Insular celebrates 100th year with 100 stories for children
MANILA, Philippines - How far could a hundred stories reach?
Leagues and leagues away to far-off kingdoms and times, it seems, and to numerous adventures small and big.
Or quite simply, as far as one’s imagination could go.
Student-participants of Insular’s storytelling caravan certainly thought so, as they joined Insular’s storytellers in hopping from one story to the next in the “100 Years of Insular, 100 Beloved Filipino Children’s Stories Storytelling Caravan.”
Leading Filipino life insurer Insular Life held the pioneering storytelling caravan in August last year as part of its centennial celebrations. It chose 100 popular children’s stories from today’s leading Filipino publishers, not only to mark its 100th anniversary but also to prove that local children’s literature is very much alive. Then it picked 10 schools from the Department of Education’s National Achievement Test top notchers for SY 2008 to 2009 to bring the stories to.
Its selection led it to nine public schools and one private school in Luzon and Visayas. In Bataan, the tour included F. Angeles Elementary School in Morong (top 4 overall; top scorer Cluster 4), Llamas Elementary School in Mariveles (top 46 overall; top scorer in Cluster 1), and Tucop Elementary School (top 16 overall).
In Batangas, the storytellers visited students at the Bulihan Elementary School, Malvar, (top 10 overall), Ibaan Central School, Ibaan (top 6 overall; top scorer Cluster 2), and Immaculate Conception, Malvar, Batangas (top 9 overall among private schools).
In Cavite, the tour covered Bagong Tubig Elementary School, Tagaytay (top 9 overall; top scorer Cluster 6), Kaong Elementary School, Silang (top 3 overall), and Milagrosa Elementary School, Carmona (top 2 overall; top scorer Cluster 3).
The sole destination in Visayas was Ilajas Elementary School in Dingle. It bested all other school in the Cluster 5 category, and placed number one overall in the NAT.
During the caravan, the Insular Life storytelling team was able to bring the 100 stories to more than 3,000 children.
