“Everyone is smart. You just have to teach them through a language they appreciate.”
Much attention has been given to the best of the best. For years, seminars and talks highlight overachievers, but Silid Aralan is about to turn that on its head with Turd Talks. Turd Talks is envisioned to be a series of inspirational seminars featuring formerly low-performing students who have become high achievers through Silid Aralan’s unique program.
The first in the series will feature Julio Bagabay, Carlo Jumagdao, and Erlen Mahilum. All three were low-performing students who broke convention and became successes.
They will be sharing their stories via Turd Talks on April 28 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza. The event, whose name refers to how society perceives people who are academically challenged, will feature achievers once considered failures in school.
Mounted by Silid Aralan, a non-government organization led by former PUP Graduate, Arcie Mallari, Turd Talks aims to highlight that “everyone is smart, you just have to teach them through a language they appreciate.”
This belief is the backbone of Silid Aralan, which was conceived in 2007, when Mallari learned about the forced passing system of public schools. Silid Aralan challenges the notion that only high performing students are worth the investment so the group began with mentoring 21 low-performing students to help them earn a college scholarship.
The results were outstanding. Eleven out of the 21 students graduated, with 6 of the 11 earning top honors in college. With 52% of supposedly hopeless students turning into success stories, and 54% exceeding expectations, Mallari realized that every child has the potential to succeed not just by teaching them how to learn, but by teaching them how to love learning.
In addition, Silid Aralan also teaches students to take care of themselves by training them to become social entrepreneurs who help their community. The organization does not give handouts; rather, it provides opportunities by training students to become better citizens who can give back to society.
“Everyone is smart; we just have to understand that being smart means different things for different people. We can’t change the world by only investing on ‘promising people.’ We have shown that we only need to tap into students’ different types of smart and help them develop that,” Mallari ended.
For more details on Silid Aralan and Turd Talks, visit www.silidaralan.org or contact arciemallarie@silidarala.org or 5462175.
