My Teacher, My Artist: Teacher Luz Jamisola Romero

"Ang mga bata, pumapasok sa eskuwela nakikita ko inosenteng-inosente, pero at the end of the day, pag-uwi nila, they learned something new, they learned something from me.  They learned something that they would carry for the rest of their lives.  That, for me, is an achievement that is priceless."

Teacher Luz.

She was my music teacher in grades V and VI.  What I remember most about her is that she always starts a song with a pitch pipe in her hand, brings it on her lips to let us hear the right pitch.

Her dream was to be a nurse.  She didn't want to teach.  But like many of us, we just take what we can afford and be contented with it.    "I didn't fall in love with teaching the moment I got out of college" was how she remembers it.  But what she knows is that her heart beats for music.  It is a home for those notes, clefs and bits and do re mi's.

Her first teaching experience was in a barrio.  Living in the town of Pagadian City, Teacher Luz was fifteen to twenty minutes away from the school where she taught, and that is by banca.  She said she was very happy during these boat rides that take her to and from school.  She looks forward to the time where she enjoyed the breeze and the calm of the waters.

In front of Grade I pupils at the Bomba Primary School in Zamboanga, she started to sing one of her songs.    Then, all of a sudden, one student stood up and said, "Mam, para po kayong singer sa radyo."  The kid looked so mesmerized and overwhelmed that she was so happy that she made the kid felt that way by her voice.

After one year, she was transferred to Balangasan Central School where she was asked to teach pre-school from 8:00-11:00.  Then immediately after, she handles intermediate pupils from 11:00-5:00 pm.  She couldn't tell exactly when she fell in love with teaching, but she said she thinks it was just within her first year.  I told her it might be the boat rides but she just smiled.

The start of the fight between the rebels and the government forced her to evacuate.  Her sister, who was already teaching here in Sta. Cruz, Laguna, invited her to stay and start her life here, and that's exactly what happened.

She started teaching at the Sta. Cruz Central Elementary School in 1975 and retired in 2004.  All in all, Teacher Luz dedicated 41 years of teaching, and her forte is music and arts.

"It takes a music teacher to teach music.  It's all about passion and it is very subjective.  You may not know it, but the kids can tell if you are not teaching with your heart."

Her achievements in her whole teaching career are all in line with her passion in music and the arts.  She was the "Songbird of Zamboanga" before she moved here in Laguna.  She was asked to teach not only songs but hawaiian and folk dances and was even a mentor for the Zamboanga del Sur Cultural Troop.  Her music supervisor used her voice in the "Recorded and Prescribed Songs found in the textbooks, "Halina't Umawit at Gumuhit."  Teachers in Laguna use these tapes in teaching songs to students from grades one to five.  She's been to many places like Siquijor, Cotabato and different places here in Laguna.  But her most memorable was not on the stage or any event to accept the awards.  It was in the corners of her room and almost every day.

"Ako naman naniniwala ako na walang taong sintunado, hindi lang sila nate-train to hear and sing the right notes."

There was one Friday that I gave a music assignment over the weekend.  It was a difficult song from their textbook entitled, "Salidumay" in notes.  I only unlocked the difficult phrases for them and asked them to study the song.  "You know Clara, hanggang ngayon, kinikilabutan ako pag naalala ko yon.  The kids were able to sing the song, to think that the notes were difficult.  I felt so accomplished."

Teaching the arts is also difficult.  She says that in poster-making contests, sometimes, it's not only how good the drawing is.  It's how the kids interpret the theme in their minds and how they put it down in images.  You have to teach them how to interpret themes, and I ask you, 'how easy is that?'  If you guys remember, Sta. Cruz Central was also very famous for winning the arts contests, too.

When asked about the problems and pressures she encountered in her whole teaching career, I was surprised when she said, "Teaching itself is never a problem.  There was never a problem.  In fact, ask me to teach the whole day and I will gladly do it.  The only thing that gives me the pressure is the paper works.  But I never had any problems with teaching."

These days, she's enjoying the rewards of retirement.  She has a son and a daughter who are both busy with their careers.  Her son, Mark Lawrence is mostly out of town doing field works as a chemist, and her daughter, Jackielou Joan is in Manila and works as a medical transcriptionist.

Her last story for me about teaching was when she was asked to be a substitute teacher for two weeks for the star section whose adviser had to go on a sick leave.  That was an honor for me to be asked to handle them.  But I declined.  I thought about those children in my six classes.  They all will suffer for two weeks.  I told them, "I am sorry but I won't do that.  That is only one section and those children from that section can easily catch up when their teacher comes back.  Mas kailangan ako ng mga estudyante ko dito sa six classes ko."  For me, this is a remarkable thing to do, if not heroic.

In spite of all the stress brought about by teaching, I find ballroom dancing as a way to relax.  I find it the most rewarding activity. It renews me and refreshes my spirit to get back to teaching the following day.

Teacher Luz.  My Teacher, My Hero this Tuesday.

Like Teacher Anna Liz, Teacher Abbie and Teacher Nancy, Teacher Luz will also receive the Kaibigan Card - Guro Edition courtesy of Pandayan Bookshop.