DepEd: Graduation rites 2016 should be simple and non-political

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The Department of Education (DepEd) has set out the guidelines for the end of school year rites both in public and private elementary and secondary schools nationwide with emphasis on simple and non-political graduation rites.

Based on DepEd Order No. 7 series of 2016, the education agency stated that all graduation ceremonies should be scheduled on or before April 1, 2016 and that the rites should be simple, solemn and meaningful events.

 “While we recognize that graduation marks a milestone in one’s life, let our focus be on our sense of community and personal responsibility as graduates whose journey in life has just begun,” Education Secretary Br. Armin A. Luistro FSC emphasized. 

In line with the government's austerity program, DepEd reiterates that graduation rites should be conducted without excessive spending, extravagant attire, or extraordinary venue. 

It also emphasized that non-academic projects such as attendance to field trips, film showing, junior-senior promenade and other school events should not be imposed as requirements for graduation or completion. 

Education Secretary Br. Armin A. Luistro FSC

In public schools, graduation expenses should be charged to the school Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses under the 2016 Budget. 

“No DepEd personnel should be allowed to collect any graduation/moving up/closing ceremony fees or any kind of contribution,” Luistro said. 

Moreover, Parent-Teachers Association may give donations in cash or in kind; and that contribution for the annual yearbook, if any, should be on a voluntary basis. 

To maintain the neutrality and non-partisanship of schools, the graduation ceremonies should not be made a venue for political activity or campaigning.

 “The end of school year 2015-2016 rites should be an appropriate and solemn ceremony befitting the learners and their parents and shall not be used as a political forum,” Luistro added. 

Grade 6 learners who will complete elementary education will get their elementary certificate in a graduation ceremony. Grade 10 learners who will complete junior high school will go through a moving up or completion ceremony and get their junior high school certificate. 

Grade 12 learners from schools with DepEd-approved K to 12 transition plan; those who graduated from schools with a permit to operate Senior High School in school year 2014; and those who graduated in International Schools with K to 12 program will all get high school diploma in a graduation ceremony. 

The 2016 graduation ceremonies shall focus on the theme Kabataang Mula K to 12, Tagapagdala ng Kaunlaran sa Bansang Pilipinas. The theme highlights K to 12 Basic Education Program as a transformative vehicle for local and national development.

New Beginnings for 2016 Hack your way to Takatack.com, create DIY-projects for New Year

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Among the most common New Year’s resolutions are getting healthier, traveling more, organizing better, and spending more time with family. Yet in pursuit of goals like these, people often forget how much secondary factors, such as their environment or even their wardrobe, can play into their relative success or failure.

As part of New Beginnings 2016, online shopping discovery platform Takatack.com wants Filipinos to improve their lives by “hacking” their New Year’s resolutions by turning products bought from their website into DIY-projects that can help them achieve their resolutions and increase their sense of well-being.

The five categories for New Beginnings 2016 appropriately correspond to some of people’s most common New Year’s resolutions. They are: A new version of me, Getting organized, For my family, Healthy living, and More adventures. 

DIY projects are popular in the United States, where an entire culture has sprung up dedicated to empowering the everyman to create and recreate, even with something as seemingly uncreative as Ikea furniture.

Rebecca Ricalde, Assistant Vice President for Digital Commerce at Voyager Innovations, the digital innovations arm of PLDT and Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), which fuels Takatack, believes that creating DIY projects through their platform can truly help people achieve their New Year’s resolutions. 

“The old joke is that a resolution made on January first will be broken before the sun sets on the second. To prevent this, we should look at what we can most easily change around us to increase our odds of succeeding. Luckily, with all the products available on Takatack.com, we can customize our living spaces and how we present ourselves to help us accomplish our most ambitious goals,” said Ricalde, who added as way of an example the aspiring fitness buff who creates a mini-home gym in her bedroom to make it easier to exercise on a daily basis. 

Ricalde is herself an avid DIYer, and she gave her own story as an example of the Takatack.com’s potential in helping us take control of our living spaces, and in extension, our lives. According to Ricalde, she repurposed a bookshelf bought from Takatack.com into a permanent display of healthy snacks such as dried fruits at her office, which encouraged her workmates to eat healthier. She also mixed and matched clothes purchased on Takatack.com to create a stable of comfortable office outfits that made it easier to walk around and take the stairs. 

“The DIY culture is not just about building things - it’s about taking control of your lives, beginning with what matters most. By enabling Filipinos to explore changes that they can make for their living spaces as well as themselves, we hope to help them bring out their best in 2016,” said Ricalde. 

Ricalde noted that with over 500,000 products available on Takatack, there are millions of possibilities for DIY-projects - a person’s only real limitation is their imagination. 

New Beginnings 2016 began on December 28 and ends on January 15, 2016, and includes close to 50 participating merchants, such as Next Technologies, Kitsound, Superlux, Procare, Sound Magic, Ehome, Shoppiyo-Audio Technica, Airborne Technologies, Philips, Motorola, Chigo, Yoomi, Angeline Shoes, Earthly Senses Spa, Fledge Clothing, It Figures Skin Care & Body Shaping, Paris Bijoux, Tangle Teezer, Hickok Leather, Watchaholics PH, SJ Premier Enterprises, SEC Moto, and Jong Duyan. A full list of participating retailers is included below. 

