The Great Teacher

CEBU, Philippines - The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.

Mrs. Rebecca Gaballo Ouano has imbibed this William Arthur Ward wisdom to becoming her guiding principle throughout her 42 years of teaching.

She believes that the opportunity to learn is not limited in the classroom. Her advocacy is dedicated towards giving the underprivileged a chance to get an education. To her, education can be their most powerful tool in ending poverty.

As a Guidance and Counseling Education major, Ma’m Becky said it is easier for her to auto-adjust to various personalities. Her students is a mix of children in conflict with the law, habitual offenders, commercial sex workers, juvenile delinquents, vendors, street children, and those who are just plainly bored of the traditional classroom setting.

In her ALS (Alternative Learning System) class at the Tejero School last December 6, she was surrounded by six online gamers in their early 20s, one 29-year-old guy from Cagayan de Oro, and a single parent from Bohol who were all receiving pointers from her in preparation for the Accreditation and Equivalency Examination. Once the eight students pass, they will be conferred upon a diploma, and will be credible to take up college courses.

“We just got stuck up with Dota (a role-playing online game), later on realizing we’re too old to attend high school. Feeling lang namo ba nga uwaw na kaayo ibalik sa high school kay mga kuya na mi sa among mga classmate. So we enrolled here at the Tejero ALS program,” said Brylle Palomares.

Brylle along with his T. Padilla pack — Christian Dave Tabon, Ernest Kirk Cabrera, Benito Andales Jr.; and Ritchie Cabrera — claim to have enrolled in the past but kept on quitting because they were less inspired to attend to the ALS class even when meeting is done twice weekly only. The impression changed when Ma’m Becky took over responsibility of the program, was able to establish affinity with partners that led to the putting up of a separate ALS building, and working as an epitome of what a public servant is.

“Jamming kaayo si Ma’m. Kasabot siya namo. Kasabay siya unsa ning dagan sa utok sa batan-on,” compliments Ritchie Cabrera, who now has found a new lease to a brighter future by pursuing engineering-related discipline in college as he said he is very interested in machines, gizmos and gadgets.

Ma’m Becky raised her six children and sent them all to school while she fulfills her duties as an educator. However, her being a mother didn’t stop at her own kin. She extends maternal care to all her students. “Gi-treat nako sila like my own children. We share meals together. Some of them would stay beyond school hours to open up to me about their personal cares. I like that because it would be easier to counsel them through their soft spot,” she said.

Such get-togethers provided an opportunity for these former out-of-school youths to blow off emotional steam. “I also get a new perspective on their problems. So I get to devise a strategy to be able to get them interested in our lessons, most especially composition,” this Cum Laude graduate from the University of San Carlos shared.

“Ganahan bitaw ko kay I learned that in writing essays, there is an established pattern: Intro, Body and Conclusion. Morag mag-pile up siya ba. Kang Ma’m ra ko nakat-on ani, maybe because I am now more focused. Unlike sa una nga busy ko sa akong pagka-teenager,” laughs out her student Joseph Verdida of Villagonzalo II, this city, after sharing a class experience.

Ma’m Becky’s dedication and commitment to the ALS program was rewarded with a national recognition via the 2012 Gawad Geny Lopez, Jr. Bayaning Pilipino Award last February. It is a search for modern-day heroes. It aims to give recognition to ordinary folks doing extraordinary deeds – a fitting tribute to fine Filipino values of humanitarianism, industry, determination, and dedication to public service.

However, Ma’m Becky still shrinks to the idea of being “bayaning guro” (hero teacher).

“Hilasan gyod ko. In all those 12 years I’d been invited to join the search, I’d always shied away from every opportunity. Maldita kaayo ko adto: moingon ra man ko nga ang mag-search maoy mangita sa awardan, dili kay ang awardan maoy mopresentar sa iyang kaugalingon,” she disclosed.

She hates preparing the requirements, having had a bad experience about related searches. “Dili lalim. I would compile my CV (comprehensive resume, training certificates, pictures, just to show them what I’ve done and what I still can do. Para nako binuang ba,” she added as she handed over to this writer that inch-thick portfolio.

But what changed her mind this year?

“It was the late ALS Talamban division superintendent Guadalupe Baring who encouraged me to file my application. She nominated me to this search. I said ‘no way’ initially. Pero even in her deathbed, she wrote a letter to the division nga iya kong gi-nominate. And I was kind of touched at such a gesture. Ingon ko sus hangtod sa iyang sickbed, ako lang gihapon iyang gihunahuna. So I might as well give it a try,” she further revealed.

The rest is history. Because so-called confidential investigators confirmed she has actively participated in promoting and executing the ALS as its project coordinator, her efforts paid off well. She was finally recognized on a national platform.

To say that this Moalboal native works beyond her call of duty is an understatement, so it was said. Aside from being an educator in Tejero Elementary School, she also finds time to voluntarily teach during weekends to traffic aides, inmates, street vendors; and provide a free daily supplementary feeding program to almost 200 street children, as well as conducts outreach programs for the depressed, deprived and underserved in the society.

Many of us remember our teachers for the things they have taught us. Ma’m Becky will be most remembered by how she has touched and inspired so many lives.

In fact, all eight students of hers that day see her as a Christmas gift personified. “We are all gifts to each other. Our purpose is to let God be magnified in all the things that we do,” Ma’m Becky replied while she was preoccupied with preparing the table for us to feast on lechon manok, puso, and spaghetti.

“Mao ni among ganahan ni Ma’m kay mopakaon gyod,” Joseph roared before he led the thanksgiving prayer. (FREEMAN)