Mushroom business helps school coffer

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

CALASIAO, Pangasinan – Because of the entrepreneurial spirit of the secondary school principal here, the coffer of the institution is filled up with another source of revenue from its mushroom growing business.
Principal IV Olive Paragas Terrado, Ed.D, principal of the Calasiao Comprehensive High School, told this newspaper that at P60 of a 200 grams per pack, the mushroom culture tended by four of her teachers in an abandoned classroom is sold like “hot cakes” after their daily harvest.

MUSHROOM - Teacher John Mark Garcia sprays with water the 250 floating bags that contain the cultured mushroom in an abandoned room of Calasiao Comprehensive High School in Calasiao, Pangasinan. The burgeoning mushroom business and the canteen of the school help defray its expenses on electricity, guards, and utility men that its Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses could hardly finance. Photo credit: GMA-7 Regional TV

“On the first day when we sold our harvest we earned P300, and the second daywe earned P600. As the days went by the demand grows,” she stressed.

Paragas said the price of their mushroom is cheaper that those sold by commercial establishments here and the nearby Dagupan City.

Mushroom, she cited, can be cooked fried, sisig (fried pork jowls, ears and liver) style mixed with green slice papaya and malunggay (moringa), and other delicacies.

The endeavor started last July when Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE) teachers led by John Mark Garcia and collaborated by Ether and Ricky Padilla told her about the viability to culture the toadstool inside the school campus.

“Sabi ko iyan na ang longtime dream ko na magkaroon kami sa school hindi ko natupad nalipat ako”.

She, her four staff, and some students tended the mushrooms by spraying them with water to moisturize them three times a day during weekdays.

“Saturday and Sunday dito sila, ako Saturday lang”.

They started the thriving business with P8000 seed money where they used it to buy drums, floating bags from Sual, and pot sprayer bottles.

“We were able to purchase 250 floating bags iyon ang source namin floating bags”.

Garcia said the floating bags are arranged opposite with each other so each could give more space to the sprouting mushroom.

“Every night tumutubo lalo pag may kulog and kidlaw”.

When Paragas became a principal in the biggest high school in this town early this year, she was hell bent to solve the monthly electrical bill, salaries of her more than 20 security guards and utility men, and other expenses.

She told this writer in July this year that she paid P150,000 a month for the monthly electric bill, P250, 000 for the three security guards, and the 20 utility men alone every month who serve roughly 5,500 education students here.

Since the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) could hardly sustain the bills, she reformed the canteen here that had lethargic monthly income.

When she was the principal of Malasiqui National High School the school earned a net of P120,000 monthly from its canteen.

READ:

School Principal Innovates to Solve Funding Deficit