#NEWS | Keeping Our Humanistic Values Alive
by Bel de las Llagas and Karla Ugaban
NOVEMBER 12, 2019 — Philippine Science High School (PSHS) students gather in the school’s gymnasium for the opening ceremony of the Humanities’ Festival: Stronger at 55.
With the theme of the school’s 55th year anniversary in mind, the festival this year strived to showcase the capabilities of Pisay students as each batch experienced different activities. This year’s festival focused on emphasizing the presence of humanities subjects in a scholar’s academic life, all the while acting as a breather from the heavy workload of requirements.
“The importance [of the Humanities Festival] is in the vision of Philippine Science High School to develop holistic students not only in science but to [also] possess humanistic values,” said Sir Peter Dajime, the overall head of the Humanities Week preparations.
The opening ceremony started off with the national anthem, led by the school’s chorale, Himig Agham. A prayer held by Ma’am Frances Tiburcio followed this, as to wish the students luck in the upcoming events. Shortly after, Ma’am Ma. Celeste Aguila took to the stage to give a brief opening to the festival.
With the formalities over with, the performance held by the school’s dance club, Sagala, took the spotlight with their moves.
This year’s opening ceremony included a speech from a special guest, Sir Jose Dalisay, who spoke about his story as a former student of Pisay. He carried on to talk about the importance of humanities in a scholar’s life, regardless if from a science high school or not. He finished the talk by giving words of advice to the students who needed it.
After Sir Dalisay was awarded a certificate of appreciation, Himig Agham, led by Ma’am Melody Hernandez, performed the Philippine folk song “Mamayug Akun” and The Lion King’s “The Circle of Life”. This was followed by the performance of teachers from the Humanities department, who showcased their talents in singing and dancing.
Sir Peter Dajime then gave the students an orientation for this year’s humanities festival, as he reminded the batches of their schedules for the week. Himig Agham then closed the ceremony by performing the PSHS and DOST hymn, which signified that the Humanities Festival 2019 had officially begun.
The festival, which aimed to focus on the importance of humanities, consisted of several workshops to encourage students in learning things other than STEM-related subjects. Not only that, but contests were held within each batch to make the festival a better experience.
“This year’s activities feature a lot of collaboration… [such as the] events and workshops that emphasized collaboration between units. The aim here is not to see things just from one lens, but to look at issues and problems in a different context,” explained Sir Dajime.
The workshops included various activities that were related to humanities, such as the chorale and basketball workshops along with events such as the Values Education character building programs for Grade 7 students.
Other than this, the festival featured other activities — such as the human interactive exhibits for Grade 10 students, which included speakers who focused on important topics, like climate change and support for local communities. There were also other events, such as Laro ng Lahi for Grade 9 that brought out the energy and spirit of the students as they participated in the games.
Talks and debates also took place, showing the importance of one’s participation in current events. Not only did the festival become a memorable experience for the years to come, but it also served a learning point for the students.
But while the festival was fun and enjoyable, all good things must come to an end.
As the events of the Humanities’ Festival have come to a close, a closing ceremony was held to announce those who won in the activities and events assigned to each batch. The closing ceremony was hosted by Ma’am Natalie Basquez and Sir Arnold Lapuz of the Values Education and Social Science Units, respectively.
The closing of the festival followed on with the performances of all the winners in each batch, some being Kilos Awit, Sayaw Dekada, Awiting Pinoy, and One Act Tragedy. Grades 11 and 12 winners were also awarded for their creativity in their Photo Essays and Art Installations.
“To quote ang sinasabi ni Jack Ma: we need to teach students what we cannot teach robots to do,” said Sir Dajime, regarding the importance of humanities subjects in a scholar’s academic life. “The importance is in the vision of Pisay to develop holistic students–not only those who are science-oriented, but those who also possess values… humanistic values. That’s why the Humanities [Festival] is kind of a way to emphasize that.”
“Yung humanities, it’s a total… a totality, ng isang being. Kasi sa STEM, mukhang hindi eh, wala kang puso sa STEM,” added Ma’am Ma. Corazon Capundag of the PEHM Unit. “Pero with humanitites, kumpleto siya sa mga critical thinking, physical, at social na aspeto. Kumpleto siya. Kumpleto yung isang tao.”
With the presence of the humanities festival, it is no worry that the humanistic values ingrained in each student are indeed, alive.
