MIIS students win top prize at the International Science Enterprise Challenge

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(From left) Miranda Bernadette Panaguiton, Alannah Kirsten Mitra, Sabine Chiongbian, Mathena Rain Rodas, Gianina Marie Gabrielle Reyes, Francine Mae Mamba, and Glenn Angelo Joven

High school students from the Multiple Intelligence International School (MIIS) bagged the top prize at the International Science Enterprise Challenge (ISEC) 2015 held recently, besting other schools from Singapore, Japan, Russia, Guam, Indonesia, Mongolia, Thailand, and Turkey. Kaisei High School in Japan was second place

The MIIS students who competed were Sabine Chiongbian, Glenn Angelo Joven, Francine Mae Mamba, Alannah Kirsten Mitra, Miranda Bernadette Panaguiton, Gianina Marie Gabrielle Reyes, and Mathena Rain Rodas.

A 24-hour competition for high school students from all over the world, ISEC challenges the participants’ knowledge and skills in both science and business to come up with a sustainable solution to a particular problem. The challenge is announced the same day to teams composed of three to nine members. Within 24 hours, the students have to come up with prototype, a business plan and a 3-minute video to be presented to an international board of judges. The Surya Institute and United in Diversity in Indonesia, together with the Young Entrepreneur Center in Singapore, started ISEC (then called ASEAN Science Enterprise Challenge) in 2009.

The MI students with their winning entry BioBox. (From left) Miranda Bernadette Panaguiton, Gianina Marie Gabrielle Reyes, Glenn Angelo Joven, Sabine Chiongbian, Mathena Rain Rodas, Francine Mae Mamba, and Alannah Kirsten Mitra.

For their winning entry, the MIIS students submitted a BioBox, which provides an easy, efficient way to conserve and save water, money and space. It utilizes and combines the concepts of vertical farming, terrariums, dome collectors, and water tables. Terrariums simulate the water cycle, thus making it a self-sufficient ecosystem that recycles and reuses water as well. Dome collectors gather and store rainwater for uses such as drinking, bathing, washing, watering, and the likes. Water tables collect excess water that seeps into the ground from rain and runoff. By combining all these concepts together, BioBox creates an efficient use of water while creating an organic, natural, and eco-friendly way to farm. Some crops that can be farmed in the BioBox are cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage, garden cress, bok choy, brocolli, brussel sprouts, and similar green leafy vegetables.

“We are thankful and very proud of our students for bringing another honor to MIIS. This is truly a testament to what the MI school has been initiating to help prepare Filipino kids to be globally competitive and future ready. By using their multiple intelligences, our youth indeed has what it takes to engage the international community with their innovative, creative, and socially relevant ideas,” says Joy Canon-Abaquin, Founding Directress of the Multiple Intelligence International School.

Early this year, MIIS won Global 3rd place in the 14th Global Enterprise Challenge. The MIIS team competed against 28 teams from 13 countries from the US, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific.

MIIS partners with international organization Junior Achievement (JA) as the first Philippine high school to pilot the Business Skills Pass (BSP) Program

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Multiple Intelligence International School founding directress and Multiple Intelligence framework pioneer Joy Abaquin (2^nd from right) receives the certificate of affiliation from JA executive director Krishna Alejandrino. Flanking them are JA office administrator Mariecor Arato (extreme left) and MIIS upper school principal Selene Sison Olvido.

The true hallmark of a progressive and global-minded learning institution is how it manages to be one step ahead in terms of carefully studying and adapting global trends and directions. 

The Multiple Intelligence International School (MIIS) best exemplifies such description. “Our commitment to provide an education that will allow our students to lead globally, requires that we are vision-oriented towards 21st century skills and jobs that their generation will need,” says Joy Abaquin, pioneer of multiple intelligence framework in the Philippines and founding directress of MIIS. 

MIIS has been pioneering entrepreneurship in the Philippines in the basic education level. “Even when it was not yet mandated by the Department of Education, we already had the entrepreneurial track embedded in our curriculum,” says Abaquin. 

Today’s global trend, particularly in light of the Asean Integration, demands that kids be future-ready. Abaquin explains: “With that in mind, when we envisioned looking for partners, what we wanted was to look into a partnership that had a more global outlook in terms of where to take entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial skills.”

