Reunion Update

On a post last month, it was mentioned that a reunion among our batch will be happening soon. The reunion will definitely happen this year as leadership has been formed. Thanks to master Gio Aninon, with a post like below, some were moved to take up the challenge to organize and make the reunion a reality.

From the said call, a poll was yet again conducted to check on everyone's availability in the month of February. Poll results pegged February 4 as the designated date for the first planning session for the reunion. I could not recall volunteering, but when Gio sent a message about attending the event I could not refuse. Haha, I was never one to take on a leadership role during high school. I only participated in events when they're required of everyone. Because I didn't have a schedule that day and could not pretend to have one either, I committed to show up if only to support Gio's efforts. Truthfully, I couldn't quite see myself rallying for everyone to come to reunions. Who'd listen to me? I was a nobody in high school, and not much had changed since then, haha.

Anyway, so February 4 came, and it made the May 20 reunion a real deal. We all met at Coffee Bean in Ayala Terraces to come up with a plan. Ryan, Yogi, Lourma, Vet, and Gio

Generally, the meeting was just throwing of basic ideas to get the event going such as dividing the whole batch into minigroups and designating a rally leader for the said group and deciding actionable steps for the reunion to happen. Each rally leader picked nine or ten classmates to contact. The rally leader would act as the go-to coordinator for the team. He or she would be the one to coordinate with members regarding polo shirt orders and payment collection of the event fee and the t-shirt.
For easier coordination of polo shirt orders, Lourma yet again conducted an FB poll to get each classmate's order commitments:

While Lourma has closed the poll for the polo shirt and tallied the order to 67, classmates who failed to participate in the poll may still put in their orders. Apart from getting people's commitment, a headcount was needed for canvassing purposes. Suppliers usually need a minimum order in order to provide a quotation for printing costs. That done, another poll is being conducted as of writing, to get everyone's preferred time of the event. Seventy-one out of the 115 members of the group had seen the poll, but not everyone had lodged their preferred time yet. Perhaps that's because some of the members are currently out of the country and may not make it to the event.

Dang, we sure are a democratic bunch. Haha, I find it endearing that every decision made thus far as regard the reunion event was done through casting of votes. Plus, I found it real weird to be called Louvette again. I'm definitely with the high school bunch as only them calls me by my full name. :)

Another idea that was agreed upon during the first planning session was the amount of the fees. For easier tracking, the base contribution for the shirt and the event itself was pegged as follows:
POLO SHIRT - Php 500 (Deadline: end of February)
MAY 20 EVENT - Php 500 (Deadline: end of March)
For the collection of the above fees, we have decided to open a bank account for the batch. So last February 10, we opened a bank account with Unionbank IT Park. Vet, Garry, Lourma, and Gio -- Any two signatures for withdrawal transactions

Bank details will soon be provided once the account opening is processed by the branch. However, for those who find it inconvenient to transact with Unionbank and would prefer to do fund transfer through BDO, Metrobank, or BPI, they may do so through their rally leader's bank account. The rally leader will be the one to deposit the money to Unionbank. Personal meet-ups may be arranged by the member and the rally leader too. Schedule of meet-up will be at their own discretion.
For everyone's reference, below is the groupings: Team Dale

Team Gio

Team Hayeth

Team Leah

Team Lourma

Team Normay

Team Ryan

Team Tonio

Team Vet

Team Yogi

Do expect to be contacted by your rally leaders. It is our prayer that we could rally as many people as possible to make it a fun and memorable event. Success of a reunion is highly dependent on the people "actually coming" to the event. While Facebook may be a good way to keep updated from everyone, the full sensory experience of being present will definitely be priceless.

Well, that's the update for now, folks. Second planning session is scheduled on March 4, Saturday at 1:30 PM. Core team is encouraged to come for a meeting with Mayor Tisay to check on their resort as possible venue for the reunion. If there'd be a schedule change, everyone will be informed through Facebook.

