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.

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My Teacher, My Role Model: Teacher Nancy Jurado Lava

Mama Nancy.

That's how me and my friends call her. She's the mother of my long-time friend. Mama Nancy is a very good cook. We always look forward to dinners at their home whenever there are occasions because we know that we will have a good eat and totally forget about our diet.

When I came home last year, I heard that my friend and his sibling wants her to retire already because of her health condition. But they could not persuade her. She didn't want to stop teaching because she still wanted to be with the kids. Her exact words were, "Nakakaawa naman ang mga bata..." That was what her son - our friend - said.

I asked her for an appointment to feature her on this blog and she agreed. I went a little early because I wanted to see the kids as they went out of their classrooms. But I actually had an extra treat because it was the school's Halloween party and the kids got to wear their costumes.

Teacher Nancy.

It was a few minutes before our appointment when I saw her walking on the school's pathway. Due to age, she gaits with a little limp. To think that her office is at the second floor where I was waiting. I had a good view of her while she talks to some kids greeting her and waving goodbye for the long weekend.

We sat in her office and I explained what this was all about and she started to talk about her career. Being polite and full of respect, I omitted asking the exact years.

Immediately after graduation from the Union College of Laguna in Sta. Cruz, she took a job as a subsititute teacher at the Duhat Elementary School. She did this to gain more experience. But after less than a year, she got a permanent teaching job at the Callios Primary School. She won't forget how she started because she said she was in-charge of everything: "I was the janitor, the teacher, the secretary, the principal."

One year has passed and she got another teaching job at the Bagumbayan Elementary School also here in Sta. Cruz, Laguna, where she's teaching up to now. She started teaching Grade III pupils. Later on, she handled Grade IV students, then Grade V.

Currently, she is a special teacher - meaning no advisory class - and deals with office work most of the time. All in all, Teacher Nancy has 46 years of government service teaching. She's proud to say that she started with a salary of Php 212.00. She says she can't believe that with only that much, she could buy what she needed and wanted and was even able to send her sibling to school. Nowadays, her salary of Php 18,000.00 doesn't seem to be enough.

I wanted to know what were the hardships within the years. And it seemed that she shares the sentiment of Teacher Anna Liz and Teacher Abbie. Too much paper works. Staying late at night to check the papers and tabulate the grades. Teacher Nancy also complains about parents who pamper their kids too much.

But when I asked her what was her greatest achievement, I was really surprised with what she said.

"What made me go on teaching was what I felt when I was in the first year of my teaching experience. When the children I was teaching learned how to read. It made me decide that teaching is what I want to do. Since then, it felt like an achievement like no other when the students finally learn how to read. That in itself is an achievement. For me, the main function of a teacher is to teach. Once the students learn to read and write, I know that it is an achievement like no other. I feel like I have failed when students didn't learn."

Teacher Nancy is due to retire by the end of this month. When I asked her about achievements, what she said was just the quote above. Humble as she is, I learned from her son that she received numerous recognitions. And this year, she is the recipient of the "Outstanding Teacher" award for this year's Teacher's Day Celebration last October 5, 2010. Incidentally, the theme of the celebration is "My Teacher, My Hero."

Forty-six years of teaching kids to help them achieve their dreams, to make them become what they want to be.

What is written on her shirt in the picture (that I took after the interview) is a perfect way to describe what she did for every student during all those years:

"Teachers plant seeds of knowledge that grows with them forever."

Indeed, she shared forty-six years of her life helping children learn.

Teacher Nancy. My Teacher, My Hero this Tuesday.

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My Teacher, My Contributor: Abigail Rose Zaide Juano

"My first job was neither in the field of Medicine nor Education. I worked in a Japanese-owned company in Carmelray II, Calamba City as a Human Resources Staff. But at that time, my mind says that I wanted to become a doctor, and my heart had a hidden desire - to teach."

Teacher Abbie.

With her students at St Peter's Jakarta, Indonesia

She vividly remembers her kindergarten graduation day. In front of many people, she made it known that she wanted to be a doctor. She was a quiet and obedient student, and was not a topnotch nor a teacher's pet. During elementary, she was the "Most Behaved" pupil for for four straight years. I really can imagine how meek and quiet Abbie was as a student.

