A day of Celebration: The Palo NHS Founding Anniversary

In 1993, a new school was erected in the town of Palo. Consisting of just 3 sections with 60 students served by 3 teachers, it had just opened for its first day of classes. That was 30 years ago. Now in 2023, the Palo National High School is bustling with around 70 students per section and 60 faculty members. The campus had extended as well, now consisting of a large space occupied by many facilities. For the 30th anniversary of its founding, the school has planned a whole day of celebration.

Scheduled for December 14, 2023, the day was full of excitement and celebration. Since I am a Photojournalist for the school's publication, known as The
Cradle, I and my fellow photojournalists were tasked to cover the event. We had to go to the school before sunrise for the parade at six in the
parade at six in the morning. Since it was December,  the air was cold as ice, when I arrived at school my hands were shaking like crazy. And at that moment I regretted not bringing a jacket. The clock struck six and all of us were stationed around the route, and we were all running to catch every bit of the parade. Because of all the work, I actually lost a few pounds, though I regained them shortly afterward on Christmas.

After the parade, a Eucharistic Celebration was held. The priest actually took forever to arrive and by the time he arrived the heat was unbearable but I can forgive him because I understand how hard it is to serve the Lord. After mass, the program proper began and we were stationed on every corner of the venue. I was stationed on the balcony of the Grade 7 classrooms and it was crowded, a lot of students went there to beat the heat. The performances were incredible! Everybody did such an excellent job, and each group executed their performance beautifully. Sad to say but, the judges could only pick one winner, but good thing Grade 8 had my vote. Their performance was heavenly, and the transitions were divine. The part that I loved the most about their performance was when some of their members dressed in drag and led the "Barbie Girl" sequence which took me by surprise. So congratulations to them, their hard work finally paid off.


Now that the program was over, I changed into a pastel blue polo and partied for the afternoon. Yes, the year-end party was also scheduled for December 14 and it was fun and filled with laughter
. I can remember our teacher telling us that a 1,000 peso bill was hidden in the classroom under/over something blue and lo and behold there wasn't. With a little bit of disappointment, I decided to join the next game in hopes of winning. It was bring me and my teacher asked for Ma'am Jellian from Grade 7 and we rushed to her room with me slipping and scratching my watch. Big shout out to Ma'am Jellian for going with me to Ma'am Cathe's room and letting me win a certain amount that I cannot remember anymore, anyway Thank you very, very much.

The next game was Palwa, the rule is that whenever you are asked a question, don't answer anything except for the word " palwa" which is some sort of wood correct me if I'm wrong. It was the funniest thing ever and to prove it here are some of the questions that I remember translated into English.

"What are you wearing today"

"What do you use to scrub your body when taking a bath"

"What vehicle did you ride to school today" 

All of them are answerable only by palwa, I mean imagine wearing a piece of wood and only a piece of wood to school or scrubbing your body with it or even riding it to school like a witch except the broom lost its bristles. The thought of it makes me burst with laughter every time.

After all the games it was finally time for presents. I received a book called "The Orphan Collector" written by Ellen Marie Wiseman. It's about a girl named Pia Lange, a German immigrant in Philadelphia struggling to find her little baby brothers amidst the 1918 flu epidemic. Another woman named Bernice Groves, who just lost her baby to the flu because the hospital was busy accommodating immigrants was grimly determined to rid the city of immigrant children taking them away from their parent's "bad influence" and transforming them into "true Americans".I loved the book very much so thank you.

  Finally, I went back home officially starting the Christmas Break which I am also writing about which will be posted very soon so stay tuned. Anyway, that was all thank you very much for reading and I look forward to my next blog soon.

References:

https://palonhscradle.wordpress.com/2015/08/18/brief-description-of-palo-national-high-school-palo-leyte/#:~:text=Palo%20National%20High%20School%20was,promulgated%20on%20August%2022%2C%201991.

                  

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