A Salute To The Nobler Profession

Many of them come from families of educators; one says that is the "legacy our family can offer to humankind". Many of them were inspired to become teachers by teachers who unlocked the doors of the vast treasure houses of knowledge, who showed by word and deed the nobility of the teaching profession.

Sadly, our teachers, especially those in the public schools, have of late become caricatures: ill-equipped, over-worked, teaching classes of 50 or more students with the barest of classroom equipment and very few textbooks, coming to school with a veritable sari-sari store of items that they sell to augment very meager salaries. The plight of our teachers is a sad indictment of our society, of the importance we place on the education of our youth.

Yet there are those who have not lost sight of the importance of teachers, and strive to honor those who put heart, soul and effort into teaching our young people.

For the past 22 years, the Metrobank Foundation has undertaken a yearly project to search for the best and most outstanding teachers in the country. From urban colleges to rural elementary schools, teachers are nominated, screened and evaluated, and the best of them are chosen for the distinct honor and held up as examples, not just of the teaching profession but as nation builders.

This year, ten teachers–four elementary, three high school and three college teachers–were bestowed the accolade, which came with a trophy and a P250,000 cash award each. They were given their awards by President Arroyo in a special ceremony in Malacañang, and formally in ceremonies at the Metrobank Plaza early this month.

STARweek had the privilege of meeting and chatting with these true modern day heroes when they, accompanied by Metrobank Foundation president Chito Sobrepeña and senior executive vice president Elvira Ong Chan, visited our office last week.

Raquel Fortun is no stranger to STARweek, having been featured in the magazine some years back. She is the country’s foremost forensic pathologist, a star witness in many criminal trials (including the ongoing Subic rape case), her expertise sought in many controversial cases such as the Ozone disco fire, the Payatas disaster and several high profile murder cases. She has been teaching at the UP-College of Medicine for 17 years and has produced a number of instructional materials on the subject.

"As a forensic pathologist it is a must that one be a good teacher too," she says, adding that aside from good communicatrion skills and knowledge of the subject matter, a teacher must be "morally upright" as well.

Editha Banguilan exemplifies dedication to her students, turning down a promotion to become principal because she believed that she "could give more and better service" as a teacher in the Cabagan Science Elementary School in Isabela province. She now teaches math to first grade students, after teaching second grade for 27 years.

Gelly Alkuino surmounted great odds to become a teacher. Hearing impaired and born to poor and illiterate parents, he nevertheless obtained two bachelors’ degrees (in education/history and business/accounting) and a master’s degree (in educational management). Although he teaches social studies to second year high school students, his favorite subject in school was math. His teacher at the Mindanao State University, former Mayor Rosalita Nuñez, once told him that "if I really wanted to become a teacher, I should learn to love the ‘unlovables’ and like the ‘unlikeables’ because that is the real essence of teaching."

Retiring is not in Ofelia Loñoza’s vocabulary, although she is 60 years old and has taught for the last 40 years. Her first year as a teacher saw her walking several kilometers each day to a school in the middle of a rice field. She currently teaches Filipino to first grade students at the Lucena North I Elementary School in Quezon province, and her award is "the best gift I can give to my mother on her 81st birthday".

Calbayog City high school English teacher Isabel Eman believes that parents and the school should join hands as partners in monitoring and supervising the education of children, who have difficulty absorbing lessons partly because there are now too many distractions competing for their attention. Thus she says that a teacher must not only know her subject, she must have a rapport with her students in order to effectively communicate and enable students to learn.

History professor and chairman of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Ambeth Ocampo says his favorite subject as a student was integral calculus. But it is history, specifically Philippine history, that he teaches and writes about now. "History is often seen to be merely an informative subject when it is much more," he says. "It is formative and thus to form the young is one way of changing the course of our nation’s future for the better."

Ambeth has been teaching for 21 years, altough he claims to be an "incidental teacher–the career came to me. In the beginning I thought it would just be a job, but after my first day of teaching I realized it is a vocation." His secret as a teacher? "You must know how to make your students laugh."

Evelyn Kimpo wanted to be a teacher since she was in grade school, inspired no doubt by her teachers. Now a Grade 6 English teacher at the Banga Elementary School in Aklan (her first job was in a remote barrio school five hours by foot from the nearest town), she believes that schools must "focus more on teaching the 3R’s in the primary grades to ensure that children can read and write and compute well, which will be their tools in the higher grades." Without this solid foundation, students will tend to sink even lower because they cannot understand lessons.

Olivia Caling saw in her mother Mercedes the dedication and commitment of being a teacher, and this led her to become a science teacher at the Ramon Magsaysay High School in Manila. Aside from her classroom duties, she mentors in the DepEd program and does teacher training. She is optimistic about our country’s educational system, noting that "a lot of programs/projects are being undertaken not only for students but for teachers as well".

Soledad Roguel teaches educational psychology at the Central Luzon State University in Nueva Ecija and believes that admission to colleges of education must be more selective, so that only the best students would go into the profession. She holds a doctorate in educational psychology, as well as master’s and bachelor’s degrees in education, and decided on becoming a teacher right after high school. To her, a good teacher is "competent, communicative, caring and creative".

Passionate pursuit of truth, unlimited love for humanity and a belief in the goodness of people are characteristics necessary for being a good teacher. This according to Ruth Gelvezon of the West Visayas State University in Iloilo. In the face of "mediocrity and problems of moral degeneration" facing our society today, she believes teachers must "develop a strong moral stand and never take the easy way out". Coming from a family of educators, she believes that "this is the legacy our family can offer to humankind".