Security Bank Foundation formally turned over two 2-storey, 6-classroom school buildings or twelve (12) new classrooms to Nancayasan Elementary School and Lananpin Elementary School in Urdaneta City in Pangasinan.

Security Bank Foundation Chairman Rafael F. Simpao, Jr., the Hon. Mayor Amadeo Gregorio Perez IV, and Deped Division Superintendent Dr. Gloria R. Torres led the formal turnover of the twelve new classrooms to two (2) public school beneficiaries in Urdaneta City.

In attendance during the formal turnover of the school building donation were Security Bank Foundation Trustee and Corporate Secretary Melissa R. Aquino, Security Bank Region Head and SVP Ronald Austria, North Luzon Area Head Ferdie Uy, Urdaneta Branch Business Manager Maidy Soriano, Dagupan Branch Business Manager Cherry Heath, and Dagupan-Lucao Branch Sales Officer Catherine Lui.

Representatives from the different offices of the local government unit of Urdaneta City, as well as the DepEd Division Office of Urdaneta City, together with the teachers, parents, and students of the public school beneficiaries were also present to witness the turnover activities.

The donation of twelve (12) classrooms to Nancayasan Elementary School and Lananpin Elementary School is part of the Foundation’s “Build a School, Build a Nation: The Classrooms Project”.

The “Build a School, Build a Nation: The Classrooms Project” is a partnership between Security Bank Foundation and the Ateneo de Manila University for the construction of Public School Classrooms. For this collaboration, Security Bank Foundation would provide financing for the construction of the classrooms, while Ateneo de Manila University, through the Ateneo Center for Educational Development, will design programs that will help improve the academic performance of students in public schools. The other major partners include the Department of Education, responsible for providing the classroom furniture, and the respective Local Government Units whose responsibility will be the provision for the land where the classrooms will be constructed, the facilitation of construction permits and monitoring of the construction projects.

Since the inception of the Foundation’s Classrooms Project in 2011, the Foundation has funded the construction of 377 classrooms for 78 public schools in 47 cities and municipalities nationwide, and benefitting over 37,000 students in every school. Out of these 377 classrooms funded by the Foundation, 273 classrooms for 60 public schools in 37 cities and municipalities were already formally turned over while the remaining 104 classrooms in the pipeline for donation to 17 public schools in six 6 cities and municipalities in the Luzon and Mindanao regions are expected to be completed by the first and second quarters of 2017.