Computer Club holds Media Camp 2015

By Joshua Alex Binza

The campers did not go home empty-handed, that is for sure. 

With over 200 participants from Grades 9 and 10  of Tabaco National High School (TNHS), the 2nd School-based Media Camp was held last November 6-8, 2015 at TNHS with the theme: "Focus + Vision = Design." 

Said camp involved lectures on Photography, Web Design, Social Media and First Aid which were also the topics for the camp's team-building activities and contests all throughout the first and second days of the camp.

During the 2nd night of the camp, the Search for Mr. and Ms. Media Camp was held where Vince Gabriel Alado and Mitzi Rexine Martirez were hailed as Mr. and Ms. Media Camp respectively. They were followed by Krysdane Berana and Marc Gerald Saba, 1st runner up; and Angelie Nicole Bordas and Gerard Bata, 2nd runner up.

By the 3rd day, the awarding ceremony was held. Subcamp Instagram bagged the Best Subcamp award. 

"We joined the camp with only our own personal things with us but when we left the camp, we gained things. We left with new-found knowledge and we made new bonds with other students of the school and that is enough to say that the Computer Club succeeded in making this camp enjoyable and knowledge-filled," said Gavin Raymond Briones, leader, Subcamp Instagram.

The school's Computer Club is headed by Cyrus Christian Lee and advisers, Mrs. Julma Cargullo and Mr. Nathaniel Bongat. 

The Vanguard, Ang Tanod dominate DSPC 2015

By Mitzi Rexine Martirez and Maria Vina Montino

Tabaco National High School's school paper publications in English and Filipino, The Vanguard and Ang Tanod respectively, dominated wins in the recently concluded Division Schools Press Conference (DSPC) held last October 29-30, 2015 at San Lorenzo Elementary School, San Lorenzo, Tabaco City.

Embarking on the theme, "The Role of 21st Century Campus Journalists in Upholding Good Governance, Leadership and Transparency," the press conference included eight individual events and two group events for both English and Filipino.

The results for the individual events for The Vanguard and Ang Tanod are as follows: Trisha Faith Alaiza, 2nd place and Charles Calais, 1st place, news writing; Amina Rose Alghamdi, 2nd place and Jamaica Blancaflor, 1st place, feature writing; Lurd Synell Najarilla and Cyrus Christian Lee, 1st place, editorial writing; Ronel Rabe and Anthony Alcoriza, 2nd place, editorial cartooning; Romela Bragais and Selene Brondial, 1st place, Science and Technology writing; Jan Angelo Bermas, 3rd place and James Vincent Lorio, 2nd place, sports writing; Neil Ivan Bellen, 1st place, Regine Bualoy, 2nd place, copyreading and headline writing and Jade Edward Biron of The Vanguard, 1st place, photojournalism.

For collaborative publishing, the groups representing The Vanguard and Ang Tanod both bagged 1st place beating two other groups from San Antonio National High School and San Lorenzo National High School.

Same with the collaborative publishing contest, the groups of The Vanguard and Ang Tanod won 1st place in radio broadcasting and script writing along with other special awards.

For radio broadcasting and script writing English, Best Anchor was Al-vi John Jerfvin Corpuz with Mitzi Rexine Martirez taking the 2nd spot; Best Reporter was Maria Vina Montino followed by Jezreel Icaranom in 2nd place and Ashwell Donne Bobier ranking 3rd. The Vanguard also bagged the Best in Technical Application award which was received by Gean Marie Celestial, Best Script award and Best Infomercial Award.

For the Filipino contest, on the other hand, it was Roy Rebancos who managed to bag the Best Anchor Award with his co-anchor Nichelle Buenconsejo placing 2nd; Best reporter was Iseabel Bue with Kobe Dionela placing 2nd and Micah Angelu Buela placing 3rd. Ang Tanod also bagged the Best in Technical Application courtesy of Nel Erin Joy Fajut, Best in Script writing and Best in Infomercial.

The Vanguard's collaborative publishing team was coached by Ms. Desiree Canicula while the broadcasting team was coached by Ms. Gene Maria Calingacion.

Ang Tanod's broadcasting and collaborative publishing teams were coached by Mrs. Emily Braceno , Mrs. Linda Bruto and Mrs. Asuncion Bola.

Winners of the DSPC will be heading to Sorsogon National High School, Sorsogon City on January 13-16, 2016 to represent the Tabaco City Division for the Regional Schools Press Conference.

Batch '81 donates welding shop for SHS

By Trisha Faith Alaiza

For Tabaco National High School (TNHS) to be equipped with the materials needed for the Senior High School (SHS) Technical-Vocational Track, which will be offered next school year, the TNHS Alumni Batch '81 constructed a welding shop supplied with welding tools and machines for the incoming SHS students.

Mrs. Elena B. Tasic, Principal IV, together with the Administrative Staff received the donation from the head of the batch, Mr. Arnaldo Bragais, during the turn-over ceremony last October 22, 2015.

The welding shop was already constructed last June, this year, and is now being utilized by the students of TNHS.

"Being a faculty teacher of TNHS, I recognized the need of much preparation of the school for the K-12 Curriculum, that's why I appealed to my batch mates and they were positive upon this matter," Mrs. Rebecca V. Bobier said.

According to Mrs. Bobier, Mr. Renato Bocaya and Mr. Arnaldo Bragais led Batch '81 in conducting the fundraising activities for the construction of the welding shop.

SHS: Are You Ready?

By Blessie Lynette Concina

Deped Memorandum No. 4 s. 2014 states that, pursuant to Section 30 of the Implementing Rules and Regulation (IRR) of Republic Act no. 10355, also known as the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, the national implementation of Senior High School (SHS) will be in school year 2016-2017 and onwards.

