On August 17, 2013, Teach for the Philippines hosted its second Super Saturday of the school year. Super Saturday allows our Fellows and staff to come together to share the experiences that we have had, whether in the field or at headquarters, as we push towards our goal of achieving educational equity in the Philippines. The timing of this month’s event could not have been better as our Fellows have just finished their first quarter of teaching and are about to embark on their second quarter as public school teachers.
Super Saturday kicked off with Mitzi Mapa, one of our two new Leadership Development Officers (LDO), introducing this month’s theme of circles of influence. She then introduced one of the Fellows, Miggy Zaballero, who led the rest of the Fellows in a discussion regarding an internal structure for the 2013 Cohort. After a nomination process within the Cohort, they agreed to set up four working teams to provide further support and assistance to the Fellows. The four working teams they agreed to set up are Academics, Personal Development, Partnerships, and Socials. The Fellows elected Cris Tanjutco and Jessamine Versoza as their Academic Heads, Chess Carlos and Carlo Fernando as their Professional Development Heads, Kat Roco and Delfin Villafuerte as their Partnership Heads, and Leah Villanueva and Miggy Zaballero as their Socials Heads.
The next portion of Super Saturday included a discussion by Mead Johnson Philippines President and General Manager Alberto Marrero. In line with the established theme of circles of influence, his talk was on how proactive leadership and having a positive winning attitude can expand a circle of influence.
Mr. Marrero explained the difference between proactive and reactive individuals in the workplace. He shares: “Proactive people focus their efforts in their circle of influence, causing the circle of influence to increase. Reactive people focus their efforts in the circle of concern. The negative energy generated by that focus causes the circle of influence to shrink.
During the open question-and-answer portion he had with the entire team, he emphasized role modeling and setting a good example by seeing unwanted circumstances as opportunities as ways of dealing with reactive people proactively.
After Mr. Marrero’s engaging talk, the team was divided into smaller groups for the breakout sessions, where both staff and Fellows got to celebrate our wins for the first quarter of the school year, while also reflecting on our areas for improvement.
It truly was a Super Saturday as the event served as a sparkplug to re-energize the Teach for the Philippines team as the second quarter of the school year gets underway! Our team would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Alberto Marrero for sharing their time and knowledge with us, as we all work towards expanding our own circles of influence and leave our mark by eliminating educational inequity in the Philippines.