1st INQskwela Quiz Bee gathers metro’s brightest students

TEEN CHAMPS Some of the brightest high school students in the metropolis join the INQskwela Quiz Bee finals at the Inquirer office in Makati City on Friday. —JAM STA ROSA

MANILA, Philippines — The first ever INQskwela Quiz Bee on Friday turned out to be a gathering of some of the metro’s brightest junior and senior high school students, who displayed their vast knowledge of current events.

Held at the Inquirer office in Makati City, the Inquirer academic quiz competition found a champion in Cyrille Abigania from the Fort Bonifacio High School in Taguig (coached by Gerber Bautista), who bested 10 other finalists from pilot schools of INQskwela.

The INQskwela Quiz Bee is both an academic contest and a culminating activity of INQskwela, a project of the Inquirer Foundation which aims to promote readership and news literacy among students, teachers and faculty members.

INQskwela involves distributing copies of the Inquirer every day in select public schools in Metro Manila.

The four pilot schools are Fort Bonifacio High School, Ramon Magsaysay High School in Manila, Batasan Hills National High School (BHNSH) in Quezon City, and CAA Elementary School-Main in Las Piñas City.

The goal is for the partner schools to incorporate news and information that are published in the newspaper in the students’ lesson for the day in their Araling Panlipunan subject.

For the quiz bee, the hope is to further encourage students to read the Inquirer on their own, even outside of classroom setting.

‘Critical thinking’

“The INQskwela and INQskwela Quiz Bee are two projects of the Inquirer Foundation that are meant to develop students’ critical thinking and active learning, which are deeply rooted in reading and a deep interest in current events and trends,” said Inquirer’s chief operating officer Rudyard Arbolado, who gave the opening remarks during the finals of the INQskwela Quiz Bee.

During the finals, John Luis Tolentino of Ramon Magsaysay High School emerged as first runner-up; Arjo Aplaon of Batasan Hills National High School was second runner-up; while Jayon Esmejarda, also of BHNSH, ended up as third runner-up.

Other finalists include Alferdd Yambao, Jhomel Angelo Ostaco, and John Bryan Cortez of Ramon Magsaysay High School; Arshyne Canezal and Clarisse Ira Ercilla of BHNSH; as well as Hannah Dee Talingdan, Margaret De Guzman, and Manuel Marcon IV of Fort Bonifacio High School.

The grand winner took home P10,000 in cash. Runners-up and finalists received P2,000 each. All participants were given certificates of participation, Inquirer gift items, and Ian Darcy perfumes. Teacher-mentors were also given gift certificates.

‘Be well-informed’During the awarding ceremony, Inquirer executive editor Volt Contreras congratulated the participants, encouraging them to continue reading the newspaper every day.

Contreras also encouraged the teacher-mentors, who were present during the quiz bee, to impress upon their students how important it is for the country to have an independent publication like the Inquirer.

Also in attendance during the event were Bryan Prieto, chief operating officer of Pridez Food Services, which provided food for participants during the elimination rounds and the finals; and Connie Kalagayan, Inquirer assitant vice president for corporate affairs and Inquirer Foundation’s executive director.

In her closing remarks, Inquirer associate publisher Juliet Javellana encouraged students to go beyond social media and care about what’s happening to the country.

“Continue to be critical thinkers. And encourage your parents and friends to read, read, read. We, here at the Inquirer, will be your big sisters and big brothers in giving you the important information you need so that you all grow up to be well-informed citizens of the country,” Javellana said.