GRADUATION MESSAGE OF SDS

Respected local government officials, DepEd, Division Schools officials, Barangay and Parent
Teacher Association officials, School Heads, teachers, parents, stakeholders, learners, graduates and
completers, guests, friends, ladies and gentlemen, a pleasant day to one and all.

My warmest congratulations to all the members of Batch 2021. This school year will always be
considered as the most challenging period in the history of the Department of Education. The
COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges in all the sectors around the world and the field of
education is no exemption. In order to provide and sustain our clarion call of promoting quality,
relevant and liberating education despite all the adversities that we currently face, we have devised
multiple ways so that learning still continues. We have experienced grueling transitions and birth
pains but we never surrendered because we are one team with one common dream.

At first, the learning modalities that we have employed in the new normal have brought despair and
destruction. But we have overcome these because of your dedication and determination. I feel
delighted to congratulate you on this pivotal facet of your lives. After several months of enduring the
struggles brought about by the global crisis in the educative process, you are now ready to ignite the
torch of excellence which you have earned through your incomparable patience and perseverance.

Your teachers have provided you with the most fitting kind of instruction which you need as you
continue your quest for the fulfillment of your dreams. I congratulate them for serving as game
changers in the new education landscape. From ordinary facilitators inside your classrooms, they
eagerly transformed themselves as module writers, online teachers, teacher broadcasters and radio
announcers to cater to your needs and interests while you are learning at home.

I believe that every parent wants to invest the future of his/her children to the best school he/she
knows. As such, my gratitude is offered to them because they have entrusted you, your early
education to the Schools Division of Ilocos Norte. Our battle against COVID-19 became easier
because they are always there to serve as your shield, shelter and strength.

My sincerest appreciation is also given to the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte and all the
benevolent stakeholders for their incomparable support to the programs, projects and activities of the
schools division. The strong partnerships and linkages that they have built with us, serve as our
instruments in combating the challenges caused by the pandemic.

At this important milestone of your lives, please be reminded that the greatest rewards that you have
are the values that you have obtained from the taste-tails/taste-tales of trials that you have been
through during the school year. Make these as sources of inspiration for you to do more and be more.
I pray that the Lord will forever guide you as you step to the next rank of the educational ladder.
Always take the positive path and He will crown you with success that you truly deserve.

To all of you, our dear graduates and our completers, good luck in your new journey. Happy
Graduation and God bless you!