Christmas Rock n' Recycle

As early as October, the school was bustling with Christmas spirit as the students worked like elves, preparing their own Christmas corners and rock band presentations.

The Mano Amiga team and students pose eagerly in front of the Gingerbread house made from recycled paper, candy wrappers and cardboard. 

In line with the holiday season, Mano Amiga announced a school-wide contest for Christmas-themed corners and rock band presentations that made use of recyclable materials. This challenged the students to use their creativity, imagination and resourcefulness in creating decorations and instruments. All the students gamely participated, eager to show their masterpieces at the school's annual Christmas party.

With a little help and supervision from their parents, the students collected various recyclable materials - bottle caps, used juice pouches, cardboard boxes, old CDs, scratch papers, newspapers, clam shells, tree branches and more - and pieced them all together to create wonderful works of art.
Plastic bottles were unrecognizable and given new life when used for a Christmas tree. Old tree branches and egg shells were uniquely transformed into winter lanterns. Old cardboard boxes were used as reindeer and Santa Claus figurines.
These works of art adorned the Mano Amiga classrooms and hallways throughout the Christmas season.

Grade 6 Rock n' Recycle Band

Recyclable works of art were also used as musical instruments during the Christmas Rock n' Recycle concert. The Mano Amiga community was treated to a musical feast from the different grade levels as each presented their own rock band. Rock stars emerged with drum sets made out of water containers, recycled glass xylophones and tambourines made out of ice cream tubs. Each showcased their creativity and talent in singing.

Grade 3 Rock n' Recycle Band

To end another fulfilled year, the whole Mano Amiga community came together in merriment. In celebration of all the winners and the year that was, the community gathered in the annual Mano Amiga Christmas Party. Smiles and sounds of laughter were evident throughout the community as we celebrated the Christmas together.

Mano Amiga Christmas Party winners with their Unilever gift packs

From the whole Mano Amiga Academy community, a Merry Christmas to all!

Peter Pan is Brought to Life for Mano Amiga Academy

Scenes from Ballet Philippines' Peter Pan. Photo courtesy of Spot.PH

"The curtain opened and everyone screamed in excitement!" Says Nicole, a Mano Amiga fifth grader, with wonderment after she and her school mates watched Ballet Philippines' most popular work -- Peter Pan.

The Mano Amiga students gasped loudly in amazement when they saw the characters fly. Scenes from Ballet Philippines' Peter Pan. Photo courtesy of Spot.PH

The sudents first met Peter Pan through the pages of the school's library book. Last December 12, his story came alive right in front of their eyes when they were able to watch the show at the CCP Main Theater. Together with their teachers, they watched in amazement as they followed his adventure in Neverland with Tinkerbell, the Darling children and the Lost Boys.

This opportunity came as an early Christmas gift to our students by one of our long-time partners. Together with Mano Amiga, they share the same vision of providing worthwhile opportunities to our students that enrich their sense of culture and compliment the learning they encounter in the classroom.

Mano Amiga's drive to provide its students with quality education extends beyond the learning they get from books. Their holistic development is also nourished with various enriching activities that are not just limited to music, arts and sports.

Mano Amiga students with their Peter Pan tickets.

The students, along with the entire audience, all sang and laughed with the energetic actors as they followed the story of the boy who would not grow up. They witnessed his journey beyond the second star to the right that took him flying around the theater and into fights against the evil Captain Hook.
They also saw his adventures,  through song and dance, with the Lost Boys and Darling children - Wendy, John and Michael.

All this coupled with the 3D background of the whole show created a window of learning for the students.
This allowed them to use their imagination and appreciate the value of creativity and the many ways it can be expressed. This also provided them with an avenue to explore different talents and other means to express oneself.

Mano Amiga Academy students happily converge for a photo after the show.

"I enjoyed watching Peter Pan in the theater and when they perform again, I hope to be able to watch. It was such a fun and memorable experience." Nicole says after asking for her view on the show.

Opportunities such as this create lasting impressions and memories for our students; ones they will carry with them and talk about for days on end.

#tellyourfriends

some of our Mano Amiga ambassadors in attendance (L-R)

Entrepreneur & Yoga Teacher Maricar Holopainen, 

Educator & Lifestyle Writer Cat Juan Ledesma,

and Actor & Restauratuer Marvin Agustin

When Mano Amiga first started in 2008, we only had 19 Kindergarten scholars. Now, seven years later, we have grown to 97 scholars from grades 2 to 6. As we continue to expand, we envision a steady growth of one grade level every year until we are able to reach 600 students from the Kindergarten level to the 12th grade. One of the ways we envision to achieve this goal is by first transferring to our new location by mid-2016.

Through the generosity of our donors and friends, we were able to acquire a 2,350-sq.m property in Paranaque City. The property will be the site of the new Mano Amiga Academy campus.

To fund some of the cost of the construction of this new campus, Mano Amiga Academy organized a fundraiser brunch called #tellyourfriends last October 28. Tickets were sold at Php 1,500 each where proceeds would go into the funding of one library chair.

