Championing the ‘Champs’

Many times, it is when we listen to the voice in our head that we become more complete, confident and fulfilled. Because, many times, that voice is the link to the greater contentment of our soul.

Self-effacing sisters Penk Ching and Shen Chen Ratilla, on their own, are established individuals. Both are pastry chefs who run the famous Pastry Bin; they are cake makers to the rich, famous and powerful. Name a top-caliber wedding or birthday and chances are, its cake is by Pastry Bin.

Shen holds a regular job as an executive in a bank, specializing in learning and development.

Penk dabbles in painting, with watercolor as her medium. Imbued in her works are images that seem to leap out of the canvas. Only, she cannot hold her own exhibit because her artwork gets sold long before it dries up.

Always, always, however, there was a voice in their head that ached to be addressed. Their hearts yearned for it and it was only when they franchised MindChamps International Preschool in 2016 that the voice was silenced. All along, Penk and Shen wanted to become educators.

“It was our dream to be educators,” Penk begins.

“Our mother used to teach Chinese in a Chinese school. Our father was a Chemistry professor. Our grandparents were also teachers,” Shen says.

Sisters Penk Ching and Shen Chen Ratilla.

So at MindChamps International Preschool at 288 N. Domingo cor. Broadway in San Juan City, the sisters have found more meaning to their lives. Penk is the president of the preschool. Every day with their young students that they call “Champs” is a cause for celebration. Their happiness cannot be described. Contentment resides in their hearts.

The preschool, the sisters inform, originated in Singapore. In fact, MindChamps Preschool is reportedly Singapore’s leading preschool that offers academic and enrichment programs for children 18 months to 5.5 years old.

Penk and Shen add that MindChamps is the only preschool in the world that teaches children with the mindset of a champion as studied by world-renowned neuroscientist Allan Snyder.

“And the mindset of a champion is 100 percent respect and zero fear,” informs Penk, adding that a “learning mind” and a “creative mind” are fused in their curriculum as required by the principal school in Singapore.

At their school, Penk and Shen — with architect Ana Ling, Lucy Sy and Eunette Ong as their co-partners at MindChamps International Preschool — are excited to see how their students bloom and develop into fine young boys and girls. They have students in Play Group (1.5 years old), Nursery 1 (2.5 to 3.5 years old), Nursery 2 (3.5 to 4.5 years old) and Pre-kinder (4.5 to 5.5 years old). Classes for the 11-month curriculum begin in June and end in May. The Champs come to class at 8:30 a.m. and go home at 12:30 p.m. Their parents or nannies can bring them to school but they leave the minute the students are already in the care of the teachers. At the very best, there is one teacher for six students in a class. By the way, all the teachers at the preschool underwent 200 hours of compulsory training and accreditation in Singapore to ensure that the children will be nurtured by the most qualified and dedicated teachers. No shoes are allowed in the premises of the school. Children and teachers take off their shoes and wear socks instead.

The 705-sq.-m. preschool has seven beautifully designed classrooms, a colorful gym and a gourmet  kitchen where kids learn to bake lasagna, cookies, among others. (A kid lovingly gave me a freshly baked cookie when I visited the school. It tasted like a Mrs. Fields cookie. Every kid at the preschool welcomed me with a smile, many of them even confidently engaged me in a conversation. One even told me why he liked Jollibee Chicken Joy. Another one told me her father is a doctor. And yet another one asked me how my day so far had gone. And all these kids are three years old!)

Classrooms at the preschool are conducive to making the students creative and confident.Photo by Walter Bollozos

Shen describes the Champs, “They are creative, compassionate, life-long learner, confident, grateful, filled with integrity, self-reflective, focused on the beauty of others, welcoming of setbacks as setups. They value feedback as a seed for growth.”

The Champs always have “fun with language, love for Chinese language, numeracy strategies, inquiry moments, creativity and theatrical strategies, gourmet moments, NeuroMooves and music for the mind.”

“During programs,” Shen says, “it is the students who are also the emcees.”

“Our students sing and dance, they bake and cook, they paint and draw. They give thanks to God and Allah (yes, there’s a Muslim kid at MindChamps and, according to the sisters, she finds the school a good ground for embracing other people’s belief). We’re non-sectarian but we teach them values,” Penk adds.

When the Champs go out of the classroom to go to the gym, they form a choo-choo train. One student leads the line. And every child gets the chance to “drive” the train.

Did I mention that the his and hers toilets at the preschool are very clean and antiseptic? Even the toys that the Champs used for the day are cleaned right away.

“We love what we do at MindChamps International Preschool. We are very passionate about this,” Shen says.

The force behind MindChamps Greenhills. (Seated) Pedro Ratilla; (standing, from left) Lucy Sy, Penk Ching, Ana Ling, Shen Chen Ratilla and Eunette Ong.

“There is genuine joy seeing the Champs develop into fine young boys and girls. When I watch them, I feel happy and content. It’s like saying I have done something good,” Penk says.

Penk and Shen love their newfound roles. The voice in their head is already heard. It was their dream, after all, to be educators. Theirs is a vocation that brings them ultimate joy.

 (For inquiries, call 0915-1283088 or 724-2677.)

 (For your new beginnings, e-mail me at bumbaki@yahoo.com.

I’m also on Twitter @bum_tenorio and Instagram @bumtenorio.

Have a blessed Sunday!)