Special Club Recognition Day!

By Jaycy Deala

APEC Schools Student Council received a total of 4 awards: 2 bronze awards for Best Project Design Guide, and Community Engagement and Social Responsibility Awards for their project Punong Puso. Anne Camille Bonifacio received a certificate of recognition for being their deputy adviser, leading and managing the entire student council, and Lindy Batiancilla for being the academic coordinator.

The event concluded with the Student Council members of Kalumpang Sofia Bianca Hidalgo and Elisha Zozobrado singing the APEC hymn, Better Each Day.

Enigma: The Grand Ball

By Genina Bulan

APEC Kalumpang's "Ultraviolet Solaris" Participates in Interbranch Tournament

By Carl Angelo Morte

All players were prepared with warm-up prior to the starting point of the matches, while all spectators were prepared with food to munch on.

With the goal of achieving that championship title in the eyes of the Bacoor players, they absolutely devastated the Solaris players with their power, taking a dominating lead in the first quarter with 6-23, and ending with 36-67 in the fourth quarter. 

In spite of the losses in Basketball, the Volleyball players of Solaris were having a fair match against the Bacoor players having consistent but close scores. The game was 1-1 until Solaris was defeated with a 1-2 score in favor of the opposing team.

All this to be sent to the losers bracket where the Solaris basketball team ultimately met their demise to elimination, but where the volleyball team struck from the depths. 

Winning against Tondo and Pateros in the loser’s bracket, the Solaris volleyball team was just one game away from becoming the champions of the tournament. Their opponent was Bacoor; the first team that Solaris went against, now to be the last team they’d slap the volleyball with against each other.

Although the entire Kalumpang branch’s hopes were up for Solaris to take the championship, it was eventually humbled. A loss to Bacoor in the Championship bracket was handed over to the defeated faces of Solaris. 

The active participation of the students of Kalumpang in this interbranch tournament has contributed to their active spirits towards their branch, providing a feeling of pride for their own branch to be able to make play for fun and competition as well as the memories that it brings to each game. That is the real value from these events. The students definitely had their own enjoyment from participating in this tournament as things like these come every once in a very long while.

PUNOng Puso: Clean-Up Drive

By Genina Bulan

PUNOng Puso accomplishes an excellent task of demonstrating the abilities of the staff and students of APEC Schools Kalumpang. The Student Council has worked closely with the CEMO staff and students to create such a major project. Although it may be the final APEX-SL project for APEC Schools Kalumpang, the memories created and the project's purpose will undoubtedly leave an impact on all those involved.

A Fair That Will Definitely Be Remembered

By Jaycy Deala

Funweek 2024: A Fierce Fight Between the Champions

By Jaycy Deala

Marikina, Philippines - The ever-growling Silver Tigers, the ever-soaring Vermillion Birds, the fire-breathing Azure Dragons, and the slow but steady Black Tortoise went toe to toe to fight for the top spot and earn the title Champion of the Funweek Ballgames competition.

Badminton Games

The badminton competition was held the same day, later in the afternoon, at the Marikina Sports Centre. We saw another exciting match as the matches started without any beating around the bush. The Azure Dragons dominated their first match against the Black Tortoise, winning with a score of 21-12 on both sets, moving them up the bracket and knocking the black tortoise down to the lower bracket. 

The next game was supposed to be the match between the Vermillion Birds but due to a players absence the Silver Tigers won by default, automatically moving them up the bracket. The black Tortoise, however, secured the second-place spot with a 2-set victory (21-16, 21-13) over the Vermillion Birds substitute players in the lower bracket. 

The badminton championship match was a nail-biter to say the least. The silver Tigers displayed exceptional teamwork and skill that ultimately defeated the Azure Dragons in another 2-set victory (21-14, 21-12) claiming their title as the champion for the badminton games.

Volleyball Games

The excitement continues the next day with the volleyball games! The silver tiger dominated the black tortoise with a 2-set victory (25-18, 25-17), moving them up the bracket. The Vermillion Birds showed us that there's always a chance as they showed us a dramatic comeback against the azure dragons after losing the first set (12-25) and soared back with wins in the second set (25-22) and the final set (15-9), moving them up the bracket. 

