Three promising students receive Ballet scholarships

When asked what he wanted to be when he grows up, Mano Amiga Grade 2 student Joshua Dave Waras answered without missing a beat,"I want to be a pilot so I can go to France." Expecting to hear a more commonly known country like USA, the teacher asked him why he chose France of all the possible countries. Joshua Dave replied with a big smile, "Because I learned the French folk dance for the ballet recital."

Joshua Dave, along with fellow Grade 2 students Jazailah Cababat and Camille Rosales, received a dance scholarship to participate in Dance Basics' 2011 Summer Recital. Entitled "Around the World", the recital featured dances from different countries: Spain, Japan, India, Ireland, Africa, Morocco and the Philippines. Also showcased are dances that originated from the founding countries of ballet: Italy, France, Russia and the United States of America. Apart from the three Mano Amiga scholars, 48 other students joined the recital.

The Dance Basics teachers chose the three students after seeing the children's potential during the free ballet classes being held bi-monthly in Mano Amiga Academy. The vision of Dance Basics is to create a venue for young dancers to learn the fundamentals of Ballet, share the love of dance and cultivate appreciation for music and culture. They partnered with Mano Amiga because they wanted to extend the same opportunity to underprivileged children.

The Dance Basics team hopes to keep training promising students from the community with the hope that it will broaden their horizons, and open educational and career opportunities for them. Learn more about Dance Basics at http://dancebasics.wordpress.com/

Quality Parent Education

Coach Pia Acevedo and The OneCORE Success Center recently visited Mano Amiga Academy to give a skills-building session to the parents of the school year 2011-2012 scholars.

Bayani Para Sa Sarili teaches participants to take care of themselves in order to handle difficult concerns at home and better take care of their families.

"Parenting classes are a crucial aspect of the Mano Amiga program because we strongly believe that the likelihood of a child's success in school and later on in life, is largely affected by his home environment," Development Director Lynn Pinugu said. "Every year, we look for partner organizations and individuals who will help us form the parents in creating a nurturing and encouraging home environment."

The seminar was made possible with the help of Mano Amiga volunteer Vicky Herrera, who used her birthday celebration to raise funds to cover the costs of the activity.

The OneCORE success center is focused on providing guidance and personal development through programs that are tailored to an individual's specific life stage. Its CEO, Coach Pia Acevedo has over 17 years of experience in the field. She received her degree in AB Philosophy from Ateneo de Manila University and proceeded to do further studies in Coaching and Mentoring abroad and graduate studies on Family Ministries from the same university.

For more inquiries about services of The OneCore Success Center and Coach Pia Acevedo, visit: http://www.theonecore.com/main/