Vision publishes first article
in Pearl World Youth News
By Maylene Librando Manzano

THE MAKATI SCIENCE Vision, the official student publication of the Makati Science High School, through its immediate past news editor, Mark Robert Benson Baldo, published its first article in the Pearl (Prepare and Educate Aspiring Reporters for Leadership) World Youth News, an online international news service managed by secondary school students from around the world.

Baldo is one of the 29 out of 34 Makati Science fourth year students who passed the Pearl World Youth News Reporter Certification Course in International Journalism last school year and who received recommendations from Mr Ben Frumin of the Columbia University-Graduate School of Journalism and certifications from Miss Anindita Dutta Roy, International Education and Resource Network (iEARN)-United States of America (USA) Membership and Youth Media Programs director, both of New York, USA.

“This year, Pearl World Youth News has welcomed many new reporters. Congratulations to all the students who worked individually to complete the certification course. Our thanks also go out to teachers at the Makati Science [High School] in the Philippines, […] who supported their students to work on the project as part of their school activities,” the Pearl World Youth News posted in its website.

The 34 students underwent the said certification course after Mr Alixander Haban Escote had received a Pearl: Integrating Journalism into the Classroom Online Professional Development Course Scholarship from the iEARN-USA last year.

Having been certified as an iEARN Master Teacher, Mr Escote completed requirements with an A grade and implemented the Pearl Reporter Certification Course in International Journalism at the Makati Science.

Mr Escote obtained the online professional development course scholarship after Mrs Ma Luisa Hernandez-Larcena, iEARN-Philippines country coordinator and Makati Science English Department former coordinator, had recommended him to Ms Losira Okela, iEARN-USA Online Professional Development director.

A partnership of the iEARN and the Daniel Pearl Foundation, the Pearl World Youth News promotes ethics, integrity, and cross-cultural understanding in the spirit of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002.

“It gives us great pleasure to know that so many of your students have already been certified in the Pearl World Youth News Reporter Course and that The Makati Science Vision has scored such an impressive recognition in the Philippines,” wrote Dr Judea Pearl, father of Daniel Pearl and president of the Daniel Pearl Foundation, in his e-mail to Mr Escote.

“We, at the Daniel Pearl Foundation, consider each of your students to be a future ambassador of the spirit of journalistic excellence that Danny, our son, has come to symbolize. We wish you all the success in your efforts to sustain and to promote this spirit,” Dr Pearl added.

A non-profit organization consisting of over 20 000 schools and youth organizations in more than 115 countries, the iEARN empowers teachers and young people to work together online using the Internet and other new information and communication technologies.