TURNING BACK THE HANDS OF TIME (A TRIBUTE TO BATCH 1996)- MARYKNOLL HIGH SCHOOL OF CATEEL GRAND REUNION

“Don’t believe everything I say.”  Why would I suggest that? Because I can only speak from my own experience. None of the events I share are inherently true or false, right or wrong.  It simply reflects my own recollection of events.  Having said that let me tell you our story, the story of batch 1996. Recollecting the events that transpired many years ago during high school could be an arduous task.   The easiest way to remember those old days is by talking to a classmate; however the details could be vague sometimes.  Matter of fact, I did not have the luxury of spending the 1st two years of my high school in Maryknoll since I was a transferee from another school.  Nevertheless I will try my best to unearth the vastness of our high school experiences.

this was taken during our JS Prom circa 1995

Our high school years were marred with serious controversies; it was classified as serious because it got the ire of the school administration threatening to expel those culprits involved in the incident but upon bringing it up now with some of our classmates the incident has become so funny that we could hide our faces in humiliation if we will be sharing the stories with you.  Do I have the authority to divulge the incident that happened during that fateful night?  I don’t think so.  Therefore, I am reserving that story to be shared with my classmates who have not heard about it since then.  I just can’t wait hearing crisp laughter from all of us during the event.

If forming a “clan” among the youth were so prevalent nowadays in Cateel, that clan of today will pale in comparison to the group that came to being years ago in our batch.  Who could forget the groups of “The Campus Girls, C.R.E.A.M, Mit-ze-lorre-net, Knights Boyz, etc”.  Each group has its own identity, agenda and reason in forming such.  The birth of these different groups could have had divided our common goal of graduating from high school but it only made our batch bonded together.  I remember when we had our month-long preparation for the National Competitive Examination everybody was helping each other hurdled this exam by way of mentoring.  We did great in that exam because of the unparalleled guidance of Mrs. Elmerita Cervantes.  We are forever grateful to you Ma’am Elmie.  Mrs. Cervantes was never our teacher in any of our subjects in our senior year but the patience and the expertise she showed us in all of the subjects during that month-long preparation was supreme and unrivaled.  She knew almost everything.  Thank you!

circa 1995

How about Helen of Troy, Zeus, Athena, Aphrodite, Poseidon, Trojan horse and many other gods and goddesses and other characters, did it ring a bell?.  Nobody can narrate Homer’s Iliad better than Ms. Ethel Castro.  By listening to her story we simply became the characters ourselves as depicted in the book.  Helen, the face that launched a thousand ships, was a tantalizing enigma from the very start. She was perhaps the most inspired character in all literature, ancient or modern. A whole war, one which lasted for ten years, was fought over her. The characters and even the denouement or the working out of the plot following the climax were all narrated splendidly by Ms. Castro. Her version of the story can make us travel through words, so to speak.  Whew! Thank you Ma’am Ethel.

In subject such as Mathematics, whenever a teacher will give us difficult examination we might look above for inspiration, down in desperation, look left and right for information originating from our classmates but if you have Mrs. Esther Racines-Miguel as your teacher you will blossom under her tutelage and care and can become little Pythagoras.  None of us became the proverbial "Pythagoras" but the progresses that we were making were in leaps and bounds.  We are always grateful to you Ma’am.

16 years after graduation

As our grand alumni homecoming approaches I feel jittery inside.  Anyone who has attended reunions feels that there is an amount of anxiety associated with attending reunions.  Somebody on the other hand who is contemplating of not attending also could have many excuses/reasons in mind.  I’ve gained a lot of weight, I’m not successful (I’m not a doctor, lawyer etc), I don’t look as good as I’d like, I am bald, have wrinkles, saddlebags, grey hair and no one will recognize me.  These are tried and unacceptable excuses. Changes are inevitable fact of life.  It won't matter if you're yellow or blue (the color of the old and the new school uniform respectively), left or right, in the middle or someplace else altogether but on October 26-28 let us see each other’s faces and be part of this once-in-a-lifetime event

It’s been 16 years since we left the doors of our beloved Alma Mater to pursue our individual calling.  In the grand scheme of things, we had our fair share of ordeal that we confronted head-on, albeit reluctantly.  Those 16 years were mostly long and incredible journey in finding our place in this world.  We might not have the courage to pursue our dreams without the foundation of Maryknoll education.

happy moments with the founder of MHSC

CHILD DRIVEN EDUCATION

I should say that there is wisdom to the experiment conducted by education scientist Sugata Mitra.  Our world is continually changing and one evident aspect of this change is the advancement of our technology.  It is imperative therefore to embrace this change or we become irrelevant and obsolete in the future.

