Category: News

Childlink Learning Center and High School Inc. has gained recognition for its efforts to continually upgrade its curriculum.

The school is the recipient of the Business Achievement and Recognition Award for Advance Learning Education Provider of the Year 2021 in Metro Cebu.

The award underscores the thrust of Childlink to always incorporate new teaching strategies to prepare their students to become active members of the community.

Despite the pandemic, Childlink’s strategy ensures that the school maintains quality education it has always strived for, says founder and school directress Maria Theresa Tio.

Ms. Tio noted that the school has been able to inculcate good values in their students before the pandemic occurred and these values enabled the students to cope with the challenges brought about by online classes.

The sense of responsibility that these students acquire also helped them as they go on to higher learning institutions and acquire the commitment to do their part becoming responsible members of the community.

The school has been active in promoting advocacies such as teenage pregnancy and  bullying among others as well as organizing outreach programs.

Recently, Childlink initiated the launching of the advocacy for climate change. The event called A Call to Action To Stop Climate Change was participated by various schools and organizations.

The said activity is in response “to the global call of making gender equality as an approach to mitigating climate change.”

“Climate change is a global crisis. It has a negative impact on people and the environment around the world. All of us will be affected; however, not all of us will be affected in the same way,” Ms. Tio said during the launching held on March 14.

She explained that they took the lead in inviting participating schools such as Yokkaichi Maryknoll School in Japan, Fu Jen University in Taiwan, other Z  Clubs in other provinces, Our Lady of Joy Learning Center in Consolacion, Cebu and Cebu Normal University.

Aside from the mother club, officers and members of the Zonta Club of Cebu II, the Miriam Environmental Planning Organization in Manila, Z Club of Childlink High School Cebu and the Childlink elementary students also joined the said event.

The Childlink students have suggested different activities to protect the environment, Ms. Tio disclosed, adding that they would also get inputs from the teachers and parents.

These suggestions submitted will be studied by the school’s admin team who will determine the recommendations that can be implemented in the incoming school year, she added. “We integrate all the contributions and suggestions and take action on these.”

The first step would be to create awareness among the students about climate change and how it can have adverse effects not only on the present generation but the future generations as well, Ms. Tio said.

However, she believed that the students can easily understand the gravity of climate change.

“I think the issue on climate change, they (students) can easily be understood. They can easily relate (to climate change),” Ms. Tio said. “ We encourage them to take an active role. After all, the future belongs to the young people.”

In her speech during the activity, she stressed the role of educational institutions in promoting awareness on climate change. “Education is the key to mitigate climate change.”

“Today, we support the global call to stop climate change through awareness of the issue and to make use of education as a platform for change.  We promote and support equality in education and at the same time include climate literacy in our schools more so, promote STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) studies to allow our students to understand better and make valuable contributions to climate change mitigation,” Ms. Tio pointed out.

According to Ms. Tio, the school can incorporate the value of love for the environment in their lessons. Even a simple thing as teaching children to pick up wrappers and other trash will make prevent them from throwing these indiscriminately, she added.

What Childlink aims to do is to instill enthusiasm and drive among its students so they can contribute to climate change mitigation, said Mrs. Tio.

A survey conducted on the psychological impact of the pandemic here in the Philippines showed that 13.4 percent of the respondents experience moderate to severe stress levels. Those affected include students and the youth.

According to the survey results, the prolonged home-stay and reports of poor health status as well as unnecessary worry, concerns for family members, and discrimination were among the causes with greater psychological impact of the pandemic and higher levels of stress, anxiety and depression.

Recognizing the need for intervention to address any adverse effects of the pandemic, Childlink Learning Center and High School Inc. and their students participated in a webinar that focused on how one can take care one’s self, explained Ms. Maria Theresa Tio, Childlink managing director and president.

Held on October 16, 2021, Saturday, the webinar featured Ms. Karen Espiritu, a life coach and training facilitator, who discussed the topic on  ‘Caring For Your Well-Being.’

Ms. Espiritu stressed that a person’s well-being is one of the things that every person can control. She explained that this can be done by being mindful, by taking time to reflect on their lives, by praying and meditating. She urged participants to make a gratitude list of the things they have so that they could recognize their blessings, cherish these and be thankful for it.

