Athens' Story
“I am truly impressed by her creativity, leadership, and the quality of her output for performance tasks.”
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Self-confidence, independence, inquisitiveness, research skills, creativity and innovation—in this modern world, these are the skills that will help students go through their careers, and I have observed these in Athens ever since she joined MGP.
We originally planned for her older sister, Sam, to go to MGP because of the very good feedback we heard and read about MGP. Unfortunately, the slots then were fully booked. When Athens came to preschool age, we made sure that she would be able to join MGP. To be honest, because I had been educated in a traditional school, I was apprehensive the first time I saw how the classroom was designed in MGP—there were no separate classrooms! I thought, ‘how can a student study and learn in an open classroom? It would take a lot of discipline for this to work.’ When I first attended Athens’ Festival of Words (FOW) in Junior Casa and saw such young children hosting and performing in front of parents, I felt worried for Athens and whether she would be able to cope, knowing how shy she was.
I can still vividly remember how scared Athens was during the first two months of Junior Casa— it got to the point where her mom had to join her inside the classroom. Then, Teacher Michelle advised my wife to let me, Athens’ dad, bring her to school. Knowing Athens wouldn’t want me seeing what she was doing, I pretended that I really wanted to go with her inside the classroom and join her class. She kept telling me to go out of the classroom because [the teachers request that parents stay outside], and from then on, she went to class on her own. It was also in Junior Casa, during a school year-end event in Tambo, that I saw her perform with such confidence that I got teary eyed at how much she had improved in such a short span of time.
Over those nine years, I saw how Athens evolved and developed. We supported her in all school activities, and I even participated in one of the FOWs and talked about my work as a veterinarian. I am surprised by how she makes presentation slides, researches and builds on assigned topics, and works independently on school projects and assignments. Her mom even worried that she may not do well in school because she didn’t want to be taught at home. I am truly impressed by her creativity, leadership, and the quality of her output for performance tasks. I told Athens that I learned those kinds of things when I was in college. The interconnectivity of different subjects to one topic and how the curriculum was designed will really develop the critical thinking skills of students.
I am thankful to all the teachers who guided Athens through the years. Seeing Athens now, I can say that you did a pretty good job during her nine years at MGP. Looking back at my initial thoughts about an open classroom, I can say it worked really well and that we chose the right school.
Dr. Ariel Macasaet
Proud Dad of Athens
Mother Goose Lipa Class of 2024
