CEBU, Philippines - Teacher Ray has always dreamt of being an educator, but his father wanted him to take seriously the prospect of lawyering.
He shared that he was already taking up Bachelor of Science in Mathematics in preparation for law school when he realized that he should live his life according to his calling. So, he shifted course to Bachelor in Secondary Education, major in Math at the Far Eastern University in Manila.
He was a member of the San Beda High School faculty as a Math teacher from 2002 to 2004. There, he was awarded Role Model Teacher of the Year in 2003.
He moved to Cebu City in April of 2004 to pursue the woman of his dreams. "In Cebu, there are only two kinds of run. Either you're running away from beautiful women or running after a woman," he said in jest during the launch of the "Run for Gifted Kids" which he has initiated to fund scholarships for students who are exceptionally gifted but are economically challenged.
"On a personal note, I would like to thank my wife for funding the vision and sharing in this mission. Half of her salary as a flight stewardess goes to the cost of operating the school," Teacher Ray noted.
He worked as a call center agent before his passion for education found another home in BRIGHT Academy. He was Math Area Head there from 2006 to 2009. In his spare time, he started developing a program for gifted kids and students who are uncomfortable in big class environments (depriving kids of much needed attention) and home schooling (depriving kids of some opportunities for socialization). He called the first five years of his program Li+Nu+S (Literacy + Numeracy + Science).
In April of 2009, the Li+Nu+S program was realized in Exceptional Children's Educational Center of BrainGym, Inc. - a small class size, experiential education-oriented preschool for gifted and talented kids. He and his wife used their combined life savings to put up Ec2 at the ground floor of CT Residences Hall, Talamban, Cebu City. A three-dimensional Erno Rubik's Cube greets everyone at the gate of the school; one side (yellow) resembles a Soduku puzzle to symbolize proficiency in Math, another (green) for Science with Einstein's equation on the theory of relativity; and one side (red) for geography. Another face of the cube has letters in cursives to symbolize English and its core competencies.
Since Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard and Anne Sullivan Macy worked miracles with students like Helen Keller back in the 1800s, special education has been part of the educational landscape. But the focus of most Special Education efforts are more inclined towards those with learning disabilities and less on gifted kids. When a gifted kid has some form of learning disability, the intervention is focused more on the latter rather than the former.
Out of this reality, Ec2 was born. Its primary purpose is to provide a venue for assessment, intervention and education for gifted kids whether they have learning disabilities or not. "We work hand-in-hand with their parents and expose them to methodologies and experiences that challenge them to think and therefore, enjoy the process of learning."
They started with four other dedicated teachers, believers in the BrainGym vision. In the past three years, they have served 30 students aged two years old to 17 with varying educational and/or behavioral needs. "So far, by the grace of God and the dedication of our parents, teachers and staff, we've had favorable results. We have smaller class size, higher standard, better results," he enthused.
Being married to an airline crew, Teacher Ray travels a lot. He studies the educational systems of the places he visits and adapts their excellent practices in Ec2.
However, by themselves, they can only do so much. "We desire to be able to extend our program to as many gifted kids as possible. Thus, Ec2 staff and parents came up with the idea to organize a Fun Run for a cause, dubbed as Run for Gifted Kids on the occasion of our 3rd Foundation Day. Since running has become one of the most loved sports by many in Cebu, we believe that through this activity, we will be able to touch the hearts of many, and enjoin them to run to help us raise funds to give scholarships to some gifted kids of families with insufficient resources," Teacher Ray shared.
Further, he is finishing his Masters in Education at the Cebu Normal University. "I would want my thesis to tackle on how special education could have prevented the surge of addicts. Most of those on rehab I've counseled are smarts. Their energy just wasn't channeled properly," he said.
His personal principle is adapted from that of Mark Bezos: Not every day is going to offer us a chance to save somebody's life, but every day offers us an opportunity to affect one.
He and his ECEC team are determined to grab that opportunity, every day, one gifted child at a time, hoping to continue laying down proper educational foundations necessary for nation-building.