San Fernando Pampanga—The Telebastagan Integrated School is the recipient of a two-story, four-classroom school building borne out of the partnership between SM Prime and Bata Children’s Program Foundation through the SM Foundation.
This is the maiden joint project of the two foundations after Bata Philippines opened its first store in SM Megamall in December 2016. It markets the European shoe brand Bata. Since then, more Bata stores can be found in The SM Store branches located in Metro Manila and in the provinces.
The school building donation came shortly after SM City Telebastagan started operations in May where a Bata branch will soon open.
The newly-built school building was turned over to school principal Nancy Gamboa, San Fernando Mayor Edwin Santiago and Department of Education Schools Superintendent Dr. Ronnie Mallari by SM Foundation, Inc. and SM Prime represented by Engr. Ramon Gil Macapagal, Corporate Affiars and Sustainability Head of SMIC and Trustee of SM Foundation.
The school building is fully-furnished with 200 armchairs, 20 of which are for left-handed pupils, four sets of teacher’s tables and chairs, 16 wall fans, eight blackboards, four wall clocks, and a toilet for each classroom.
It is also equipped with a staircase for emergencies on both sides of the building, fire alarm bell, emergency light at the staircase landing, and ramps and toilets for disabled people.
The desks were all made by the Foundation of the These-Abled, a group supported by SM Foundation to ensure sustainability of its services to people with disabilities.
“We don’t just donate; we boost the PWDs’ self-pride and self-esteem with the chairs they make,” said Juris Soliman, head of SM Foundation’s school building program.
The new school building, which will be used by Grades 4 and 6 and because of the donation, elementary school students will no longer have to go on shifting class
Macapagal said the features of SM school buildings is uniform throughout the country with a comfort room in each classroom and left-handed desks.
“Where before students had to raise their hands to go out to answer the call of nature, now they can say Ma’am may I go in or just go to the CR themselves,” he said.
The number of left-handed people had been growing through the years “and it is but fitting to those people to have desks appropriate for their needs as it is so difficult to write down their lessons in a right-handed desk,” he added
This is the 91st school building donated by SM Prime through SM Foundation in the 60 years of its operations with a total of 292 classrooms since the school building program began in 2002 nationwide.
Telebastagan Integrated School has 1,000 students from Grades 1 to 11. As principal Gamboa explained, “TIS just started accepting Grade 11 this year with 26 students but beginning next year we will be ready for Grade 12.”
TIS has been topping the National Admission Tests making it the best public school in the province, proudly said Mayor Santiago, who is heavily investing the city’s resources to education by building more public schools to ensure that “everybody gets a chance to improve themselves as well as their families.”