The Azure Dragons dominated the loser’s bracket, defeating the black tortoise in straight sets (25-12, 25-13). Now let's head over to the higher brackets where a thrilling championship match set place, the Silver Tigers defeated the Vermillion Birds in a close three-set battle (25-21, 16-25, 17-15) and winning another champion title.  

The Silver Tigers dominated both volleyball and badminton games, while the Azure Dragons claimed the basketball championship. The vermillion birds showed us an impressive fighting spirit with comeback wins throughout the competitions and the Black Tortoise showed us a formidable sportsmanship. With all that said, the last funweek has finally come to an end.

APEC Schools Field Trip 2024: Enhancing Education Beyond The Classroom

By Agatha Tabutol with a contributor; Angel Calsado

APEC Schools strives to provide its students with a comprehensive education that goes beyond the academic. Excursions like these not only expand students' knowledge, but also help them develop into well-rounded individuals who are ready to face the challenges of the future.

PUNOng Abala Enterpreneurship Kick-off 

By Genina Bulan

Grade 10 AM's Mix N Match offered pastries, fruits, and donuts. Grade 11 ABM's Cutely Crafted sold crocheted charms and polaroid pictures. Grade 12 HUMSS offered a personal tarot reading with food.

Along with delicious treats, the students also made adorable accessories. Cutely Crafted, the venture of Grade 11 ABM, sold crocheted charms like bracelets, Miffy dolls, and flowers. At the same time, they also provide polaroid pictures so that you can treasure the kickoff moments. Together with their Flavors of Humanity and Peculiar Reading stall, the Grade 12 HUMSS tendered an intriguing personal tarot reading that was served with food. Lastly, you can purchase all of those wonderful products, including cookies, meringues, and tanghulus, at the Grade 12 ABM's Confec-ssions stall for a very reasonable price.

A pizza party was awarded to the class with the highest overall sales. This award was later revealed to be given to the Grade 11 ABM! In keeping with the successful kick-off, special thanks should go out to everyone who helped make it happen. We should all give a hearty round of applause for the combined effort and dedication. The collective effort and dedication deserve a hearty round of applause.

Just like any other event that has been implemented throughout this school year, PUNOng Abala Entrepreneurship Kick-off was successful in aiming for their goal. At the end of the day, it's not about how much the booths sold or how many customers they gathered, but rather the sole purpose of why they are doing this booth project. Not only did the students have fun during the process of establishing the booths and savoring the services of each stall, they also served a good cause, and that is for the betterment of the environmental sustainability of Marikina City.

APEC Kalumpang Celebrates Math and Science Day - Quiz Bee 

By Carl Angelo Morte

A week before the said quiz bee, students formed teams consisting of 3 members each. There were 5 participating teams, each with at least a Grade 7 - 8, Grade 9 - 10, and Grade 11 - 12. 

Everyone included in the event gathered at around 12:30 pm in room 204. Participants prepare their whiteboards and markers, while the LFs help with the organization of the students into their respective teams. 

The program started at around 1:00 pm, opening with remarks by sir Joshua Vallejo. The mechanics of the quiz bee were explained. It consisted of 3 rounds of increasing difficulty in questions that spanned a coverage of Grade 7 to Grade 12 topics. The easy round had 15 questions with 1 point each, the average had 10 with 2 points each, and the difficult had 5 with 3 points each. Everyone was reminded of the rules, especially of the APEC Honor Code. 

The quiz bee began right afterward, first with the easy round. Participants aren’t expected to perfect this segment but are expected to have a decent score. By the end of the round, the results came in as Team 1 perfected the entire easy round with a whopping 15 points, having Team 3 tailing behind them with 12 points, and Team 5 catching up with 10 points.

