Have you ever tried going to an awesome
school? Awesome like the best!? Have you ever wondered what it feels like? Well
I have. Here at Sacred Heart School – Ateneo de Cebu you can experience what it
feels like. In here we are “Magis”. Meaning, “do more to be more”. We students
of Ateneo (also known as Ateneo Hearters) are doing more so we can be more. We
help each other when there are other people in need and in return they help us
too. Being an Ateneo Hearter is being men and women for others. We do not help
on people in the school but also around the Philippines! We do all of these for
the greater glory of God AMDG! AMDG means Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam or simply “for
the greater glory of God”. We do all these things because we Ateneo Hearters
are strong in our faith in God. We do these to honor God in what we do.
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| [Sacred Heart School - Ateneo de Cebu high school building] |
Sacred Heart School – Ateneo de Cebu
started in 1953, where parents of the Catholic Chinese Community of Cebu City
approached Fr. Paul O'Brien, then the Superior of all the Jesuits belonging to
the former missions in China, requesting him to supply manpower for the
establishment in Cebu City of a middle school for the education of their
children. Then the Fathers of San Jose Recoletos generously gave the new school
legal status by affiliating it with their school and by providing it with their
Principal and a contingent of lay faculty members In 1955, Sacred Heart School
was established as an independent school On 25 February 1965, Sacred Heart
School became a Filipino School, approved by the Bureau of Education to teach
the regular curriculum prescribed by the government with a Chinese Language and
Arts program. In December 1988, Sacred Heart School was integrated into the
Jesuit Philippine Province together with Xavier School in San Juan and Santa
Maria in Iloilo. Aside from its emphasis on religious and moral formation,
academic excellence and personal discipline, Sacred Heart School of the Society
of Jesus also serves as a bridge between the Filipino and Chinese-Filipino
communities through Christian education that aims to form graduates
characterized by "Christian witness, effective citizenship, service and
leadership."
Since the school is very religious we
follow a certain saint and 7 core values. The schools patron saint is St. Ignatius
of Loyola. He was a Spanish knight from a Basque noble family, hermit, priest
since 1537, and theologian, who founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and was
its first Superior General. Got hit by a cannon bolt and stayed in the hospital
for a very long time. Since he was bored in the hospital he started to read
book as read the Bible. This made him realize God. Then he became spreading the
gospel to the people. Aside from the patron saint St. Ignatius of Loyola. The
school also follows 7 core values or also called the 7C's. They are namely
Christ-centeredness, Conscience, Compassion, Character, Culture, Competence,
and Community. Also the school follows a certain animal. The eagle. We follow
the eagle because it soars high into the sky and achieve its goals. We Ateneo
Hearters also want to soar high and achieve our goals like the eagle. That's
why we have the 7C's to help us achieve those goals.
The school has really improved throughout
the years. Today, the school has been improving more facilities and benefits
for the students. Like a mini-theater inside the building! And an Audio Visual
Room (AVR)! The school has complete facilities to make each and every student
of the school achieve in life. Aside from facilities the school also has
extracurricular activities like club, camping, varsity and many more! Each
student gets to pick what ever extracurricular activities they would like.
These activities help us improve and nurture our talents and skill so we can
use them in the future. I am a part of an extracurricular activity like
varsity. I am currently a part of the school's triathlon and swimming varsity.
Being part of these activities helps me improve in my skills. The school has a
lot of varieties of types of varsity. Varsities like triathlon, swimming,
soccer, track and field, basketball and many more! The school has really been
strong in competitions. Each year the school competes in huge competitions like
Milo and even the Pambansang Palaro! We have already been recorded as one of
the best sports team in the Philippines. We are always trying to aim higher so
we can reach higher. Aside from the wide variety of varsities in the school. We
also have a wide variety of clubs. There are so many clubs to choose from that
they will have your mind go crazy in choosing! Clubs like chess, anime and
manga, music, scrabble, math, science and many more you can ever imagine! The school
even has scouting and CAT. These helps the students to be good leaders. In
scouting and CAT or Citizen Advancement Training we do camping trips and
hiking. We also do lots of stuff like campfires. It is really fun when you get
to go with your friends and spend the whole day together.
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| [English Week] |
Sacred Heart School – Ateneo de Cebu
doesn’t have only these extracurricular activities but also awesome events and
holiday like the Christmas Fair. It is one of the best events in the school.
When the Christmas Fair was announced everybody went crazy and excited! We were
all excited because this event only happens once a year and we get to go to
booths in the school that will have a mini carnival theme. Christmas Fair is
not the only event but there are many more events. Events like the English Week
and the United Nations are also fun events in the school. We get to have
unforgettable experiences in these memorable events. Also a much awaited events
in the school is the Intramurals. We were all anticipating this event because
we get to play sports and compete with other sections in the school. The
Intramurals was really a great event because we get to have pure fun and train
ourselves teamwork. At the end of every event we earn happiness and
unforgettable moments.
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| [Christmas Mass] |
Aside from having awesome these things in
Sacred Heart School – Ateneo de Cebu we also have awesome teachers! Our
teachers are very helpful and always there for us whenever we have difficulties
in our studies or in a topic. We really respect our teachers because they are a
bunch of really good and awesome teachers. Not only are the teachers kind but
also the staff! They are really kind and helpful to us even in simple things
like guarding and cleaning the school. When we need help we can always ask for
help because everybody is willing to help. We are all helping each other to
become MAGIS.
My experience in Sacred Heart School –
Ateneo de Cebu is really an awesome one. When I first came here I was afraid
that I wouldn’t make new friends. I hoped I would get to know more people and
have new friends. After a couple of days I already had new friends! They were
all kind to me and were all helpful to me and we all had fun. Its not really
that scary and not that horrible when you are alone in your first days in
Ateneo. It is really fun! Me and all my friends are really comfortable in here.
We treat this as our second home and the teachers as our second parents. The
reason why I love this school because of everything it is. I love the sports,
the clubs, the events everything!
Sacred Heart School – Ateneo de Cebu is
indeed what I call an awesome home. It truly is wonderful. It is indeed a
constitution that makes normal people into heroes one day. I truly believe that
it can help anyone succeed in life. It is truly remarkable in helping the
society and the country improve. I hope this little message will help you
choose a truly remarkable school. Thank you!
AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM
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