‘If you can read this, thank a teacher’

For me, National Teachers Month this year—Sept. 5-Oct. 5—began with an invitation from the Rotary Clubs of Alabang, Alabang Centerpoint, Parañaque BF Homes, and Parañaque Sun Valley Sunrise to highlight the Basic Education and Literacy Month on the Rotary International calendar. I was more than willing to get on my literacy soapbox, I had told the host, Sonny Coloma, formerly of the Presidential Communications Operations Office and an old friend. It was heartening to listen to them plan how best to bring books and reading to our youth.

Another group as committed to literacy is Teach for the Philippines, a five-year-old nonstock, nonprofit organization that celebrates the month with a unique TFP Week. The program invites education advocates from the government, corporate, and development sectors to coteach with TFP Fellows in public school classrooms.

Clarissa Delgado, TFP cofounder and CEO, explains the program’s rationale: “By exposing students to different professional fields and backgrounds, we hope to create a sense of possibility for them … to motivate them to finish school and strive for excellence….”

I have had opportunities to be a guest teacher, and each time it was an enriching experience. The interactions with teachers and students always gave me insights on how students learn, how teachers are true heroes in classrooms, and how our public education system needs to constantly aim to be better.

I was privileged this week to work for an hour with the reading remediation class of TFP fellow Carlos Ortiz at Kalawaan Elementary School in Pasig City. Carlos had prepared a detailed lesson plan but was sufficiently flexible to tweak it when I suggested a discovery from the recent Book Fair, “Malong: The Magic Cloth,” written by Mary Ann Ordinario and illustrated by Pepot Atienza. What possibilities the book offered: a Mindanao story, a chance for students to veer from paper-and-pencil activities to hands-on group “performances” on the uses of the malong, and, to be introduced to Mindanao culture.

Carlos’ class is composed of 30 students who are in Grade Six and still struggling with reading. That they have advanced to that level without the basic reading skills was worrisome. The story was in English, something they would not understand, so the author’s wonderful Filipino translation was a godsend. The storytelling was enhanced with a PowerPoint presentation of the illustrations.

The lesson went well, and not from my biased perspective. Carlos reported that after the class, his students wanted to “read” the book themselves—simple proof of their having been motivated.

The class came prepared with an album of handwritten thank-you notes for me. Although it showed their limited literacy level and the arduous days they must have spent writing the notes, I appreciated this “real life” activity. They were writing for an audience.

The reading remedial classes are held in the school library, the principal, Monina J. Cruz, proudly said. The library is spacious, with a stage and a qualified library teacher, Lyneve de Guzman, who is a former teacher facilitator of TFP forerunner Sa Aklat Sisikat. It’s a model library that HSBC funded years back, one of four in Metro Manila. It was good to know that HSBC Philippines COO John Nicholls was a guest teacher, too.

Carlos Ortiz, a cum laude graduate of the University of the Philippines Diliman with a major in geography, is one of three TFP fellows in the school of 3,071 students. He is winding up his two-year engagement as fellow, but is certain to continue in the field of education.

“I believe that our country needs and deserves citizens that are committed to the progress of our country,” Carlos says. “It’s the people that can make any country great. And so if all Filipino children receive quality education, then our future, our potential to become a great nation, is limitless.”

Neni Sta. Romana Cruz (nenisrcruz@ gmail.com) is chair of the National Book Development Board and a member of the Eggie Apostol Foundation.