Proud Pinoy of Lucena City one of the 50 finalists in the Global Student Prize 2021

Meet Ancelmo Catalla of Quezon Science High School.

Catalla is among the 50 finalists for the inaugural edition of Chegg.org, a partner of Varkey Foundation chosen among thousands of achieving students worldwide for the Global Student Prize 2021.

His penchant for reading books, newspapers later gave him the passion for writing leading his journey to become a student journalist and entrepreneur giving him insights into the problems of the country. He believes that the voice of youth is one of the most important factors in upholding truth and protecting individual rights.

As Editor-in-chief of their school paper, The Velocity, Capalla brave writing become a voice of how important is press freedom that in June of 2020 he was integral in the launch the first issue of Redshift, a publication full of youth voices, artworks created by students, news report on COVID-19, opinion writing on press freedom and other issues that affects the youth. It comes after the shutdown of a media giant by the government forcing journalists, celebrities, and activist to
speak out.

As a newbie in entrepreneurship, he help designed the ACRISIUS machine(Activated Charcoal Chelation Reservoir for Industrial and Sewage Wastewater Initialized Using Sensor). With a general weight average of 98% earning the highest honors from his school he also helped design the digital prototype of CABIN, a smart garbage bin that eliminates physical contact through the use of sensors and uses ultraviolet(UV) to disinfect waste, preventing the spread of diseases like COVID-19.

CABIN was declared champion by the University of the Philippines Industrial Engineering Club ErgoCon competition while his ACRISIUS was the first place in the National Science Quest beating more than 30 other entries.

If Ancelmo wins the Global Student Prize which is 100 thousand US dollars, he intends to use it in setting-up a mini-libraries in remote areas of the country and to fund schools that cater to children with special needs.

It would be a top act to win since there are 49 more students selected by Chegg,org who exhibited a proactive approach that champions most of what the youth can do.

The story was originally posted at Varkey Foundation/Chegg.org Global Student Prize.