Refresh Treats Sining Galing Winners to EK
Refresh Flavored Drinks, a brand of delicious beverages from Universal Robina Corporation, believes in the creativity of the Filipino child. Recently, it tapped creative minds in a number of the city’s public schools, through an activity that harnessed ingenuity, cooperation and teamwork, along with the power of friendship and sharing. The activity was called the Refresh Sining Galing Recycling project.
Children from different public schools in Metro Manila took as many cups of Refresh as possible and recycled them into Christmas lanterns. The Paaralang Elementarya ng Hen. Pio del Pilar in Makati stood out among the rest as their students created a lantern that not only won for them the Grand Prize, but a whole new world of experiences.
Three of the participating students from the school shared their stories. Eleven-year-old Gesheila M. Piad, 13-year-old Pearl Maureen A. Arrogante and 10-year-old Jozhel G. Arban hardly knew each other before the project. They went to the same school, saw each other on campus often, but hardly interacted. Working together on the Refresh lantern under the able guidance of Art Teacher Ramel Bernardo helped them see each other in a different light. The three young artists soon bonded with each other, as well as with students from different classes and year levels. They found themselves hanging out with each other even after the project was accomplished. In the end, not only did they learn the value of protecting the environment through the recycling project, they also developed strong relationships that would later speak of their work.
When their lantern formally entered the competition, the kids were apprehensive. According to Maureen, the other schools’ entries were very well executed; Jozhel said the competition was nerve-wracking. So when their school was declared winner, Gesheila said it was totally unexpected; like nothing they had ever felt before. The grand prize was a free field trip to Enchanted Kingdom in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
The trip to Enchanted Kingdom made the victory even sweeter. In spite of the hot weather during their day at the theme park, the children gamely mugged for the camera in the open air, holding their Refresh drinks. They also got their fill of thrills courtesy of “ride-all-you-can” tickets given by Refresh. It was about 8pm already when the kids got back to school. Though their bodies were tired from a day of frolicking in Enchanted Kingdom, their spirits remained high, eager to share stories of their full day of fun.
For Dr. Leticia L. Rosales, school principal, the children’s victory is a source of school pride. “The contest taught positive values such as teamwork, cooperation, creativity and resourcefulness while creating something positive from waste materials,” she notes. And for the participants, it was the friendships and the values that they learned that they are truly grateful for.
