Teachers Working on Weekends? 👍 or 👎

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Work on a Weekend

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For me, weekends are intended for us to rest, relax, rejuvenate and recharge after a week-long of work, stress, and battling with day to day struggles. But, sometimes, our service as public school teachers are being requested or sometimes required on weekends. 😔

We can actually say no, but for sure the people in higher rank will take note of it and will use that against us in one way or another. So we have no other choice but to render weekend services.

Public school teachers in the Philippines do a lot of work. It is not limited only in preparing for the lessons, teaching the lesson, and assessing students’ learning. Sometimes it includes supervising (nannying) the students/boy scouts during their camping.

So my dear friends, in this blog I would like to share our recent BSP Camping duties held at Camp Marina, Lahug Cebu City.

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Camp Marina

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Camp Marina in Lahug, Cebu City is the favorite camping area for the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) and even by the Girl Scouts of the Philippines in Cebu. It can surely cater very large crowd, the reason why division-wide and regional camping or jamborees are held here. There is a very large arena as you enter the place where the scouts can do their formations, activities, exercises, and fun games. There are hillsides and cemented floors where they can set-up the tents and camps.

Camp Marina grows a lot of tall trees. We encourage them to bring hammocks where they can just tie it around easily on the trunks of the trees. Surely, you breathe fresh air here and enjoy the singing of the birds or the sounds of insects at night. That is also why we always advise our scouts to bring insect repellants to avoid bites and itchiness after the camp.

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BSP Camping Post-Pandemic

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This BSP Camping was the first division-wide camping for Mandaue City Division after the pandemic. As per my personal evaluation, many scouts joined in the Basic Training Camp because of that. Obviously, they have been wanting to do outsoor activities which was prevented due to quarantines and lock downs for the past two years. Everyone wants to go outside their homes.

As per our school, we had 25 boyscouts who participated in the camping. That is a lot of number compared to the number of students before the pandemic. We usually have less than 10 participants only before the pandemic

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Our Duties as Teachers in BSP Camping

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I am not certain if there is a handbook or a guide on the roles of the teachers during BSP Camping, but from years of observation and participation, I have understood that teachers are tasked to ensure that the scouts are participating in the BSP activities and that they are having adequate meals and sleep. Teachers also helps in organizing the camp's cleanliness and organization.

Grace and I, together with some other teachers were assigned to serve on a Sunday from 6AM to 2PM. Thus our possible assignments would include waking the scouts up to participate in the morning excercise, prepare their breakfast and lunch, and supervise the scout before they leave the camp. However, we arrived there late because we still needed to buy rice, and other ingredients for the boyscouts' lunch. When we arrived the scouts had already taken their breakfast and were already being called for their morning exercise.

So, we just sat there under our school's tent and talked about random things while waiting for the clock to hit 10:00 AM for us to start preparing their lunch. The scouts during that time were busy participating in the activities.I got bored so, I stood from hours of sitting to roam the place and take more pictures...

The waiting game was finally over and it was time for us to prepare the lunch of the scouts. Of course, I did not do the cooking because I am not a good cook, but I surely assisted my colleagues such as in peeling the shells of the boiled eggs, making sure their was enough firewood, and in making sure we have documentation.

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Cooking Time

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_{3. Slicing the Hotdogs}

_{4. Cooking the Chicken}

_{5. Mixing the Eggs, Chicken and Hotdogs}

It was almost 12:00 in the afternoon when the students returned to the camp. We instructed the scouts to clean their hands first before eating and following the schedule made in washing the dishes. The scouts love the this dish very much.

After their lunch, we instructed the students to start clearing up the camp. The scouts obiediently and diligently disassembled their tents, picked-up trashes around the area, cleaned the whole place, and then carried all their camping equipment to the car back to the school. They looked very exhausted from their 3-day camp and were excited to go home but in their eyes, you could clearly see that they were also happy for the experience and learnings they gained from it.

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Perks of Dutying on a Weekend

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But this was not all negative because the teacher who renders 8 hours of duty in BSP camping could earn 1 service credit. Service credits can be used in exchange of absence and leave at work. Meaning, you will not have any salary deductions if you offset your absence to your service credits. In order to avail of the service credits, the teacher must accomplish the DTR and have an accomplishment report as an attachment.

More than this, you would have a chance to build a healthy relationship to the scouts. These scouts are very functional and helpful during school activities and the like.

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My Personal Thoughts Only

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I love my job as a teacher but I do not want my weekends to be used for work. I believe that I work to live and not the other way around. But, I also believe that teaching is more than a job, it is a service and a mission, so one weekend sacrifice can be tolerated.

Christian Yocte is a public school teacher in the Philippines who also loves other interesting things like making digital and traditional art, exploring new places and destinations, writing journals and musings, and a lot more. He currently resides in Cebu, Philippines. Join him as he ventures different places, shares his masterpieces, and makes his life more meaningful.

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