AS GOOD AS IT GETS


It may have been humbler to say, ‘As good as I’ve seen!’ but the verdict, ‘As good as it gets!’ was made in the enthusiasm of experiencing quality education in a small Catholic High School (411 students and a faculty of 13) at Su-ay, five km from Kabankalan City, Negros Island, Philippines.

During a familiarisation visit to this school in early July we Brothers became aware of a special relationship existing between Parish and School, forged around Creation Spirituality. Peter has written earlier about ‘a wonderful unity between Christ, Church, and the environment’ and went on to explain how the school biology program extends to producing herbal medicines from home-grown ingredients. Now in August and beyond, in a second round of visits where we are getting to know the teachers, and through them the schools, more deeply, I found myself back at Su-ay for two days.

San Ramon Catholic School was started by the Columban Fathers in the early 1960s. In 1981 the first Filipino priest, Fr. Dodo Dejilla, was appointed Parish Priest at San Ramon. Not long before, Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC) had begun to be established in this diocese with Columban Fathers Brian Gore (Australian) and Niall O’Brien (Irish) leading the way in their mountain parishes of Oringao and Tabugon. It was the period of Marshall Law under Dictator Ferdinand Marcos; a very difficult time for the people and for the church. Brian, Niall and others, through the BECs, empowered the people to stand on their own feet, to be confident in decision-making and to claim their rights against the excesses of the military. Such a stance earned them the wrath of the military and other authority figures. They, a Filipino priest, Fr. Itik Dangan, and six lay church leaders from Brian’s parish were jailed in the Bacolod Provincial Penitentiary on trumped up charges of murder. They became known to the media as the Negros Nine. It is an engaging story.

Fr. Dejilla believed the way forward for his Parish at Su-ay, which included mountain areas adjacent to Oringao, was through the BECs. He asked his teachers at the High School to assist him. There were some who were reluctant, resulting in resignations and the 1982 school year opening with several teachers newly joining the staff, ready to commit to the new venture. Fr. Dejilla arranged a month long retreat/seminar for them in Bacolod, led by Good Shepherd Sisters, who assisted them to integrate creation spirituality with the curriculum. During that month they were frequent visitors at the Bacolod Jail to join the prisoners in Masses led by the priest-prisoners. They were deeply affected by the experience and confirmed in their resolve.

Every school we have visited has displayed for all to see the Vision-Mission Statement for the school. Here at San Ramon what they have written has become a lived reality. When they say of their Vision that it ‘challenges us to transform our school into a Christian learning community, committed to provide holistic programs and services, with creation-centred spirituality, in order to develop a TOTAL PERSON competent to face tasks of Christian life’ they back it up with regular reviews of how they can more effectively achieve this vision. Aspects observed which were impressive include:

• During staff interviews most teachers, unbidden, spoke of their efforts to address Values Education through their particular subjects.
• The Academic Coordinator led the faculty in a review of all curricula during the period leading up to the start of this academic year.
• Staff members submit lesson plans to faculty meetings for critical review to ensure they are getting the emphasis right and to look for ways to respond to the ‘multiple intelligences’ of the students.
• The on-going production of herbal medicines.
• Mini ‘coffins’ demonstrating a vivid environmental message displaying the time taken for a range of products to bio-decay.
• Virtually all staff members have on-going parish involvements.
• Junior students acting out the message of the Our Father in an extended Religious Education class. Their acting, allowing for their youth, was a graphic demonstration of faith.
• Fourth Year students, selected at random, spoke during Religious Education class, to a previously prepared symbol of themselves. Their confidence, maturity and readiness to articulate their faith in front of their peers was inspiring. One girl used as her symbol, two hands. There was a clear service motif there, but she was in no sense servile; rather very strong. Her expression, “I have always believed …” stuck in my mind. How long is ‘always’ when you are 15?
• A boy in the same class chose as his personal symbol a beautifully drawn ballerina. Earlier in the lesson the teacher had used a song in the local language articulating St Ignatius of Loyola’s ‘Suscipe’. Student responses indicated good understanding. The link for me was extra-ordinary. One cannot be a successful ballerina without total commitment. For a boy to choose such a symbol in front of a co-ed class, with its unmistakable connotations, and to field questions from his peers without flinching; was for me inspiring.
• The teacher of the above-mentioned class had a sense of respectful presence that stimulated a similar response in the students. I knew myself to be on holy ground!


A Catholic school, consciously working to achieve a well articulated vision and which is able to bring its students to confident expressions of personal identity and faith has a claim to being successful. It is important to bear in mind that these teachers work literally for a pittance, often rejecting invitations to earn more by teaching in government schools, out of a sense of being part of the evangelical work of the church. The majority of the students will not go beyond Fourth Year High School. The teachers work with very few resources. The buildings are old but cared for as well as possible. The reward for the teachers is a high sense of community and a knowledge that they are effectively preparing students for life. For me it was education that is ‘As good as it gets!’

Br. Philip Pinto encouraged us to look for a different ‘face of God’ among the Filipino people. Such a ‘face’ is well demonstrated at San Ramon Catholic School, Su-ay! Why then are we here? We too are called to share our spirituality with them, a different ‘face of God’ again. In doing so there are many practical ways we hope to assist. For example, the diocese has invited us to help organize the schools into a system. There are potentially multiple benefits that can flow through such systematization. That is a work in progress and may be reported another day.