Teachers urged to be more creative

(CLOCKWISE, from top left) A jute box topped with fresh flowers; a combination of different textures and materials; pearls for someone special

For the teachers who attended Rachy Cuna’s recent workshop in Legazpi City, the session was more than just about gift wrapping and packaging.

In his inimitable way, Cuna encouraged his audience to think outside the box and push their creativity to the limit.

To the amusement of his audience, he said, “Kailangan may kaunting sira para mas creative.” (You have to be a little wacky to be more creative.)

When Cuna said “you should go beyond ribbons and wrappers,” he was also telling his audience, which, aside from teachers, included students and alumni of Ago Medical and Educational Center-Bicol Christian College of Medicine (AMEC-BCCM), not to be constrained by the resources they already had.

At the same time, he told the workshop participants, “You are so lucky you have so many materials you can use. You just have to discover them.”

Cuna pointed to the abundance of abaca and jute that had been turned into such products as baskets and bags, colorful wrapping and packaging materials.

The stylist, whose artistry in flower arrangement has earned him the title of “floral architect of the Philippines” from admirers, conducted the half-day workshop on the invitation of Dr. Angelita F. Ago, president of AMEC-BCCM.

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Ago wanted the school’s annual grand alumni homecoming to be more than just an occasion for old friends, classmates and teachers to reconnect and socialize.

She wanted to use the occasion to give something back to the city, particularly the teachers. She thought it should be an opportunity for the school to bring new knowledge to people outside the AMEC-BCCM community, if they were interested.

The free workshop, which was open to everyone, drew about 50 participants who included government and private sector employees.

Cuna said that in gift wrapping and packaging, there were no rules. People just had to let their creativity take them where they wanted to go.

“Combine different materials and colors,” he said, demonstrating what he meant by using native baskets and fresh flowers to package a gift for Mother’s Day, Japanese paper and a pearl bracelet for a bottle of wine, and a bird made from coconut fronds as accent for a box made of bamboo strips.

Cuna also showed that the gift did not necessarily have to be inside the package, tying strings of pearls to a bandana that wrapped a native basket containing sweets.

a pearl bracelet makes the gift more precious.

But he stressed that packaging and wrapping materials, as well as accents, should relate to the gift.

At the end of the workshop, Cuna encouraged the teachers to apply the same creativity in their classrooms and to look for ways to supplement and complement their standard teaching materials with the rich resources available in Albay province and the whole Bicol region.

He said they could also augment their income by using the basic skills they learned to go into the gift wrapping and packaging business during their spare time, offering something different from the typical service offered by commercial establishments. They could do gift wrapping for colleagues, relatives and friends, he said.

Cuna urged the teachers to share whatever knowledge and skills they learned during the session with fellow teachers so they could also teach them to their own students.

AMEC-BCCM was founded by Dr. Damaceno J. Ago to develop morally upright, creative and productive Bicolanos. He considered leadership training necessary so the institutions, starting with AMEC, which was established in 1975, then BCCM, founded in 1980, ensured that their curricular offerings would involve students in academic and nonacademic activities.