She also noted that being physically active reduces negative thoughts and improves cognitive function. Participants were also encouraged to learn new things and new skills so that their minds would not dwell on the pandemic and how it has affected them. Acquiring new skills and knowledge can also help open opportunities for each person in the future.

Ms. Karen Espiritu also stressed the importance of continuous connection and interaction with their loved ones so they could form positive relationships that could provide comfort, strength and support.

Finally, by being generous, giving to others and sharing with others as much as they can, are ways of dealing with the stress brought about by the pandemic. By doing so, one can develop a sense of reward as well as spread positivity.

Ms. Sachi Lozano, an 18-year old advocate, also joined the webinar to introduce the Adversity Archive. The Adversity Archive is an online publication and a youth organization.

It focuses on stories of adversity of Filipinos that aims to bridge the marginalized with those who have the desire to learn about them and have the ability to help.

Based on the reaction papers of written by Childlink students, students admit that the pandemic has affected them. The webinar helped them realize that they have much to thank for in their lives. Students also recognize that there are things that they can do to minimize the stress and anxiety brought about by the pandemic.

Another webinar was held on October 23, 2021, Saturday in observance of the United Nations Day. The webinar, organized by Zonta Club of Cebu II in collaboration with the Z Club of Childlink High School Cebu, featured the topic on Child Marriage entitled “No Time to Lose: End Child Marriage Now.”

The UN Day activity featured We Are Grils, Not Brides Video while chosen members of the Childlink Z Club presented three stories of different child brides in different parts of the world.

It also featured a lyric video on Ending Child Marriage that was made by the Grade 9 Z Club of Childlink members.

According to a post on the Philippine Commission on Women website, 15 percent of Filipino girls are married before their 18th birthday and two percent are married before the age of 15.

The UNICEF also reported that the Philippines has the 12^th highest absolute number of child brides in the world at 726,000.

Ms. Tio explained that Childlink has been promoting awareness among their students on societal issues. “This is one of the highlights in our curriculum,” she added.

On the campaign against child marriages, Linkers help by disseminating information on child marriages. High School students made a lot of infographics to describe what child marriage is. This advocacy on Ending Child Marriage was launched by the Z Club of Childlink  in October 2020.

These are being shared by the Linkers  to their friends and acquaintances as their way of helping in the campaign.

Meanwhile, Childlink will have various activities during the month of November in celebration of the National Children’s Month.

Recognizing the need for continued interaction among students, Childlink Learning Center and Highschool Inc. continues to hold activities for their students.

One of the activities is the First Virtual Childlink Family Day, a fun event for their students and parents with the theme ‘Linkers, the Game Changers’

Through the Virtual Family Day, Childlink aims to show everyone that despite the pandemic, the activities for students should continue, said Childlink founder and school directress Maria Theresa Tio.“Hopefully, it helps students to be motivated and engagedthrough the activities so that they continue to do well in online school,” Ms. Tio explained.

The Childlink Student Council led the activities.“It’s really a learning experience for them because even during the planning stage, council officers and members were very enthusiastic. They collaborated  withthe admin staff and teachers assigned with specific tasks. They were mostly involved in program preparation and they conceptualized the games,” she said.

Held on September 24, 2021, the Family Day activities include art competition, quiz bee, scribbl.IO, charades,  poem performance on Family and Peace for the Nursery 2 and Kindergarten 1 levels.

The winners of the art competition are Madison Ariane Keh of Team Water (Nursery 2); Mika Borromeo of Team Fire (Kindergarten 1); Miguel Rentuza of Team Water (Kindergarten 2); Vienna Ligutan of Team Water (Grade 1); Li Audric Antiporta of Team Wind (Grade 2); Cole Verano of Team Fire (Grade 3); Klayne Wynter Go of Team Earth (Grade 4); Ayeshia Cariquitan of Team Wind (Grade 5); Renzo Isaiah Bernabe of Team Earth (Grade 6); Archangel Binueza of Team Wind (Grade 7); Lindsay Rojas of Team Water (Grade 8); Seth Marcus Verano of Team Fire (Grade 9) and Lance Andrei Ong of Team Earth (Grade 10).

