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| Behind the Scenes with Ivy Visitacion |
We attended the opening of Great Pillars Academy, a Montessori-based preschool at Capitol Heights, Bacolod City, recently.
The building is a newly-remodeled house designed to meet the needs of a training school for young kids aged 2 to 5 years old. The classrooms are fully air-conditioned and the modern facilities are conducive to a child’s rapid development in the early stages.
The school president, Gleah Dimachi, welcomed us warmly as the program began. We learned that she had been a teacher for a good number of years in Japan, and her dream was to open a Montessori school in Bacolod. She also gave us a bird’s eye view of the Montessori curriculum where every child is taught a love of discovery to explore his or her creative ability. In this way, the children can become independent learners.
An orchestra of youths from the Bacolod Evangelical Church played the Pambansang Awit and the Alma Mater song. Bacolod Mayor Monico Puentevella welcomed the addition of the school to the city and hoped that this could help train and develop future leaders. Dimachi informed us that enrollment is going on and that they are offering summer swimming classes for kids.
Entertainment was provided by Justine Gallego, a young boy with an amazing voice. MC was popular media personality Rod Simon. After the program, a sumptuous lunch was served to the guests.*
