BATCH 68:
A LEGACY OF RESTORATION
by: Mr. Jun Mariano
We agreed that whatever project we would come up
with would be in the name of the entire batch 68 and
not from any individual member. Funds will have to be
raised through individual contributions. We resorted to
this since, after a certain age, collective energy dissipates
when it comes to conducting fund raising programs.
Don Bosco High School class 1968 left the school 50 years
ago. Some opted to stay a bit longer for college, but nev-
ertheless we all went our separate ways
Through the years, some of us have managed to keep in
touch with one another. Still, all of us, in the twilight
of our years, oftentimes find the need to look back and
reconnect, for we have many stories to tell and retell,
shared experiences that formed part not only of our lives
but of the school as well. There were many: the jokes and
the pranks in the classrooms, the workshops, the retreats
and recollections, and so on.
Then, of course, there were the milestones. Our Batch
started the High School Student Council, with the first
elections happening in January 1968, right before gradu-
ation. Before this, we successfully negotiated – getting
disciplinary action in the process – the change of the high
school uniform trousers from khaki to dark blue. In 1964,
our Batch also rebranded the high school students’ pub-
lication as The Spark, the result of a naming contest won
by the late Don Juan Honasan.
Fast forward to 2016, two years before last year’s Golden
Jubilee Homecoming: we grappled with ideas how to re-
connect with the institution that has sustained us through-
out our life journey.
Many ideas were discussed and subsequently discarded,
until a few days before our Golden Jubilee Homecoming
when someone brought up the idea of restoring the old
rooftop school sign that we had in our time. This was
originally on the water tank on top of the 3-storey build-
ing near Gate 1.
Choosing the supplier took a few months. Our first choice
of supplier did not pan out well. A shortlist of signage
makers was drawn and the design and plans were present-
ed to the school administration last October 24. It was
decided that the signage would be relocated at a higher
elevation for better visibility. The new location was set on
the Don Bosco Amateur Radio Club (ARC) Tower, on top of
the 4-storey College Building. Plans were redrawn, and
the bigger budget posed a challenge.
We started with leftover funds from our Homecoming
festivities of January 2018. And to the credit of our Batch-
mates, funds started coming in. A few opted to remain
anonymous, and after a couple of months we have enough
to start the project. As this goes to print, there is still
a little shortfall but we have faith that some, or a well-
meaning batchmate, will rise to the occasion.
We thank St John Bosco, our founding father, and the
Salesian community, for the blessings and the learning.
We have had our own lives to live and we will always
remember. We hope that through this, we can help the
school continue to be a place of fond memories for all its
students.
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