The IMSP, in cooperation with the MST Program and UP Rural High School, is very honored and privileged to have Dr. Christopher C. Bernido and Dr. Ma Victoria Carpio-Bernido as special guest speakers in a public lecture on Thursday, July 16, 2009, 2:00 pm, at the Physical Science Lecture Hall B.

"Functional Strategies in Science and Mathematics Education" by Dr. Marivic Bernido. This lecture will be hosted by the CAS Mathematics and Science Teaching Program (c/o Prof. Liza Carascal) and UP Rural High School (c/o Prof. Greg Ardales).

"Learning Physics as One Nation" by Dr. Christopher C. Bernido. This lecture will be hosted by the IMSP-Physics Division.

You are all invited, and please help us disseminate this invitation to others.

PHYSICIST COUPLE WINS 3RD GAWAD HAYDEE YORAC


A physicist-researcher-educator couple from Jagna, Bohol, Dr. Christopher Bernido and Dr. Ma. Victoria Carpio-Bernido, President and Principal, respectively, of the Research Center for Theoretical Physics in Bohol, were conferred the 3rd Gawad Haydee Yorac last March 2009.

Their partnership to build a nation through science, research and a new method of teaching founded on excellence and values won the judges' approval over nominations received from different parts of the country.

The Gawad Haydee Yorac is an award established in 2006 by Meralco in cooperation with the University of the Philippines in honor of the late Haydee Yorac, former Meralco legal counsel and multi-awarded UP alumna, UP Law professor and, among other positions, Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), a post she held before her demise. It recognizes Filipino leaders from the private sector, government service and volunteer organizations whose personal qualities, ethics and lives are worth emulating in leadership with integrity and public service with selflessness.

In early 1990s, the couple who were then University of the Philippines physics professors - director and assistant, respectively, of the UP National Institute of Physics ?uprooted themselves from the campus and moved to Jagna, described as a seaside 4th class municipality a little over one hour away from Tagbilaran, Bohol.

There they established the Central Visayan Institute Foundation (CVIF), the home of the Dynamic Learning Program. Comprising it are: a research center in physics, the Research Center for Theoretical Physics; the high school department that strengthens the science focus of its students, and the Education Research Center for continuing development of the learning program.

The research center they founded has been hosting physics workshops every three years, drawing experts from all over the world including two winners of the Nobel Prize for Physics, Gerard t'Hooft and Frank Wilczek. The international workshops have been connecting departments of physics in the Philippines with that of the global community, giving faculty and graduate students the chance to network with fellow scientists abroad.

The innovative, "Learning Physics as a Nation" is beginning to revolutionize high school education in the country, with over 30 high schools in different provinces of Regions 1 to 12, ARMM, CAR, Caraga and NCR already using it. It supported by the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE) with a special grant from the Department of Education.

Under the program, lectures are only 20 minutes, individual or group work is 40 minutes and students, who come from very poor families, have no homework so they can still do chores and have family time. After eight years, their students have began passing the UP College Entrance Exam.

They addressed a grassroots issue, and had the courage to blaze new science trails in their home province of Bohol, in isolated and marginalized communities, demonstrating that there are no constraints or limits to achieving the lofty vision of "building a nation" when courage, commitment and intellectual excellence are applied to the task.

The physics program they pioneered in and advocated has been responsive to the needs/existing environment of very poor students, with the improved learning standards of the students and the adoption of the program by various high schools in the country as well. Amidst all this, the couple was able to pursue their continuing passion for physics. Such achievements were deemed remarkable and inspiring.

The Bernidos were recognized for their personal attributes - personal qualities worthy of emulation (courage, excellence, selflessness, professionalism, fairness, credibility, integrity), traits that characterize the late Haydee Yorac; professional excellence and accomplishments; competence and qualifications and made significant accomplishments in their chosen field, and impact of accomplishments to the community and to the nation; the long-term impact of their program and example, and the promotion of the common good.

Marivic Bernido captures their nation building approach in these words to their students: "We want you to be good in science, in math, in the languages but all these are useless if your character is not well-developed..."

"True development means that the people of a nation have achieved high levels of civilization ? they are honest, industrious, dutiful and can maintain clean, peaceful productive towns and cities in all parts of the country."