BETHEL'S ANNUAL PAROL FESTIVAL SHINES BRIGHT
150 students compete in lantern making competition
Over 150 Jesse Bethel High School students did their best to share faith and hope with the Filipino “Haulan” Club at the annual Parol Festival and Competition on Thursday.
The festival showcased approximately 90 homemade parols entered into the competition.
For Filipinos, hanging a parol outside your house is an expression of shared faith and hope during the Christmas season. Derived from the Spanish word farol, the parol means lantern and is symbolic of the star of Bethlehem from the Bible.
Students were given two weeks to construct their own parol, either individually or within a group. One sophomore, Makaio Diolanto, stayed up all night bringing his vision — “Big Boy Dragon Star of the West” to life.
“My inspiration was the Philippines because we have a lot of pride in our country and heritage,” Diollanto said. “The blue symbolizes peace and the white is purity. And then the shiny symbolizes like you're shining like the sun and the three big stars represent the three major islands.”
One by one, students took the stage, presenting their parol to the audience while judges walked around and scored each and every parol. The parols were judged in three different categories: The Big/Malaking parol, the Small/Maliit parol, and the Recycled Material parol.
Vallejo City Councilmember Cristina Arriola was the chief judge for the Recycled Material category. Apart from checking boxes on a rubric, she wanted to better understand the students' vision and execution.
“So here's the criteria. You've got quality of work, color combination, and overall creativity,” said Arriola. “But I tried to get a little more personal with them and find out their own inspiration.”
Other judges were Vallejo Vice Mayor Rozanna Verer-Aliga, FANHS President Mel Orpilla, FCSC Board Director Eloise Esacano-Scott, FCSC President Cris Villanueva, Photographer Chris DeAsis, VCUSD school board member Dr. Tony Ubalde, Dr. Alegria Lopez-Ledda, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Mike Santos, and Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Cheri Summers.
It's not a Filipino festival if there isn't food. As the judges tallied the scores, students were treated to a feast of Filipino food and pizza for their hard work while they awaited their podium rankings. The winners of each category were given a $10 gift card and an annual pass to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.
In the Big Parol category, first prize went to Teadora Delos Santos and April Laron. Second prize was Kaila Layug, Andrea Garrido and Dylan Deleon, while the third prize winner was Rafael Acorda.
In the Small Parol category, first prize went to Renee Meneses. Second prize was awarded to Anaiyah Medina and Tiyanna Block, and the third prize winner was Hannah Baluyot and Jellah Hiquiana.
In the Recycled Material Category, Joshua de Jesus and Jeff Gabatin won with their parol made out of Filipino newspapers.