Encouraged by the success of Mark Barilla, The Foundation recently sponsored the enrolment of two of the most promising students in the Kumon Math program, namely Jamea Siasoco and Raul Mendoza, at a Philippine Science High School entrance exam review school. They were signed up for the full 64-hour program at Newton, a renowned tutorial center with a long track record of PSHS hurdlers. The tutorial program consisted of 18 review sessions and began last July 26. The PSHS National Competitive Examinations (NCE) were recently held last November 15, 2008. The Foundation also provided, in addition to the tuition, snack and transportation allowances to the two scholars. The contract, entered into between the Foundation’s Bing del Rosario and the scholar’s parents, required that Jamea and Raul had to attend all the review classes, they could not drop out in the middle of the program, they had to apply to take the PSHS exam and actually take the exam, and if they passed, they had to accept and attend.

In addition, Bing del Rosario, through the assistance of Victor Claravall, tapped a PSHS alumna, Jaah Hermano, to conduct informal tutorial sessions with the top 10 sixth graders of Libis Elementary School. Ms. Hermano was an Ateneo College Scholar who recently completed her BS in Applied Math and is now currently in the ADMU Graduate School taking up her masters in Math, major in Finance. She has been able to relate to the reviewees since she also competed in MTAP in grade school and attended various training sessions for the International Math Olympiads. The PSHS exam review sessions, conducted during Ms. Hermano’s free time, were held on Tuesdays and Thursdays afternoon, and wrapped up just before the NCE.