Story By Georgene Quilaton-Tambiga
Photos By Ma. Nita V. Bolo & Lemuel Eltanal
Five years after its first edition, the Pinunong Recoleto Leadership Camp is back!
The second edition of the leadership training centered on inculcating Augustinian Values among student-leaders happened via Zoom Meeting last November 26 and 27, 2021 with 66 participants from six Recollect education centers in the Visayas.
Rev. Fr. Rommel L. Rubia, OAR, led the line-up of speaker-trainers. Fr. Rubia, who is now the Vice-President for Administration at San Sebastian College-Recoletos de Cavite, discussed “Augustinian Values in Leadership” and emphasized that Recollect student-leaders are unique because of their charism of being “contemplative, communitarian and apostolic.”
Participating schools to the virtual leadership camp included University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos (Bacolod City, Negros Occidental), Colegio San Nicolas de Tolentino (Talisay, Negros Occidental), San Pedro Academy (Valencia, Negros Oriental), San Pedro Academy-Recoletos (Caidiocan, Valencia, Negros Oriental), University of San Jose-Recoletos de Balamban (Balamban, Cebu) and Colegio de Sto. Tomas-Recoletos. CST-R is the organizer and host of Pinunong Recoleto.
Student-leaders who joined the leadership camp were from the student councils of the abovementioned schools. As workshop output, participants made info-graphics that highlighted the four topics by the four different speakers.
“I [learned] that as a leader, it doesn’t matter what your title or position is; what matters is your enthusiasm and dedication,” wrote El Jay Monton, student-leader from San Pedro Academy, in response to the speakers of Pinunong Recoleto.
Chris John Bedoria, a guidance and counselling specialist for the University of the Philippines-Diliman, delivered the talk on “Redefining Leadership and Well-Being.” Bedoria highlighted ten points for maintaining mental and emotional wellness even as student-leaders deal with multiple non-academic tasks. Stephanie Anne Maridable, an experienced youth leader and social sciences teacher at CST-R, discussed about “Encouraging Diversity through Student Leadership,” while CST-R Communications Officer Georgene Quilaton-Tambiga gave the participants key points on “Communicating the Truth vs Fake News.”
The first edition of Pinunong Recoleto was in 2016 when CST-R hosted a series of seminars and trainings to mark its 75th founding anniversary. Ma. Nita V. Bolo, the head of CST-R’s Student Activity Center and school guidance counsellor, established this leadership camp. The first batch of participants were student council officers of the public elementary schools in San Carlos City.
