PUDTOL, APAYAO -  Pudtol Vocational High School (PVHS) won the 2010 Brigada Eskwela Regional Award in the secondary division given by the Department of Education (DepEd).

Orlando Gamatero , Faculty of PVHS said school principal Benedicta Gamatero claimed the award December 28 during the awards ceremony at DepEd Cordillera Regional Office in Baguio City.

According to Gamatero, PVHS was adjudged winner this year because of  its initiative in drawing involvement of Pudtol community in the various tasks for the school.

Before the start of classes last May, the school led voluntary works in the repairs of dilapidated facilities like chairs, tables, blackboards including rehabilitation and painting of the school building. The work also extended in the clearing of the school grounds, which usually get covered with grasses  and  entail much  time  of  students  to clean. By the opening of classes in June, every  was  ready.

 Because of the school’s initiative, all the works did not require any cost from PVHS, making it the model brigada in CAR, Gamatero said.

The brigada is composed of volunteers from the school faculty, parents, local government, government agencies and student council.

With the present school administration, the brigade maintained a high spirit of volunteerism that made it carry its tasks all through the year.   Every time the school calls for a work, members of the brigada are always available. This is gleaned in how their facilities are kept serviceable.

PVHS has a three-hectare campus  which  under the maintenance of its Brigade Eskwela team.  It has  15 faculty members and 420 students.

The school acknowledges how the brigada has minimized its cost for operation, considering the rate of depreciation on chairs, tables and other facilities every year, Gamatero reported.

 The validation team from DepEd-CAR led by Delfin Salidao earlier visited PVHS as part of the search procedure.

In 2009, PVHS was a recipient of P1.2M worth of techno-vocational tools from the Techno-Vocational Task Force. **Larry Lopez/ PIA-Kalinga