A Yearly Visit of TF Donor-Siblings, Mary Ann Deduque and Andy Ledesma

Last May 3, as the enrollment process started at St. Francis of Assisi School of Silay City, Mrs. Mary Ann Ledesma-Deduque with children Johann and Kayla met up with their TF scholar, Bryll, with his sibling Glenn and mother, Elna. Together with Mary Ann was his brother, Andy, who is also a TF donor with daughter Francheska. 

(Back L-R) Andy, Francheska, Mary Anne, Elna
(Front L-R) Kayla, Johann, Bryll and Glenn

Mary Ann started sponsoring Bryll last school year when she joined the 60 Scholars Challenge 2015.  They toured the school and the kids had fun on the children's playground.  

Mrs. Deduque expressed her enjoyment during the time she visited the school and meeting Bryll for the second time in this Facebook post.  The Ledesma siblings with their family visit their hometown Silay every summer and they have now added a visit to St. Francis of Assisi School as well.

Tapulanga Foundation's 6th Silay Summer Workshop 2016 Graduation

Tapulanga Foundation held its one month-long summer workshop last April 1-30. Classes offered were Basic/Advanced Drawing and Painting, Basic/Advanced Guitar, Hip Hop Dance, Swimming, Football, Basketball and Volleyball, .

Drawing and Painting Class with Visual Artist Teacher, Ramon de los Santos
and assistant-son, Myron

Above: Basic Class; Below: Advance Class

Swimming Class with Coaches Joelin Patris, Jubal Zayco and Ronald Santander

Football Class with Coaches Roy Alvero, Dennis Soluta and Ceasar Ofamen

Top: Boys 12 Under; Middle: Girls Team; Bottom: Boys 16 Under

Basketball Class with Coach Nikko Sobretodo

Grade School Volleyball Class with Coaches Ronald Premaylon and Gerard Ignacio

Guitar Class with Instructor Junjun Davo

Hip Hop Dance Class with Instructor Champ Tipon, assistants Mark Formanes and Dhenice Armada

During the graduation on April 30, the Drawing and Painting Class exhibited their artwork at SFAS covered court.  Students received their certificate of completion, too!

Tapulanga Foundation's 6th Silay Summer Workshop 2016 Graduation photos.

Watch videos:

Guitar Class

Guitar Class Recital 

Drawing Class

HipHop Dance Class

Basketball Class

Football Class

Volleyball Class

Swimming Camp

Swimming Camp Friendly Game

Guitar and HipHop Dance Class Joint Presentation

Tapulanga Foundation would like to thank the following sponsors and donors who have made possible SSW'16.

Major Sponsor

National Commission for Culture and the Arts

AY Foundation

Aboitiz Foundation

Tinihaban Agricultural Corporation

Minor Sponsor

Norconsult Management Services, Phils.

Anonymous donor

Patrons

Lopue’s East Centre

Roberto G. Abello

Sponsored a Scholar

Jory and Kat Jimenez

Imelda Tongson-Batara

Tony and Danuta Tse

Betty Crader

Helen Burke

Randy and Renee Reyes

Jacob Kaufman

Sherrie Good

Bimsy and Martha Mapa

Jess, Jr. and Mariam Campos

Mel Sanchez-Dumlao & Raquel Sian-Estrella

Carisa Pangilinan

Bob and Amy Strahl

Ed Katalbas

Carlo Lota

Evelyn Cruz-Galvan

Czarina Katalbas

Atty. Dominique Iñigo

Gilda Fernandez-Raum

Jerome and Maria Concepcion

Lala Alvarez

RJ and Marissa Laguda

Atty. Joanne Ramos

Ichi Yabut

Therese Tuvilla-Borromeo

Lance Martinez

John and Fern Schmidt

Reeda Bantug

Dr. Anna Calleja

Prof. Liwayway Engle

Betchai Tamayo

Emma Calanog

Noel Casipit

Ana Gonzaga-Layaoen

Rani Alisan

The Peters Family Meet Their Scholar for the First Time!

Last April 22, TF donors Patrick and Katrina Peters visited St. Francis of Assisi School of Silay City and meet their scholar, Jasmine Joy Eguid. 

The couple brought their 4-month old son, Sawyer and Katrina's sister, Joyce. They have been sponsoring Jasmine for the last 5 years since she started Pre-Kindergarten in 2012.  Jasmine is now in 3rd grade.  They brought Jasmine a gift set of coloring materials.

"Hello! My name is Kat and I live in Montreal with my husband Pat. I first found out about Tapulanga through my friend, JR Abello, whose sister Micmic is Executive Director of the foundation. I started with partial sponsorship of a scholar every year for several years and when I met Pat, we started supporting a scholar together. Would you believe that after all these years, we have never been to St. Francis of Assisi School in Silay City, where our scholars go to school? So Pat and I were both very excited when we had the opportunity to visit the school during our recent vacation.

We met our scholar Jasmine, who came with her mom and sister. It was also nice to finally meet Genalyn and Micmic who both do a very good job with updating us not just on our scholar, but also with the school and the foundation’s activities. They took us on a tour of the campus, which was quite spacious and well maintained. Since it was summer, there was no class, but we saw many students who were participating in the summer classes that the foundation had organized. We were impressed with the summer program as it gave students the chance to participate in a variety of activities outside of coursework, such as sports, music, dance, and art. We also loved seeing how the school has adapted to the realities of its environment. I enjoyed seeing the campus chapel made of mud, while Pat thought it was cool how the chairs were made of steel so they would not float away during the occasional flooding that happens when typhoon season arrives. 

It was a short but eventful visit. We’ve seen with our own eyes the amazing work Tapulanga and St. Francis of Assisi School are doing to provide educational opportunities to young ones who would otherwise not have the resources to go to school. Pat and I are very proud to be part of Tapulanga and will continue to support their endeavors in the future. Thank you Micmic, Gen and Jasmine for hosting us during our trip!"

Summer Visit from the Olorga Family and Mrs. Azucena

Last April 15, TF donors Jackie Lou Velasco-Azucena, and Joe and Joy Olorga visited St. Francis of Assisi School of Silay City and met their scholars for the first time.

The Olorgas were on vacation from the US with their son, Logan.  They have been sponsoring Mariel Sadio, who is in Grade 3, since 2012 when she entered SFAS in Pre-Kindergarten. They chose her as their scholar during the 35 Scholars Challenge in April 2012.

Jackie Lou has been supporting Tapulanga Foundation since 2005. She also helps in sponsoring other school needs of 10th grader Jhane Rose Coja.  

"On April 15, we finally got the chance to meet Mariel, our scholar since pre-kindergarten. It was quite nice to see her in person after several years of exchanging photos and messages via Facebook and email. It was very rewarding to see her doing so well in school and be able to gradually achieve her dreams in life with the help of the Tapulanga Foundation.  We also met our scholar's mother, Malou.

Thank you, for giving us a tour around the school grounds. We feel glad to see the school improving and growing, as well as giving the opportunity to help the students reach their goals in life. We will definitely come back and visit the school whenever we are in the Philippines." by Joe and Joy Olorga


"Last April 15, I went to St. Francis school to meet with my scholar Jhane Rose to see how she is. We had a small talk and told me she's doing well in school and that she'll be in grade 11 next year. Wishing her all the best and hope she keeps up her good grades." by Jackie Lou Velasco-Azucena