Following up was the average round. Participants had a tougher time with this round, especially since there were topics only the senior high participants could answer.  In the end, Team 1 almost perfected the round coming with 15 points, accumulating 27 total points. Team 3 accumulates 24 total points, Team 4 and 5 tie up at 18 total points, while Team 2 barely gets around with 9 points behind.

It was then finally the hard round of the quiz bee consisting of topics to be studied at an advanced level. By the end, team 2 led with 2 questions correct out of the 5, while the rest only got one correct answer. 

After a brief time to let the students cool down, the achievers were concluded. 

Certificates of participation were first handed out one-by-one to each participating student in their respective groups. Shortly after, Hyung Sun Lobo, Carl Angelo Morte, and Nathaniel Hipolito, also known as Team 1, were called up front to hold the certificate for first place and were given APEC merch as a token of their 1st place championship for the quiz bee. 

Team 3, Markus Kenji Santos, Princess Nicole Malbas, and Sofia Bianca Hidalgo, were then awarded a certificate for second place as the 1st runner-up for the championship.

Team 4, Agatha Ruth Tabutol, and Elisha Zozobrado, were given the certificate for third place as the 2nd runner-up for the championship.

All teams had a group photo with their learning facilitators in Math and Science.

Students often find the two subjects quite challenging, which is why most students despise it and don’t find the points for appreciation for such things. Sofia Hidalgo, a 1st runner-up participant, shares her story stating: “I grew up to hate math and science because I would get confused… It frustrated me that those two subjects were the reason I wasn't meeting expectations set.” Although that may be the case, “and as cheesy as this may seem— when I entered APEC, I grew to love those subjects… I would owe it to my 7th Grade Math and Science Learning Facilitators for being patient enough with me and my abundant amount of queries… So, if I were to choose between loving and hating it, I would always choose to love it… The feeling of understanding the lessons, the feeling of getting positive feedback from your teachers, the feeling of genuine happiness when you understand its hows and whys, it's an amazing feeling” 

Mathematics and Sciences really are some of the things that require effort for it to be appreciated. In the writer’s opinion, while you can see the world as it is, isn’t it cool and interesting to see it in different languages? That is the language of Math and the style of Science.

“These two important domains help people to cultivate rationality, create a well-informed society, and understand things the way they are,” said Sir Aries Obispado, an English major.

APEC SCHOOLS KALUMPANG: Literary Appreciation Day

By Genina Bulan

After the BOTB competition, the rising Filipino band "Dilaw" performed at the NTC Quadrangle for the students from NTC and APEC, playing some of their most well-known songs. In continuation of the celebration, the NTC hosted exhibition games for men's volleyball, women's volleyball, and basketball at their Quadrangle three days after the Battle of the Bands, September 25, 2023, from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM. 

In addition to participating in the branch-wide events, the Kalumpang branch also set-up a gratitude and a wishing wall next to the library (Room 201) on the second floor from September 22 to September 28, 2023. The branch also had a photo booth where the students could take pictures with your friends and favorite LFs, as well as a photo exhibition that began on September 27 and runs through September 28, 2023. Members of the branch Amplify and Student Council put together the said activities.

The success of the aforementioned celebration recognizes the continuing and growing bond of the students from two different educational institutions. 

MONOBLOC ruled as the Battle of the Bands' Grand Champion!

By Agatha Tabutol

APEC Schools Kalumpang's First Parent-Teacher Conference

By: Jaycy Deala

briefly discussed the upcoming events like school field trip and prom, and shared the APEC Schools vision. The Academic Coordinator, Miss Lin Batiancila, introduced the schools’ agenda and goals and she also presented the agenda of the said meeting. The Student Council presented their members and involvement in upcoming projects, followed by the Amplify Team's introduction for the school year 2023-2024. The last part of the assembly is the election for Student Support Committee (SSC) officers, The Student Support Committee is created to work together to develop and oversee the implementation of the school plan for improving the academic experience of the student. The attendees were sent to their respective room assignments based on their children/wards grade level. The parents and guardians were given time to get to know each other and choose who they think is deserving of representing the body. Since it's their first time meeting each other they have no clue who to elect so it was decided by fate, some learning facilitators spun a wheel to decide who's going to be elected. The SSC officers are expected to work together to ensure that the students would have a better academic experience in partnership with the school administration and make this school year a very memorable experience. 

