Paglilingkod

I. Introduction:
Bataan National High School has been known for having intelligent and sensible students. Academics has always been the number one priority of our school. But despite that fact, we do not just spend our time reading and studying all the time inside a room. Our learning extends beyond that four cornered room into the real life because the true lessons that we need to learn are sometimes not taught by the teachers but to be discovered by us as students.
This is the reason why paglilingkod began. It is a way of doing a beneficial activity without expecting anything in return. As students, this is our way of giving back to our school as well as to our teachers. We are doing this not because it is compulsory but because it is what’s right. We don’t feel obligated to do it because it feels like we’re just having our bonding time while doing it.
We have been doing our paglilingkod for five months now and we are going to do it until March. Maybe we will pursue this next year, too. But for now, what matters is that we have our own way of paglilingkod which is very effective considering the fact that we can see improvements every week.

II. Background
They say that school is our second home. We agree because we spend five days of the week here and it is very important to make sure that the place we are in is clean. But how are we supposed to do that if we are just 30 out of thousands of students in BNHS? At first, it is very discouraging to clean knowing that it would be dirty again after just a few minutes. But we realized that if the other students will see the values of cleaning, maybe they will be alarmed and they will be able to realize that they should do the same thing that we do: clean
Cleaning a specific area in our school is our way of paglilingkod. We chose this because this will be beneficial to most of the students in our school. Some already forgot the importance of cleanliness and we want to be the ones to remind them how it feels to see and be in a sterile place where you feel safe instead of sick.
Other people’s opinions regarding cleaning are negative because they find it very tiring. Little did they know that this is a very good way of reducing not just the grimes but also… stress. This is also one of the reasons why our section decided to clean. It is because we know that we will never get tired of doing it because it is in our nature to clean. One will not be able to be happy in a dirty place that’s why we must all appreciate the beauty of a clean surrounding.

III. Paglilingkod
Every Thursday, at 10:45 to 11:45 am, we spend one hour of the week by cleaning the back of JPR Building in BNHS. We chose this place because this is the part of the school which is not often cleaned. Even though lots of first year students are using this place during their spare time, they don’t remove all the garbages even if it is very obvious. Instead, they are the ones who make the place dirty.
We divide our class into three groups and each group has an assigned area to clean. This way, our paglilingkod would be easier and faster.

IV. Problems Encountered
PROBLEM
SOLUTION
-lack of garbage cans
-students who are staying is the area
-place all the dirt in one specific corner
-let them know that we’re going to clean so they can stay somewhere else

V. Insights
Every week, the trashes that we see are getting fewer and fewer. There are also garbage cans now and students don’t see it as a display only. They are using it, too. Paglilingkod is part of who we are now as students of BNHS. We can’t go on a week without doing it or else we wouls feel like we missed something.
There are times when we clean not just the area behind JPR building but even the area beside ICT. It feels good every time one of us asks “Hindi ba tayo maglilingkod?” when we forget what day it is. It just means that at least one of us remembers that we have a task to do. A task that not just us will benefit but also the other students in BNHS.
VI. Proposals/Recommendations
Every section that stays in the JPR building must spend at least one of their free times cleaning their part behind the JPR building so that the cleanliness of the area will be maintained. More garbage cans must be placed too because it’s hard to move from one place to another when we are cleaning especially if the location of one garbage can is far from the area that we’re cleaning. It is also recommended for the teachers to remind their students the significance of cleaning because it reflects their personality.