Shoppers can avail of P400 discount on a P1000 minimum purchase using the promo code NEWYOU.

ABOUT TAKATACK.COM

Fueled by Voyager Innovations, Takatack.com aggregates many trusted online stores, including some that are among the largest, like the Rocket Internet-backed Zalora, together with the thousands of merchants who established their own online shops through theTackThis! platform.

Takatack.com also offers some of the top brands, including CLN-Celine, VMV Hypoallergenics, Zen Nutrients, ShopTV by the Home Shopping Network, Philips, Digits Trading, Hickok Leather Brand, Candy Corner, Happy Socks, Jaybird, Li-Ning, Marshall, and Sassa. The Takatack platform also offers emerging brands like Straightforward, Fledge Clothing, Ziya, and La Mer Collections.

ABOUT NEW BEGINNINGS 2016

Participating retailers include Angeline Shoes, Earthly Senses Spa, Fledge Clothing, Paris Bijoux, Tangle Teezer, The Shoe Cycle, Wear Vintage, Babyliss, Cogito, Hickok Leather, Shoppiyo-Brownroots, Shoppiyo-Targus, ShopTV, Evita Peroni, SJ Premier Enterprises, Artbox, OBI Baby, St. Patrick Baby, Deep Dips by Chef Arnold, Yoomi, Philips, Motorola, Chigo, Next Technologies, One Stop Shop Gadgets, Xtouch, Procare, Ehome, Shoppiyo-Electronics, Shoppiyo-Philips Earphones, Shoppiyo-Audio Technica, Airborne Technologies, Watchaholics PH, Shoppiyo-Nitecore, It Figures Skin Care & Body Shaping, Jong Duyan, Ogawa, FiiO, Kitsound, Superlux, Sound Magic, Shoppiyo-Microtex, SEC Moto, Ondit Clothing, X-Mini, MyKronoz, Casemate, PQI, and Style Compass.

2016 - Year of the Monkey! What Type of "Monkey" Are You: Wood, Fire, Earth, Gold, or Water?

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2016 is a year of the Monkey.

This 2016 doesn't start on January 1 for Monkeys (and traditional Chinese)! 

It starts at Chinese New Year (February 8, 2016), which changes year-to-year according to the Chinese lunar calendar.

From researches and readings about people born on this Year of the Monkey, occupying the 9th position on the Chinese Zodiac, the Monkey possesses such character traits as curiosity, mischievousness, and cleverness. Forever playful, Monkeys are the masters of practical jokes. Even though their intentions are always good, this desire to be a prankster has a tendency to create ill will and hurt feelings.

Although they are inherently intellectual and creative, Monkeys at times have trouble exhibiting these qualities. When that happens, they appear to others to be confused. But nothing could be further from the truth as Monkeys thrive on being challenged. Monkeys prefer urban life to rural, and their favorite pastime is people-watching.

What Type of "Monkey" Are You: Wood, Fire, Earth, Gold, or Water?

As well as having a Chinese zodiac sign, according to Chinese element theory, each year is associated with one of five elements: Gold (Metal), Wood, Water, Fire, or Earth, which means that e.g. a Wood Monkey comes once in a 60-year cycle. So there are five types of Monkeys, each with different characteristics.

People born in January or February should take particular note of when Chinese New Year falls to confirm their birth sign.

The Monkey is ninth of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. Each year is related to an animal sign according to a 12-year-cycle.

If you're born in a year of the Monkey, you're a Monkey! 

Find out what that means below : ( According to http://www.chinahighlights.com/ ) 

Monkey years: ...1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028...

The Lucky and Unlucky Things for "Monkeys"

Lucky numbers: 4 and 9

Lucky days: the 14th and 28th of any Chinese lunar calendar month

Lucky colors: white, blue, gold

Lucky flowers: chrysanthemum, crape-myrtle

Lucky directions: north, northwest, west

Lucky months: Chinese lunar months 8 and 12

The Unlucky Things That "Monkeys" Should Avoid

Unlucky colors: red, pink

Unlucky numbers: 2 and 7

Unlucky directions: south, southeast

Unlucky months: Chinese lunar months 7 and 11

Occupying the 9th position on the Chinese Zodiac, the Monkey possesses such character traits as curiosity, mischievousness, and cleverness. Forever playful, Monkeys are the masters of practical jokes. Even though their intentions are always good, this desire to be a prankster has a tendency to create ill will and hurt feelings.

Although they are inherently intellectual and creative, Monkeys at times have trouble exhibiting these qualities. 

When that happens, they appear to others to be confused. But nothing could be further from the truth as Monkeys thrive on being challenged. Monkeys prefer urban life to rural, and their favorite pastime is people-watching.

Enjoy your wonderful world of the Year of the Monkey! Happy New Year ! 

Happy New Year 2016!

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Thank You God for giving me another lease of life, for all the blessings and guidance.

Thank you everyone for enriching my life this year again.

Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.

Having the gift of faith, the blessing of hope and the peace of His love and keeping it all the years.

May God grant you the 9 Fruits of Holy Spirit : 

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22)

Wishing you all a year of peace, happiness, prosperity, good health, joy and love!

May God grant us all a blessed New Year !

Happy New Year !!!  Cheers!!!