Aral Kabataan aims to help public elementary school students to get into a top high school of their choice. “Thank you so much mga ate at kuya ng Aral Kabataan! Marami naman natutunan ang aming mga anak at nag enjoy sila.” (“Thank you so much, kids of Aral Kabataan! Our children learned and enjoyed so much.”) The caption appears on a Facebook post for the group’s awarding ceremony. There are no graduation caps or plastic trophies. Instead, teenagers in plain white shirts line in front of a black board, standing side-by-side with an elementary-aged student. Aral Kabataan volunteers during the ‘awarding’ (taken from Aral Kabataan’s Facebook page) Established in July 2024, Aral Kabataan is a youth organization which aims to help public elementary school students get into a top high school of their choice. Though Aral Kabataan’s teachers are students themselves—all 11 volunteers are incoming tenth graders—the organization boasts an impressive volunteer roster. AK members are composed of students from competitive high schools like Philippine Science High School, University of the Philippines’ Rural High School, and Pedro Guevara Memorial National High School. HaluHalo Journal spoke through email to AK founder Hana Arevalo to learn more about the group’s formation, values, and insight for aspiring student-leaders. Follow Aral Kabataan at this link. 1. Can you tell us a bit about how Aral Kabataan came to be? Alright, this is a funny story, actually. The idea behind Aral Kabataan came about in my head when my friends and I were chatting with one another on Discord. It was a "spur of the moment" kind of thing, you know? Like any other student with her friends, I messaged them about the things in my head, and at some point- it all heated up. As if a bunch of microscopic particles were colliding inside my brain, a path towards Aral Kabataan gradually formed. At first, it really was just a random idea; something to fill up the space. However, now that I think about it, I no longer think of it as completely "random." You see, at least here in UP Rural, our teacher has us watch these documentaries about daily Filipino struggles. Some of these videos would be about children, which really made me realize how little I know of the world and how privileged I was to even be studying in an amazing science high school. Perhaps the ideas behind Aral Kabataan began in a subconscious manner — a whisper, if I may, for me to give back some of my luck to those who may not have the same. And so, behind the biggest forefront of a random Discord chat, perhaps the origin of Aral Kabataan began with my teacher and the amazing, hard-working people of our country who I've watched through a TV screen. 2. How were plans for Aral Kabataan set into motion? Did you face any challenges in recruiting students or reaching out to venue organizers? The plans for Aral Kabataan took us 6 months, at least. I won't forget the challenges we've faced, especially since at some point I've wanted to give up on making Aral Kabataan true. Perhaps if you've read my personal statement on FB, you'd know that some of our struggles included the fact we were losing members. If I recall correctly, we were supposed to be 15. However, at some point people left, and we were left with 11. In addition to this, module deadlines and proposal approvals were often finished late, which forced me to readjust our schedules more and cut down on requirements. And of course, alongside Aral Kabataan's ongoing struggles, all of my members and I had our own personal struggles, including mental health and academic burdens. We each also had outside extracurriculars, which made it harder to keep up with Aral Kabataan. Overall, however, I'm just really glad that we were able to go past our limits to make AK true. It still surprises me how AK survived this long, and I attribute most of these successes to my friends/volunteers who helped me and one another to get through this. 3. Describe a typical Aral Kabataan workshop. What subjects do the students learn? How are volunteers divided for classroom tasks? A typical AK workshop looks like this: envision yourself inside the usual, public elementary school. Here, you will meet wonderful and curious Grade-5 children who all have funny and amazing stories to tell when you walk by the door. Most of the time, there will be 4 teachers and 2-3 on-site volunteers to help manage the children and make sure the class goes by smoothly. For each day, the children learn Science, Math, and English (Abstract lectures are only on Tuesdays and Thursdays). Founder Hana Arevalo teaches a Science workshop (taken from Aral Kabataan’s Facebook page) 4. You are a scholar at the University of the Philippines Rural High School (UPRHS). How do you think starting Aral Kabataan has affected you as a learner? What do you think the students have been able to teach the volunteers? Personally, as a student of UPRHS, I think AK was my eye-opener to see what "service towards my community" looks like. While of course in school I have my own "quasi-community" responsibilities, AK was very different and a lot more enlightening in terms of experience. As a UP learner who must uphold both codes of "Honor and Excellence" and "Service," AK has changed me a lot and has helped me understand the true meaning behind UP's second code. Beyond just saying you understand something, I think it's very important that a student actually "practices" what they know. Therefore, with the existence of AK, I believe I've learned a good lot as both an individual and scholar of UP Rural. As for what we've learned from our g5 students, I think a lot of these are related to perspectives. As a volunteer/tutor, being with children made me and my fellow volunteers see once more how they view the world, you know? It's quite nostalgic, yet still seemingly new to see how these children viewed our world. We were met with a wave of empathy, love, patience, and even childishness when spending time with them. But overall, I think the greatest thing we learned from them was how to appreciate the present time and how age is not a barrier to making great memories and connections. The children made us see how far we were into the growing process and why it's important to talk to different kinds of people despite their background and age. A student draws one of the Aral Kabataan volunteers (taken from Aral Kabataan’s Facebook page) 5. What’s your advice for Filipino teens who’d like to start a student-led initiative of their own?
My advice: Don't give up. As cliche it really is, by the end of the day — we really cannot give up. Making change will always be a struggle, and it will never be easier. However, here's the thing: that's the truth. In a world where everything can go badly, we cannot give up. We mustn't. And so, to all Filipino teens who wish to start student-led initiatives, start now and don't give up. If you feel like the burden is too heavy, find others who share the same vision as you. Can't find anyone? Convince them. Be your own change. You must embody change in order to start great things. Even if it's hard, even if it seems easier to let it all go — remember the reason why you want to make an impact and use that as your rock to shoulder the responsibility. But of course, make sure you never forget that student-led initiatives aren't an individual endeavor. It takes more than one person to make the dream work, so always learn to communicate and ask for help when needed. By the end of it all, always just smile. Student-led initiatives aren't supposed to make anyone sad, right? So enjoy the process as well! You can do it, and don't let your age or background determine whether or not you can't.
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