APEC Schools Kalumpang Araw ng Wika

By Kathleen Espiritu & Marga Isais 

Hosts Mr. John Carl Paglicawan and Mr. John Mark Gallo kicked off the Araw ng Wika event with introductions. The central attraction of this event was the performances, Which were led by representatives from each grade and section throughout the AM and PM sessions. The first introductions and opening remarks were followed immediately by performances starting from Grade 7 in the AM session, and Grade 10 in the PM session. It was an incredible session for both shifts as they presented their performances to their fellow schoolmates with a passion for Filipino culture and dialect. To add to the excitement, each performance was judged, and a winner would be decided in every category of the performance.

All performers did a fantastic job from their preparations until the actual performance. However, there were notable performers for were the chosen winners. During the AM session, Grade 10 performers, Carl Morte and Nash Santiago, led first place in the category of “Wika Mo, Turo Ko”, interactively presenting facts and common phrases from the Hiligaynon dialect. This was followed by a dance with the central music chosen for the students to build their creativity on dance paired with a nationalistic song. All grade levels had an excellent presentation. Grade 10 stood out having gracefully executed a great dance presentation. Undeniably a great memory for the Grade 9 students was the spoken word poetry performance, where they, led by Elijah Reparado, created a huge impact on the audience for their interactive and intriguing spoken word poetry. A roleplay–in Tagalog, Dula–was the next in line having everyone touched by great performances. Remarkably, Grade 8 had won for their excellent roleplay. Finally came an expression for the love of Filipino culture through a song with their own musical accompaniments. Led by Nariza Dulman and Aiden Abela were the winners of this category, showcasing great vocal and musical talent that was dedicated to Filipino culture.

The PM session was not left out of the fun, however, with their own preparations for this exciting central attraction of the event, starting from Grade 10 to Grade 12. In the category, “Wika Mo, Turo Mo,” Mekayla Ocbian from Grade 11 ABM, spontaneously delivered and taught the Waray dialect. Students from Grade 12 ABM  cheerfully danced to “Piliin Mo Ang Pilipinas” waving colorful props with their hands. Daniel Jade Adove from Grade 11 ABM, persuaded and touched us with her powerful spoken word poetry about how languages in the Philippines should be valued. Members of the school band, Monobloc PH: Marco Franco Sy-Quimsiam, Jacob Jasper Calel Santos, and Timothy Jordan Talacay, expressed their value for our languages as they performed their original song, “Sariling Wika”. Grade 12 HUMSS student, Jasreel Carla Francia, acted out a remarkable performance of Noli Me Tangere’s Sisa for the category, “Dula”. And for the last competition, Mekayla Ocbian took home another award for Best Kasuotan along with Samuel Deoferio from Grade 12 ABM. 

Students go back to the nineties as representatives from each section show off their best Philippine cultural attire in a fashion show. In the AM shift session, Grade 7 students Aiden Sabrina Abela, who donned a primary but lovely display of his Barong with his Salaon, and Neriza Catherine Dulman who wore a gorgeous Filipiña encapsulating the style of "Maria Clara'', held the trophy that morning as the chosen winner. The PM shift session was dominated by the attire of Mekayla Ocbian along with Samuel Deoferio from Grade 12 ABM as they took home another award for having the “Best Kasuotan”.

Carl Morte, from Grade 10 AM commented:  “Araw ng Wika gave students a quick but entertaining event before the orientation week came to a close. What I really looked forward to, as well as for the others, was what the other grade levels were cooking up for their performances and attire”. 

The whole event was concluded with a salo-salo held with their respective sections as each prepared classical Filipino food that would add the cherry on top for that funtastic day.

Araw ng Wika provided a tiring but fun experience for the students before the start of a new school year.  This event is memorable, especially for the online students last S.Y. who experienced the pandemic. This is simply the start of an amazing chapter with many more.