IntroductionGone are the days when school children in public schools would hesitate coming to class on the first week of school, knowing that they would be asked to clean classrooms, rake the field, shine floors, and dust ceilings when precious time intended for learning is spent making sure that classrooms are a safe, pleasant place for students.Thanks to Brigada Eskwela.Over the years, the Brigada Eskwela effort has evolved from a week-long cleaning-up and beautification exercise to a festive coming together of stakeholders in education: students, teachers, school officials, parents, civil society, local government officials, religious groups, and the private sector.In an effort to bring the spirit of volunteerism to the community level and maximize civil participation and utilize local resources to improve public schools, the Medina Central School participated in thelaunching of the Department of Educations National Schools Maintenance Week in May. Every year, in the third week of May, various stakeholders unite and work together to repair and prepare public schools for the opening of classes. Brigada Eskwela enlivens the spirit of bayanihan, an innate Filipino trait that boasts communal unity. Private institutions, individuals, and even local government units contribute in generating resources to pull off the effort. During the week-long event, volunteers organized and take time to do minor repairs, landscaping, gardening, painting, plumbing, masonry and cleaning the school vicinity.As the Department of Education endeavours to solve many other challenges plaguing Philippine education, there is Brigada Eskwela that will remind us that when Filipinos unite, we can build better together.