HOLY SPIRIT SCHOOL: "CELEBRATING LIFE AND MISSION AT 80"

[Fiel Angeli AraoaraoGabin]

HSS: “Celebrating Life and Mission at 80”
by Fiel Angeli Espejo Araoarao - Gabin



Eighty fruitful years is, indeed, a big reason to celebrate.

In thanksgiving of her many years of dedicated service to the Boholanos, the Holy Spirit School (HSS) marked her 80th anniversary last October 16 with simple rites.

At 7:30 a.m., a holy mass started the day, followed by the floral offering at the statue of St. Joseph the Worker. Atty. Rosalima Cuyno Abapo, HSS Alumni Association (HSSAA) president, gave the plaque of appreciation to the SSpS Community which was received by Sister Mary Joy B. Quizan, SSpS, school director. The opening of the heritage room near the chapel was also done.

Jane Censoria Del Rosario Cajes, Council of Servant-Leaders (COSL) president, Atty. Abapo, and Sister Joy led the tree planting activity at the school’s campsite in Tinago, Dauis, together with Sister Mary Judith Abrea, alumni coordinator, SSpS Sisters Miriam Dolores Terce, Diomar Lopez, Mary Esther Aracap, Gina Flores Cerrafon and Doyet Luarca. Other alumni who attended were women’s right advocate Atty. Myrna T. Pagsuberon, Elsie T. Lim, Jade T. Nuera, Rosalina R. Sarabosing and Nazareno T. Ello.

Going back to history, it was during the feast of Nuestra Señora del Pilar, on October 16, 1926, when Sister Laeticia, Sr. Blasia and Sr. Josaphata came to Bohol in answer to Fr. Gelacio Ramirez’s request for the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit School (SSpS) to serve in his parish in Tagbilaran.

The school was first named St. Joseph’s Academy (after Saint Joseph the Worker, patron of Tagbilaran) which later evolved into St. Joseph’s Junior College, St. Joseph’s College, then to College of the Holy Spirit and finally Holy Spirit School (HSS) of Tagbilaran in 1974 when the college department was phased out. Accredited by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU), the school is keeping true to her mission of offering genuine quality Christian education, responding to the needs of the community and guided by the motto “Truth in Love” in the Trinitarian way.  HSS is preparing for the PAASCU visits on November 16 to 17 for the grade school and November 20 to 21 for the high school.

A major celebration of the 80 years of HSS has been set in time for the HSS Days in February 2007. (Fiel Angeli E. Araoarao - Gabin)