Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Mommy's day

This morning I got up an hour early to drop by ICA before going to the office. My special reason for visiting was to congratulate Gng. dela Rosa, whom I fondly call Mommy dela Rosa, for this afternoon, she is receiving the award for most outstanding teacher during ICA's annual Recognition Day ceremonies. When I found out she had finally won the award (I had nominated her 2 years ago), I was ecstatic. I simply adore this woman. In the short span of the 2 years I was a teacher, I looked up to Gng. dela Rosa as one of the most respectable, dignified, and competent members of the high school faculty. More importantly, she was warm, compassionate and loving, and it was so natural to regard her as a mother figure. Her students felt the same way about her, and very often I found myself envious that I never got to be Gng. dela Rosa's student. If only for that privilege, I wish I were actually an ICAn.

But whenever I was around her-- meetings of the 4th year teachers, conduct/graduation deliberations, chatting in the hallway between classes-- I always felt embraced by her aura of motherly love, and I felt ICAn enough. She cared, not just about whether students understood her El Filibusterismo lessons, or did well in talumpati; she cared about her students, period. She would notice if a kid was not acting like herself, or if she seemed upset about something. She would be concerned if a student's academic performance was slipping, and she would be relieved if she saw another student's grades improving. She would always give students the benefit of the doubt, and credit where credit was due. And she did all those for her colleagues as well. I remember one time, as the 4th year teachers were all sitting down for a meeting, she took one look at my haggard face and immediately asked me if I was feeling all right, and why I was looking so tired. In another instance, during my first year in ICA, we shared a brief conversation wherein she encouraged me to become an advisor the following year, saying that she believed I would make a great advisor. And yet another time, I caught her smiling at me and when I asked why, she squeezed my arm and just said, "Wala lang, natutuwa lang ako sa iyo." I appreciated her affirmation and affection so much, the little ways she would teach me, through her example, the kindness and generosity of spirit every teacher should have.

Gng. dela Rosa has so much heart, as a teacher, as a mother, as a friend. She is an inspiration to us all, and I can think of no one else more deserving of the award she will be receiving this afternoon. Congratulations, Mommy! :)

4 Comments:

At Friday, December 08, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's nice to hear there are still dedicated educators out there...hm...now you made me think back to our Jubilee days, did we have ANY teachers worth remembering and thanking? I seem to remember having a hate-hate relationship with most of them...kinda makes me sad...wait...I remember one Chinese teacher in 4th year...the nice one not the scary one!

 
At Friday, December 08, 2006, Blogger Ailee Through the Looking Glass said...

Oh, the Chinese teacher who let us cheat like crazy and pretended not to notice? :p I don't even remember her name, hehe.

I can think of a handful of our teachers I liked: Mr. Deraya (Bio), even if he spoke in a funny accent; Ms. Celis (Physics), never mind if she could be mataray; and Mrs. Bumatay (English), even if she was our high school principal and thus was very formal with her students. :)

 
At Saturday, December 09, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

OK now I remember, I did like Mr. Deraya, even though his subjects were always super hard! I remember his super tiny and organized handwriting. I also remember I liked Mrs. Bumatay's techniques, too bad I think she stopped teaching after 2nd year? There's also the guys' gym teacher, forgot his name, he was goofy but quite nice and kind.

 
At Saturday, December 09, 2006, Blogger Ailee Through the Looking Glass said...

Oh gosh, what was that guy's name? He was our class advisor in 3rd year! Mr. Ma-something. I'll have to ask the others if they remember his name. :p

 

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