As for the teachers, they saw hope and were equally excited that their 170 students would not only have more books to read, but could enjoy the use of a personal computer and an audio-visual facility to aid them in learning.
"We never had a library so we would bring books for the children to read in each of the classrooms’ reading corners," said Diana Iglesia, 24, a young teacher who has been with this school among the rice fields in Gerona for almost two years.
Restoring a building for the school to have its own library was just the beginning for The STAR’s Operation Damayan in its quest to make a difference in the lives of the people living in San Agustin — as it has done for the past five years for other beneficiary schools in other provinces.
Before Operation Damayan brought its adopt-a-school mission to San Agustin, refurbishing was badly needed for most of its classrooms — which had broken windows, ceilings infested with pests, and unpainted concrete walls.
After identifying the needs of the school, volunteers from Operation Damayan, The STAR’s socio-humanitarian arm, spent a month working on the sprawling school community fixing walls, ceilings and windows, painting the school buildings, and restoring the garden with the help of teachers, village officials and residents.
Inaugurated last Friday, San Agustin Elementary School now has bright blue and yellow colors greeting students walking to school across mini rice terraces from their homes.
A hundred steel and wooden desks for the classrooms were donated by Operation Damayan along with 360 school bags with school supplies, 190 T-shirts for use during physical education, ceiling and wall fans, wall clocks and water jugs.
A library they can now call their own has mono-block chairs, a computer setup and assorted textbooks for all grade school levels arranged in shelves from Damayan. Its audio-visual space now has a television set with cable provided by Dream Satellite, a video player and chairs.
For its home economics room, Operation Damayan donated a sewing machine with sewing materials, a mono-block table, a two-burner gas stove, an oven toaster, a gas tank, curtains, kitchen utensils and a dish organizer.
The school clinic also received a medicine cabinet, assorted medicines, a folding bed and a pillow and blanket.
For Damayan’s greening task, assorted plants were also bought with cans of paints to decorate the school garden as part of the inauguration day activities.
Adelina Pascua, a 49-year-old mother of two grade school students, expressed her delight at how the school had been transformed into a more conducive learning environment for her kids.
"Eto ngang mga bata gustong-gusto pumasok (My children are excited to go to school)," said Pascua, who earns from doing laundry work.
She proudly shared that despite their meager income, she and her husband, a farmer, have sent to school all their four children, one of whom is a graduating college student.
Most of the residents in San Agustin are farmers. Some are mang-uuling, or coal workers, Iglesia told The STAR.
Describing the students of San Agustin as "respectful and diligent," she added that the children help their parents not only in household chores but in gathering firewood to make coal.
Even in school, the children are very helpful, as they understand the importance of having a clean environment.
"Tumutulong po kami maglinis kahit po Sabado (We also help tidy up our classrooms on some Saturdays)," eight-year-old Janeza, a Grade 3 student, told The STAR as she and her classmates gather under the shade of a tree while waiting for the inauguration program to begin.
The festive mood of the inauguration day began at 6 a.m. when students from all grade levels arrived with parents in tow for a breakfast of champorado (chocolate-flavored porridge) before lining up for the flag-raising ceremony.
While the students enjoyed more snacks like hotdogs and pancit with refreshments, Damayan volunteers along with the teachers were busy doing a final cleanup of the classrooms, setting up the library and audio-visual space, planting and painting in the garden area.
The children were also treated to games like the pabitin and palo-sebo as well as a visit from the Jollibee mascot during lunch.
Janeza with friends Hannah, Rose Jane and Jerelyn were excited to line up in front of the school stage together with other grade schoolers to receive their brand new school bags containing school supplies and Damayan T-shirts.
"We are very thankful to Operation Damayan in behalf of the municipality of Gerona and the residents of San Agustin," said Gerona Mayor Harmes Sembrano. "The people are very, very grateful for what The Philippine STAR foundation has done."
"We hope The Philippine STAR won’t get tired of helping people through this kind of program especially in depressed areas like San Agustin," Sembrano said, citing the importance of the private sector’s help since "due to financial constraints, the government cannot always afford to implement projects like this."
Sembrano handed over to Operation Damayan a plaque of appreciation from the municipal government. For its part, Damayan, represented by Emie Cruz, gave the "marker, symbolizing the turnover of donations and assistance to the school," to Sembrano with schools division local education officials, Dr. Victoria Aguas and Dr. Lilia Santiago, schools division superintendent and assistant superintendent, respectively.
Damayan embarked on the adopt-a-school program in 2002 after noting the sorry state of public schools, particularly in far-flung provinces. The program regularly selects a poor school in a remote place for refurbishing.