By: Kaile Presnillo 11-2, Cha Lavastida 11-3, and Kamea Say 11-3
June 5, 2023
Once upon a time on the breezy hills of Assumption Antipolo, the Grade 11 students, along
with their respective dates, took to the dance floor of the Multi-Purpose Building to celebrate the
long-awaited Benefit Dinner, following the theme ‘Enchanted’. The Benefit Dinner core, led by
Grade 11’s batch representative Bella De Leon, spent months of thorough planning to ensure that
all aspects of the event – such as the venue decorations, program, music, and food — would cater
to everyone’s enjoyment. This event was particularly organized to raise funds for the future
projects of the batch’s chosen beneficiary, Angat Buhay NGO.
The event began at 6:30 in the evening of December 17, 2022, where it was opened with
the students and guests standing for the Philippine National Anthem, followed by the
Komusikasyon members of the batch singing the piece: ‘Psalm 4’ for the opening prayer.
Afterwards, the event hosts, Sir LA Saludez and Sir Jamby Santos, took over the program and kept
the students' spirits high as they talked about the remarkable job the organizers have done in
preparation for this event. The Benefit Dinner also served as a way for the students to represent
their class through the section Audio-Video Presentations (AVPs), wherein they illustrated the
unity of their class. The first AVP presented was from Section 1 – which told the tale of two
kingdoms (namely ‘Group A’ and ‘Group B’), and how these two rivaling kingdoms were able to
put aside their differences in order to become one kingdom of love. The wonderfully-made AVP
loosened up the tension in the venue and made way for the first interactional activity where the
students and their partners were able to get to know more about each other's hobbies and interests
through ‘Bingo Lingo’– a game that was a mix of Bingo and Tic-Tac-Toe. After the activity,
Section 2 was able to present their AVP– a stunning video that exhibited their intuitive and artistic
personality through their Alice in Wonderland-inspired film.
With the promise of savory and sweet dishes, the students’ and guests’ appetites were sated
with the food served by the catering services. While everyone in the venue was enjoying the meal,
guest performers and Old Girls Scarlet Canlas from De La Salle University and Alessa Songco
from the University of Santo Tomas swayed the crowd with the songs they sang. Everyone was
then asked to sit back down at their tables to watch the AVP of Section 3, which contained smart
quips and witty remarks that not only left the crowd chuckling but also showed values such as the
importance of seeing each other eye-to-eye and owning up to one’s mistakes.
After the entertaining AVP, a representative of the beneficiary Angat Pinas, Inc., Doctor
Keisha Carisse Mangalili, an Old Girl, was given the chance to speak onstage. She expressed her
gratitude to the students for giving their time and effort in making the event and donations to the
non-profit organization possible. Ms. Jinky Addun, Grade 11 Class Adviser, and Bella De Leon
gave her a certificate of appreciation and their donated funds.
The Benefit Dinner then proceeded to its last activity named ‘Light Up the Lanterns’ – a
game where students and their partners had to answer riddles correctly to shade a lantern that was
given on a piece of paper.
The last AVP presented was from Section 4, in which students and guests alike were
charmed with their interesting yet engaging editing style and showed their diversity in the class
through their ‘38 Questions Vogue’-inspired theme. Afterward, the students and guests were then
led to the moment they have all been waiting for: the awards. Two awards were presented at the
event, the first one being the ‘Gaia’s Garment Award’, which showcased the creativity and
individuality of the crowd by being on-theme with their outfits. Students and guests from each
section alike were nominated and called onstage to be applauded. From the results of a survey, the
final winner that was picked for the award was Briana Calixto from 11-2, and Paolo Torqueza– a
date from 11-1. The second award, named ‘Fauna’s Film Award’, was an award based on which
among the four sections had the best AVP – where unity and sisterhood were shown. The AVPs
of 11-2 and 11-3 were tied and the Vice Presidents of the aforementioned sections, Sienna Rodrigo
and Tanya Chuico respectively, were called onstage to receive their awards.
The band “Novae”, the batch band of Batch 2022, was called to perform songs for the slow
dance portion of the event. Students and guests alike were invited to the dance floor to waltz with
each other. Once the dance ended, all were called to return to their seats as Ms. Jinky Addun
delivered the closing remarks. To top it all off, the Komusikasyon members of the batch
marvelously sang ‘An Irish Blessing’ by James E. Moore Jr.– a song about meeting each other
again in the future– to conclude the night. All guests and students left the venue motivated to find
their happily ever after.