Ismael B. Salarda, OIC Director, School of Education-Arrupe Educational Center

14 youth leaders and 3 facilitators from the Bangsamoro Youth Leaders Program-Leadership Communities (BYLP-LeadComm) visited Xavier Ateneo for their learning circuit last March 16, 2022 held at the AVR 1 of the main campus.

The BYLP-LeadComm is a youth leadership engagement that trains and develops the full potential of selected fellows from different communities of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in collaboration with multi-sectoral institutions like the Bangsamoro Youth Commission (BYC), Ayala Foundation, Inc. (AFI), and the Eisenhower Fellows Association of the Philippines (EFAP), with the support of the Australian Embassy in the Philippines.

The BYLP-LeadComm chose Xavier-Ateneo as one of their itineraries particularly for the programs and interventions of the School of Education-Arrupe Educational Center. One of the goals of the learning visit was to benchmark these young leaders’ projects and adapt best practices in their own respective communities.

Booths/stations for Teacher Education Student Leader Assembly (TESLA), for student-led initiative, Teachers’ Guild (TG) affiliate student organization of the School of Education, and Night School Program (NSP) and Opportunity 2.0 (O2) for externally-funded projects respectively, were put up in the old library lobby for an interactive ‘Gallery Walk’ with the help and presence of the SOE student leaders and volunteers who did the interactive conversations and presentations. The student leaders and volunteers of Xavier-Ateneo School of Education were able to share their best practices of with the youth leaders of the BYLP resulting to a healthy and interactive discourses and milestones.

Dadz, one of the BYLP fellows, said, “It is a great opportunity and privilege to be here at XU. And we appreciate the efforts of the Student Leaders. I had an amazing experience at the Gallery Walk. We can implement the things we have learned here in our own schools. The programs and initiatives are impactful in our community.”

Nur Tanseen of Basilan also added, “Everything here is amazing especially with the projects. Hope we can apply these in our school.”

The Xavier-Atenoe SOE student leaders and volunteers considered the BLP-LeadCom Learning Visit as a wonderful learning opportunity. Norman of Night School Program said, “The experience is memorable. Thank you to the BYLP participants in taking this opportunity to be with us this morning.”

Mr. Jrold Tagalog, an XU alumnus and one of the Lead-Com Facilitators, also shared this appreciation message “…we are so thankful sa very warm welcome. The youth leaders really enjoyed the visit. Inspired kaayo sila sa spirit sa volunteers and ideas from the projects…”

The learning visit opened the doors for creative and innovative ways to fulfill the objective of youth empowerment and community engagements and services.