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UP Mindanao’s Ugnayan ng Pahinungod Mindanao helped senior high school students strengthen their academic capabilities through its 2025 Academic Enhancement Camp held from May 26 to 28, 2025, in UP Mindanao.
Some 70 students from various schools attended and completed the three-day Camp. The students engaged in the Academic Enhancement Sessions, consisting of modules in mathematics, language, reading comprehension, and science, which were conducted by faculty members, staff members, and volunteers.
The participants also engaged in interactive activities, facilitated by the volunteers, which were interspersed throughout the sessions.
In the opening ceremony, UP Mindanao Chancellor Lyre Anni Murao welcomed and extended her best wishes to the university aspirants and highlighted the university’s role in cultivating the values of honor, excellence, and public service, particularly for Mindanao constituents.
Ugnayan ng Pahinungod Mindanao Director Michael Gatela introduced the Ugnayan ng Pahinungod as the university’s volunteer service program and, as lead organizer, the rationale and benefits of the Academic Enhancement Camp. Pahinungod student volunteers, for their part, shared stories of their UP student life and gave tips for passing admission tests.
School of Management Dean Aurelia Luzviminda Gomez presented her school’s academic programs on Day 1, while College of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Jhoanna Lynn Cruz and College of Science and Mathematics Dean Cleto Nanola Jr. presented their respective degree programs on Day 2. Asst. Prof. Analiza Castro of the Department of Human Kinetics also gave an overview of their sports program offerings on Day 3.
Ms. Laylan Andao of the Mindanao Center for Disease Watch and Analytics (DiWA) and a BS Applied Mathematics graduate, led the Academic Enhancement Session on Mathematics. Five BS Mathematics interns from the Northwestern Mindanao State College of Science and Technology also took turns in elucidating the math items for the student-participants.
Instructor Jasper Elvin Mijares, a licensed veterinarian of the Department of Biological Sciences and Environmental Studies, delivered the Science Session, covering the spectrum of the natural sciences.
University Researcher Marilou Montiflor of the School of Management (SOM) and Assistant Prof. Ena Marie Dizon of the BA Communication and Media Arts Program delivered the Academic Enhancement Sessions on Reading Comprehension and Language Proficiency.
Asst. Prof. Rodgessa Lopez of SOM facilitated the assessment exercises at the end of the sessions.
At the end of the Camp, the students were given certificates for their dedication and time in the three-day activity. In his closing message, Director Gatela expressed his gratitude to the volunteers’ dedication, and words of encouragement to the aspiring Iskolars ng Bayan, enjoining them to give their best when taking college and university admission tests, and wishing them all the courage and success.
In closing, he reiterated the call for public service with the slogans, “Makibahagi. Maglingkod. MagPahinungód!”
