My Alma Matter Leveled Up

The big finale

I just came home form my alma matter's _{(Bohol Wisdom School)} Foundation Days evening show and I knew I just had to write about how much the school had changed since the last time I was a student there four years ago.

New "Big Ass Fan"s in the gymnasium 

I've been to the school a few times in between the years during long breaks whenever my friends and I decide to visit and I've seen the improvements under construction. But seeing it all now in person, especially the upgrades in the gymnasium, which I will be talking most about in this blog post, just awes me at how much they have improved over the years.

Now, I am a bit bitter that they decided to add all the cool new facilities right after my batch graduated. I mean, we were the ones tasked to imagine a better layout of the school, which was more or less how it looks like now, and had to make a miniature version of that idea, but yeah. That's life.

The first thing I noticed when I got to sit inside the gym as the presentations started was the big ass fan that that hung in the gymnasium ceiling. Two of them taking up almost all of the space up there which was really cool-looking _{(and dangerous if you've watched Happy Tree Friends)}. A huge problem when I still attended the school was that whenever we had an activity at the gym, it would be just so freaking hot to even concentrate on what was happening. 

I'm glad that they managed to sort that one out considering the amount of people there that evening. I mean sure, it was still warm but not as oven-roasting as it was year before. Now, the presenters on the floor could actually breathe while dancing while us at the bleachers could at least feel a breeze every now and then from the fans. 

Bohol Wisdom College in costume

Recently, the school managed to set up a small college that offers programs on education and I really look up to these students for managing to choreograph not only themselves, but even some of the kindergarteners' presentations while balancing their own workload as the school shoves a truck load of responsibility down their throats and not to mention extra expenses for those costumes.

Another improvement that I really want to point out is the awesomely cool sound system and synchronized projections on the new projection screens. I mean really. Even back then I was kind of the techy kid, working on event powerpoints and manning the sounds, on occasion, and setting up the projectors and other related media. Back then you couldn't understand shit from the sound system. It had a horrible echo to it, faulty wiring and even the speakers themselves crack every now and then on extended talks.

Now, the sound system is clear as day with mics working like they should and I heard the even have those small mics that presenters wear during dramas or plays. The music for dances were exceptional too. No weird echos or audio that couldn't be understood, it all worked perfectly! 

The best part about the new media equipment though is the live feed from a camera they put up for the kids outside to be able to see what was going on inside the gym. One of the problems we had as students was that we couldn't see the students' presentations that came before ours. Now, they put up a large projection screen outside for the later performers so they wouldn't feel too left out as they waited for their turn to perform.

And last but not the least, though, was the establishment of an Arts Club that takes charge of the school's decoration and painting the stage for events! Back then, it was just me and my adviser working with the school's maintenance staff on setting up various props and painting really simple backgrounds for events but now, they have resources, more members, and the same adviser I had years ago working and mentoring these kids into creating stunning designs like the picture above. I'm proud to say my sister is a part of that club and man has it taught her so much about herself and her skills. They even got their very own Arts Club room which was super neat. We had to work on the gymnasium floor or the field at the back of the school to make larger paintings like this back then so seeing the school give importance to the smaller clubs makes me really happy.

Now I'm not saying the school has improved to the point of perfection, as I'm still not aware of how much the curriculum changed, but comparing this particular facility of the school, the gymnasium, with what we had before, it really did get better over the years.

Other improvements also included the air conditioning of the rooms, upgrades in the laboratories and a new building to house the new kids in various year levels after the K-12 implementation so there really is more to see in the school and it just makes me feel proud that the institution I spent twelve years of my life in really stepped it up and improved.