Class of '96

The class of '96 or we, Iskolar '96, entered the grounds of UP High Cebu in the year 1992. There were only one hundred and twenty of us who made it to the roster of students who passed the high school entrance exam. The 120 were divided into three sections as follows:
UP High Class Sections

First Year	Second Year	Third Year	Fourth Year
Bartlett	Bocobo	Tan	Corpuz
Villamor	Sison	Gonzalez	Romulo
Benton	Palma	Sinco	Lopez

Of the 120 who were accepted to be part of the class of '96, there were five who chose to leave the school and did not join us on our second year. While five left, we were joined by two other students who graduated with us in 1996. All in all, 117 students marched the stage and got their high school diploma that day of April 15, 1996.
Corpuz '96 with Miss Catherine Rodel

Top Row, Left to Right: Detuya, Calago, Lawas, Suico, Lapa, Montezon, Asignar
Third Row, Left to Right: Yap, Lampong, Belluga, Tabarejo, Quitco, Oporto, Roiles, Manlunas
Second Row, Left to Right: Natividad, Flores, Mahinay, Cabatingan, Nepomuceno, Cabantan, Pailden
First Row, Left to Right: Maquilan, Esmero, Quibilan, Nuneza, Florita, Iway, Novela, Lauzon, Lepon, Suico
Seated, Left to Right: Morales, Gastador, Miss Rodel, Heredia, Bucoy
Romulo '96 with Mrs. Rosario Evelyn Singko

Top Row, Left to Right:Carin, Reyes, Roiles, Abad, Latonio, Marinas, Pumar
Third Row, Left to Right: Moreno, Abello,Pieras, Innis, Israel, Magdadaro, Jerez, Miral
Second Row, Left to Right:Quinanola, Limpangog, Gocotano, Mercado, Quirante, Vivero, Regis, Umerez, Inesin, Sitoy
First Row, Left to Right:Ruiz, Padilla, Dicdican, Fat, Madam Singko, Liston, Pekitpekit, Hijara, Canadilla
Seated, Left to Right: Palapar, Aninon, Almaden, Robles, Badilles

Lopez '96 with Prof. Gigi Teresa Eboras

Top Row, Left to Right:Berdin, Montecillo, Carvajal, Magalong, Elias, Solon, Lucenara
Third Row, Left to Right: Mondigo, Galan, Pekitpekit, Aninon, Jumao-as, Polancos
Second Row, Left to Right:Beltran, Salvio, Inferido, Kiamco, Castillo, Quirante C., Patino, Gonzaga
First Row, Left to Right: Cutas, Picardal, Fernandez, Montecillo, Bustamante, Diez, Solon, Lee, Presbitero, Cabergas
Seated, Left to Right:Tiu, Belonguel, Madam Eboras, Arcilla, Salares

These folks are the class of '96. The pictures were taken from our high school yearbook. Thus, they're blurry. Pardon if I may have gotten the names wrong.

Disclaimer: Folks, I don't have superpowers. I did not rely on the pictures here to identify the people. Haha, the physical yearbook actually is a bit clearer. If anyone has actual copies of the original picture and scan it, feel free to send the file to me: vetlongwalks@gmail.com

High School Yearbook

In keeping with the goal to keep things online and have something to read back and look at when the senior citizen era hits us, I'm posting here some contents found on our high school yearbook. None of the works posted here were mine nor was I part in making the high school yearbook. All credits belong to my wonderful batch mates who volunteered to come up with a memorabilia as the high school yearbook. I'm going on a limb here and claim that the yearbook staff won't mind my posting them here, right guys? Yearbook Staff

So what were we like on our freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years?
First Year (1992-1993)

Second Year (1993-1994)

Third Year (1994-1995)

Fourth Year (1995-1996)

Four years of high school was definitely fun for me, except for the singing in front during first year music class and guitar lessons during third year. While I may be one of the silent packs and was never one of the forefront of anything, I still had good memories of high school. I'm sure during those times and with a high school mindset, not everything then was fun. I'm quite positive there were moments, which I may no longer recall now, where I think I won't make it to high school (on time). Perhaps, others had the same feelings. But the good news of the story, we all made it. We finished high school not necessarily with flying colors, but definitely with a lot of pride on our shoulders. One thing was certain, we did sing our hearts out with "Fly on, friends . . . Fly on and find your place . . .
The Class of '96 Singing "Fly On Friends"

