Butuan receives first SM school building
PUPILS S of f Villa ill Kananga Integrated d School ( VKIS) in Butuan City can look forward to an improved learning environment this school year 2020-2021 as SM Prime Holdings Inc., through SM Foundation Inc., is set to turn over a fully furnished two-story school building.
The four-classroom structure is the first SM school building in Butuan City constructed under SM Foundation’s School Building Program, a social good initiative of the foundation that aims to promote quality public education by building classrooms nationwide.
Since 2002, the SM Foundation has been supporting the Adopt-a-School Program of the Department of Education (DepEd).
The SM-donated school building will be equipped with school furniture and the necessary amenities such as armchairs (including left-handed armchairs), teacher’s desk and table, wall fans, panoramic whiteboards, wall clocks, washroom with flush toilet in each classroom, ramp for persons with disabilities (PWD), and a spacious PWD washroom with flush toilet.
“Through this new set of classrooms, I am confident that the learners, SPED (special education) class, and Kinder 1, Grade 5 and Grade 6 students who will be using these rooms will have a better learning environment. The new facilities will be conducive for their studies,” VKIS Principal Carlito Nietes was quoted as saying in a statement from SM Foundation.
“I would like to extend my gratitude to SM Prime Holdings and SM Foundation who have worked hard to build the school for us. Your commitment and dedication are very vital in supporting your grateful beneficiaries, our students and teachers,” he added.
April Ann Bernabe, former principal of VKIS, said the SM school building would be able to address the projected increase in enrollments of the school.
“The new school building increases the classroom-student ratio of VKIS,” she stated.
VKIS started as a primary school in the late 1950s. The residents felt the need for the establishment of a barrio school. The name of the school was derived from the Manobo word
“Kananga.”@ It refers to the sweetscented flower, ilang-ilang, which grows lavishly in the area.