Hello beautiful Hivers!🤗🤗
Our Admin @friendlymoose has a new exciting theme for this week's #POBphotocontest and that is the color BLUE.
I looked in my gallery and found my entry. You see my entry above? Well, let me tell you the story behind these happy smiling graduates with their BLUE toga's. Just a caution this is a bit of a long post.😁😍
January last year I was called to be the Stake Welfare and Self Reliance Specialist here in our city, Olongapo. Our stake consists of seven units (5 wards, 2 branches).
A ward typically consists of 150 to 500 church members in an area within a reasonable travel time of the meetinghouse ("reasonable" will vary between countries and regions). A stake, the next highest level of organization, may be created if there are at least five ward-sized branches in adjacent areas. (Source: wikipedia.org).
One of the roles of The Welfare and Self Reliance is to hold self-reliance courses to members. We have several different courses they are the following: Personal Finance, Education for Better Work, Finding a Better Job, Starting and Growing My Business and the Emotional Resilience course. We also teach English Connect 1 & 2 preparatory for them having the English Connect 3 which is the advanced level for members to enroll online to get a degree at the BYU University. Each course runs for 12 weeks. My role is to help and assist each ward specialists, we have one for each ward or branch to start having these courses available to all interested members of the church.
During the Previous years,each commencement of the classes the ward leaders specially the Bishops or Branch Presidents will only have a simple program held at church to give out their certificates then it's done.
Here are some photos of our group during our classes which is the Starting and Growing My Business of whom I facilitated for our ward.
Hubby and I have to go and visit other wards so we can have the My Path Devotional to help members assess themselves on which particular course should they enroll in.
Last year July 20th, I decided that we will have a real graduation ceremony of course I consulted our Stake leaders first for their approval. So as to hype the other members to enroll and be a part of the very memorable and fun graduation ceremony. Of course what would a graduation be if the graduates will not wear toga's, right?
I chose the color blue since Blue is the color of the Bachelor of Science in Education plus it's the cheapest toga to rent out. The members wanted to have black or maroon but the rental fee costs Five hundred pesos or ten dollars, very pricey for the members since the participants are stay at home moms and the youth and the payments will come from their own pockets. So we can't afford the other colored toga's. I only have two weeks to put up this very big undertaking since there were two wards who have finished the courses.
From the layout of the program to the speakers, the invitation, the budget, the graduation song, the rental of the toga's, the refreshments, the practice for the graduation ceremony I had to do it all but when it came to the decorations for the stage, I said I am not that artistic so please help me out which everyone gladly helped out..... I didn't know I have super powers!! Haha....since I don't have any assistant. I was really grateful my husband was there to help me out since he himself was also a graduate.
This is the first batch of graduates having to experience a real graduation ceremonies, last July 20, 2023. We had thirty-three graduates.
That's me, wearing a yellow blouse, I am the Master of ceremony. Haha, truly a fun and happy day.
The graduates singing their graduation song.
Recently, last December first we had again another commencement exercises. Now we had seventy-three graduates from four different wards.
Here we have a mother and daughter graduate from the different course.
We have the youth finishing their Education for Better Work. Look at them all smiles with their BLUE toga's.
Here's our newlyweds who just gave birth a week ago on their first baby.
Our relief society sisters proudly wearing their toga's while serving food.
We also have our couple missionary sister Akagi who also was one of the graduates, she facilitated the Personal Finance and Starting and Growing My Business course in their ward. Look at her all smiles. They are our couple missionaries from Utah.
Here are Mamu and Papu proudly wearing their toga's. They told me they were so happy because they never finished college so they have never worn a toga. They felt like they graduated from college again wearing their blue toga's.
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This is my entry for this week's round. I know it's already long I just wish to share the happiness of each graduate finishing their 12 week long course with flying colors.
Here's a video on the parade of the graduates.
https://youtube.com/shorts/M0jc8cH1Xy4?si=fB76HUc34BmHWTXa
Thank you for stopping by.
Remember, you are loved and always have a gratitude attitude.