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Empty Vessel summer school does native crafts
The old and the young gathered together to learn bead-making, coconut-leaf weaving, and mwar-making at the Office of Aging in Garapan.
The children were brought there on a field trip as part of Empty Vessel Ministry’s summer school program.
The old and the young gathered together to learn bead-making, coconut-leaf weaving, and mwar-making at the Office of Aging in Garapan. (Dennis B. Chan)
Elisa Pangelinan, one of the program’s teachers, said there are 29 students enrolled in the program with ages ranging from 6 to 13.
According to her, the program is split into two sessions: one for children 6 to 9 years old in the morning, and the other for 10 to 13 year olds in the afternoon.
“Today [the field trip] is on our culture. That’s why we’re here at the man’amko center. Yesterday we taught them about why culture is important and the things about your culture you need,” Pangelinan said.
According to her, the summer school runs four days a week, with two days being field trips. Next up is a lesson in environmental advocacy.
“Tomorrow we will be teaching about pollution and how it affects the land, how in turn that can affect our culture and our environment. We’ll be going to see the recycling center to see what preventative stuff we can do.”
Pangelinan said the school has two teachers, she and Sherwin Mendiola, who both teach regularly at Oleai Elementary School.
“It’s great [teaching the kids] with Ms. Sherwin and it’s a great balance because I’ve taught upper grades and she teaches lower grades so it’s a very good balance between our teaching strategies and how we can accommodate everybody,” Pangelinan said.
She said activities between the morning and afternoon differ but follow the same concept. The two sessions were present together for this field trip.
“[The Office of Aging] told us the materials they would need for today. Everybody helped bring the flowers, and the coconut leaves,” Pangelinan said.
She said their 29 students are from several public schools as well as a private school.
“One of the great things about Empty Vessel is not only do we teach them about the programs and about life and the skills they need, we teach them about prayer and teach them about respect and about how to properly greet and speak to others,” Pangelinan said.
