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MHSS wins big at EAC’s Foundation Week academic competitions

Third year MHSS student Juilian Red Bautista, who won first place in the poetry reading contest during Emilio Aguinaldo College’s 39th Founding Anniversary last February 8, flanked by MHSS principal Dr. Efren B. Mateo and English teacher and coach, Ms. Erika Gin Constantino.

Malayan High School of Science (MHSS) bagged major awards at Emilio Aguinaldo College’s (EAC) 39th Founding Anniversary academic competitions. Together with 28 other private and public high schools, MHSS competed in five different academic contests from February 7 to 10.

Proving that Malayans are not only good at science and math but also in the arts, MHSS scored big achievements in the poetry reading and extemporaneous speech competitions.

Third year student Juilian Red Bautista was declared champion of the poetry reading contest. Apart from the mentoring of his teacher Ms. Erika Gin Constantino, according to him, it was the piece of advice that his mentor gave him that helped him perform very well during the competition.

“I felt so intimidated seeing all my competitors, who were all taller and looking sharp in coats and ties while I was just wearing my uniform. Right before the competition, I was already certain of defeat, but Ms. Constantino boosted my morale and confidence by telling that I might look weak but my competitors were just ordinary people and I could prove them wrong,” said Bautista.

Constantino has seen the effectiveness of this piece of advice through time and been using it to build confidence in her students on stage.

“That was my technique when I, myself, joined contests before, and the fact that it worked for me helped establish Juilian’s confidence more,” said Constantino.

For her, confidence is key in winning competitions like poetry reading.

“It may sound easy, but the truth is, poetry reading is one of the harder public speaking competitions because of the minimal preparation of participants. The emotions they have to put through in delivering the lines must be subtle and effective and not exaggerated and overbearing. They also have to establish eye contact with the audience and at the same time internalize the piece,” she added.

Another Malayan, second year student Beatrice Mantilla, also brought honor to MHSS after ranking fifth in the extemporaneous speech competition, which was, for Constantino, not so surprising.

“When Beatrice placed among the top performers in the competition, I was not surprised, as I trained her in class and she was one of my more active and talented students. Our classroom activities are basically done in an impromptu speech format, so it was not new for her,” she explained.

For Constantino, selecting Bautista and Mantilla as part of the school’s delegation had not been a difficult task because of their public speaking prowess.

“I chose them because they were my students... I chose them because I know their capabilities to excel in their chosen fields,” she said.

Together with Bautista and Mantilla to represent MHSS at EAC’s academic competitions were the third year Big Bang students, who participated in the speech choir contest, and second year student Romeo Manuel Silva, who joined the oratorical contest.

“Seeing how more of our students win in these kinds of competitions, I can confidently say that Malayans are extremely talented in the arts, specifically in public speaking. I think it is something instilled at home and is developed in school and in class,” said Constantino.

Past achievements

MHSS takes pride in these recent achievements of its students. These, together with the numerous awards and recognitions of Malayans in the past, only reflect the holistic development that its students experience on its campus.

“We are happy for the achievement of our students. These achievements are reflective of the academic inputs of the teachers on the students' overall development,” enthused MHSS principal Dr. Efren B. Mateo.

Bautista and Mantilla join the roster of Malayans who have exceeded in different fields other than science and technology like: Kertesz Leon C. Navasero (incoming fourth year student), winner of Gold in the Standard Junior Under-16 and Standard Novice categories at the Johor International Dance Championship 2011; and Jan David Nicdao (incoming fourth year student), who was cast in the Swedish movie, Mammut.

“Although MHSS is a science high school, humanities and the arts are given equal emphasis as the sciences, mathematics, and technology courses. We balance all the co-curricular activities that go with these subjects. Upon leaving MHSS, we envision our students to attain holistic development,” concluded Dr. Mateo.