Skip to playerSkip to main content
“Dapat mas ituro natin sa mga bata ‘yung love for country.”

Ani Almario didn’t just build a school; she built a space where Filipino children can truly belong. From publishing literature that mirrors our culture in Adarna House to founding The Raya School, a school that champions our values, she compels the youth to embrace our Filipino heritage.

Ani Almario—Vice President for Product and Development, Adarna House and Founding Director of The Raya School, Smart Parenting Gamechanger Awardee.

#SPOriginals #SPGamechangers2025 #SPAwards2025
Transcript
00:00I wrote my parents because I said that I want to take care of the school.
00:03I'm Annie Almario. I'm the founding director of the Raya School and vice president for product development of Adarna House.
00:11And I'm one of Smart Parenting's Game Changer Awardees.
00:16What inspired me to start the school 20 years ago, I was studying in the U.S.
00:21I was with a group of Filipinos who were also attending the same graduate school.
00:26There were only two of us going home. They were all staying in the U.S.
00:29So, I thought that we should learn the love for the country.
00:35We surround them with artifacts that are Filipino.
00:39We tell them Filipino stories. We sing Filipino songs.
00:43We bring prominent Filipinos to the school to inspire them.
00:47We always tell them as well that it's important to speak the Filipino language.
00:53It is who we are. So, if we lose our language, we lose a big chunk of our identity.
00:57We also always bring the kids outside to their community to meet marginalized members of their community and help them.
01:05Kasi yung dapat mong mahalin talaga yung kapwa mo Filipino.
01:08If they do that on their own without the school's help, then we have already done our job well.
01:12I would like them to love their country so much that they will want to help their fellow Filipinos to
01:18work in the country and to work for the country.
01:22That they will always be lovers of democracy as well and they will voice out their opinions.
01:28As for literature, sana mas marami pang Pinoy na nagbabasa rin ng Pinoy.
Comments

Recommended