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Easter College
November 2006

Committed to Christian quality education towards abundant life for all

Far above the sultry stillness of the lowland clime . . .

HUMBLE BEGINNING

So goes the first line of the Easter School Hymn (sang to the tune of the Cornell University song) written by one of the school’s early American principals, Dr. Benjamin M. Platt. Aptly, the school is located on a pine-clad hill overlooking the valley of Guisad, Baguio City, about 300 kilometers north of Manila.

Founded in 1906 by the Rt. Rev. Charles Henry Brent, the first Bishop of the Missionary District of the Phil. Islands under the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, Easter School prides itself as the first private school established in Baguio City which at that time was only a hill station for American forces.

As with most church- related schools, the founding fathers realized that educational ministry to children was one very effective method of evangelism. Corollary to this, Bishop Brent himself said, " Education without Christianity is a house without foundations, an accompaniment without a song . . ." Eventually, this concretized one aspect of the tripod representation of the mission-vision of the Philippine Episcopal Church which is: Preaching, teaching and healing.

The Easter College on Easter School
Road, Guisad, Baguio City.During Easter Week of 1906, the school formally opened its doors to eight young Igorot boys who hiked seven days through mountains and rivers following the old Spanish Trail all the way from Bontoc, Mt. Province. They were later joined by three more boys from Bontoc and seven local boys. These were the pioneer pupils of the Christian institution, which later became home to many students alongside the educational ministry, the school also served as the center from which all-religious work of the Episcopal Church in Baguio and La Trinidad emanated.

The first Headmaster of the school was Deacon Samuel Drury. He was followed by a succession of American administrators until 1957 when Mr. Esteban Banga-an took over as the first Filipino principal.

1n 1964, six decades after its birth, a Secondary Department was added. Through the years, the school grew in population and in stature. By then the institution successfully carved a niche in the area of Basic Education is it academics, co-curricular activities or sports. Under the leadership of Mrs. Cynthia B. Ano, the longest- staying principal, the school hurdled the rigid evaluation conducted by a team from the Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities – Accrediting Agency Inc. (ACSCU-AAI). As a result, the Federation of Accrediting Agencies in the Philippines (FAAP) granted the school a three-year Level II accredited status in 1988, a distinction which has been reaffirmed several times.

SY 1991 brought forth younger and more ambitious school officialdom. Mrs. Marilyn L. Ngales, Principal –turned- President, stoked the fires of earlier dreams about having an Episcopal Institution of higher learning in Northern Luzon. This wish came to fruition in 1995 when the Commission on Higher Education gave the go signal for the school to offer tertiary programs. Consequently, "Easter School" was re-baptized "Easter College." Unfortunately, the newly-opened non-traditional courses were not readily accepted by the student populace.

PRESENT TIMES

Summer, 2004 marked another milestone in the history of Easter College with the changing of the guards. A new Board of Trustees was convened still headed by the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Central Philippines, the Rt. Rev. Joel A. Pachao. The search for a new college president ended at Trinity College of Quezon City (now Trinity University of Asia), a sister institution of Easter College.

Benjamin Reyes Yngente, Ed.D., a professor at TCQC was appointed by the BOT as the second President of Easter College. On September 3, 2005, after a year as Officer-in-Charge, he was finally installed as President in a solemn and impressive ceremony at the Holy Innocents Episcopal Church - well attended by representatives from the different Episcopal congregations in Metro Manila, Baguio and Benguet, representatives from CHED and the academic community, faculty and staff, students, family and friends.

Under the new management, Easter College immediately instituted academic and administrative reforms and embarked on crisis management strategies and resource recycling which greatly improved the financial outlook of the college without borrowing and without increasing tuition fees. The more focused transformational administrative efforts resulted in the opening of new courses: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration major in Marketing and in Management, B.S. in Public Administration and B. S. in Hotel and Restaurant Management. Furthermore, face lifting of the buildings, renovations, provisions for new facilities and equipments, employee re-alignment and faculty and student recruitment were all attended to - well within the approved budget. On deck are the fencing and beautification of the campus. This school year, a significant amount of the budget is allotted for faculty and staff development and improvement of facilities. All these lead towards the goal of making Easter College the flagship for the ministry of education of the Episcopal Church in Northern Luzon.

Aside from the new courses, Bachelor of Secondary Education, Bachelor of Elementary Education and Bachelor of Science in Nursing are being offered with the latter having the biggest number of enrollees.

Easter College, after a thorough review, has set a new vision and mission for the school , which is parallel to the V-M and goals of the whole Episcopal Church in the Philippines. It reads: An academic community rooted in the Holy Scriptures, strategically responsive to global and national realities, and significantly contributing to the transformation of its constituents into becoming responsible Christian stewards of industry and community. With the new directions, it is hoped that the school through her graduates, faculty and staff can make a positive difference in the lives of others as well as in improving their personal lives as it did in its first 100 years of operations.

On a wider scale, Easter College believes that it should not forever be inward looking. For this, it has taken an active role in reviving and strengthening the national organization of all Episcopal Church educational institutions called SPRINT ( Schools for Peace, Relevant Instruction and Transformation). Together with Trinity University of Asia in Quezon City, Brent International School and other SPRINT members, they hope to utilize the association as a venue for resource sharing, and faculty, staff and student development purposes. The first of such activities was accomplished last April in Sagada, Mountain Province with St. Mary’s School as host. Indeed, this shows that Easter College does not exist only for itself but also for others.

Source: Manila Bulletin Online