In her message during the Virtual Family Day, Ms. Tio urged parents to continue their support for the school’s Community Outreach Program for the Rise Above Foundation until the end of October. Parents were also encouraged to allow their children to enlist for the Project BalikBuhay Junior Vaccination program.

OCTOBER ACTIVITIES

She also informed the parents about the activities for the month of October.

On October 16, the Zonta Club of Cebu II in cooperation with the Z Club of Childlink will conduct an online activity. The program will include an orientation of the goals and ideals of the Zonta International and the ideals for every Z club (composed of High School students ) and Golden Z Club (composed of College students).

The Z Clubs and Golden Z Clubs present will have an opportunity to know the service and advocacy projects of other clubs and learn from each other.

The second part of the program is a webinar entitled Caring for your Well Being with speaker Ms. Karen Espiritu. This webinar will focus on understanding about social and mental wellness and learn how a person’s wellbeing can improve by the way that he or she is able to relate to oneself and to others

Another activity will be conducted on October 23. The Zonta Club of Cebu II in collaboration with Z Club of Childlink will commemorate the United Nations Day with the online forum entitled“No Time To Lose:  End Child Marriage Now.”

On this day, different Child Bride stories will be told and acted out by Z Club of Childlink students, Ms. Tio said.

Also, ZontaClub of Cebu II selected members will also give statements of support for a call to action on the issue of Child Marriage, she added.

Ms. Tio also disclosed that Childlink is now accepting students from different areas outside Cebu for their online classes.

Aside from online classes, Childlink also offers the Home School Program. The program offers academic flexibility since it enables the parents to choose the pace and approach for their children’s modules. This is also an option for those living in areas with poor or unstable internet connection.

Childlink’s learning modules are appropriate for each student. The students are also given the opportunity to join online classes.

The school also offers After School Care Program, Daily tutorial classes for English and Special Education tutorial for students in preparation for mainstream classes.

With online classes still being implemented in the incoming school year 2021-2022, some students would need tutorial to help them in the subjects they find difficult.

In fact, since last year, the demand for part-time tutors have grown considerably as many parents needed them to help their children learn subjects, especially Science and Mathematics.

This is where Childlink Learning Center and Highschool Inc. comes in by providing quality After School Tutorial for learners, said Childlink founder and school directress Maria Theresa Tio.

Childlink teachers will be providing online tutorial services starting at 4:30 p.m., from Tuesday to Saturday, Ms. Tio explained. This hour-long, daily service is also available for non-Childlink students.

The subjects would depend on the learners’ requirements, which will be discussed with parents, she said.

There will be limited slots available for Childlink’s tutorial services, which will start on September 20.

Meanwhile, Childlink will also be offering another product – the Special Education (SPED) classes.

According to Ms. Tio, the SPED classes will specifically be for enrichment or mainstream preparation. This means that learners will be prepared to transition to mainstream classes.

However, Childlink will require that a parent or a guardian to be present during the hour-long SPED class.

The learners will be formed into groups of five students, depending on their learning capability. One group will comprise of learners aged three to five. Another group will be those from grades one to three and the third group will be composed of learners from grades four to six.

Childlink has created its own modules for the SPED classes. The subjects will include English, Mathematics, Science, Civics and Filipino.

Also, as part of the school’s 25^thanniversary celebration, Childlink will continue its outreach programs so they could focus on good citizenship.

Since the school will mark September as a Family month, the emphasis will be on how families help each other and how parents could raise and teach their children good values. “Everything starts at home,” Ms. Tio stressed.

The school will coordinate with the Rise Foundation for their outreach programs.

“We will have outreach programs with the Rise Foundation Inc. whose mission is helping underprivileged children. What we’re doing this month is we’re asking our parents and families to donate clothes and toys that they no longer use,” Ms Tio said.

She added that they will launch this project in the second week of August until September to gather these donations. The Rise Foundation will be the one to identify the beneficiaries here in Cebu City.

Since November 2000, the Rise Foundation have been working as volunteers in Cebu City for programs that help improve the quality of life for the underprivileged.

These include providing of educational opportunities, livelihood training and health and hygiene programs.