College served as an opportunity for Abbie to excel and discover her abilities. She took up Psychology as a prerequisite to her long-time dream of being a doctor, and tried things that she believes will enhance her talents and abilities. Self-motivation was her key to achieving things. She studied and joined extra-curricular activities and became vice-president of the Psychological Function Society of Letran College in Calamba, Laguna. The leadership of her group earned them the Gawad Arriba Award as the best organization in 2003.

All these got Abbie prepared for what life is all about after college. Her first job isn't about teaching nor anything related to the medical field. But this didn't stop Abbie from going on. She took each experience as a stepping stone towards the quest for her passion. Once she discovered that teaching is what lies in her heart, she went ahead and followed its desire.

She, then, took a teaching post when she was only 21. She face college students that were either as old as she or older. At first, it was hard to see where she had to stand. But her training and experience made her adapt and later on, with the help of her colleagues and approachable superiors, Abbie realized that teaching is indeed her passion.

"Aside from sharing the knowledge that I have, inspiring students is my other goal. Teaching, to me, is like stepping on a stage play and showing that you are a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed person while backstage, it's staying awake late at night checking test papers and recording the scores."

In between the pressures of teaching, she still finds time to play the piano or the guitar. Unknown to many, she comes from a family of artists. Her Lolo, David Zaide, Sr., was a piano teacher and her her Lolo's sister, Editha Zaide, was a stage play singer and coloratura soprano.

Taken at the LSEF Sta Cruz Chinese School

If she's not playing these instruments, she likes sketching and painting, aside from scrapbooking and collecting photos. And, of course, being in touch with her friends and students thru Facebook and other social networking sites is a thing that she also tries to squeeze in between.

Abbie has been to Indonesia to teach for quite some time and traveled some places. But being born in Pagsanjan, and raised in Magdalena, her heart always comes back to Laguna, a place she says she loves and believes to be more beautiful than those places she has been.

Currently, she is studying (while teaching at the St. Joseph Oasis Center for Spirituality in Pagsanjan, Laguna) at the University of the Philippines - Open University to earn a Diploma in Language and Literacy Education. When she finishes this year, this will give her the opportunity to gear up to a master's degree.

Young as she is, her desire to be an inspiration to her students is worth more than anything. She feels fulfilled whenever she sees her students smile. A hard day's work means nothing to her when she sees her pupils study hard and work hard and appreciate their lessons.

"Yes, I live and breathe teaching. Maybe I didn't become a doctor, but the teaching profession is also like healing someone in an extraordinary way like leaving a mark in somebody's heart."

Teacher Abbie. My Teacher, My Hero this Tuesday.

Note:
Abbie is a writer even when she was young. She was a part of the elementary paper of their school, "L' Immaculata," and "The Bosconian" when she was in high school. Later on, we will see her works published here because I believe this lady can write.

** Images used with permission.

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My Teacher, My Classmate: Anna Liz Arenas

Teacher Anna Liz Arenas

Classmate Anna Liz.

I sat beside her in high school because our seating arrangement comes alphabetically, almost every year and every class for the whole four years.

All those times, I didn't know she wanted to be a teacher, just like her mom.  She was quiet as a high school student.  But, even in those days, she will willingly answer your questions on almost anything.  She is always glad to share what she knows about things, especially on topics that she's fond of .  She's also a very meek student, classmate and friend.  During all those four years of belonging to the same class, I never heard her complain about something or someone.

She studied college at the Philippine Normal University belong to batch 1988 and almost a year after, she started teaching at the Don Bosco School here in Sta. Cruz, Laguna.  Many of my friends' sons and daughters have been her students, and she was even my nephew's adviser in second grade.  During those times, we just said Hi and Hello if we came across each other at the school corridors because she was always busy talking to her present and former students.  I think it has become a big part of her life because she taught until March 2008, a whole nineteen years of teaching.

Teacher Anna Liz.

That is how she is affectionately called by her students.

Anna Liz proudly says that she is a disciplinary teacher, something that I have always believed to be an effective way of teaching kids.  She also encourages parents to really take part in the education of their kids.  In fact, she says she welcomed parents who approached her to be updated with their kids' status in class.  She was glad that parents do this.

