MSCCA conducts Midyear Review and Planning
By Allan Robert R. Mascareñas
The MSSCA Midyear Review and Planning was held last June 30, 2021 which was facilitated by the Marinduque State College Culture and the Arts head and concurrent Director of Sentro ng Wika at Kultura, Dr. Randy T. Nobleza. The agenda included draft MSSCA primer, CHED Memo no. 8, s. 2021, ASEAN University Network on Culture and the Arts (AUN-CA) Arts Festival, National Book Development Board (NBDB) Book Nook, Updates on MSC Brass Band, Theatre Guild, Siklab Society, and Litera Club , activities for July-August and September-December.
The meeting was attended by Ms. Bernadette Del Prado (cultural mapping representative), Ms. Rizalyn M. Magno (assistant MSCCA Theater Guild director), Mr. Allan Robert R. Mascarenas (staff, MSCCA/Brass Band trainer), Dr. Susan B. Pineda, and student representatives from MSC Litera Club, Krizza Joy Regis and Mr. Randell Regalla.
At the start of the meeting, Dr. Nobleza recalled that he assumed the position in January 15 2021, hence, the activity was conducted as part of the assessment of the accomplishments for the first 6 months and discuss the updates as well as plan of activities for the remaining quarters of the year.
First agendum was about the MSCCA primer. He thanked the people behind the draft MSSCA primer which shall also be translated to Tagalog version. The primer was shown to the body which contained the MSC Culture and Arts history, past leaderships and major achievements through the years which shall now be a regional creative hub. The primer also introduced the MSSCA compositions which are involved in making various activities such as MSCCA Sayaw (MSC Dance Troupe, Putong Group), MSCCA Dulaan (Theater Guild, Litera Club) MSCCA Musika (MSC Choir, Brass Band and Marching Band). Additionally, the primer highlighted the various public and private partners and stakeholders from the six towns of Marinduque as well as national agencies who have major roles in the development of MSSCA through the years. Comments were solicited and duly taken from the body for revisions and further enhancement.
Then, he immediately proceeded to the CHED Memo no. 8, s. 2021 regarding the Guidelines on the Implementation of Flexible Delivery of Student Affairs and Services (SAS) Programs during the COVID-19 Pandemic. He emphasized the Item 3 (J) of the issuance regarding cultural and arts program and how the activities shall be designed and delivered to the students relative to the enhancement of talents of students and values for appreciation to national and multinational cultural heritage guided by the provision as stipulated in the said CMO. The offline provision includes the artistic training materials (e.g. printed or email) that the student artists can learn in their own time; send information and video materials that can be used by the general student body on using the arts for general wellness (i.e. meditation, arts therapy through music, dance and theatre exercises); aid the academic sector in the creation of online instructional materials for the promotion and conservation of national culture and multicultural heritage; and assist in staging online institutional events. On the other hand, the online provision include provision of artistic training materials for student artists; synchronous delivery of regular artistic trainings and meeting rooms for student artists; host virtual cultural and artistic performances and exhibitions; creating virtual platforms for cultural and artistic performances and exhibitions; creation of instructional materials to promote wellness through the arts; assist in staging online institutional events, local and national cultural/historical celebrations; and aid the academic sector in the creation of online instructional materials for the promotion and conservation of national culture and multi-cultural heritage. He added that the provision of trainings and instructional materials to student artists in this time of pandemic could be done with the help of experts from MSC. Dr. Pineda mentioned her works that could be helpful in the provision of instructional materials for the students which shall be revised or enhanced with Dr. Nobleza who agreed to work out with her for the integration of the cultural literacy initiatives of the college.
After that, the MSCCA Head proceeded to the ASEAN University Network on Culture and the Arts (AUN-CA) Arts Festival on July 26-30, 2021. He mentioned that the members from Philippines are the top universities from the country which are De La Salle University, Ateneo University, University of Santo. Tomas and University of the Philippines. He was also able to attend the Crosslight Learning Sessions in June 2021 and encouraged participants to attend the Crosslight Arts Festival on the said dates.
Then, he also discussed the upcoming project regarding the National Book Development Board (NBDB) Book Nook at MSC Extramural Campus in Capayang, Mogpog as the community center giving a new perspective of what a library should be in this modern time and more conducive to assemblies in a community setting. He showed a letter addressed to the Dr. Zulueta, the college president which he intended to present to the Administrative Council meeting but has to pass through the Management Committee first before endorsing for Board action. As stated in the letter, the project aims to ensure the readers access to quality books and other reading materials through a collaborative effort with the local government units (LGUs), non-government organizations (NGOs), and/or civil society organizations (CSOs). The NBDB approved the intent of MSC to be part of this project and anticipates its readiness by providing sites and programs required by the project which shall be formalized through a Memorandum of Agreement between the parties involved. He added that this kind of initiative could help wide readers who are passionate in reading activities as well as researchers. This is one of the components of the approved proposal on the Regional Creative Hub and more activities shall be done with the project.
The next agendum was the updates on MSC Brass Band which was discussed by Mr. Allan Robert Mascarenas wherein he mentioned that there were 22 applicants for the band. Currently, there are 18 who enlisted this midyear. The activities of the group include the practice of pieces every Monday and Wednesday and distribution. However, based on his evaluation, many of the students are not well-versed in reading notes, musical piece and diverse musical style hence; they go back to the basic of playing the instrument to fully train them. By July 2021, the rehearsals shall resume as agreed by the band because they want to focus on practicing before going back to the regular school activities. Monday shall focus to the solos as part of the preparation for the upcoming investiture, Wednesday and Friday shall be the wind and sound focusing on the basic and pieces, Thursday is intended for the drum line who are less practiced from the past months due to school works. Out of the 10 requested pieces, there were only 2 completed pieces because majority of the requested pieces are hard to reconcile due to the pandemic situation. He requested Dr. Nobleza for the practice of proper marching guided by the MSC ROTC because it is crucial in the band performance. Dr. Nobleza said that the problem on transportation, accommodation and meal provision shall be addressed by the MSCCA and the activities shall roll out through proper communication to the administration.
For the Theatre Guild, Ms. Rizalyn Magno informed that after the Getsemani production, they participated in the PETA Talkback Session in June 2021 with students from the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) and School of Business and Mangement (SBM). Getsemani is still available in Youtube but not yet globally due to lack of subtitles. Roundtable discussion is open for the enhancement of Getsemani to further improve and enhance the said piece by talent and audience development to be fully understood by wider audience. Another problem raised by Ms. Magno was the action plan for the activities of the guild which needs to be implemented for the smooth delivery of activities of MSSCA and hopes for the conduct of workshop for the students to gather substantial outputs from the guild. Dr. Nobleza emphasized also the importance of Marinduque Tagalog as foundation of the literary pieces of the students.
On the other hand, Siklab Society and Litera Club are on the process of compiling and cataloguing their outputs and books of the said groups. Action plans and inventory are also part of the activities of the group.
Having discussed all the matters, Dr. Nobleza thanked the attendees and adjourned the meeting.
