Mayor Mabilog Accepted Board Invitation
Was ISA 7th Commencement Speaker

The 7th Elementary and 4th High School Commencement Exercises and the High School Recognition Ceremony were held on 26 March, 2 pm at the ISA Gym of the new ISA campus. The short but solemn proceeding was graced by the presence of the Mayor of Iloilo City, Honorable Jed Patrick Mabilog.

	ISA President, Mr. Vicente Tiu, in his invitation letter, requested Mayor Mabilog to be the commencement speaker.
	That was the first visit of the mayor to the new ISA campus. He was warmly received by the ISA directors, administration, facilitators, ISAers and their parents.
	In his speech, Mayor Mabilog highly commended the achievements of the school in the past seven years. He cited data, among which are the impressive performance of the ISAers in the National Achievement Tests and the National Career Assessment Examinations, as proof of ISA’s consistent stress on academic excellence, and its will to always aim for the best.
	He congratulated the directors and the ISA community for building an edifice even after a short span of seven years.
Mayor Mabilog also awarded the medals and certificates to those ISAers who won in the various inter-school competitions in the current school year.

ISA Preschool Head Ms. Debbie Chan
Model Phil. Chinese Teacher Awardee

The Cebu Philanthropist Don Henry Gaisano Foundation, in its annual search for model Philippine Chinese school teachers, has chosen Ms. Debbie Chan, ISA Preschool Head, as one of the 13 model Chinese teachers this school year. The awarding ceremony was held in the afternoon of 12 March 2011 at the Auditorium of the Federation of Filipino Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Manila.

To show their commendation, ISA directors hosted a dinner to honor the achievements of Ms. Chan at the Grand Tower on 10 March. The dinner was presided by Mr. Vicente Tiu. Officers of the ISA board, ISA Parent Associations officers, ISA Administration and department heads attended the dinner.

FFCCCII Sponsors Chi-Fil Educators Forum
ISA Exec-Dir Attends, Shares Experiences

ISA Executive Director, Mr. Peter M. Chan, attended the National Chinese-Filipino Educators Forum sponsored by the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. held at the Federation Conference Hall in Manila on 22 January. Board chairmen and principals from nearly a hundred Chinese-Filipino schools nationwide convened to discuss two main agenda: Chinese textbooks, and the shortage of local-born Chinese Language teachers. FCCCII President Dr. Alfonso Uygongco opened the one-day forum with insightful remarks. He was present during the entire proceedings, which started at 9 am and ended at 5 pm.

The forum commenced with the FCCCII director Mr. Li Wensheng, who is also chairman of the committee on Education, delivering a report on the current state of the Chinese Language textbooks in the Philippines. The issue was further elaborated during the open forum by some school heads. Upon the urging of Mr. Li, ISA Executive Director Mr. Chan mentioned the reasons why ISA has to rely mainly on its own materials, supplemented with the available textbooks published in the Philippines, China Mainland and Taiwan.

In the afternoon, the atmosphere turned sober when the discussion touched on the perennial shortage of Chinese-Filipinos who are competent and willing to make ‘personal sacrifices’ by engaging in teaching profession for life. Mr. Chan suggested, parallel to the ‘fund to retain Chinese-Filipino students’, a fund to ‘retain Chinese language teachers’ may be raised at the auspices of the Federation, in lieu of the current ‘medical assistance’ which teachers could ‘enjoy’ only when they get sick or hospitalized, too morbid nobody would pray to enjoy, he asserted.

Scholars Opens a New Chapter

Even with all the dramatic events chronicled in the 7th volume of the Scholars, we can’t help but have to end it, albeit with a dashing period，for us to start a new page and move on. A new chapter has begun, indeed. This time, however, it is in cadence with the beginning of a significant chapter of ISA herself. Let’s watch out for more significant events to unfold this year, one of which, presumably, is the impending inauguration of the new school building…

Celebrate 7th Mentor's Day

ISAers celebrated Mentor’s Day 4 December 2010 with the help of Learner Council Officers and Parent’s Association. Mentor’s Day is a regular activity at ISA since it started in 2004.

	This is one way of appreciating and giving honor to the facilitator’s dedication and hard work. The program started with the opening remarks of Mrs. Maria Cheryl F. Baylen, president of Parents Association.
	The learners from kinder up to high school showcased their talents and gave flowers, balloons and other gifts to their facilitators to show their gratitude and After the program, the ISA Faculty and Staff had a lunch at JD Emilion Hotel hosted by the ISA Learner Council and ISA Parents Association.