But aside from being a disciplinary teacher, she is a friend to her students when not in class.  Part of her achievements - which I believe no one has thought of yet at that time - was being the leader and gig organizer of youth bands.  She believes that there is nothing wrong with being part of a rock band, just as long as they stay away from vices like smoking, drinking and drugs.  "Walang masamang magbanda, basta NO to drugs, drinking, smoking, etc."   Those were her words.

For Anna Liz, part of the challenges of teaching is coming up with different strategies and approaches to make the children learn faster and to make the learning experience more fun.  The never-ending loads of paper works like checking the papers, reading their term papers and computing of grades, and that's just naming a few.  Along with these comes the stress that comes from noisy pupils and their laziness and at times, those parents who seemed to have gone over the limits of complaining most of the time.

There were many other achievements but I believe this kind of fulfillment for Anna Liz makes her belong to the very few teachers whose passion is teaching.  If there is one big fulfillment for Anna Liz, it is seeing these students walk up that stage and get their diplomas.  There is nothing like that feeling for her.  She shares that one fulfillment with every kid's parent who feels joy like no other in having their kids finish school.

These days, Anna Liz stopped teaching.  But I'm sure she's having a good time enjoying her life.  Free from those nights that she didn't have a choice but to check those quizzes and tests, or computing her students' grades.  I've always known she likes Incubus and even enthusiastically told me some trivia about the band and her favorite Incubus songs.   She's also a big fan of The Beatles and can tell you the title of each song in less than five notes.  She now has more time listening to music and doing other things she love - aside from teaching.

Teacher Anna Liz Arenas.  My Teacher, My Hero this Tuesday.

**Image used with permission.

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My Teacher, My Photographer

This is a post inspired by the DepEd's campaign: My Teacher, My Hero.  I take this seriously since I have always looked up to teachers and have high respect for them.  I admire them for their hard work and their effort to instill knowledge in the minds of every person they have the opportunity to teach.

Happy Teachers' Day!

During my high school days at the Pedro Guevara Memorial High School, I wouldn't forget our school photographer, Mrs. Jocson.  Although I didn't get into a class with her within the four years of school, I have known her well because of her camera.

I remember her especially nowadays.  With digicams selling like hotcakes, taking a photograph of anything is not a problem at all.  While back in those days, especially if you're a student and wanted to have some pictures taken, you need to look for her and if she's in class, you need to find out what time she can go and take the picture you want.

PGMHS Batch 1986 photo in the library

With the booming of the social media, people started joining Facebook and Twitter and others, and start opening their treasure chest of memories to unearth those pictures from as far back as they could go.  You see baby pictures, field trips, high school proms, or if you're in luck, a photo from a library that was taken by chance.  Probably because it was nearing vacation and classes were already irregular.

Since I didn't have any class under Mrs. Jocson, I believe it is my passion for photography and pictures that always remind me of her.  She's not only a teacher but the school photographer of our times.  I say thank you to her not only for the teachings, but also for taking a lot of memories for us students who didn't have a camera at that time.

** photo courtesy of my sister, Pinky, from PGMHS Batch 1986

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DepEd: My Teacher, My Hero

October is "Teachers' Month."  Tomorrow is Teacher's Day.  The Department of Education, Culture and Sports has a campaign to honor the teachers.  They call it "My Teacher, My Hero."  In line with this, the DepEd asks us to make Tuesdays the day of teachers and part of the campaign is to say something nice to our teachers even just for every Tuesday of the week.

Also a part of the DepEd's campaign is a prayer for the teachers:

"Look up on our teachers with love.  Grant them perseverance to nurture our eager minds and never give up on us who fall behind."

In line with this campaign, I am thinking of featuring a teacher every Tuesday if it will be possible.  If you know a teacher or someone who knows a teacher who thinks it's okay to be photographed and featured in this website, please leave me a message.

This post is my way to salute to all the teachers who worked so hard to be a part of what I have become.  Your comment will be very much appreciated and will also be treated as your salute to the teachers.

Thank you, Teachers!

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