On this particular Saturday morning, the day moved through the ordinary to a buzzing one. Around 500 grades one and two public school teachers filled the Valenzuela City Center for Performing Arts (VCCPA) Theater on July, 19, 2008 to take part in the Seminar-Workshop for Teachers which was jointly organized by Synergeia and the City of Valenzuela.
The Synergeia reading program dubbed as “Win ang Edukasyon Program” and spearheaded by Valenzuela City Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian, aims to improve the level of reading proficiency of all public school children in the City.
The Seminar-Workshop was the first of a series of activities lined-up for this year. Former Councilor and Project Co-Director Lorena Borja, ably orchestrated the whole affair.
Dr. Antonio Torralba, Dean of UA&P and Vice Chair of Synergeia, delivered a very inspiring and animated presentation on the greatest sources of the joys of teaching. Teachers were moved by the message and left them motivated and yearning for more.
The talk was followed by a workshop on the happiness and sorrows teachers experience out of teaching. They were also consulted about the programs and trainings they felt most needed. The last part of the program was an assessment of their English proficiency skills. Each teacher was requested to answer a 3-page questionnaire on basic grammar and usage.
All these activities were accomplished in half a day with raffle draws in between. Gifts and cash prizes were given away as giddy teachers awaited their numbers to be called. Teachers were presented with a small gift for their time and cooperation.
The Project Management Team (PMT) members were very much involved from planning, solicitation of gifts, facilitating workshops and administering review tests -- truly a clear indication of sheer commitment and determination to make the project succeed.
By noon, teachers went home highly enthused, feeling renewed and hopeful.
