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On October 18, 2024, the 56 4th-year EMC students hosted the PROJECT CONNECT outreach program at Diosdado Macapagal High School on RP Songo St, Floridablanca, Pampanga. The event featured seminars for grade 11 and 12 students, along with providing lunch for both the participating students and faculty.

This outreach initiative is a collaborative project between Diosdado Macapagal High School and HAU-SoC, known as the “Adopt-a-School” program. Diosdado Macapagal High School initially reached out to the HAU-SOC department to arrange meetings with their ICT senior high school students. Mr. Timothy Camiling proposed that this outreach program include 4th-year EMC students, shifting from a simple seminar format to foster direct interaction between seniors and their younger peers. Jhong Gonzales, a fourth-year EMC student and one of the speakers, noted, “The two schools wanted the ICT SHS students to see and interact with us, their seniors.”

Although the seminar was originally intended to focus on EMC related topics, it ultimately covered basic programming languages and internet safety. These subjects aimed to provide students with a foundational understanding of coding and computational thinking while educating them on the responsible use of the internet and social media. For the first seminar on basic programming languages, speakers Derek Lampa and Jules Malijan emphasized essential topics to help students transition to college or enter the workforce. This included managing their digital footprint, avoiding and preventing misinformation, and understanding cyber laws. In the second seminar on internet safety, Jhong Gonzales and Mac Gatmaitan highlighted similar key issues relevant to their audience. Additionally, both seminars incorporated discussions on animation and other EMC-related topics to engage the students further.

Sebastian Nucum, a fourth-year EMC student and one of the event organizers alongside Gloriel Baruelo, stated that the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. “All feedback was positive about the event, the students were happy and welcoming to us HAU students.… they [Diosdado Macapagal High School faculty] even mentioned they’re happy to invite us back again to their school if there’s another opportunity for it.” he shared.

Nucum noted that the openness and appreciation from both students and faculty made the outreach particularly meaningful. Their warm reception highlighted the impact of educational engagement, with the invitation to return signaling a successful event and a strong foundation for continued collaboration between the institutions.

However, one speaker raised a concern, stating, “The topic assigned to us was actually too simple, and we had to make do of the topic.” Some speakers felt that more EMC-oriented topics would have been appropriate for the audience. Despite these concerns, they expressed that it was an honor to volunteer for the event and support the school.

Overall, the outreach program went smoothly. Students found the seminars educational and listened attentively, as indicated in their evaluation sheets. Some even expressed interest in the EMC course after watching an introductory video about it. The school’s faculty were appreciative of the EMC students for organizing the event.

News by: Joachim Singian