin and Torres families, for donating parts of their land to the OSB Nuns for their educational mission.

The Feb. 8 activities will start with an institutional mass. Jubilarians will then be feted with a welcome program followed by the awarding of outstanding employees.

The Tuesday highlights also include games, exhibits, booths, plant and pet shows and rides, the alumnae homecoming program and tribute to be capped by the matinee of the grand production, Oro Plata, Scholastica directed by Rene Hinojales.

Wednesday activities include the field demonstration, a girls' football cup, the alumnae homecoming luncheon and the Oro, Plata, Scholastica gala presentation.