#tellyourfriends was a brunch event where our guests experienced good food and enjoyable conversations with other guests, while getting to know more about Mano Amiga Academy. Apart from raising funds for the new school, our aim was to also provide our guests with a personal glimpse of where we are now and where we are headed. Guests dined over an autumn-inspired food selection perfectly curated by The Bowery, BGC. 

Executive Director of Mano Amiga, Lynn Pinugu, providing 

guests with insights and updates on the school

#tellyourfriends was also an avenue for Mano Amiga Academy to officially launch our website www.manogamigaph.org and invite our guests; which included media, fashion and lifestyle personalities, to spread the word about our cause. 

On each of the tables were small cards with our students' wishes and dreams which was cause for topics of conversation among our guests who took time to write them personal letters of encouragement. Not one card was left empty.

guests of #tellyourfriends writing letters to the students

Our aim with the fundraiser brunch was to be able raise enough money for 100 armchairs. By the end of the event, our humble goal was tripled with the amount we were able to receive which raised us enough money for 300 armchairs! Thanks to all our supporters, we are now another step closer to completing our permanent campus in Paranaque. 

Our brunch was featured on the Inquirer last November 24. Read all about it here.

Mano Amiga is 7 Years Old!

September 24 was a day of celebration as we marked Mano Amiga Academy's seventh birthday. A milestone all on its own, it also marked our last foundation day in our home for the past seven years before our big move next year.

Commencing the day's affair was the Eucharistic celebration officiated by our school chaplain, Fr. Duc Bui, LC. This year's theme was Reminiscing the Past, Building a Better Future - a reminder of how far we have come as a community and how our roots have shaped us to where we are today. Opening the program was a dance number of 80's medley performed by the teachers and administrative staff.

Kicking off the students' performances who were assigned highlights from past school years as the theme of their presentations, were our sixth graders. As the first batch of students of Mano Amiga Academy, the sixth graders, who were dressed up as little girls and boys, presented their own spin on the nursery rhymes taught to them by their first class adviser. The fifth graders presented a fresher take on the United Nations festivities of the year assigned to them. The fourth graders on the other hand, went for a more dramatic approach as they presented the ravages brought upon by Typhoon Ondoy. Not one to disappoint, our third graders did a medley of cheer dancing routines for their presentation. Last but not the least, our second graders performed a colorful and unique presentation of the Papal Visit - complete with their very own Papa Francesco on his pope mobile.

Top photo: Grade 6 Presentation, Bottom left photo: Grade 4 Presentation,

Bottom right photo: Grade 3 Presentation

Top left photo:Grade 2 presentation, Top right photo: students' thank you message

Bottom photo: Grade 5 presentation

In closing, the whole Mano Amiga community was treated to heartfelt letters of gratitude prepared by the students, teachers and board members who have been a part of our journey from day one. This year's foundation day may have been a little bittersweet, as it marked the end of our stay in our home for the past seven years; but it was also a beautiful celebration of reminiscing our past as we continue to build a better future.

First Day High in Mano Amiga Academy: The long wait is over, seize the Day!

“Carpe diem” is a Latin phrase usually translated in the English language as “seize the day”, and that was exactly what the Mano Amiga kids did last 3^rd August, 2015, as they welcomed the new school year.  Coming from an unusually long summer vacation due to Mano Amiga’s adapting the August school calendar, the kids couldn’t hide the excitement as they enthusiastically approached the new learnings and discoveries that the new school year has to offer.

During the day, lots of fun and fulfilling activities were done to kick off the beginning of the new academic journey for the kids. The day began with a mass which was how the Mano Amiga kids and teachers started off the school year right. After the mass, they all proceeded to their respective classes, enthusiastic and expectant of an amazing journey this year. 

While it seemed to be dreadful for most school kids these days, the first day of classes turned out to be much anticipated by the kids of Mano Amiga. An evidence to this is how non-reluctantly each of them took part in the activities during the day; which included an earthquake drill during the afternoon, in participation with the country’s preparation for “The Big One”. While some adults as reported in the news, didn’t take the drill seriously, the Mano Amiga kids took it by heart with excellent obedience to the instructions given to them – another reminder for us that the best time to educate members of the society about anything is probably while they are still young.

             As part of the first day of classes as well, the teachers announced to the kids the programs and activities that are in store for them for the entire year. “The classroom buzzed with excitement when my students found out that we will be having the SRA Reading Laboratory Program this school year. A great avenue indeed for the kids to love reading more!”, recalls Teacher She, one of the Mano Amiga teachers.

One of our Grade 6 students remarks, “Do what makes you learn things”. Hearing this, we realize the importance of giving the kids activities that bring out the best learner in each of them: much more, starting off the school year with activities that put the kids in the learning grind. This joyful thirst of the Mano Amiga kids towards learning and education is what fuels the Mano Amiga team to pursue more excellence in the work that we are very privileged to do.

            With the exciting changes and new discoveries that the new school year brings in, the same goal remains at the core of the school. Here’s to a new year of creating change and transforming lives.