Philippine Lumen School was founded in 2010. It is a private, non-sectarian school located in Barangay Abuanan, a quiet, rural, rice-producing area nestled amongst the vast sugarcane plantations of Negros Occidental. Starting with just two teachers teaching 33 pupils in Nursery and Kindergarten, Lumen has grown its student population to 285 strong with a faculty of 14 teachers teaching in pre-school up to Grade 10 (Junior High School).
The school was the final project of the late Susana Garcia-Cruz, who together with her husband, Donato, founded the Donato C. Cruz Trading Corporation in 1966 as a retailer of agricultural fertilizers and chemicals in Negros Occidental. The company has served both big planters and small farmers for over 50 years, and beyond the business, Susana had quietly made the long-term upliftment of the conditions of the Filipino farmer her personal advocacy. After organizing livelihood training workshops for farmers’ wives and a feeding program for undernourished grade one students in Barangay Tabunan, where the family’s farm is located, she realized that such interventions result only in short term, often temporary changes. To create a long-term impact on the lives of farming families, their children must have access to proper and relevant education. Susana believed that such an education can eventually impact the social, cultural and economic development not only of the families and their communities but of the country itself as a whole.
Lumen’s approach to character building and value formation is guided by the theosophical principle that while every human being is made up of an external personality that is molded by the environment, personal circumstances and conditionings, there is an inner nature that is above such influences. To help nurture this inner nature, the school promotes a love of learning through positive reinforcements and personalized guidance without the use of punishment, force or threat. It does not confer awards and special citations upon individual students so that an atmosphere of cooperation and caring is created instead of fierce competition.
The teachers of Lumen are chosen for their compassion, patience and understanding. They are trained in current methodologies and are exposed to new horizons through well-curated annual trips to targeted local and international destinations. Their patient guidance has produced encouraging results as Lumen’s students have been achieving the highest scores in the National Achievement Test for grade 6 students among both private and public schools in the Bago City district. In an area where many children do not expect to go to school beyond elementary or high school, the development of cognitive and communication skills become crucial for the development of practical life skills upon leaving formal education.
It is a sad note that Susana passed away six months before Lumen opened its doors to its first 33 pupils in 2010. In a final bid to convey her message posthumously to all children who would be learning in Lumen, she finished the construction of a gated campus with an initial concrete, two-story school building. She wished for the campus to be beautiful so that beyond the grave, she could tell these children of farmers that they are worthy of a beautiful school and of a good education.
This is a legacy carried on by her two daughters, Ruth and Ruby. Lumen is paying forward to the farming community what farmers have done for the Donato C. Cruz Trading Corporation. As the student population grew, the campus has seen the addition of a two-story building and a covered pavilion to house the school’s programs as well as other cultural events that the school hosts for the nearby communities. As Lumen sends off to the world happy and wholesome students, it fulfills the dream of Susana Garcia-Cruz for positive change in the lives of the Filipino farmers.