Fort Santiago Outing

The footsteps of Rizal

The Building

One of the objectives of mlc is to provide a monthly outing for children who attend tutorials most especially to those with complete attendance. Hence, an outing was organized by the team and held last July 10, 2006 in Fort Santiago, Manila. This is to further expose the children in real life experiences and broaden their knowledge away from the books for the meantime. This is a way to have fun, enjoy and learn at the same time. This will also encourage the kids to keep on attending the tutorials and motivates the others to participate in every activity that the MLC offers. Moreover, it promotes rapport among the children and staffs as the foundation of a good comradeship.

Children and adults alike were transported back in time to the days of Spanish rule and Filipino revolutionary ideals in pre-20th century Philippines. The second batch of mlc students also visited historic Fort Santiago and (literally) traced the footsteps of our national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, on a path from his prison cell to the fields of Bagumbayan (now Luneta Park) where he faced martyrdom. This activity, one of regular monthly outings organized by the Magellan Learning Center, was indeed a learning experience for everyone. It not only gave one an interesting crash course in Philippine history, it was also an opportunity for the children to develop an awareness and appreciation of their “roots”. On a lighter note, it was a time to simply relax, have fun, run around, and share food and stories at mealtime. This question, asked by one of the children some days later, probably sums up what this event was all about: “Kailan tayo pupunta ulit?” (When are we going again?)

*July 2006.*