The College of Teacher Education and Technology (CTET) conducted a needs-based extension activity titled “Literary and Arts Training Workshop” for the Hope for Children Development Center (HCDC) Summerfest 2022 at Tagum Alliance Gospel Church (TAGC), Brgy. Visayan Village, Tagum City, Davao Del Norte funded by HCDC and the University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP) on July 2, 2022.
In the fast-changing world today, the use of literature and arts has been emphasized for personal and professional benefits. Literary and arts include spoken poetry, comical skit, poster making, video making, oration, declamation, essay writing, and many more. These had been found to be integral to self-expression and learning.
Teachers and mentors need to be equipped and up-skilled in mentoring learners in literary and arts through training that aims to help children with the development of their motor skills, language skills, social skills, decision-making, risk-taking, and inventiveness. Further, emphasis on training teaches learners about color, layout, perspective, and balance which become necessary skills in 21st-century learning. In addition, Hope for Children Development Center (HCDC), the former partner beneficiary requested the expertise of CTET Bachelor of Elementary Education (BEED) faculty members and pre-service teachers to train and facilitate the said workshop.
To ensure strict compliance to health protocol, the activity was participated in by vaccinated HCDC children through the leadership of the HCDC staff (fully vaccinated with 1 dose of booster), TAGC Pastoral team, and USeP CTET faculty members and pre-service teachers. A medical team from the University was requested to join the activity.
The morning session was allotted for each faculty member to give input on the different literary and arts events. Dr. Jeanette Pedriña provided the rationale of the activity and introduced the trainers of each literary event: Dr. Arnulfo Masong for spoken poetry; Dr. Rosendo Meriwan for comical skit; Ms. Kendi Asristio for poster making; Mr. Rendel Bacan for video making; Dr. Jocelyn Matildo for oration; Prof Donna Magallanes for declamation; and Prof. Genesesly Tahoy for essay writing among others. The trainees were all eager to learn as they raised their questions and willingly presented their impromptu performances. After the input, the trainees were divided into four (4) teams: red, green, blue, and purple for the contest of every category.
Indeed, the Literary and Arts Training Workshop was a success. The trainees did not only receive the training and input, but they were right away given the chance to showcase their own materials. Moreover, the activity not only developed their skills in literary and arts, but also fostered fair play, cooperation, unity, and friendship.
