Training the Next Generation of Leaders

Imagine a classroom like this: Ten year olds standing tall even as they are being “fried” in a high pressure yet fail-safe presentation format that resembles The Apprentice or young teens traversing in the air being lifted up by their massive goals, cheered by like-minded peers and propelled by a powerful vision. These metaphorical exercises are part of the leading edge activities that have become classrooms of hundreds of students in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

The World Stage Superstar Achiever’s Program was created by Cherry Pua Africa, a St Jude alumnus from Batch 88. “It was my goal to augment what the mainstream education offered and extend achievement over and beyond grades. It dawned on me that I can create a platform to champion young minds into thinking, moving and feeling what success is like from as early as when they become tweens. If we can conduct a powerful intervention program to condition their minds and bodies at a young age, then their spirits will soar higher and sooner. Our youngsters will connect with people better and will achieve higher goals because they will have extraordinary psychology,” Cherry enthused with passion.

This vision was shared with then principal of St Jude, our very dear Rev. Fr. Peter Yang a few days before he passed away. Fr. Yang asked to meet Cherry to discuss what she planned to do in the field of education. At that time, Cherry had just pioneered Kinder Minds, a Multiple-Intelligences-inspired preschool in Quezon City that drew 70 students in its first year of operations, an industry-high considering that early childhood education had not yet been widely accepted at that time. “He inspired me in a lot of ways. When he passed away a few days after, I realized that he had given me his blessings to carry on this noble mission. The World Stage program is the result of a tunnel-like vision and non stop persistence that seemed to have been fired up after that meeting,” Cherry continued.

During her student life in St Jude, Cherry graduated Valedictorian in Grade 6, was the Student Council President in her 4th year of High School, Christian Life Community Vice President, Corps Executive Officer of CAT and Judenites Feature Editor. According to Cherry, high school was like a world playground. She learned early how the game of life was played and the patterns, habits and behaviors that made one win or lose reflected one’s character. Her college life was also peppered with outstanding achievements, graduating with a Masters Degree in Education and Magna Cum Laude in Business Economics from the University of the Philippines. She was also the chairperson of the Organization of Business Economics Majors and a President’s Scholar.

After graduating, Cherry took on a marketing post at Procter and Gamble where she helped launched new products for Safeguard and Tide. “Working for P & G was a dream come true. It was a privilege to be working with some of the country’s best management people and marketing talents.”

Her stint at P & G was cut short, however, when after a dinner discussion with a close friend, she realized that there was a gaping hole in her life that needed to be addressed. Edwin, who she was to marry five years later asked her one simple yet profound question- if you have in your possession a million pesos right now, what would you do? “I said I would build a school. That night before I slept, I looked at my whole life before me. So tell me again why I was not in education? I asked myself. Ever since I was a child, I have always played the role of a teacher. In high school and college, I listened to other people’s problems all the time and found joy in giving them little pockets of advise. Ever since I was young, I envisioned myself as a trainer. I visualized myself holding a microphone onstage giving a lecture. That night, I resolved to commit myself to seeing this dream crystallize into a reality. I wiggled myself out of a lucrative marketing profession and started chasing my dreams.”

Cherry has lived out of the Philippines in the last 11 years. Married to Edwin Africa, now General Manager of Pepsico International for Singapore and Malaysia, she spent her honeymoon years in Thailand, gave birth to two beautiful girls in Singapore and now raises her children in Malaysia. Her children are still young and Cherry takes pleasure in having a flexible schedule to personally raise her children to become budding champions in their own fields. Her elder daughter, Gabby has achieved accolades in swimming while 6 year old Dani displays early signs of leadership, being elected as Student Council representative of Year 1. Edwin and Cherry spend their free time reading to their children and telling them stories about their families in China and the Philippines.

Cherry has also set up a center in Singapore and formed a company called Never Ending Story with operations in the Southeast Asian region. One of the key components of the World Stage Program is the Business Edutainment Science and Technology (BEST) Leaders Camp in Singapore. "I was bowled over by how modern and progressive education is. In high school, students are able to assemble robots that function as virtual house cleaners. When I attended a student-led school exhibition sponsored by the Ministry of Education, I was just floored by how technologically-advanced their education is." Despite the industrial advancements and global mindset possessed by Singaporean students at the elementary level, she noticed something lacking. What could bring these world-class inventions to a higher platform could be something as basic as show and tell.

Cherry and her team have assembled a powerful program built on the component of Show and Tell called the "Come as You Will Be Party". The program culminates with a party that will make your child think like, talk like, act like and feel like the person who has already achieved his goal. While acting and dressing the part, they are also challenged to present evidences of their fame and fortune, such as possible news features, magazine covers, pictures, and such. This sends powerful commands to the unconscious mind to find creative ways to achieve his goals.

A powerful and inspirational Life Coach for Super Successful Students, Cherry has trained close to 70,000 students, parents and educators in the top International and Local Schools in the region. She has a deep understanding of the cultures and backgrounds of different children, having taught a total of 50 different nationalities. Cherry has a Masters in Education, is a certified NLP trainer by the American Board of Neuro Linguistic Programming, American Board of Hypnotherapy and Time Line Therapy. Cherry has also written books and produced DVDs and audios related to Unconventional and Transformative Reading and Storytelling. Throughout her more than 15 years of experience in the industry, she has interacted and learned from powerful mentors like Anthony Robbins, Mark Hansen, Art Costa, Howard Gardener, Robert Sternberg, Robin Fogarty, Jack Canfield and many others.

Since she left the Philippines 11 years ago, Cherry has returned to St Jude three times to give back and conduct free workshops to Judenite parents. To her, this is the least she can do to a school that helped build the foundations of her character.

Cherry looks back with pride at how St Jude has shaped her to become who she is. "Till now, I remember some of my teachers who approached even the most ordinary subjects with passion and enthusiasm. I still see a few of these great teachers in St Jude and am totally moved and humbled by their commitment and love for their students. My work is a just a small speck of dot before them and I have a lot to learn by how they are able to alkaline their energy and spirit to teach the same subject year in and year out with the same level of enthusiasm, if not higher. If I can measure up to even just 50% of their contributions throughout my lifetime, then St Jude has not taught me in vain."

Cherry Pua-Africa's World Stage programs are now available in the Philippines. Please contact 975-4623 or 0917-8813264.