Multiple Intelligence International School founding directress and Multiple Intelligence framework pioneer Joy Abaquin (center) and JA executive director Krishna Alejandrino are flanked by MIIS students and MIIS upper school principal Selene Sison Olvido (extreme left).

MIIS has recently signed a memorandum of agreement with Junior Achievement (JA) Philippines. The Multiple Intelligence International School is the first Philippine high school to partner with the prestigious international organization and the Business Skills Pass™ (BSP) Program. Piloting this year, JA's programs will be integrated into the MI school’s existing entrepreneurship program and into the ABM (Accounting, Business, and Management) program for Grades 11 and 12.

Junior Achievement (JA) Philippines, a non-profit, non-stock international organization dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs fits the bill. Its parent organization, Junior Achievement Inc. (JA) is the world’s largest and fastest-growing non-profit economic education organization. Founded in 1919 by Theodore Vail, president of American Telephone & Telegraph; Horoce Moses, president of Strathmore Paper Co,; and Senator Murray Crane of Massachusetts, JA was founded with the intent of bringing education to a new level by linking the business and education communities. It was introduced in the Philippines in 1967.

Built around three pillars, namely entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and work-preparedness, Abaquin believes that MI students will greatly benefit from the JA Program’s emphasis on the importance of financial knowhow in running and managing an enterprise. “Our kids are very strong innovators and good at thinking of business concepts. It would be good to give them enhanced skills on the knots and bolts of running a business such as licensing and business registration. Managing a business is different from drawing up business concepts.”

Throughout the integrated program, JA executive director Krishna Alejandrino assures that students “will be guided on how to put up their business, from conceptualization to implementation, including how to register with the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) and SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission).” Abaquin welcomes this input. “It would be a good stretch for our kids’ minds to be given the concept

JA’s vast global network and roster of mentors who are experts from the business community will also enhance the school’s current established program. “Over the years, we’ve really tried to give students through the MI Entrepreneurship Program’s three Es: Experts, Exposure, and Experience. When we looked at what JA would potentially give us, it’s very much aligned with those things,” shares Abaquin. “As an international school, when we think about the skills that our students need, we just don’t think local, we think international. And hopefully, the connections of JA internationally will allow us to do that. Maybe some schools will not be interested in that aspect. But we are since we know what an Entrepreneurship Program looks like. We’ve experienced it.”

Worth noting is how MIIS has pioneered the first Kids Can! Bazaar in the country in 2000. Kids Can! Bazaar is the only one of its kind that is run by kids as social entrepreneurs.

Some of JA Philippines’ partners are some of the top corporations in the country today, which includes Smart, Meralco, General Electric, RFM, Unilab, PLDT, HP, Nestle, Mercedes-Benz, Petron, Security Bank and Oxford Business Group. “The most important part of the JA program is the mentoring,” says Alejandrino. “We have a lot of mentors from leading companies to provide us with the skills that we need to mentor the students. We have partners from the business sector that will impart practical know-how on how to put up and implement businesses.”

JA’s current path is geared towards technology and innovation which sits well with Abaquin’s vision for the MI school to be constantly innovative. “We like to think of ideas ahead of time because I think that’s what gives our kids the edge. If you want to say that the curriculum should be innovative, then you have to give them opportunities that others don’t have or mentors that others don’t have.”

Abaquin sees a partnership that will bring about a generation of young people who value entrepreneurship, understand the dynamics of business and economics and are workforce ready.

“A partnership with JA and their network will allow students the additional networking with potentially like-minded individuals and schools that are serious about developing that kind of minds,” says Abaquin.

It will also open doors to other students from junior high schools who want to go into the MIIS Senior High School ABM program to help them bring out their entrepreneurial mind.

The Multiple Intelligence International School helps enhance kids' particular intelligences this summer

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Summer vacation is here. Summer activities for kids, crafts, sports, outdoor fun, travel ideas, cool-down treats and lots more! The only thing to remember is to make sure your kid will have fun while learning something new.

Finding a workshop or an activity for your kid during the school break should be fairly easy with the metropolis brimming with plenty of options to choose from.

Multiple Intelligence International School, an advocate of the Multiple Intelligence (MI) framework implemented in the United States and other countries, is offering summer enrichment activities to help kids enjoy summer while developing their leadership skills and particular intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, body-kinesthetic, visual-spatial, musical, naturalist, interpersonal and intrapersonal, starting April 13 to May 8. 

