Tales of a back-to-back NSPC champion

“First place goes to…”

How many times have I heard these words only to find out that my team did not make it to the top; that we did not win. Seeing my pupils cry after a heartbreaking awarding ceremony year after year was the worst thing for a school paper like ours.

For several years of personally training little kids, we’d end up winning in the division and regional levels but would never be good enough to take the top three spot in the next competition. We’d always fall short of reaching the National Schools Press Conference (NSPC).

There were little voices in my  mind telling me to stop and quit; that I am not good enough to be a coach. Those were the days that I would find myself sulking in defeat.

Yet, every year I always find myself teaching campus journalism to my writers, each year a different story. If I listened to the voices within me, I wouldn’t have known what destiny holds for me and the campus journalists of The Graders, official publication of Wesleyan University – Philippines (WU-P) Elementary Department.

Six years ago, I finally got my first ticket to the NSPC after my campus journalist, Jewel Rose San Pedro, won 2nd place in Feature Writing (Filipino). It was seven years in the making.

That NSPC stint ignited in me and my writers the desire to leave a legacy that would inspire others to dream big dreams. That NSPC appearance started our journey to put WU-P in the map of the Olympics of campus journalism.

Wesleyan made its mark after winning its first-ever NSPC championship title as its Collaborative Desktop Publishing (CDP) English team bested 16 other regions in 2017 NSPC in Pagadian City. The counterpart team in Filipino placed sixth in the same category. A year before that, The Graders teams bagged fifth and sixth place in CDP Filipino and English, respectively. In 2015 NSPC, Ma. Clarissa Bonifacio became one of the country’s Most Outstanding Campus Journalists while in 2014 NSPC, Joshua Alamon placed third in Sports Writing (English), becoming WU-P’s first NSPC winner.

The 2018 NSPC was a big challenge for us. But I must say that this is our best NSPC so far.

This year, we made history anew. Not only did we see the scenic views and historical places in Dumaguete City but we were also able to conquer another arena in NSPC. The Graders editor in chief Christian James Vidad was recognized as Most Outstanding Campus Journalist (MOCJ) and yours truly was named Most Outstanding School Paper Adviser (MOSPA) of the Philippines.

The legacy didn’t end there as the defending champion The Graders with new team members composed of Jhulia Amor Marquez, Nabih Tarek Jaber, Ma. Ericka Lyn Villaseñor, Lael Ballesteros, Jan Lancelot Ramos, Heart Lorraine Ventura and Fitero Garlitos VII, together with my co-advisers Emelita Urbano and Crystalyn Galindo, nervously waited for the results of Collaborative Desktop Publishing English during the awarding ceremony. The emcee continued, “First place goes to… Cabanatuan City!”

The author has been school paper adviser of The Graders, Wesleyan University – Philippines Elementary Department’s official publication for 13 years running. He is also an author, trainer and lecturer on campus journalism.