by Elpidio R. Estioko
This year, Teacher Appreciation Week is on May 8-12, 2023.
Teachers, thank you for all that you do for our students and the hope for the future. You are a lifesaver because you are saving the future. After all, our students will soon be our leaders of tomorrow, the hope of the future!
My colleague once said: “A teacher nourishes the soul of a child for a lifetime. He or she presents the past, reveals the present, and creates the future; they inspire them.” What a food for thought!
In short, they direct and lead the path students choose. A teacher serves as a source of inspiration for the students to look up to. They are role models for students to emulate.
We have a chance to remember our teachers who inspired us and made our school days memorable, meaningful, and fruitful.
They deserve to be remembered and appreciated for a job well done professionally without any mental reservations! Remembering them is a way of thanking them for what they did for our students.
During my college of law days at the Manuel L. Quezon University in the Philippines, I remember my teachers Justice Santiago M. Kapunan and Judge A. Caesar Sangco for their efforts to make the class alive by telling and narrating weird and humorous stories based on their experience to keep the students engaged.
They always break the monotony for every long lecture on Criminal Law and Civil Law. Their moves provided the breaks law students need in between serious readings of the Criminal Code, the Civil Code, Family Code, and other textbooks for aspiring lawyers to read.
I will never forget their stories and in fact, I have been sharing them with colleagues and friends during our free time.
How about in high school? Well, how can I forget my Pilipino teacher in Urdaneta Community High School, Ms. Paz De Guzman?
Aside from teaching, she also served as a confidant, a friend, a mentor, and an adviser to our group, D’Heartaches. We get a lot of encouragement from her, not only in our classes, but in all aspects of our life. I will never forget her!
I don’t remember much about elementary school, but I do remember Ms. Dolores Alcayaga, the famous school principal of the Urdaneta Central School, who was a disciplinarian. Most students hated her because of her strict disciplinary ways, but now I realized she was right! She was after the welfare of the students.
My former student in college at Arellano University, a former dean and now a full-pledge college professor and a distinguished educator, Angelina Santa Elena, PhD. at the Jose Rizal University, was very appreciative of her college days.
This was what she said: “My idol professor – funny, great, challenged us, and always inspired us to be successful in life.”
Also, allow me to comment and commend the foster grandparents/volunteers under the Seniors Council Foster Grandparent & Senior Companionship Programs from Salinas Valley, Seaside, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, and Watsonville, all in California, who went back to school and assisted regular teachers in the classroom as teacher aides instead of retiring, spending their time, going to vacation places, and enjoying their moments with their families. at home.
They’re likewise revered by the students at San Jose Job Corps, where they were assigned because the students considered them as their mentors and buddies.
FilAms Grandma Dolores Misa and the late Grandpa Avelino Ocampo were part of this institution. Grandma Dolores was assigned to assist English teacher Fehmida Shaikh while Grandpa Avelino was assigned to help NLRO Instructor Elpidio R. Estioko.
When asked, Grandma Dolores, said: “I love assisting the students. This is one way of giving back to the community. If I can help, in my modest way, why not?”
As to Grandpa Avelino, “Even with my old age, I still want to render public service because it is in my heart. I love doing it and I find satisfaction whenever I see a student benefit from what I do, even in a very little way.”
Whenever I see and hear from my former students from the University of the Philippines, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Arellano University, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, De Anza Community College and the University of Phoenix, I’m happy to hear their comments/stories which are signs they remembered me.
Teachers still chose to teach and work with students sharing their expertise and care despite the fact that the teaching profession is most often not completely understood.
For the most part, they are underpaid, underappreciated, and under-resourced and they are typically asked to do more with less in return.
So, in commemoration, we would like everyone to take the time out of their very busy schedules and say thank you to a teacher. Expressions of gratitude are rare for teachers, so we are sure that they would welcome and appreciate your gestures.
Let’s remember that teachers are professionals, and they do a job that is in our best interest. Besides, it takes a special; kind of person to become a teacher because it takes patience and understanding to be one.
I would say – thank you to all the teachers the world over. Let’s thank a teacher today because it means a lot to them. They deserve the best!
ELPIDIO R. ESTIOKO was a veteran journalist in the Philippines and a multi-awarded journalist here in the US. Lately, he published his book Unlocking the Chain of Poverty: In Pursuit of the American Dream. The book is now available with Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Xlibris Publishing. For feedbacks, comments… please email the author at estiokoelpidio@gmail.com.
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