For preschoolers, there is the Toddler Play Group, which is about learning how to interact and play with other kids between 1 to 3 years old. The Summer Activity Center is an introductory class for 3- to 5-year-olds to help prepare and give them an idea on how school is like. They learn about different themes that are explored through the eight intelligences. The Mind Explorers class focuses on observations of science, the environment and discovering how things work for those between ages 3 to 5. 

There is also Art Masters, which is basic art +classes for ages 3 to 5. Preschool SMART Leaders Camp teaches kids, aged 4 to 6, leadership and interpersonal skills outside the four walls of a classroom. Ballet, Spanish and Futsal for ages 3 to 7 are available as well. 

Those between 7 to 14 years old can enroll in Leadership Camp, MILO table tennis, Outbound Camp, which teaches pre-teens basic life skills and nature survival; and Magic for Beginners with instructor Jose Leonidas also known as Professor MagicAL. There are also Ballet and Taekwondo classes.

Workshops for teens aged 14 to 18 years old include Leadership Camp, International Relations Organization, which aims to develop teens' self confidence and public speaking in an environment of international school delegates; Outbound Camp, and College 101, which helps equip teens with practical and real life skills needed to succeed in college. They can also try Writer's Guild or MTAP or Math Guild.

Available for both pre-teens and teens are Piano, Voice and Beginners Violin; Master Fernando Sena Art Workshop, Fencing, and Chess. Other summer classes include Photography, Trumpets Playshop, and Functional Chinese. 

Lastly, Out of the Box is about exposing kids to situations that will give them an opportunity to apply the social skills necessary for interaction outside the classroom setting. Tech Revolution focuses on developing skills in graphic design, video editing, and PowerPoint presentation. Science Discoveries is about discovering the wonders of Science through practical application of scientific discoveries. 

For reservations and more information, call (02) 433 4948-49 for Preschool up to Middle School programs and (02) 929 1021 for Upper School programs. Email admin@mischool.edu.ph.

Multiple Intelligence International School creates Green School Movement to prepare the youth to be environmental stewards and progressive-minded leaders

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At a time of environmental destruction and a backward mindset, the Multiple Intelligence International School (MIIS) brings back a spark of hope by introducing to Filipinos the concept of progressive learning that advocates for Multiple Intelligences and the development of future leaders and entrepreneurs.

The generations that will be produced from this educational approach will most likely utilize their intelligences for the greater good and to make a difference.

The Multiple Intelligence International School believes that this goal can be best achieved by piloting the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified Green School in the country which would hopefully encourage other campuses to adapt the core practices of education for sustainable development. 

This is where the Green School Movement led by MIIS comes into the picture. Established to invite stakeholders to share knowledge and expertise, it will ultimately create a network of individuals and organizations who share MIIS’ environmental advocacy, encourage the creation of Green Schools, enhance environmental literacy through input into curriculum of relevant research and practice, and engage the youth to be leaders and advocates for sustainability.

Among the initiatives of the Green School Movement led by MIIS are MAD for the Environment Cambantoc Reforestation Project that aims to reforest the Makiling Watershed; the Rainforest Café which through funds raised will create awareness about the current state of the Philippine Rainforest; the information campaign called One Act for Mother Earth; Kids Can! Save the Environment, a call for the young to use their intelligences to protect the environment; Go Green, Go Zero Waste, an awareness campaign targeted for homes and schools; Energy Pledge which will have families and students vow to reduce energy consumption in their homes and submit progress done to an energy audit meter in the school; and LEAD with LEED which provides mentorship and leadership fora to ensure the understanding and implementation of best practice to meet the LEED accreditation standards.

Overseeing the MIIS Green School Movement is the Green Advisory Council which is composed of experts well-versed in the "5 Core Practices of the Green Schools Network" namely Environmental Literacy & Sustainability, Stewardship, Sustainable Design, Health & Well Being, Partnerships. The Green Advisory Council is also tasked to support the three pillars of sustainable development: environment, social, and economic. 

A greener future for the Philippines has been a long-held dream. Through the creation of the Green School Movement, the Multiple Intelligence International School, true to its commitment to sustainable, green education seeks to address the many issues that pose peril to the environment. 

By molding forward-thinking, internationally competitive young leaders within the premises of the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified Green School in the Philippines, these young Filipinos can be relied upon to stir the country towards a future that is lush, abundant, and sustainable.