Because of the programs that Rise Foundation is doing for the community, Childlink is encouraging the families to support the programs of the foundation  so that the school community can contribute to helping other people.

Childlink Learning Center and Highschool to focus on achievements as it starts to  commemorate its 25^th anniversary in 2022

As Childlink Learning Center and Highschool is set to commemorate its 25^th anniversary next year, the school looks back on its achievements over the years.

The school has been able to make a mark not only on their students but also to their families and the community.

“We were able to serve families as well as communities. We also contributed to arts. We had 21 (art) presentations so far, not only to perform but to tell the community about the services and advocacies we also have as a school,” explains Childlink founder and school directress Maria Theresa Tio.

Ms. Tio also noted that the school has been able to give excellent education to students who schooled in Childlink for the past 24 years.

Aside from providing excellent education, the school has consciously focused on values formation for their students.

“When we started the school, we really focused on values although we were not yet identified as School of Character,” recalls Childlink founder and school directress Maria Theresa Tio. “The academic formation comes secondary to the values formation of the students as values formation is thepriority.”

Ms. Tio explained that developing the learner’s sense of responsibility and discipline promotes good study habits, making them good students.

VALUES FORMATION

“This is proven during the pandemic. We realized that because of the many values imparted to students before the pandemic, they became successful in online learning. Also, our alumni have shared  with us that the values they learned in Childlink  helped them cope with the growing responsibilities and challenges that they face in their mature years,” the Childlink founder pointed out.

“They learn to be caring individuals because every year our students are exposed to various school service and community service activities such reading with a child, serving food to children recipients, lecturing in front of children which allows the Linkers to broaden their understanding of their community and allow them to apply their knowledge outside the confines of the school,” she pointed out.

Before the pandemic, Childlink students have been involved in the school’s advocacies. These include gender equality, environmental preservation, anti-bullying, anti-cyberbullying, and anti-teenage pregnancy.

When Linkers leave the school to pursue higher education, they will be bringing with them the concept of family in a broader sense. For them, they get the support of a bigger family, which comprise of the school and the community.

“Students share that with their years of being a Linker, they are confident thatthere will be people who will support them, cheer for them and root for them in their undertakings. That is why when the students leave Childlink for college, they look back and treasure the friendship they have had with their schoolmatesand other significant persons they have met in school” Ms. Tio said.

The friendship among Childlink students are developed as they get involved in the many advocacies of the school, when they learn the importance of helping those in need.

CHILDLINK ADVOCACIES

Even with the pandemic, Childlink continues to implement its advocacies.

For example, the school encourages the students to donate toys and other stuff for the less fortunate children.

The school also comes up with videos on their various advocacies made with inputs from the students and then urges their students to share these videos with their family and friends to promote awareness.

Among Childlink’s advocacies, the school sustained the Reading Advocacy through the years.

For many years, they tied up with the Cebu City Public Library to conduct reading sessions for children.

“We were working with public library to make our reading module for the reading project because the target beneficiaries do not have the same level of competency as our students. Thegoal is toletchildren beneficiaries read even three letter words,” Ms. Tio explained.

Another reading advocacy project was with a French non-government organization called Enfants du Mekong that are working with children living near the Inayawan dumpsite.

“We first taught the day care teachers the technique on how to teach reading to students. We gave them the module to assist them in the implementation. The project had some degree of success as children had learned how to read,” she said.

IMPORTANCE OF READING

Ms. Tio stressed the importance of promoting reading among children especiallyin the preschool aged children (4-5 years old).

She believes that if children in preschool age are exposed to reading early, they will improve in the area of communication, comprehension and self-expression. By learning English at an early age, children will have a good foundation on communication skills.

And as the school will soon start a year-long commemoration for its 25^th anniversary, Childlink’s founder expressed hope that the community will also recognize their achievements and put their trust in the school.

“It is not easy to prove yourself against the schools that have been there before us. We have been able to establish our brand as a School of Character and excellence in education.Because when you are a school of character, everything else will follow,” Ms. Tio said.

She added that the child will be molded to become a better person with the values taught at homestrengthened by the school.

“The school  (Childlink) makes an effort to become the partner of the parents in molding their children through our modules for character development taught in every grade level,” Ms. Tio said.

