MANILA, Philippines—Multiple Intelligence International School (MIIS), an advocate for sustainable schools and the multiple intelligence framework implemented in the United States and other countries, recently hosted a run-by-any-means fun run at the University of the Philippines Diliman Academic Oval.
Part of the “Green MOVEment #4GreenPH” campaign, the run-by-any-means activity attracted families with grandparents, environment advocates and running enthusiasts. All for fun and the environment, the participants ran, walked and some were pushed thru strollers or wheelchairs towards the finished line.
“We wanted to encourage everyone to make a stand to ensure a green future for today’s kids. The activity also serves as an awareness campaign on the environment’s vulnerability for which we should be responsible,” says Joy Abaquin, founding directress at MIIS.
MISS has been at the forefront of advocating environmental sustainability and protection, teaching their students to have a heart for the environment while training them to be global leaders.
For instance, the student curriculum includes subjects about environment preservation and conservation, combining theory with practice. Stepping up its game, the school is set to build the first LEED-certified campus along Katipunan Road in Quezon City.
The 3,000-sqm establishment highlights innovative wastewater technology and water management facility to reduce water consumption and waste, noise and air pollution barriers for better indoor atmosphere, the use of low emitting furnishing and furniture materials, composite wood, and agrifibers; and thermal comfort lighting systems and technologies to improve indoor environment quality.
The structure’s most significant feature is that it has been overdesigned to withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake. More important, the classrooms, basketball court, and football field are designed to be safe and large enough to accommodate people from surrounding areas should disaster strike.
“The school will serve as a laboratory for environmental technology and innovations that can positively impact and serve as a model for other schools and buildings in the country,” Abaquin says.
She adds, “The safety and protection of our children, the concern for their future, and thus the environment, should be everyone’s responsibility.”
Abaquin says the run-by-any-means activity is just one of their tiny steps to achieving their goal of a sustainable environment.
The fun run or fun walk gave certificates, cash prizes and medals to kids with the best “green” costume as well as the fastest, youngest, oldest runners and the family with the most number of participants.
Other activities included a performance by MIIS students using indigenous instruments. In cooperation with Smart Communications, the school recognized the 2015 Multiple Intelligence awardees. These are personalities who have changed the lives of Filipinos through their particular intelligence in the area of sustainable development.
The Green MOVEment benefits the Cambantoc Reforestation Project, a six-year-old MIIS endeavor that helps in the replanting and maintenance of trees in the Laguna watershed, promote environmental literacy in public schools, and fund the school community’s Green School Movement projects.
