Equal in magnitude to the challenge of improving the quality of our education, climate change, and environmental degradation affect our nation’s progress and future. Continuing a partnership with the Coca-Cola family that has spanned decades, Teach for the Philippines (TFP) and the Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines continue to work together for a world without waste even during this unconventional School Year 2019-2020.
Building on the success of last year’s partnership, which focused on making environmental education a priority in our schools, our renewed partnership aims to bring our modules to more public school teachers and students in the new normal. TFP will digitize its environmental education modules, thereby furthering the reach of our awareness and action towards caring for our environment. We are one in championing ecological protection as a whole community and whole country effort and managing and maintaining our country’s abundant natural resources as a shared responsibility.
“It is incumbent upon us, as custodians and stewards of this archipelago of 7,600 islands, to protect the environment for future generations and to meet this long-term responsibility without getting side-tracked by short-term gains.” TFP Program & Training Director Ginny Villa-Real shares, “The values of environmental protection, conservation, and stewardship have to be promoted, taught, learned and shared in every generation. By investing specifically in the public school learning process, at the foundational grade school level, there is a real opportunity for us to change the way Filipinos think about and act towards our environment for a lifetime.”
“Coca-Cola Philippines seeks to encourage more individuals to work together for our environment.” Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines President Cecile Alcantara says, “We believe that education is the cornerstone of environmental protection, and so we endeavor to equip our children – and the communities surrounding them – with the knowledge, skills, and attitude that will help them create long-term decisions and habits that are mindful and in the stewardship of their environment.”
Teach for the Philippines’ partnership with Coca-Cola Foundation has enabled us to contribute to our communities’ environmental causes by educating our public school students as part of our Batang Bayani Life Skills Program. What started as co-creating modules to educate students and parents on segregation and recycling has become a learning experience that engaged students and community members in creating their own initiatives to take care of their immediate environment and manage their waste products proactively. This year, by making these educational resources to a public, online platform, the partnership aims to expand our reach and empower more communities to create sustainable solutions to protect the environment.
Teach for the Philippines
Teach for the Philippines (TFP) is a for-purpose organization that provides all Filipino children with access to inclusive, excellent, and relevant education. TFP enlists and trains some of the country’s most promising young leaders to teach in public schools for two years and offers professional development to existing public school teachers who also have enormous leadership potential. Finally, the organization works to channel new administrators into the public education system. Through training and experience from the classroom, Teach for the Philippines transforms the nation’s next generation of leaders into lifetime advocates for education equity. For more information, please visit www.teachforthephilippines.com.
Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines
Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines was established by The Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines (CCBPI) in November 1986, to manifest the long-term commitment of Coca-Cola to corporate citizenship in the Philippines. The Foundation’s current programs are focused on enabling access to safe water in underserved, rural communities, supporting community recycling and improving waste management systems, as well as providing education and development opportunities to Filipino youth.