HP - DepEd A+ Campaign

HP, the premier brand in home and professional computers and printing technology, teams up with the Department of Education for a year-long project that will promote reading and writing among elementary students in Grades 4 to 7 as well as high school students. This collaborative project aims to inspire creativity among young Filipinos who will someday join the ranks of great Filipino authors of short stories. 

Last January 26, 2012, I was invited to cover the launching of this campaign together with my colleagues in the quad media and representatives of different schools in Metro Manila. The event was presented with dynamic theme songs especially made for the campaign. The campaign includes creative writing workshops that will be conducted nationwide and will highlight interactive lectures and fun activities for students.

The Achieving A+ Excellence project will be driven by HP’s foremost printing technology that will support all the creative ideas of these students and turn them into more tangible reading materials for everyone to appreciate. Mr. Armando Pascual, HP General Manager for Printing and Imaging group, described, “The A+ campaign allows students to enjoy learning and achieve excellence at the same time.” Also present was Dr. Milagros Quiniones, English Supervisor of DepEd-NCR. She expressed, “We look forward to this meaningful partnership with HP. Through Read&Write, we will be able to work hand and hand in enriching the learning experience of children and inspire a growing interest in writing and reading, two of the most important and fundamental skills in education.” 

As an inspirational icon, HP chose Mr. Efren Penaflorida, awarded 2010 CNN Hero of the Year and Lakandula Award recipient to be the campaign’s ambassador. In the event, Mr. Penaflorida encouraged everyone about the things education can do and that poverty should not be a hindrance in achieving excellence. “Education is life-changing and reading and writing is where it all starts,” he explained. “It is through colorful prints that students are able to appreciate and embrace education even more as it embraces them back and enables them to change their lives for the better.” 

 The competition will soon roll-out this coming March 1 to May 30, 2012. It will recognize Metro Manila’s Top Ten writers. As part of the culmination, written materials will be made into a book as a compilation of all the winning pieces.