KASC RESPONDS TO CLAMOR ON LEADERSHIP TRAINING

by Marciano A. Paroy, Jr.

Students are future leaders. It is with them that the developmental path of the community will be paved. This is one indisputable reality. And so to better prepare them for the tasks at hand, classroom instruction is coupled with additional training that exposes them to the realities of the workplace that they hope to be joining soon.

This presupposition has recently been explored by the KASC Office of Student Services, headed by Dr. Adoracion Taguba, when it conducted a five-day leadership training program for student leaders of the Bulanao Campus, with lecturers delving on varied disciplines.

Designed by Student Coordinator Marilou Sawadan, the training program kicked off with Dr. Norfredo Dulay’s lecture on achieving effectiveness by projecting all the behavioral traits and well-groomed stance of a good leader. This was further elucidated on by Mr. Eduardo Ancheta who focused on using the power of creativity in trying to positively influence other people. Laurence Bayongan, municipal administrator of Tabuk, defined the parameters of student leadership, and how much they can also attain within the confines of their areas of responsibility. Mrs. Sawadan lectured on how to manage stress derived from disorganized carrying out of tasks.

Diverting the students’ mindset to the bigger picture, Dr. Maximo Garming and Dr. Raymond Balbin lectured on team-building, and the all-too-important Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) Analysis. Mr. Herbert Imatong taught the trainees the proper conduct of meetings by way of parliamentary procedures. And Mr. Jeoffrey Peralta took the students on a financial ride by teaching them all the basics of financial management and bookkeeping.

The gem of the training program, though, was the participation of officers from the 5^th Civil Military Operation Unit of the Philippine Army. MSgt. Moises Cristobal Jr. and Sgt. Nelson Abad appropriately and eloquently plunged into an outright dissection of leftist ideologies and the dangers that the students may not be aware of when they choose to join these groups.

“I don’t know what to think,” Catherine Luyaben, a student trainee said. “The soldiers were very convincing, but then there are also cause-oriented groups that are genuinely helping out in the society.”

Mrs. Sawadan expressed, “I do hope that the students would put into action everything that they have ever gleaned from the training program.”