T. Cel San Juan, Grade 12, Student Council
Sep 3, 2026
Suspensions are not new or surprising; as a school, suspensions are part of what we deal with regularly. Suspensions elicit only two major reactions among the students and teachers—
It’s either, “Yes, walang pasok!” – Getting to sleep in, chill all day, or even get around to doing things that kept getting put off with the busy day-to-day schedules,
or, “Oh no, paano na yan?” – Having to deal with adjustments when events and activities get postponed or cancelled.
With the school starting the academic year with Orientation Week, also known as O-Week, class suspensions due to inclement weather will always dampen the mood and momentum for students and teachers, especially when expectations have already been set and detailed plans have been made. So, while suspensions are part of what a school expects to manage, the disappointment and changes are always difficult to deal with.
This year, our high school students’ O-Week activities were most affected, with game days being cut short, prepared activities cancelled, and cheering competition forfeited due to the schedule uncertainties and lack of time to catch-up. The Grade 12 and Student Council were in charge of preparing and facilitating the different activities for O-Week. To get a behind-the-scenes look at their process, challenges, and honest feelings about navigating this year's adjustments, we reached out with a few questions. Here’s some of what they had to say:
REGARDING O-WEEK GAMES & ACTIVITIES:
1. How did you plan for O-Week this year? How did you divide the work as a batch?
Erin: “Our planning for O-Week began a year ago for our PE Org Man subject. We used the requirements we passed for that class as the foundation for the plans we hoped to implement. Over the school year, we held a couple of game tests and finally, we met up as a batch the week before O-Week to go over [details] and procedures.”
Tobey: “I’m going to be honest, everyone [contributed to the] work, but [there are really people who had more load and responsibilities.]”
Avery: “I think that most of the work was put on the leaders because it’s easier to manage when a smaller group of people plan.”
Elijah: “We had minor preparations over most of the summer, then about 2 weeks before the event we locked in. …We took time to officiate point persons per house for ease of communication and assigned different committees for different tasks. We had some people work on the props and [concepts], some to work on individual games, and some to test and referee the games.”
2. What challenges did you face in having to keep adjusting activities and schedule due to the suspensions?
Erin: “The main challenge was the unpredictability of the suspensions. When a suspension is announced, we do our best to maximize the remaining days; however, the following days would also experience suspensions that would further cut the time we were hoping to give students.”
Elijah: “Changing the schedule on the fly to try and accommodate as many days as possible was incredibly tedious and annoying.”
Luis: “The main challenge was having to explain the rules … and having to take complaints while trying to relay it to the [House] Heads without burdening them too much.”
3. Thoughts on having no cheering competition this year?
Erin: “It was a very difficult decision for us, T. Mac, and T. Kino. We knew how much work the House Heads have poured into its preparations and were very pained that they wouldn’t have the chance to present them. We tried our best to accommodate cheer despite all the suspensions but time was very limited. On days when suspensions were given midday, we prioritized games to give houses opportunities to accumulate points. Even with the last suspension, we explored options for cheer practice and presentation but pursuing it would have led to more confusion for students with the schedule.”
Tobey: “Very sad … I wanted to see and judge the other houses as I think they put in a lot of work…”
Elijah: “I felt so awful for all the houses. Cheer is such an integral part of O-Week; it felt like losing a child to have to remove it from the schedule.”
Luis: “It felt like O-Week was incomplete.”
4. How did these changes challenge your application of kindness towards your classmates and the rest of the high school body?
Elijah: “I felt like I was forced to not crash out on everyone … I felt so much more appreciative of the limited time we had.”
Luis: “I had to be more patient and really keep myself composed.”
Erin: “Every single day was full of stress and it makes it harder to deal with so many people. Being kind to everyone was a challenge because it would require me to pause, stop thinking about the many problems that needed to be addressed, and understand where others were coming from. At the end of the day, everyone was just trying to adjust to the stressful environment.”
REGARDING OPENING SERVICE
1. How did you feel about Opening Service getting consistently rescheduled?
Kai: “It was a struggle not knowing when we’d have to perform and not being able to rely on the weather. Despite all the schedule changes, however, Opening Service itself remained a meaningful ‘start’ to the school year!”
Gab: “I was disappointed but of course, I understood it wasn’t in ICS’s control. Overall, I was happy that at least, we were able to have an Opening Service eventually.”
2. Share with us your thoughts after the Opening Service.
Kai: “I felt encouraged to see people show up and join in worship and fellowship even when it wasn’t required. The message Pastor Marlon Roldan delivered was a great reminder of kindness.”
Gab: “Encouraged.”
We truly value our Seniors' openness. Disappointments, broken plans, and derailed schedules are a tough reality of life, but we also believe that facing them head-on builds resilience through experience. It also challenges our application on kindness, as this is our theme for this school year—treating others with kindness in the midst of disappointment, learning to be kind to ourselves by accepting what we can and cannot control, and modelling the kindness that Jesus has poured out through His life and sacrifice as an example for us.
As we strive to glorify God this school year, we hope you are encouraged by these excerpts from Student Council President Erin Lim's address during the Opening Service:
“What if surrender is the only way to win?
… To me, this is what surrender looks like… depending on Him.
…Wave the white flag, throw in the towel, or call it quits. Surrender has a bit of a negative connotation because it’s almost a sign of weakness. As hard as it is to admit, we are weak and incapable. However, it is also reassuring knowing that despite our own faults and shortcomings, we can trust that God is there to catch us and help us push through. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says, ‘But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’
My prayer is that as the new school year opens, we can learn to surrender it all to God. The school year has already begun with uncertainty. Of the 15 official school days so far, 10 of them have experienced a form of cancellation. This has been difficult for the teachers who need to constantly adjust the schedule, students whose classes are constantly pushed back, and parents who need to adjust to their kids’ pick-ups. These uncertainties will continue. We can’t prepare for every mishap because we won't see them coming. All we can do is trust. Trust in our unchanging God who sees all and knows all. Trust that whatever happens this year, it is all within His power and will…”
Have a great School Year 2026-2027 everyone! Let us continue pursuing and growing in true kindness, which is only possible through the grace of our God. 💙