Grade 12 graduate Maya Lorena Arradaza proudly holds her plaque as Visual Artist of the Year, Bryne Creek Community School in Burnaby. (Photo: Philippine Canadian News.com PCN.Com)

Updated:9:00 AM, May 30, 2019

British Columbia

The Class of 2019 

By Ted Alcuitas

It is that  time again when we celebrate with our graduates who have finished their schooling for the year. For some, it would be the end of their education while others are pursuing higher education. To all of them, we share our pride- the community’s pride, in achieving an important milestone in your lives.

We take pride in the value of education and we are aware of the struggles you went through. It is not an easy task to attain an education as some of you can attest.Your family especially, is to be commended for journeying with you all these years.

It is our hope that by honouring you in these pages, others will follow your example to obtain an education. More importantly, we encourage our own community to think of cooperative ways to help and support students in their quest for an education, perhaps by setting up a Scholarship Foundation.

Or, some people in the community might consider donating or sponsoring a deserving student.

Congratulations to all of you!

Please continue to send us news on graduates, awards, etc. to:

Philippine Canadian News.com

tedalcuitas@shaw.ca

Maya Lorena Arradaza

 

Maya Lorena Arradaza won three awards including Visual Artist of the Year and    four scholarships.

Maya was also one of 43 graduates (out of 185) who was recognized for consistently being on the Honour Roll in each term from Grades 10-12. 

Six Filipinos were in the Honour Roll. They are: Miguel Alejo, Ian Dominique Caquiat, Abigail Joy Calamgam,Alyssa Paulino and Bianca Buenpacifico.

Carlo Vicente Sayo (Provided)

Master in Education in Art Education

University of British Columbia

Here is an excerpt of Carlo’s FB post on graduation day:

It was supposed to be a two-year plan; something I tried to complete while working part-time with irregular hours.

I didn’t think it was going to take six years. But in that time, a new job opportunity opened up, I deepened my knowledge of curriculum and pedagogy, and learned other ways to critically self reflect on my experience as an artist/educator/researcher.

And more importantly, of course, Denise and I went on to have 2 wonderfully energetic kids. It’s not easy going through a Masters program and balancing work and family life, and there were some dark times when I thought none of it was worth it, but here we are. There are so many people to thank for supporting me through this. In particular, Denise who really is the most thoughtful, kind, and patient partner who carried us all through this.

In 2012, I stepped away from community organizing for personal and political reasons. I will say that departing from something I loved doing for so long left a big empty void in my life, that I thought scholarship would fill. It did for a while, and when we had our kids, they were all I wanted to focus on. But they were an inspiration for me to complete this milestone. I needed to prove I could do this not only for myself, but for my kids too.

Ron Darvin  (Provided)

PhD in language and literacy education

University of British Columbia (UBC)

A former Lecturer and Vanier Scholar, he finished his Masters in Education, Teaching English as a Second Language at UBC.

His thesis was on the digital practices of recently immigrated Filipino high school students in Vancouver.

 

Melanie Matining

Business Administration

BCIT