Fly on Friends

In fourth year Music class, Miss Rodel had as form into pairs to come up with a composition for our high school graduation. As there were thirty-five of us in the class (Lopez), I remember being the one without a partner. Haha, I didn't mind it that way because music wasn't my strongest suit. Working alone for me meant I won't affect my classmate's grade. I could decide the lyrics and the melody for myself. I wasn't any good at music composition nor was I good at playing the guitar to accompany my song. I knew my creation wasn't good, but I remembered Miss Rodel giving me a fair mark for effort and for volunteering to do the assignment by myself. From our compositions, we were to select the one song that would be made into our graduation song. I could no longer recall the selection process by now. But the song that was chosen to be our graduation song was the one composed by Michelle Castillo and (Yogi Bryan Jumao-as?) I'm quite certain that it was Michelle's song, but my memory is quite fuzzy about who her partner was. Oh well, if somebody read this little post, and my info is wrong, just let me know, and I'll be glad to correct the error. Anyway, for posterity, here's our graduation song:

UP High '96 Programme

Over the past days, my FB notifications were mostly from my UP High '96 classmates. The notifications were mostly about having a reunion. See, last year was supposed to be our twentieth anniversary. We graduated in 1996, and we thought it would be a good idea to have a reunion then. But nobody stepped up to organize the event. Curiously, the mini-gatherings over the holidays prompted a few people to rally the batch about having a gathering this year. Some of them met last January 2. As it was unplanned, organized solely through FB posts, only few came. The January 2 attendees came to an agreement that come May 2017, we shall meet with everyone for the delayed twentieth year celebration (haha, 21st na lang daw). Actually, it won't be an anniversary gathering, but rather another minigathering to plan for the real grand reunion for our silver anniversary on 2021 and for possible regular meet-ups.

As it turned out, there's now a date for this year's reunion. According to master Gio's FB post, we have to pencil in May 20, 2017, a Saturday on our calendars. Hooray! Now, another classmate, Jikoy, volunteered to make a T-shirt design. Thanks to FB polls (and mind you, after lobbying from some quarters, hehe), the group voted for the shirt design below:

It looks like May 20 will be happening soon, God-willing.

If May 20, 2017 or 2021 silver reunion will happen, then it's possible for 2046 to happen too. Yes, that should be the batch's golden anniversary! By then, we'll be what . . . senior citizens of sixty-six or sixty-seven? Haha, would we still have our memories then? Thinking that far ahead into the future, I figured I'll just post our batch's graduation programme. I'm sure by then, we'll have difficulty remembering who's who. That said, here's phone-captured images of the program. Pardon the very poor picture quality as I couldn't convince myself to spend on an expensive smartphone.

Just in case, you guys will forget the precious "UP Naming Mahal," he he.

In the off chance, there's someone who'd like a copy of the candidate list for whatever reason, I thought it would be helpful to encode it. Hopefully, google docs is still alive by then, haha. All right, here's the list of the iskos and iskas of batch '96.
Anyway, I'll leave with this high school yearbook picture of me at sixteen, and of me twenty years hence, haha. I copied this idea from a friend's FB post that I saw a few months back. Won't it be nice to have an AVP of our yearbook selves? Just a thought.

High School Uniform

Digital cameras were not a thing during my high school. The few pictures I have of high school, unfortunately, don't include me in my uniform, save for the sole picture taken during a pictorial for the batch's yearbook. Yep, below is my only picture of my high school self in uniform. Haha, it's not even a full-body picture.

The first image above shows a painted representation of the school's uniform during my time. The picture on the left shows our uniform during our first year (SY 1992-1993). It consists of a white polo paired with a checkered white-and-maroon-printed skirt. During that time, some students wore a full skirt version while others sported an A-line cut pencil skirt as shown in the image. As for the males, they wore a blue polo and blue jeans. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of that now. But I do remember thinking that our school was by far the coolest. Which other school allows their students to wear blue jeans?

On our second year, our uniform was changed. I can't recall now the reason for the change: whether it was a shortage of the ramie cloth or if it was because of the complaints that the print of the cloth was the same as the aprons worn by the staff and the tablecloth used by a very popular local bakery in the city. I actually preferred my first year uniform. The uniform we wore for second year to fourth year was rather too hot for my liking. At this time, the males also were also no longer allowed to wear blue jeans. The blue polo was also ditched to a regular white polo coupled with khaki-colored pants.

Currently, these two uniforms are now defunct. The school has changed its uniform yet again a few years after I graduated from high school.