Every month of May or June, FACSPS awards open-competitive college-bound grants of $500 each, and certificates and cash to commend the graduates of Filipino American parentage.
In a separate program in November, the Community holds the spelling bee, Tagisan ng Talino competition, and celebrates the scholastics and athletics achievements of its youth members. It’s an afternoon of jolly contest in spelling for Grades 2-6, general knowledge and Filipino culture quiz competition for grades 6-7, and essay-writing contest for students in high school. The competition can be intense and mind-bending at times. One observes a bunch of nervous and tense Moms and Dads in the audience watching their kids compete on stage.
FACSPS in the same program honors those who show promise in the arts and prowess in athletics. An art exhibition featuring the artworks decks the venue lobby. The winners in the essay-writing contests are announced, whereupon the winning essay is read. The winner of one such essay writing contest was Vanessa Cendana who wrote a provocative, scholarly piece on the topic, “The Filipino-American Student and the Call to Academic Excellence”.
Why is the scholastics and athletics achievement celebration so special to the Community? It is because FACSPS wants to emphasize to our youth in their early formative age the love for academics and athletics. It is through the development of the intellect and healthy body that one can give fruition to an individual’s ambition. We want to establish a norm whereby the pursuit of knowledge and formal education can be as fun as a game of basketball, as soothing as a Beethoven sonata, or as refreshing as a painting of Monet.
FACSPS wants to strengthen the notion that for a Filipino-American student, college education is the next logical step after high school, not an exception. That education per se is a never-ending search for what is true, noble and beautiful. With an appreciation for academics and competitive spirit, we impart to the youth, albeit slowly, a tradition of excellence, of leadership, and of concerned citizenship in our new country. And that indeed, America is a great country where opportunities abound especially for those who are willing to prepare themselves academically, and to compete fair and square in the various arena of human endeavor.