Janet McCarty
The PhilippineWay
Newsletter – January 2012
From Janet M. McCarty – Advance #13028Z
Potpourri
It has been several months since I wrote a normal newsletter – October there was no newsletter because I was on vacation; November I deviated from the usual and wrote about my vacation; and December was the annual pictorial newsletter. So in this month’s newsletter I will try to catch up on some of the highlights of the past months.
In October 2011, SPMC (Southern Philippines Methodist Colleges) held our First Theological Institute under the competent guidance of our new Dean of Theology, Rev. Jeric Cortado. It was a continuing education program for the clergy, deaconesses, lay preachers and Sunday School Teachers that aimed to develop principled faith community leaders for the transformation of the world. Professors from Union Theological Seminary in Manila came to SPMC at their own expense and made presentations on Peace and Environmental Issues; Foundations of Christian Education; Contextual and Feminist Theologies; and Hermeneutics. There were 81 participants including our theology, deaconess, and home missioner students along with area church workers. The institute lasted from Thursday afternoon to Saturday noon and was considered a success!
In September 2011 the LET (Licensure Exam for Teachers) was given throughout the Philippines. The exam is given twice a year and tension runs high when the scores are due to be released. I am always interested in seeing the results for our SPMC students but this time my interest was even more peaked because one student, Ana, had lived with me as my helper for three years and graduated last March. One evening in November I got a text message that Ana had passed the exam. Oh, how excited I was but I wanted to double-check so I went to the website. My computer is normally slow and added to that I had trouble finding the correct place. While waiting I got a text message from Ana saying she had heard she passed and was asking me if it was true. She doesn’t have a computer at home so she was relying on me. I texted back and said I was checking the website. When I finally saw her name, I called her cellphone to talk and verify her middle name. YES, her name was there. She was so excited and said she believed it now that I had seen it online. It turned out to be a wonderful evening. We enjoyed talking to each other about it. The next day the faculty was looking online and found the place that listed the passers by college. SPMC had 2 out of 4 first-time takers pass for a 50% passing rate. However, we had six who took the exam over again and none of them passed so our overall passing rate was 20%. On the surface that doesn’t sound very good but the countrywide passing rate was 23% for the elementary teachers’ exam, the category we are in. We also scored higher than the other colleges in Kidapawan City so we are very pleased. Besides Ana, the other passer was also a 2011 graduate. The other two first time takers were earlier graduates; one was even under the old curriculum which put him at a big disadvantage. Currently we have 12 students signed up to take the LET in March. Please remember them in prayer as they review and take the exam.
In December the Kidapawan City Collegiate Federation held the first competition, Kesefagayun, between seven colleges. There were competitions in cheer dance, talent showdown, and the usual Mr. & Ms. Kesefagayun, talent and beauty pageant. SPMC was definitely considered the underdog, being a small college and not readily known. SPMC has a very talented student dancer who taught the other students, though, and I really thought we had a good chance for the cheer dance. The electricity was certainly in the air that evening when only one other college besides SPMC entered that competition. The other college had more students and more males so they could do more lifts and throws of the girls. My heart went down a couple of notches as I watched them perform. But then our SPMC dancers made a grand entrance and did a fantastic job, in my prejudiced opinion, and the crowd cheered us on. In the end we got second place which was still an accomplishment. I was really proud of our dancers and the hard work they put in practicing. Our talent showdown was a band – drums, guitars, and singers. They didn’t place. But then our contestants for Mr. & Ms. Kesefagayun, a theology and deaconess student, got first runner-up. Our whole campus was on a big high! Students even shared with me that other college students were commenting on Facebook that our contestants should have won because they answered the final question better. Go to http://community.webshots.com/user/janetmmccarty100 and click on Potpourri to view pictures of all these events.
December also brought the tropical storm to our island, Mindanao, which led to catastrophic flooding and deadly landslides affecting more than 211,500 people. Over 1,100 people lost their lives. One of our faculty toured the area, which is far from us, and said it was heart-wrenching. Please pray for all those affected.
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