Spirited kind of education

A hundred years ago, four intrepid German nuns arrived in the Philippines and went straight to Bangued, Abra, a trip that even with today’s modern transportation still takes a whole day and few Filipinos from other parts of the country are willing to make.

The nuns were members of the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS), a congregation founded by St. Arnold Janssen, founder of the Society of Divine Word, and Blessed Maria Helena Stollenwork and Blessed Josefa Hendrina Stenmanns.

In Bangued, the nuns started what would be the congregation’s primary mission in the country— education—but it would not be until a year later, down in Manila, that their work would begin in earnest.

From Ghost to Spirit

On Legarda Street in Sampaloc, with only 23 students, they opened a coeducational school, which turned into an exclusive girls school a few years later. Initially known as the College of the Holy Ghost, the school, now on Mendiola Street near Malacañang, became the College of the Holy Spirit (CHS) following changes in Roman Catholic doctrine that prescribed that the third divine person in the Holy Trinity be referred to as the Holy Spirit.

Next year, CHS celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding and the generations of women it has graduated. The alumnae might not be quite holy but they sure were imbued with the can-do spirit of the founding German nuns.

That spirit has produced, so far, two winners of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award— Inquirer founding chair Eugenia “Eggie” Apostol and Sheila Coronel, one of the founders of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.

Gloria Angara, who heads the college committee for next year’s centennial celebration, said the nuns taught them a work ethic that served them well in their careers and professions: “If something had to be done, just do it and do it well.”

Graduating with a bachelor of science in physics degree, Vicky Garchitorena Arpon, cochair of the centennial committee, has long strayed from her field of specialization, always guided by what she learned from the nuns.

“I do not run away from challenges,” she said. “We were driven to be the very best that we can be.”

Deanna Go Bio of the CHS North America Foundation said they learned to just get the work done—and do it right the first time—then let the work speak for itself.

Felina Co Young, the college’s first lay president, said, “We do not talk about trying to prepare leaders. It is inherent in the programs. We do not have to (keep repeating our goals). They are already part of the system.” She said CHS graduates were so well grounded in the basics and equipped with skills for lifelong learning that they were highly trainable, a much sought-after characteristic in the job market, which contributed to their high employment rate.

Discipline was an integral part of CHS education.

Six inches below

By today’s more liberal mores when children and their parents find it all right to post photos of 16-year-olds in bikinis or in romantic poses on social networking sites, the CHS nuns’ strict implementation of the rule about skirt lengths being 6 inches below the knees would shock.

Alumnae said the length of the skirt was not negotiable. Nuns would have their rulers out at the start of the day to check if skirts complied with the required length.

Required to wear stockings with seams, Bio said students tried to cheat during the hot months by drawing, with black eyebrow pencils, lines running down the length of the back of their legs. The ruse worked only briefly as the eagle-eyed nuns soon realized the line was so straight and fixed it would not move no matter what activity the girls were involved in.

Arpon said the nuns’ discipline was enforced in the right way and right      place. It developed in them the skills to manage their time well and multitask, among other things. “(The school) was a great influence in our lives—who we are and what we are.”

Bio said discipline was complemented with a well-balanced education that taught them the skills to cope with life outside the school.

While “exclusive” education is often associated with elitism, the alumnae said they were never made to feel special. Arpon said CHS, which went coed some five years ago with the opening of a high school after neighboring San Beda College closed theirs,  was so “egalitarian,” they had no idea of people being rich or poor, or of different social classes.

Sister Victricia Pascasio said this was because one characteristic of the SSpS congregation was simplicity.

Generosity, not just toward fellow alumnae but others, too, was another trait alumnae said they learned in school.

Toni Gregory Palenzuela said alumnae were generous with their time and resources, always willing to help.

Arpon said volunteerism in various forms—teaching catechism or tutoring classmates, for example—was always encouraged.

The preparation for the centenary, to be officially marked in July, would include fund-raising activities, like concerts and culinary festivals featuring such alumnae as singers Louie Reyes and Rachel Alejandro and restaurateur Lynn Sunico, to support, among other things, 1,000 scholars.

Celebratory activities to usher in CHS’ 100th year would also be occasions to highlight the guiding principles that influenced the school’s founding mothers: spirituality (faith), service and excellence.

At the same time, it would be an opportunity to showcase how the school had evolved, with courses adapted to the needs of the times so graduates would continue to have an edge in the job market, Young said.

The challenge for the college, as it neared an important milestone, was to ensure that the tradition laid down by its founders was preserved, she said.

The centennial logo has three different flames to represent what the school has stood for in 100 years. The steady flame represents the steadfastness of the founding congregation SSpS; the lambent flame, the transformative education; and the raging flame, the daring spirit that animates the lives of its graduates.