The Philippine Science High School (PSHS) community will mark the institution’s 62nd anniversary with an alumni homecoming and a fundraising project to modernize classrooms at its main campus.
Batch 2001, this year’s host batch, is spearheading a project to replace aging classroom blackboards with glass boards for current and future students.
The initiative forms part of “Barangay Pisay 2026,” the theme of the alumni homecoming scheduled for Sept. 5. Organizers are inviting graduates to attend the event, donate to the classroom project, or volunteer.
Established in 1964, PSHS is a specialized public secondary school focused on science, mathematics, and engineering. Its graduates have pursued careers in research, healthcare, education, technology, government, business, and other fields.
Among them is astrophysicist Reina Reyes of Batch 2001, director of the Space Science Missions Bureau at the Philippine Space Agency. Reyes gained international attention for research that tested Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity on a cosmic scale.
“Being a Pisay scholar is a privilege not only for the life-changing education and formation that we received during high school, but also for the gift of belonging to an impressive and influential community of fellow alumni, comrades in nation-building in the spirit of paying it forward,” Reyes said.
Other alumni include Josephine Santiago-Bond of Batch 1996, chief of the Commercial Crew Office for Safety and Mission Assurance at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Kennedy Space Center.
She leads a team responsible for crew and vehicle safety in human spaceflight missions and advocates greater participation of girls and women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Gil Genio of Batch 1976, which is celebrating its golden jubilee, has held leadership positions in the Philippine telecommunications industry, while molecular biologist Pia Bagamasbad of Batch 1997 led RT-PCR training initiatives that helped laboratories expand their testing capacity during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pisay graduates have also applied their training outside the hard sciences. Cherrys Abrigo of Batch 2001 runs Sierreza, a social enterprise that connects marginalized farmers and other producers with markets in Metro Manila, Laguna, and nearby areas through community-supported agriculture.
Organizers said the anniversary activities are intended to recognize the contributions of PSHS graduates while raising support for facilities that will serve succeeding batches of scholars.
Information about the classroom project and homecoming is available through the Pisay Batch 2001 Facebook page.
