by Arnthea Samantha Marie R. Gasta |
On the 28th of October 2022, Ateneo de Davao Senior High School took its first step towards transitioning to a new era of learning. Spearheaded by the Pulsong Atenista Student Government (PASG), the in-person practices for the upcoming Christ the King (CTK) Fiesta commenced, signaling the start of the month-long journey that the participants will take.
Various performing groups took part in the preparation for the much-awaited fiesta. Some of the school’s clubs such as the Ateneo Blue Bells, Ateneo Voices, Liga ng mga Atenistang Mananayaw (LIAM), and Maskara, as well as the participants for the school year’s Sayawtenista, were present during the first day of official practices.
Given that this event would be one of the first face-to-face activities of the school after two years of absolute online classes, the students voiced their feelings upon meeting their club and teammates beyond the screen of their gadgets. Reah Mae Pascual, a member of the Ateneo Voices, stated that it was a little awkward since it was her first time seeing her clubmates in person. Nevertheless, the practice still went well.
“I can say that it was quite exhausting because I haven’t danced in a while and my feet are starting to cramp,” Gwyneth Sue Calantoc, a member of LIAM shared, “but our atmosphere is very good because everyone participated.”
In line with this, students have mixed emotions concerning the success of their respective performances. “It’s exciting. It’s exciting and at the same time it makes us feel nervous because we might not finish the routine in time and we are still lacking some members,” Nell Angela Asignado, the president of the Maskara Club expressed her worries. "However, with the help of our moderator and cooperative members, we will be able to finish our routine,” she continued.
When asked about the progress of their performances, the performers had different responses. “So far, we practiced the routine for two songs, like half of both songs are already completed, and we are still creating the choreography for the rest,” said Andrea Laurice Visto, a participant of Sayawtenista under the Paris Cluster. She also stated that it was tiring to learn and create the choreography, but it was still fun because of the bond between the members.
Mohammad Jammael Latip, the event head of the Manresa Cluster believed that even though their performance won’t be the best that they could offer to the audience due to the limited time, they can still pull it off. “But if we can be given more time, we would really take it,” he added.
More than 200 students were present during the first day of practice. Because of this, everyone must follow the various health and safety protocols to achieve the event's success. Cayla Gwenneth Cole, AdDU-SHS’s PASG President for this school year, revealed that the process of planning the activity was quite long with several steps involved, like having numerous meetings and virtual orientations.
“During the virtual orientations, we discussed the different guidelines from different offices to make sure that there will be no major problems and issues on the day of the event. We also discussed the documents that are needed in order to enter the school such as the health declaration form, parent’s consent, and contract of agreement,” she started. These forms are to be submitted to make sure that the students are in optimum health condition during practices and that their academics will not be disregarded. “Thankfully, everyone submitted the forms and attended the virtual orientation,” she added.
With the start of the preparations for the upcoming fiesta, the students are now brimming with anticipation as to what activities await them. This is the reason why the student government prepared a detailed plan of what will happen during the celebration. “Yes, we’re prepared and we’re thinking 10 steps ahead to make sure that as much as possible, there will be no issues that we could not solve,” Cole answered when asked about their preparedness for the event.
As the preparations for CTK Fiesta in November begin, students at Ateneo de Davao University are looking forward to experiencing the new era of face-to-face learning with in-person activities. The preparations that took place inside the campus served as the first step toward this new era. Indeed, the students are expecting that this year’s CTK Fiesta will be a celebration of a new beginning—a celebration that will be worth remembering.
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