The great Archimedes once said, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world”- this means that being equipped with enough knowledge and the will to succeed, fosters a progressive community and our country in general. Aided by this principle, the St. Paul Science and Math departments collaborated and spearheaded the Math and Science month celebration for the last September. This year’s celebration carried the theme: “Science and Mathematics: Partners in Empowering Minds Towards A Progressive Philippines.”

The tandem organized fun learning activities such as poster making contest, math challenge games and science Olympics… and it was mind puzzling, heart pumping experience for the students but sure fun-learning!

Did you know that we saw Pag-asa’s mom? Yes! Pag-asa –the famous Philippine Eagle or “Haribon” - one of the largest (if not the largest) eagle in the world. This was one of the highlights as the Grade 6, 1st year and 2nd year high school students went for an educational fieldtrip last September 19, 2007. The main objective of the trip was to appreciate and learn more about the diversity of animals by visiting museums and a zoo in Cebu City. So, the first stop was in Waterfront hotel where we watched the bird show (by the way, the name of Pag-asa’s mom is Diola) and then to Family park where we watched and studied some live animal interactions; we then proceeded to University of San Carlos Biology museum where we saw many animals / organisms classified accordingly and the last in our itinerary was the Cebu Normal University museum where we saw some preserved organisms and educational artifacts that fascinated the students.

During the culminating activity, we conducted the search for the little mathematician –scientist look-alike! Representative of each level from Grade 1 to 2nd year high school were dressed up to somehow mimic the three great scientists, namely: Albert Einstein (Grades 1-2), Galileo Galilei (Grades 3-5) and Sir Isaac Newton (Grade 6, 1st & 2nd year high school). The candidates went through a series of poses and walking in the cat walk as they portray their idolized scientist. Not only that, they had to answer intellectual questions to prove that they really got the “x factor” to be a scientist. The deserving winners were Jupert Jeffrey Remollo (Category A), Norch Van Honoridez (Category B) and Rafael Bergado (Category C).

The celebration was totally successful and fruitful in a sense that the students had fun learning experiences as they went through the different activities prepared by the Science and Math teachers. Surely nothing is impossible with the determination to acquire proper knowledge and enough faith to God.