MAGIS

EED 'Chers Give Service to the "Yayas"
Maricon Leehuekee, Prep D Class Adviser

Posted Friday, 04-Feb-2005 2:37 AM

     For the past 4 years, EED teachers have been conducting seminars for the yayas of Nursery and Prep students. This training program was born out of the realization that secondary caregivers play very significant roles in the lives of our Xavier boys for they spend a great deal of time with one another. The fourth Yaya Education seminar was held last September 2004 and January 2005.

     The seminar offered a series of interesting and enriching modules. These were facilitated by a group of able and competent speakers. Module I allowed the yayas to be aware of the physical, social and psychological characteristics of their wards (Nursery and Prep boys). As a follow up, the second module provided the yayas with tips and advice on developmentally- appropriate ways of handling common behavior problems experienced at home. The third module focused on values formation.

     Module 1 was handled by Prep Guidance Counselor, Mrs Joy Alfonte, while Mrs. Karen Austria, Nursery Guidnace Counselor was in charge of module 2. The fourth module was about first-aid and medical emergencies. This session was facilitated by Nurse Karen Sumabat of Xavier School Infirmary and this writer.

     The sessions were given a dash of fun and excitement through games, songs and contests as prepared by the teachers. To add more thrill, the yayas were divided into small groups which were named after the latest and most popular tele-novelas in Philippine television. These activities gave the sessions a more relaxed atmosphere and made the yayas feel less intimidated.

     The preparation for such an activity is not a walk-in-the-park for teachers. It requires them to give extra time and effort from the planning to the implementation of the different activities. It would seem that the teachers are the only ones giving and the yayas are at the receiving end. But at the end of the day, when all has been said and done, the teachers also gain a lot from these experiences. Each encounter brings about different perspectives and different insights to those who have participated in making this activity possible. One is that, teachers are capable of empowering not only the young but those who "care" for the young as well. In the end, teachers and yayas were hopeful that this will lead them to become better persons for the children they love and nurture.