More than 150 Jesse Bethel High School students did their best to share their faith and hope with the Filipino “Howlan” club at the annual Parol Festival and Competition on Thursday.
The festival showcased about 90 homemade paroles that entered the contest.
For Filipinos, hanging parols outside their homes is a shared expression of faith and hope during the Christmas season. Parol comes from the Spanish word farol, which means lamp and symbolizes the star of Bethlehem in the Bible.
Students were given two weeks to create their own parole, either individually or in groups. Sophomore Macao his Diorant stayed up all night to realize his vision of “The Big Boy Dragon Star of the West”.
“My inspiration was the Philippines because they take great pride in our country and heritage,” Diorant said. “Blue symbolizes peace, white symbolizes purity, and the shining one symbolizes shining like the sun, and the three large stars represent his three principal islands. increase.”
One by one, the students took the stage and presented their paroles to the audience while the judges walked around and scored all the paroles. Parole was judged in three different categories. Big/Mala King Parole, Small/Marit Parole and Recycled Material Parole.
Vallejo City Councilor Cristina Ariola was the lead judge for the Recycled Materials category. Apart from ticking the boxes in the rubric, she wanted to better understand the vision and execution of her students.
“So here’s the criteria: quality of work, color combinations, and overall creativity,” says Arriola. “But I tried to get a little more personal with them and find their own inspiration.”
Other judges were Vallejo Deputy Mayor Rozanna Verer-Aliga, FANHS President Mel Orpilla, FCSC President Eloise Esacano-Scott, FCSC President Cris Villanueva, photographer Chris DeAsis, VCUSD Board of Education Dr. Tony Ubalde and Dr. Alegria. Lopez-Ledda, was the assistant. Superintendent Dr. Mike Santos and Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Cheri Summers.
It wouldn’t be a Filipino festival without food. While the judges tallied their scores and awaited their podium rankings, the students were treated to a feast of Filipino food and pizza in recognition of their hard work. The winner of each category received a $10 gift card and an annual pass to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.
Teadora Delos Santos and April Laron took first place in the Big Parol category. Second prize went to Kyla Reig, Andrea Garrido and Dylan DeLeon, and third prize went to Rafael Acorda.
In the Small Parole category, the winner was Renee Meneses. Anaya Medina and Tiyana Brock finished second, while Hannah Baruyot and Jera Hikiana finished third.
In the recycled materials category, Joshua de Jesus and Jeff Gabatin won Parol, made by a Philippine newspaper.
