DMC, Rotary brings I.T. to Dicayas
July 10th, 2009 | By
By Tyrone Jay V. Samson
“Service above self.”
Acting out such selfless motto, the Rotary Club of Dipolog, in close coordination with the DMC College Foundation, successfully launched a joint project of “Bringing Information Technology (I.T.) Literacy” to Upper Dicayas Integrated School (UDIS) last July 6.
Rotary Club of Dipolog President Edna “Beng” Capili-Chan related that as part of the program, teachers of the Upper Dicayas Integrated School will be trained by I.T. professionals of DMC College Foundation “free of charge.”
DMC College Foundation assistant vice president for Marketing, Planning and Extension, Dr. Gerry Concha added that the school, through its Community Extension Services office, has been giving free I.T. training to public school teachers for two years already.
“This program is our own way of giving back to the community. Being one of the leaders in I.T. education here in the province, it is just fitting that we reach out to fellow educators and enrich them further with knowledge regarding the I.T. world,” Concha said.
Chan further disclosed that the joint project will include three phases. Phase one will include the renovation of the computer laboratory for future computer education in the school. Phase two will be the aforementioned teachers’ training in DMC to be handled by the I.T. department of the said school. And phase three will be the facilitation of an internet connectivity for the school’s computers.
The Rotary president further stated that phase one is already underway and phase two will commence within the week. Phase three, on the other hand, will hopefully be available at the soonest possible time. Assistant dean for DMC Computer Studies and I.T. department head Harvey Dalmacio related that as of now, they will just have to make do with a USB Smart Broadband connection. He said that the connection will be “fast enough” considering the fact that even mobile phones have “full-bar signal” in the barangay.
Moreover, aside from such I.T. program, the Rotary Dipolog also distributed learning kits to grade one and pre-school pupils, and teachers of the same
school on the same day.
The pupils were given school bags complete with workbooks on English and Math, and basic school supplies such as pencils, pencil cases, erasers, crayons, among others. The teachers, on the other hand, were given lesson
plans and flip charts for their use in Math and English subjects.
It can be recalled that this is not the first time for the Rotary Club of Dipolog to extend its services and donations to the school.
According to RC Dipolog President Chan, the UDIS is considered as their “adopted school.” She recalled that their support dates back even before the school became an integrated school of learning. Before, the school was just for elementary pupils. Chan said that the RC Dipolog has already made donations to the school before including a library, a science laboratory,
building a water system, and the painting of their administration building.
“No words can possibly express our gratitude to DMC College Foundation and the Rotary Club of Dipolog. In behalf of all the teachers and students of Upper Dicayas Integrated School, we are eternally thankful for your continuing and unending support to our school,” UDIS head, Dr. Vicente Jose “Enteng” Suarez II, said.
On hand to witness such unveiling of the joint project are DMC bigwigs such as assistant vice president for Academic Affairs, Atty. Albert Concha Jr., and Dr. Gerry Concha. Also present were Rotarians Dalmacio, DMC College of Nursing Dean Ma. Grace Gurdiel, Bong Tamala, Raymond Cuttil, Rene Ramos, Carlo Antonio, Janus Tumulak, Joland Val Concha and Bryan Lim.
“Members of the DMC College Foundation and the Rotary Club of Dipolog pose with Upper Dicayas Integrated School (UDIS) principal, Dr. Vicente Jose “Enteng” Suarez II. Standing from the left are Harvey Dalmacio, Ma. Grace Gurdiel, Beng Capili-Chan, UDIS Principal Enteng Suarez, Atty. Albert Concha Jr., and Dr. Gerry Concha.”
“Grade school pupils in Dicayas were called one by one on stage to claim their learning kits from representatives of the Rotary Club of Dipolog and DMC College Foundation.”