COSINA Elementary School – a far-flung public basic education institution in Talakag, Bukidnon – was the recipient last January 9 of six laminating machines.
These machines will be used to laminate supplemental reading materials as provided by the Rotary Club of Cagayan de Oro Centerpoint, according to Rotary International District 3870 assistant governor Dr. Mercelita Jandayan-Labial.
Labial is the project chair of Alleviating Learning Poverty Through A Comprehensive Digital Literacy Program, a global grant awarded to RC Centerpoint in 2025 by The Rotary Foundation.
The P1.5 million grant was used to license Reading A to Z, an award-winning literacy solution that empowers teachers to strengthen schools’ foundational reading and comprehension skills using a digital library of texts and instructional materials.
The rest of the money was used to purchase television sets, laminating machines and laminating films.
Labial explained that the downloaded reading materials will be laminated so they can be used by incoming students in the next school years.
The supplemental reading program targets students who are in the frustrating level of reading English, the core medium of instruction in the country.
According to global academic standards, frustrating level is defined as more than one in ten words are too difficult for the reader.
When RC Centerpoint first approached Cosina Elementary School last June, there were 114 students at the frustrating level in reading English.
Today, that number has shrunk to 77.
Labial is hoping that by the end of the academic year this April, all students have notched to instructional and independent levels in reading.
Cosina Elementary School was chosen by RC Centerpoint to be the recipient of their outreach because it is located 15 kilometers away from Talakag town proper.
On a personal note, Jandayan attended the school during her elementary formative years.
Out of 51 clubs, there were only five global grants approved for Rotary International District 3870 in 2025.
RI 3870 governor Atty. Marlowe Selecios personally attended the turnover of the laminating machines last January 9.
