The last Monday of June seemed to be an ordinary day for Xaverians, but not for the twelve Grade 11 students of St. Aloysius College who visited Xavier School all the way from Australia. Three years since the pandemic, the annual visit and interaction of St. Aloysius College to Xavier School finally came to fruition.
The young Aloysius students and their accompanying supervisors were welcomed by the high school administrators, followed by a mini tour of the high school unit. They seemed to enjoy the rooms and facilities of the school, such as the Music Room and the Learning Resource Center because of the variety of activities that could be done in these learning spaces. Some even tried playing the instruments or checked the books in the library to learn expressions in Filipino!
During their tour, the guests were greeted by Xaverians along the corridors and the Atrium during break time and briefly interacted with Australian guests. Some JHS students even asked to take pictures, and they Aloysius students were happy to oblige. Not only did the Aloysius students show how excited they were to interact with the Xavier boys, but they were also enthusiastic about engaging in common interests like playing basketball.
After touring the campus, the guests from St. Aloysius had a scheduled interaction with select students of the Student Council Executive Board (SCEB). The SCEB, headed by Sean Salvador, planned various activities where they could play games and get to know more about each other. Sean shared how active and eager their counterparts were in getting to know the community, even to the point that they expressed a desire to come back and explore more of Xavier School.
The final activity of the interaction was eating lunch together at the high school canteen where the St. Aloysius students had the chance to choose what food they wanted to try among the various options available. During this time, the administrators of both schools also had an opportunity to eat and interact with each other. Fr. Aristotle Dy, SJ, School President, welcomed the supervisors accompanying the St. Aloysius boys and spent some time sharing stories about their respective schools. When it was time to go, the St. Aloysius administrators and students presented Fr. Ari with their tokens of appreciation.
This partnership was temporarily put to a halt because of the pandemic, but now that travel restrictions are easing up, this visit signals the continuation of a very meaningful collaboration between two Jesuit Schools in different countries that will surely flourish in the years to come.
