I think I've only written once about a high school teacher. Most if not all of them have retired considering I graduated from high school more than 34 years ago. The more senior teachers I have managed to be in touch at least through social media. The last time I saw any of them in person was at the Lourdes School of Mandaluyong alumni homecoming 9 years ago, when our batch celebrated our Silver Jubilee. Ms. De Villeres was not among the attendees that night.
I have fond memories of Ms. De Villeres during our high school days. She was one of the 'terror' teachers back then and the entire batch had to go through her in 3rd Year English. She was also an adviser to one of the 4 sections in our batch. It was under her that I got to write my first term paper. But even before we wrote this as a sort of capstone project for what was then junior high school, we already had a few reports or papers written in the first 2 quarters. I recall having a lot of corrections and these were all in red ink. We jokingly refer to our corrected work as a "bloody mess." She was not impressed by the attitude or swagger of some classmates who probably thought our cream section (pilot section) will have special treatment under her. I remember her telling our class that she was more impressed by a couple of other students in other sections whom she said wrote very well. She added that if any one of us could just write half as good as one of those students, she would gladly give a high grade to those students.
On a more personal note, it was in her class that I finally shed my easy going ways in high school. I had good enough grades during my freshman and sophomore years that probably encouraged me to continue to be easygoing in junior high. I was not in the top ten those two years but did better than most in our class and in our batch. I got my first scare in the second quarter when I almost failed in English! That resulted in my parents being called to a meeting with Ms. De Villeres. I don't recall being in that meeting but Tatay later recalled she was very respectful but candid about her thoughts about by performance in her class. That was a wake-up call for me and the following quarter, I did a plus 15-point recovery. I later learned that I had the highest mark that quarter in our batch and went on to finish junior high among the top 5 in English. I learned to work hard for my grade and the momentum carried over to my senior year where I probably surprised a lot of my classmates by leapfrogging the usual top performers and placing in the middle of the top ten of the batch.
I would return to LSM every year after I graduated in 1988 as I was tasked to pay tuition for my younger brother who was still in grade school at the time. I always greeted my former teachers when I encountered them and was glad to be able to reconnect with many even through social media. That included Ms. De Villeres. I learned that she became a trainer for call center agents or BPO staff. Her experience and skills were and are still relevant especially for contact-type centers whose staff need to communicate effectively using the English language. She is also fluent in Spanish. She could converse with the Spanish priests at school as if she was a native speaker. I share a photo of her that my friends shared on social media as they paid their respects and honored her memory.
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| Rest in peace, Ma'am, you will always be fondly remembered by your students. |
I did not think that among the last topics I would write about this 2022 would be a farewell to a beloved teacher. I felt I must write this piece as a sort of final tribute to a person I admire and perhaps one of those who inspired me to become a teacher as well. Rest in peace Ms. De Villeres. You will always be remembered by your students to whom you shared your knowledge, your wisdom and your love for teaching.
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[Note: We had a 4-year high school back then. First Year: Freshman, Second Year: Sophomore, Third Year: Junior, Fourth Year: Senior]
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