METHODOLOGY
I. Groupings
From more than a hundred of students who applied to be one of the participants, a total of 32 were chosen. And from that number, three groups were formed to tackle different aspects, and to feature different views of Santa Cruz, Laguna. One of the teams was the HISTORY AND SOCIETY TEAM, assigned to discuss the alluring history of Laguna’s queen town.
II. Brain Storming
During the first two weeks of making the announcement of participants, several meetings to discuss the topics were held. Brain storming, one of the most effective ways of creating a great idea, gave meaning to team cooperation and participation. Soon, after few tries of finding the best applications and researches, the team started forming and discussing the concepts each thinks of.
III. Research
From the very start, the students, as well as the coaches, started to look for details not very familiar to everybody. In short, the group research doesn’t only give share facts already open to public, but also information which happened to be fresh from the oven. To satisfy the hunger for information, the researching used different methods. It involved reading periodicals, book reviews, borrowing certain materials, and surfing the internet. And to check everything, several projects from the Social Studies Learning Resource Centre of PGMNHS and the school library were used as reference for some ideas for the study.
IV. Project Preparation
The deadline came nearer, and the school activities came in a great sequence in a short period of time. The preparation of for the project had been fixed several times. The presentations of the entries were discussed not less than five times. And a few remaining days before the last minute, it was given priority to be finalized.
V. The Making of the Competition’s Entries
a. Interview with a Historian
The team decided to interview one of Santa Cruz’ elders, Mr. Fernando Tobias, a local historian and composer.Mr. Tobias, being born ahead of the current generation, was a great help in discovering the secrets of the town’s history. He gladly shared information with the group once everybody had started conversing with him. And as a bonus, he gave a tour round his home, which every one really appreciated.
As a token of appreciation, the group gave him a simple gift that suits his age. Interviewing him won’t be possible without the consideration of the Tobias Family and the family’s aid, Ate Ester.
b. Shooting at the town square
Shooting at night seemed a wrong move. But it turned out that it just add an effect on how the video will capture the interest of the viewers. The same spot was used to capture the angles of the town hall, as well as the nearby church, that happened to be on the same arrangement as the plaza complex of the Spaniards.
c. Making the Blogs
The artistic minds and the skilful ability of the team’s graphic designer allowed the team to own a colourful and simple, yet meaningful blog. It featured the major topics conceptualized by the History and Society Team.
d. PGMNHS as the location
The group also used the school buildings and other spots as the location for shooting several videos. It featured the Palacol Building, the A.P. LRC, the school cat walks, and of course, the oldest building, Gabaldon Building.
e. Compiling pictures and videos; Adding up the music
Some of the photos trace their source to the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. The others were taken by the group’s official photographer. Even the juniors participated as models for a certain video.
The music was all recorded by the group. It included voice overs that shall give an aid in the better understanding of history. The flute and the guitar were just a part of the things that gave sound to the presentation.
f. Fixing everything and uploading
It took a very long time before finally, the presentations were all done. From the gathering of information, to the editing, recording, finding satisfaction, to the process of uploading to the videos to a www.youtube.com link, everything turned out unexpectedly fun and challenging. It’s true that uploading took a long while, but it’s all worth it.
g. Working at the office
The internet connection gave a great help in the process of making all the presentations. Fortunately, the school provided wi-fi connection, in order to help finish the necessary work faster than expected. The different offices and LRC of the different departments were used as the workplace for more convenient working hours.
Summary:
The video that we were able to submit tells not only about the history but also of the untold stories inside a sealed box waiting to be discovered. Taking a big leap as we arrive from different clips gives us unimaginable things about the past events. Helping with the advancing civilization, we focused our imaginations all along and came up with the ideas that made up the parts of what our video came to be. The videos, thus, revealed the of history and its vintage memories in the advancement and improvement of Santa Cruz.
Recommendation :
To further enhance our appreciation of Santa Cruz, we are asking for help from our local government officials to reinforce the team that will help to improve the localities and to further improve the systems of our municipality. We would like to refer to the authority to make the place of Santa Cruz a better place of beauty to attract tourist from around the globe and to be the home of astonishing flora and fauna.
To the town people who are the closest to our ecosystem, we recommend to follow the rules and regulations given by the authorities to evaluate the chance of making our town globally competitive.
In making our town recognizable, the outcome of this recommendation depends in our choices, and that choices must be perfectly laid with the use of our mixed ideas and must be made by all of us regardless of our status in our economy to make this plan effective.