Senior High covers the last two years of K-12 which include Grades 11 and 12. In SHS, students will go through a core curriculum and subjects under a track of their choice. The Department of Education (DepEd) is doing their best for the better implementation and preparation for this curriculum. The time is getting nearer and nearer. Only a few months from now, SHS will start. But the question is, are we ready? Are you ready?

Most of the students would say that they are not yet ready for the next two years of their study in high school. According to them, this program is just new and they don't have yet a background knowledge about it. Furthermore, the facilities, the teachers, and buildings that are intended for the last two years of K-12 are still out of sight, they say. Moreover, the students are having difficulty in choosing the field their strengths are compatible with.

On the other hand, there are also students that would say that they are fully ready for the said program. They say that they are well-oriented about SHS and they already know what will happen in this program. Senior High is not a barrier but instead it could help students for their college studies. The knowledge that the students are about to take in while taking up the Senior High program could make it easier and even faster for the students in deciding what field or track they're going to take in the years to come. And according to them, Senior High School serves as the training ground for tertiary education.

The thing is: where are the facilities for SHS? Where are those buildings that the government kept on promising? There are lots of applicants for teachers, but where are they now? If only the government would present these teaching facilities to the incoming 11th graders. Therefore, students will no longer hesitate to decide for themselves if they are ready or not. If the government cannot yet offer the paraphernalia needed for the said program, even if the students are already equipped with knowledge that they would be needing for SHS, still this program would not be possible.

However, no matter how prepared or unprepared the students are, SHS must go on. But still, the answer is in your hand.

SSG leads Drug Awareness Symposium

By Neil Ivan Bellen

To raise awareness on different topics regarding illegal drugs, the Supreme Student Government spearheaded the Symposium sponsored by the Philippine Medical Association which was held last October 21, 2015 at the Lagman Gymnasium, Tabaco National High School (TNHS).

The said event had speakers from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and was attended by Grade 10 students of TNHS.

Ms. Cotton Yuson, Chief of Preventive Education Community Involvement Branch, was the first speaker of event and tackled the concepts involving illegal drugs such as the reasons of drug abuse, the profile of drug abuser, the classification of these drugs and more.

“In order to not be a part of illegal activities such as drug dealing, whenever somebody asks you to be a part, tell them, I’m too busy working on being better.” She said on her talk.

She also added that whenever someone is acting a little bit strange, you have to go and ask what is wrong and be always ready to lend a helping hand for this deed may prevent any unwanted in involvement in such cases.

The second speaker of the symposium is a drug user alias Coco who had decided to stop using drugs specifically Shabu. He told the crowd about how his experiences changed his outlook in life and led him to live a drug-free lifestyle.

Coco also imparted them with wisdoms about the proper decisions in life in order to not be led astray. He said that the greatest decision you could ever make is to say no to something that doesn’t even assure you of your safety.

After the two talks, the symposium had an open-forum to answer and clarify some questions regarding drugs.

“This is one of those symposia that is very much needed to be held in every school in order for the students to be filled with knowledge about the effects of drug abuse and this will also serve as a stepping-stone that will help pave the way for a better future for each and everyone.” Ma. Resel Balla, one of the attendees, said.

History Club conducts Dance Drama contest, Grade 9 wins

By Tricia Regine Bermillo

In celebration of the “History Week,"  with the theme: “History: An Instrument and Inspiration in the Political, Social, and Cultural Aspects in the Lives of Filipinos,"  the History Club Officers along with the advisers of the said club, held the Dance Drama competition in Tabaco National High School's Lagman Gymnasium last October 19, 2015.

There were two entries from the Sophomores who were the first two that performed followed by the Freshmen, then the Juniors and lastly by the Seniors.

The event started off with a doxology, followed by the singing of the National Anthem. Afterwards, a ballet intermission number was performed by Aira Jane Abagatnan of Grade 7-Venus, which was followed by the parade of the contestants and the Historic Men.

The  opening remarks was addressed by Mrs. Salome Barbadillo, the Araling Panlipunan Department Head,  emphasizing the significance of history in our lives.

The two entries from Grade 8 were tied for 3rd place while the performers from Grade 7 managed to bag the second place and the Best in Costume award. Grade 10 bagged the 1st place and the performers from Grade 9 were named the overall champion of the contest.

To conclude the program, the closing remarks was given by Mrs. Judy Bongon, History Club adviser. 

TNHS researchers win big in Division Science Fair

By Joshua Alex Binza

With the main objective of helping the community through scientific researches, 13 researchers from Tabaco National High School (TNHS) bagged wins in three categories during the Division Science Fair held on October 21, 2015 at the Division Office, San Lorenzo Elementary School, San Lorenzo, Tabaco City.

For the Applied and Physical Science category, John Emmanuel Brotamante, Ian Arvin Bellen, John Marc Carlet and Cyrus Alexander Vizon, all in Grade 9-Dalton, bagged the first spot while Jewel Diamante, Angelie Nicole Bordas and Alyssa Mae Benitez of Grade 10-Newton and Einstein, grabbed the second place for the team category. Jade Edward Biron of 10-Einstein was named the 1st placer in the individual contest with Jezreel Icaranom trailing behind at second place.

For the Life Science category, the first placers for the team contest were Lida Victoria  Ecalnir, Micah Atondo and Angelica Calibo while Joshua Alex Binza of 10-Newton brought home the first place in the individual contest.

First and second placers of the said Science Fair will represent the Tabaco City Division in the upcoming Regional Science Fair on November 18-20, 2015. 

They were all coached by their Research adviser, Mr. Ronaldo Reyes who accompanied them during the contest along with Mrs. Aurea Biron.