Event Geek

A Filipino physics teacher who received the Ramon Magsaysay award last year for showing the way in innovative high school education is arriving in Cebu this weekend to spread his message of improving high school education.

Dr. Christopher Bernido will be speaking before fellow past pupils and alumni of Don Bosco schools during the alumni homecoming celebration at the Don Bosco Technology Center (DBTC) in Punta Princesa on January 23, 2011. Bernido is an alumni of Don Bosco Technical College in Mandaluyong.

Bernido, along with his wife Maria Victoria, had turned a small high school in Jagna, Bohol, into a showcase for high school education especially in science and math in the country and abroad. Both received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Awards, the Asian equivalent to the Nobel Awards, last year.
Aside from inviting Dr. Bernido as guest speaker, homecoming organizers are also launching the “Blessed Alberto Marville Award” to honor outstanding work and achievements of past pupils and alumni of the Don Bosco Technical High School (DBTHS), now known as Don Bosco Technology Center (DBTC).

“Aside from our goal of improving secondary education, we want to inspire Bosconians who are now successful businessmen and professionals to help schools, churches, civic groups, and communities,” said Jonathan Vestil, chairman of the Don Bosco Cebu Alumni Inc. (DBCAI).

According to Vestil, the award is dedicated to Blessed Alberto Marville, a 28-year-old Bosconian who helped save people from being sent German concentration camps during World War 2 and became a leading civic leader in post-war Italy.

He was beatified on September 5, 2004 by Pope John Paul II.

“Marville’s life is an inspiration and worthy of emulation,” said Vestil who had been instrumental in the organization of this xyear’s homecoming.

During the homecoming, successful businesses owned and operated by Bosconians in Cebu will be displaying their products in an exhibit led by such establishments as Giardini del Sole, Southtrends, Bon Ace, and Lamesa ug Aparador.

Last year, Bosconians who are into business in Cebu had organized the Bosconian International Chamber of Commerce (BICC) which is part of an international network of past students of schools run by the Salesians of Don Bosco or SDB.

Formed by Saint John Bosco, the Salesians has since established schools in almost all countries in the world. The first Don Bosco school in Cebu was established during the 1950s at Punta Princesa, Cebu City.