LHS Laoag students join EDUTech Asia confab in Singapore

By Stephanie Camille Ilar
Representing the Philippines at the EDUTech Asia 2025, students of Mariano Marcos State University Laboratory High School (MMSU-LHS) Laoag campus emerged as finalists in their presentation of Project SIRKULO on November 5-6 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore.
The students composing Team PP03 are Jelienne May Arante, Nhica Marie Dalalo, Prem Adhemar Doctor, and Sean Willard Monje, all from Grade 11 in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) strand.
In their project, the team emphasized the importance of caring for the environment through an online platform intended to make sustainability easier and more accessible, encouraging communities to shift to bulk buying and reuse containers.
It has six features: ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช-๐˜‰๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ช, where people join bulk-buying groups; ๐˜‰๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜บ-๐˜’๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ, which notifies a user of their contribution to sustainability; ๐˜š๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ข-๐˜š๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต, where they suggest bulk-buying options; ๐˜š๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ช-๐˜›๐˜ถ๐˜ฌ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ด, which scans products and verify eco-friendliness scores; ๐˜š๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ข-๐˜š๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ข, which fosters sustainable practices in communities; and ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ข-๐˜’๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฏ, which maps local bulk-buy stores and sustainable shops.
More than just a presentation, SIRKULO served as the teamโ€™s entry to the Planet Protectors Sustainability Challenge, where the team qualified as finalists in the Kโ€“12 category, having been selected from over 200 teams from Asia as announced last July 24.
As finalists, they were provided an exclusive Planet Protectors project exhibition booth where they introduced SIRKULO to visitors from across the world. They demonstrated its functions, shared its development story, and its potential to address overconsumption and plastic pollution.
The team was mentored by Ms. Jean Arellano, Ms. Lovelyn Calixtro, and Mr. Christian Jay Valdez, teachers from the laboratory high school.
Marking its 10th edition with the theme โ€œPositive Disruption: Unlocking Limitless Potential in Education with AI and Tech,โ€ the conference convened educators, innovators, and advocates to advance education, especially on sustainability, digital strategy, generative AI, teacher training, differentiated instruction, and digital pedagogy.