THE St. Joseph School of Naga City figured prominently in the first National Biotechnology Quiz Contest for High Schools by placing second among 259 teams from 150 high schools from Calabarzon, the Bicol Region, the National Capital Region, the Visayas, Northern Luzon and Mindanao.

Caption: WINNERS. The victorious biotech quiz winners from Naga City’s St. Joseph School.

        The contest was aimed at stimulating the interest of high school students in biotechnology and other related fields. A regional selection consisted of a written examination which determined the ten highest scoring teams, which in turn underwent a championship oral examination to select the two highest scoring teams for the national level. The two winning teams from each region vied for the first grand championship at the Bureau of Soils and Water Management Auditorium in Quezon City last March 8, 2008.

        The top award went to Laguna College High School team while the third best went to Philippine Women’s University – Jose Abad Santos Memorial School in Quezon City.

        Other participating schools in the national level: the Cavite Institute, the UP High School in Iloilo, the Capiz National High School, the Philippine Science High School (Central Mindanao Campus), the Tabaco National High School, the Philippine Science High School (Southern Mindanao Campus), the Philippine Science High School (Ilocos Region Campus), and Manila Science High School.

        Composing the team from St. Joseph School are: Sarah Jaye C. Oliva with Civil Engineering as her field of interest, Stephanie C. Del Castillo with Intarmed and Jan Garrick T. Hatol with Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, all junior students. Their coach: Leo V. Barrameda. Their award: P 20, 000 cash and trophy.

        Saint Joseph School is a Filipino-Chinese Catholic school, now run by the Sisters of Sacred Heart of Jesus and whose students are imbued with the Confucian values of diligence, self-discipline, gratification, politeness and a strong sense of duty.

        The school was established in 1960 by a Chinese priest with a mission and commitment to evangelize the Filipino-Chinese community in Naga City and in neighboring towns through quality Catholic education.

        Commenting on the award, St. Joseph School Principal Melinda Dy said the Josephian students are living up to the tradition of excellence the founding fathers of the school had encouraged and initiated among its graduates, now counted as among top placers in national board examinations and occupying positions of influence in their chosen career.

        The organizers of this contest are: the Biotech Coalition of the Philippines (BCP), whose members are from the academe, farmers organizations, industries, church, media and the science community; the Philippine Society for Microbiology, Inc. (PSM), which promotes scientific knowledge in microbiology, biotechnology and other related fields through symposia, workshops, annual conventions and an Asia-Pacific Biotechnology Congress every five years; the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of UP Diliman (NIMBB- UPD), a degree-granting unit under the College of Science of the University of the Philippines; the Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Society(UP MBBS), a student organization of the University of the Philippines that promotes awareness and relevance of molecular biology and biotechnology; and the International Service for Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), which provides advice and services to assist in the development of an enabling environment to support the safe application of crop biotechnology and facilitates biotechnology fellowships to build biotechnology capacity and sustainability in national program.