However, in educating our children we should take a closer look at their attitude towards this new technology.  There are students who have innate exploratory character.  They have the inclination to tinker the computer immediately and be able to explore and unravel its different applications and usage in no time while some are indifferent and uninterested towards this technology.  You see, the problem here is not the motivated students but the unmotivated one.  This program could work very well for young curious minds but could prove disastrous to unresponsive learner.  More so, what will happen to the children who will extract data from the internet unsupervised?  How can he draw the line between factual and fictional data?  Is there a way for him to validate the truthfulness of the content if he is googling information over the internet alone?  Certainly, the vastness of the internet will bring up tons of information and I believe that we need our teacher to do the job of sorting which data is meaningful and relevant.  Yes, we can access any information immediately over the internet but a sole/lone learner let alone elementary pupil can be able to identify appropriate and significant data.

 In a nutshell, I am still a firm believer of traditional, face to face teaching where a competent, caring, kindhearted teacher will guide and supervise every learner.  We cannot discount the contributions of a teacher in molding the minds of our children.  Moreover, a computer has its limitations like the inability to give reasons in certain situations and to empathize when a student is experiencing difficulties in his lessons.  The essence of true learning is not our mastery in arithmetic nor expertise in the field of science but our evolution into becoming a real person and only a compassionate and loving teacher can do it.

A Reflection on Molder of Dreams (Guy Doud)

To give you a glimpse of how my life was molded, let me begin this way.  About 20 years ago, I was asked to answer an algebraic problem on the board by my math teacher that forever altered the direction of my life.  It was a simple task but, like the stamp of a searing hot branding iron, my life was permanently marked by that event. It happened when I was in second year high school.

As an overview, my elementary life was fraught with mediocrity.  I envy my 6 year-old son because he can already read when he was in Grade I.  When I was his age, I would simply memorized all the words in one page just to pretend that I can read.  I couldn't do simple arithmetic either, a mere sight of numbers during our class could bring shiver down my spine, so to speak.  I simply hate mathematics.  There were times that I wanted to quit school because my Grade I teacher spanked me for not being able to answer even simple mathematical question supposedly given to preschoolers.  And a first grader like me is not a preschooler anymore.  So without beating around the bush, I was just an average student during my elementary years.

In my first year in high school, I was still terrified of numbers.  There were times that I would skip math classes lest that I might be called during board works.  I was doing well in other subjects but my grade in math was horrible.  To emphasize, it was the only subject that thwarted my path on top of the class list.  However, in my second year, my math teacher asked me to solve the problem on the board.  It was actually my first time doing it because whenever my name was called I would respectfully decline.  No amount of prodding can make me stand and solve the dreaded mathematical question on the board.  On that day, I obliged myself to give it a try.  Just when I finished answering it, my teacher noticed that I solved it incorrectly, bad memories from my elementary years kept flooding my senses.  A thought that my teacher would scold me for not giving the right answer or she might embarrass me in front of my classmates.  But lo and behold, in a kind and caring voice, she asked me to do it again and showed me how to do it right this time.  Soon after, I found myself loving mathematics and it helped me gained my confidence back.  I became the president of math club and graduated in high school on top of the heap.

In a nutshell, Guy Doud said it succinctly “every single one of us is a teacher and as a teacher we are called to do all kinds of things”.  The legacy that we can leave behind is not teaching our students the basics of arithmetic nor the intricacies of history but by touching the hearts of people and opening the minds of children in the full light of all the facts about the world in which they live.  We have the moral obligation to make them more human.  We should also teach them to weave their dreams high to know their purpose. In the grand scheme of things where fulfilling a dream seems tough, we encourage our students to recall their resolve to achieve more in life.   Indeed, a simple act of kindness can really make a big difference.  Therefore, as a teacher we are supposed to be moulder not slayer of child’s dreams.