YEARLONG ACTIVITIES

To celebrate its 25^th anniversary, Childlink has lined up several activities.

These include the Virtual Get-together of the First Linkers way back in 1997; Highlight achievements of Linkers through writeups and testimonies; partnership with an organization in the community for webinars and live sessions; and Virtual Awarding Ceremony for Childlink Partners and Service Award for Employees for  25 years.

The virtual awarding is tentatively scheduled in May 2022.

Meanwhile, parents are urged to enrol their children as soon as possible since classes for school year 2021-2022 will start on July 19.

To know more about Childlink, School of Character, please call the office of Guidance Services and look for Teacher Auda at 4152963 or 09176236767. Office hours is from 8AM until 4PM from Monday to Friday and on Saturdays from 8AM until 12 noon. #

Childlink Learning Center and High School gets ready to have activities in the incoming school year to celebrate its 25^th anniversary in 2022.

The school’s anniversary theme is Linkers: Relevant, Responsive, Resilient.

“For two successive school years starting this July 2021, we will be retaining the same theme until the school year 2022 which is “to stay relevant and to continue to be responsive and be resilient” despite the changes and challenges brought about by the pandemic,” says Childlink founder and school directress Maria Theresa Tio.

According to Ms. Tio, the school has undertaken efforts to prepare their students for the transition to online learning.

Childlink, in coordination with parents and guardians, continue to create activities in order for the students to have social interaction with their classmates and teachers.

Despite the change in learning platform, the school has continued to hold the usual activities for the just-concluded school year. One example is the holding of Heartstrings: A Celebration of Music featuring the choir performance, ukulele, guitar, and rondalla performances of the students.

As the school is on its way to celebrate its silver anniversary in July 2022, it recently got a recognition from the Character.org, an organization devoted to fostering character development in our schools and communities for this month of June.  The international virtual recognition that Childlink has received will be done this October 2021.

Character.org cites Childlink as among those with 2021 Promising Practice.

“We are extremely proud to recognize the schools and organizations that have developed and implemented a Promising Practice” said Dr. Arthur Schwartz, President of Character.org. “Each of these programs and initiatives have demonstrated significant impact and strongly align with the principles that help schools and organizations cultivate a culture of character.” This year’s character development practices and initiatives included peer mentoring, service-learning, and conflict resolution approaches. Many of the Promising Practices also involve parents and the local community. Character.org will honor each 2021 Promising Practice recipient (schools and organizations) at its National Forum to be held October 20-22, 2021.

Childlink has always provided quality education through face to face classes and close supervision by teachers and teachers’ aide before the pandemic and continuous to do so during this crisis.

But as a School of Character, the school not only focuses on academic excellence,italso places much emphasis on character development, Ms Tio explains.

“We continuously upgrade our curriculum so students will find learning relevantto real life situations,” Ms. Tio pointed out.

By doing this, Childlink enables the Linkers to apply what they learned in school and put these into action so they can be responsive to the community, she added.

To accomplish this goal, the school has come upwith the Childlink Creed to serve as a guide for the Childlink Student who is also called a Linker.

According to the Childlink Creed, a Linker is caring, honest, industrious, loving dynamic, loyal, interactive, nature-lover and keen.

Linkers will stand out among their peers for being caring and productive individuals,  who are loyal to family, school and country, Ms. Tio explained.

As part of its upcoming 25^th anniversary, Childlink will continue its advocacies such as creating awareness for cyberbullying, gender equality and child marriage.

“We will continuethe  collaborationwe have with schools, abroad and within our country.These collaborations are done for the purpose of developing students to become solutionaries to the issues that are present in each of the communities,” she added.

Childlink is now open for admission for school year 2021-2022. Enrolment period for Elementary Students is from June 17 to June 24. On the other hand, high school enrolment is between June 9 to June 16, 2021. For preschool, the enrolment is between June 25 and July 3. Parents can choose either the Online Learning Program or the Home School Program.

Summer classes are also available and starton June 7, 2021. These include Reading Classes for Preschool to Grade 3; English Classes for foreign students for all grade levels and Reinforcement classes on English, Civics, Filipino Math, Mother Tongue and Science. The school also offers one-on-one online reading tutorials