By Edd K. Usman
The STI Education Services Group is determined as ever to continue expanding its presence all over the country even as it marked its 33rd anniversary recently with a grand celebration at the Enchanted Kingdom in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
From its humble beginnings of just two campuses in 1983, the school now boasts of 77 campuses nationwide with over 100,000 students. The school was still then known by its full name Systems Technology Institute because it started out as a computer training institute.
Aisa Q. Hipolito, STI?s assistant vice president for academics, said the school employs a holistic approach on the development of its students.
Various activities and social competitions give the students a launch pad in showcasing their creativity, talents, and achievements from within and without the confines of the classroom.
“Of course, we want to continue our pursuit for excellence in developing and molding well-rounded, holistic students. Moving forward, we want to be able to develop more students and make sure that we are consistent with the kind of quality,” she said.
The official noted that in 2016, STI became the first school to implement Senior High School (SHS) in all of its 77 campuses. ?I think that is one of our achievements this year, although we have been offering SHS since three years ago,? Hipolito said.
“We are offering practically almost all the specializations and tracks of SHS. We are one of the pioneers,? she added
For its 33rd year celebration, Hipolito said they had the students compete against each other in the national finals of the talent competitions such as the Singing Idol, Battle of the Bands, Hataw Sayaw.
The talent search continued into the night with The Search for Mr. and Miss STI 2016 with contestants representing their schools from as far as Laoag City in the north and Zamboanga City in the south.
The winners in the talent search were: Mr. and Miss STI, Christer Troy Regis (STI College-Dasmarinas) and Clea Isabel Magnaye (STI College-Cubao); Hataw Sayaw, Balaraw Dance Group (STI Balagtas); Singing Idol, Judy Ann Baricaua (STI College-Global City); and Battle of the Bands, Sistemang Musikal (STI College-Sta. Maria).
Hipolito said STI has been celebrating its anniversary every year at Enchanted Kingdom for over five years now. She said this is “because there are so many students participating from our different campuses from Metro Manila, Southern Luzon, Northern Luzon, from Mindanao and the Visayas.”
