Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan warmly welcomed the inaugural batch of scholars of the Andrew L Gotianun Sr. Center for Integrated Technologies (ALGCIT) Senior High School on the 1st of May, Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker.
ALGCIT WELCOME MASS. Xavier Ateneo welcomes its first batch of ALGCIT scholars with a mass presided by university president Fr Roberto C Yap SJ. (XU Comms Office)
“St Joseph is the perfect patron saint for ALGCIT because here he was, a carpenter, he worked with his hands, he worked with wood, with nails,” said Xavier Ateneo president Fr. Roberto C Yap SJ In his message to the 140 scholars and their parents.
“He worked with the materials of the Earth to create useful things for the people. In many ways, that is really the call of tech-voc, the call of the industrial technicians that ALGCIT wants to produce.”
ALGCIT, an endowment from the Andrew L. Gotianun Foundation (ALGF), provides full academic and residential scholarships to competent yet financially-disadvantaged youth. Tuition, matriculation, board and lodging, books, uniforms, and other school fees are all covered by this program.
Xavier Ateneo Senior High School Central Student Government hosted the welcome program for the ALGCIT scholars.
“As we celebrate this feast and welcome you, our ALGCIT scholars, the story of St Joseph tells us that working with our hands, to labor, is a very beautiful thing that deserves much respect and dignity,” Fr. Yap shared. “This feast emphasizes the value and dignity of work. It is the vision of ALGCIT to produce industrial technicians who will make useful things for our economy, for our society.”
Xavier Ateneo’s ALGCIT aims to champion technical and vocational education, provide profitable employment options or entrepreneurial opportunities for its graduates, and contribute to the country’s social and economic growth.
“I am sure that your experiences in ALGCIT will be full of challenges, full of difficulties, but the key thing to remember is that God has given you this opportunity to get an education from Xavier University,” Fr. Yap stressed.
In his message to the scholars, Xavier Ateneo president Fr Roberto C Yap SJ said, Bring with you your faith in God as you go on your adventures & learning experiences here at Xavier Ateneo.
“In spite of all the problems you will encounter, put your trust in the Lord. If you trust God and you will do your best, God will protect you, help you, and never leave you. Bring with you your faith in God as you go on your adventures and learning experiences here at Xavier Ateneo.”
ALGCIT is the university’s response to the need for a comprehensive program that helps students acquire skills, knowledge, and character formation necessary to develop their professional careers that are strongly grounded on Jesuit education, the Ateneo way.
The program is a highly specialized three-year Tech-Voc Senior High School where the first two years are allotted for academics and coursework, while the third year is primarily for industry internship.
In the face of globalization and the K-12 reform in our country’s educational system, ALGCIT puts its resources into honing the technical skills of the students in four globally in-demand specializations: Automotive Servicing, Computer and Electronics Technology, Energy and Power System, and Mechanical Design and Fabrication.
At the end of the three-year program, the students are expected to graduate world-ready, with international and national standard competencies, and formed with magis (a philosophy of excellence) and cura personalis (care for the whole person).
Xavier Ateneo’s ALGCIT Senior High School is located inside XU’s Manresa Complex along Fr William Masterson SJ Avenue, Upper Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City. It is strategically located in an emerging area for foreign and local investors and sprawling subdivisions in the uptown portion of the city.
The current XU Senior High School Central Student Government hosted the welcome program for the ALGCIT scholars, who had fun interacting with one another during the GTKY games. School administrators, faculty, staff, parents, and guests were also present in the said event.
The parents accompany their children during the welcome program for the ALGCIT scholars, who came from various areas of Mindanao.
The ALGCIT scholars are temporarily housed in the three existing Manresa dormitories while waiting for the completion of the ALGCIT Dorm 1.
At present, they are attending a three-week-long Summer Enrichment Program, hosted by the XU Junior High School and SHS administration, to prepare them for the first semester of Grade 11.
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