CTELA joins the 3rd CBRC National Teacher Education Quiz Bee
In a quiz bee, every question ends the same way. The clock runs down, the room goes still, and a contestant commits to a final answer. But at the 3rd National Teacher Education Quiz Bee, the most memorable answer of the day was not written on any contestant’s board. It was spoken before the first round even began.
The College of Teacher Education and Liberal Arts (CTELA) of Baguio Central University joined the competition, held on April 27 at the Universidad de Manila. Organized by the Dr. Carl E. Balita Review Center (CBRC), the quiz bee carried the theme “ASEAN to the World,” a reminder that the teachers of today are preparing learners for a region and a world that grow more connected every year.
Carrying the colors of CTELA was Ms. Regel Ollibac, who stood as the representative of CBRC’s Baguio Branch. She faced a field of future teachers from CBRC branches across the country, from Luzon to Mindanao, each one sent by their own community to test what years of study had built.
The contest was a single day of four demanding rounds: easy, average, difficult, and extreme. Each round raised the stakes. The early questions rewarded steady knowledge, while the later ones demanded speed, precision, and the kind of calm that only comes with preparation. To make room for participants from the Visayas and Mindanao, a simultaneous online quiz bee was held alongside the face-to-face contest, bringing the whole country into the same competition.
After the four rounds, the scores were tallied, and Catanduanes State University was proclaimed champion after accumulating the highest score across all rounds.
Yet the words that stayed with many participants came from the opening of the program. Dr. Carl E. Balita, president and CEO of CBRC, welcomed the contestants with a reminder of why they were there. “The final answer to the most difficult question is you,” he said. He then asked a question of his own: “Who shows up to kids even if the world forgets to clap for them? It is always the teacher—you.”
For a room full of future educators, it was a fitting way to begin. A quiz bee measures what a person knows. Teaching asks for more: the patience to explain a lesson a second and third time, and the willingness to keep showing up long after the applause has faded.
Regel did not walk that road alone. Ms. Sheryl Langwas of CTELA was with her in Manila, part of the support that carries a student from a classroom in Baguio to a national stage.
The competition also speaks to a larger goal. Sustainable Development Goal 4, Quality Education, calls for more qualified teachers, because strong schools depend on them. Contests like this push future educators to master their content and test it against the best in the country. With a theme reaching from ASEAN to the world, the quiz bee also reminded participants that the classrooms they will lead are part of something much bigger.
Regel returned to Baguio with the experience of competing on a national stage, and with words worth remembering. When the hardest question comes, in the exam room or in the classroom, the answer will be the same one Dr. Balita gave that morning. It is the teacher. It is YOU!