Sagada expats renew ties, help build school

By Gina Dizon

Once again, alumni of Saint Mary’s School of Sagada manifested their moral and financial support to the school which continues to serve hundreds of students in Mountain Province, especially those located in the town.

Nearly 150 alumni of SMSS living in Canada and the US, and other SMSS resident- alumni of the Philippines gathered at St. Michael's Church, Vancouver, Canada Aug. 6 to 9 to observe the 4th SMSS Alumni and Friends Conference.

With theme, "We build our school on you Lord; to you we bring our common need", financial contributions poured in terms of coin collections in sponsoring an SMS faculty.

SMSS Inc is a non-profit institution committed to extending affordable quality education, particularly to children of indigenous communities in the hinterlands of the Cordillera.

It was incorporated in 2003 as an autonomous entity from the former management of Episcopal Church in the Philippines. SMSSInc was then called Saint Mary’s School established by American missionaries of the Philippine Anglican Church in 1904.

The school enjoyed financial capacity until the Philippine church’s conversion to an autonomous entity in 1990. Since then, SMS suffered financial setbacks along with the autonomous church which experienced similar financial woes.

SMS since 1990 was able to thrive on donations from alumni and friends and other institutions like subsidy from the Department of Education. As of this time, alumni are still supporting the financial sustainability of the school through donations via scholarships, sponsoring salaries of staff, and material donations such as books, and infrastructure.

To raise funds for the school during the Vancouver event, Sponsor a Golf Hole was launched with sponsors giving in their financial commitments.

The golf tournament which was participated by SMSSers who attended the event, was chaired by SMS alumnus Erwin Killip.

Lambert Sagalla, Chairman of the US-based St Mary’s School Sagada, Alumni and Friends Foundation (SMSAFF) said the Vancouver SMSS conference was the first to be held outside of the United States. “The enthusiasm and excitement it created particularly to the younger alumni will definitely help advance the message that we are undertaking activities for indigenous communities in the hinterlands of Northern Philippines.” (with reports from SMSyahoogroups.com)