By Iza Camposo
The Silliman University Senior High School (SUSHS) Student Council clarified lapses in event coordination during Teal Takeoff 2026, following concerns raised by students.
This comes after the event’s opening started an hour late and invited concessionaires closed after morning.
Teal Takeoff is an organization fair held to introduce Grade 11 students and transferees to campus culture while welcoming back Grade 12 students after the break.
SUSHS Council Governor Felynn Andrei Labe said the event was designed as a whole-day program, with separate activities scheduled for the morning and afternoon.
“We opted to only have these concessionaires for half a day to allocate space and time for the separate concessionaires for Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, and Mathematics (STEAM) strand and [SUSHS Core Council],” she explained.
The core concessionnaires, Oncho Cafe, and the Warm Batch Bakery, occupied the cafeteria area during the morning session.
After the core mini-program ended at around noon, organizers asked them to begin cleaning up so that STEAM concessionaires could set up in the same venue for the afternoon activities.
Labe also said the event’s kickoff was pushed back by an hour due to low student turnout and ongoing booth preparations for invited concessionaires.
“It was originally supposed to start at 8:30 a.m. Pero we moved it to 9:30 a.m. because of [the two factors] […] It ended at 5:00 p.m., where clean-up would continue until 6:30 p.m.,” she explained.
The postponement was then announced via sound system and the SUSHS’s official social media pages, though the post has since been taken down.
However, Labe noted that the publication material did not include the event’s new kickoff time, listing it only in the caption.
Meanwhile, STEAM Mayor Eunice Chloe Santiago said that the organizers explained adjustments throughout the planning process and during the event.
“We were informed about the schedule, activities, and participants beforehand,” she said. “However, some adjustments had to be made in response to concerns that were raised and logistical considerations.”
Humanities and Social Sciences, Arts and Design (HUMAD) Mayor Shekinah Dawn Donio, said they did not receive much information regarding Teal Takeoff because “it was mainly intended for the SUSHS Core Council officers.”
“Our organizers had already informed us beforehand that we would need to plan our own opening event alongside Teal Takeoff. Thus, we worked on our own opening event,” she said.
Labe said the SUSHS Student Council plans to establish centralized communication networks and physical promotion during major events, as a response to students’ concerns.
These include an official Facebook channel to disseminate mass announcements, a group chat with all class representatives, and posters around the building.
