Two ladies and a walk

They would not be recognized for any special qualities were one to meet them walking down Garapan or Susupe. But last Saturday, they were a couple of super-Moms, parents of children attending San Vicente Elementary School who took upon themselves an incredible task that would delight a staff sergeant of a rapid deployment force any day.

Joanne Ogo and Bonnie Royal orchestrated a Canary Walk-a-thon event that easily warms the cockles of anyone’s heart. Picture a family from grannies to toddlers walking together around the SVS baseball field oval, wearing t-shirts that says, “a family that walks together stays fit together.” Picture a pathway within the SVS compound that the students and community residents can use to limber up bones and muscles during daylight hours 7 days a week. This is one of the goals of Saturday’s fundraising component of the walk. The assumption, of course, is what every physical educator is wont to remind students: use of both sides of the brain stimulates cognitive functions. Physical exercises allows use of both sides of the brain rather than just one side which is the tendency for most who are not naturally ambidextrous.

PTA president David Atalig conceived the event with SVS principal James Rayphand as a maneuver to refocus the need for physical awareness and body care. Physical education has gotten peripheral attention lately among schools, but with the reported more than 50 percent of children attending public schools on the obese side, measures to get everyone pay more attention to body processes can only be a help in stemming the growing incidence of diabetes and heart disorders.

As a community node, the SVS PTA also wants to see their basketball court be upgraded to standard size rather than the junior measures used to construct it. Community use and care is encouraged. Play in standard height of board and stretch of playing field, which the students are subjected to in interschool play, is obviously desirable.

Equally important as the group effort and quality accomplishment that the event demonstrated was the leadership style exemplified by Joanne and Bonnie. Along the lines of “they who see the need, they do the deed” philosophy that prevails within the Site Community-based Management Leadership Team at SVS, the duo quadra-handedly managed the event with husbands and kin in tow, and a multitude of supporting teachers, staff and parents, including tented agencies that provided services to walkers and gawkers at the event. Public awareness garnered, services tendered, events’ presence adequately attended: mission accomplished!

Two stark contrasts between self-reliance and external dependence were experienced by A-building at SVS lately. Ten-year-old air-conditioners that were not adequately maintained through the years needed to be replaced as repairs were no longer cost-effective. The PTA took a risk, ordered critical replacements and held a Fun Day. It raised enough money to replace really old models. In room A-11, one unit was barely sufficient so the STUCO which periodically meets in the room ran their candygram fundraiser to acquire an additional unit.

The iron gate to the second floor of A-building had rusted considerably from normal wear and tear, and the occasional child hanging on the swing gate, that half of the gate detached off its connection. The principal sought central office’s assistance and was told that repairs of this nature, if included on a work order request of no less than 2.5K, would be approved. He complied, canvassing other needed repairs, and the work order was approved. To date, the gate remains tied to its frame. A parent with a blowtorch could probably fix the broken gate on a Saturday morning, but SVS followed the established practice and the building still awaits workmen to show up.

This description is not meant to disparage any office. It is to point out what any administrator had long ago discovered: effective and efficient implementation of any program must be grounded on the local, with local management and participation, or it does not work at all! At a time when revenue for Capital Hill to appropriate is in short supply, those at the ground level really have to inventory what is needed, and just proceed to meet their own requirements.

Bonnie and Joanne added the crucial ingredient. One can do virtually anything if one is not too concerned about who gets the credit. The Walk-a-thon as an annual event for SVS had just been launched. But more importantly, the focus on physical education got a needed boost; and the truth that hope is created and not granted got nailed firmly one more time.

The focus on students’ need and the support of those directly engaged to assist in meeting those needs, remains the real task of PSS. Top of instructional goals is to develop self-directed learners. Self-reliant, self-sufficient, and self-motivated individuals, from students to teachers, administrators to parents, central to local support staff, are the preferred virtues. Thanks Bonnie and Joanne for making the lesson live and relevant for us.