Thirty-one Local School Board members from new and old Synergeia sites in Sulu gathered to learn from each other in making their school boards more functional. The training on LSB Reinvention was held on November 9-10 in Zamboanga City with participants from Kalingalan Caluang, Panglima Tahil, Talipao and Parang, as well as from the original “Team Sulu” LGUs of Jolo, Siasi and Patikul.

The expanded “Team Sulu” was led by Jolo Mayor Hussin Amin and Kalingalan Kaluang Mayor Radzmie Halun. As a newcomer in Synergeia education program, Mayor Radz candidly expressed, “ako po ay naririto dahil sa pangarap ko na makatapos ng elementary ang lahat ng bata sa aming lugar para tumaas ang antas ng aming pamumuhay”. To make his dream come true, he has committed to make his LSB functional and be able to lead the community in working together to ensure children of school age in K.C. go to school.

Mayor Amin, for his part, said that when he joined Synergeia, he realized “ it helps when parents, barangays, schools and community support initiatives in education. Hindi pwedeng kanya-kanya, dapat sama-sama.”

Other participants shared their best practices in engaging parents and barangays. PTA President Delmar Asjali related a success story of strong parents’ support in one elementary school in Patikul by working together for a school fencing project. Sir Ben Usman, PTA President in Jolo, also told of how parents are able to work with barangays to impose discipline among children and youth. The value of working as a team is a tried and tested formula in Sulu.