Teacher MOVE THE NATION
WHETHER IN THE CLASSROOM OR out in the community, an exemplary teacher stands out. Teachers move the nation forward by dedicating their lives to molding future doctors, leaders, homemakers, soldiers, call center agents, artists—essentially every citizen w
They help learners discover the best version of themselves, while instilling in them the values they need to help them get through life victorious. Teachers create opportunities for their students to break new ground and become future leaders.
The lives and achievements of educators are worthy of celebration. That is what Bato Balani Foundation, Inc. and Diwa Learning Systems, Inc. (Diwa) do through The Many Faces of the Teacher (TMFT), an advocacy program that honors exemplary teachers who have completely dedicated their lives to serving their students and their community.
KEEPING THE CULTURE ALIVE
The Panay-Bukidnon indigenous people live in the mountainous Capiz-Lambunao area in the Visayas. With a history dating back hundreds of years, the tribe is known for their songs, dances and art.
Being a tribe of epic chanters, they are attributed with the second-longest epic in the world. They are also known for their embroidery called panubok, with each design symbolizing a part of their culture. They dance the binanog, which mimics the flight of the Philippine eagle, accompanied by an
agung (gong) ensemble. And yet, all of these are on the brink of extinction because many tribe members have acquired the ways of the lowlanders to fit in. If no one will propagate the culture, it will soon become a thing of the past.
One educator has made the preservation and propagation of the Panay-Bukidnon culture her mission. Lord Jane Dordas has been documenting and keeping their culture alive in her work as an artist, a teacher at Wright Elementary School in Tapaz, Capiz, and a coordinator of Schools of Living Traditions (SLT) in the mountains of Capiz.
Dordas comes from the family of a tribal chieftain and a binukot, a woman secluded from the rest of the community and is tasked to devote her time learning the tribe’s traditional chants and embroidery.
She recalls that her grandmother told her stories when she was a child. And now, she is on a mission to preserve those oral traditions for the next generation.
In her class, she introduces stories about their local lore, shares indigenous knowledge and teaches ethnic dances. She integrates topics on rituals, native games, instruments, weaving, handicrafts and food into her lesson plans. And although she teaches English, she uses her mother tongue during classroom instruction.
Dordas also makes poems and books. One of her outputs is a big book for children entitled The Boy
and the Crab, which is currently being used by the Department of Education (DepEd) and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
She initiated her projects prior to the adoption of the Indigenous Peoples’ Education Curriculum Framework, which recognizes the rights of indigenous peoples to receive culturally rooted and responsive basic education.
Even though Dordas comes from a wellrespected family in her tribe, she also felt the sting of poverty. She recalls how she had to walk three mountains to reach school. And even when she went to the lowlands to continue her studies, Dordas had to work several jobs to make ends meet.
“I never ate snacks while I was studying. I learned to budget because I need my allowance for the week,” she says.
When asked what pushed her to go on, she enthuses, “Education is the only way to cut the chain of poverty.”
CARING FOR WILDLIFE FOR A BETTER LIFE
Dr. Aimee Lynn Barrion Dupo loves the great outdoors. But she is not an ordinary nature lover. When she goes to the fields or scales mountains, she is driven by the mission to discover new species to classify, preserve and curate.
Dupo is a scientist, an educator, and the deputy director of the University of the Philippines’ Institute of Biological Sciences. She is also the curator of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) Museum of Natural History.
As a scientist, Dupo is an expert on Philippine moths, spiders, and other arthropods. She has already described numerous species in the country and abroad.
Dupo’s affinity with spiders and other insects started when she was a child. Her father studied spider taxonomy while her mother studied spider genetics. Since it was a “family affair,” she just naturally gravitated toward studying spiders.
It was her mom who encouraged her to study derby spiders, which she thought were a very good topic for her undergraduate thesis because the Philippines is one of the only three countries with derby spiders, aside from Japan and Korea.
Working on her thesis, she discovered five new species of spiders and became a recipient of the Luisito S. Cuy Memorial Award for Systematics from the Philippine Association of Entomologists.
And she continues to discover more. Dupo enthuses that they have not run out of species to identify. In fact, she reveals that they are about to release more information about the spiders from Mount Makiling and certain areas of Mindanao.
“There are more species in the lineup, but classifying them is a tedious process. It is a race against time,” she says. “We need to document them before they are gone.”
In a bid to expand her biodiversity work, she conducts beginners’ training for hobbyists and interested students and faculty. An offshoot of this is a workshop held at the Mount Guiting-Guiting Natural Park in Sibuyan Island, Romblon.
Dupo conducts biodiversity sampling activities and organizes a series of capacity-building trainings for the academe, local environment officials and other stakeholders.
“This is our way of making our stakeholders benefit from the studies we do, because the books we publish are too technical for them to understand,” she says.
Dupo adds that during training sessions and classes, she gives a voice to the group that she works with.
“When I teach, I always say there are other Filipinos apart from the humans. These are our endemic species,” she says.
Dupo also works with bees. As the program chair of the UPLB Bee Program, she spearheads out-of-the-campus seminars to train communities about beekeeping, pollinator studies and livelihood programs using honey.
CREATING SOLUTIONS THROUGH SCIENCE
For educator Ronaldo Reyes, chemistry is not abstract or limited to the study of atoms or elements in the periodic table.
“Students must realize the practical application of chemistry. We use it every day,” says Reyes, a chemistry teacher from Tabaco National High School.
True to form, Reyes has been promoting how chemistry touches day-to-day life through his project “ChemConnect”.
ChemConnect was established in 2013 by Reyes and other chemistry teachers. The project was one of the entries in the search for innovative practices for large classes spearheaded by the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI).
The major goal of ChemConnect is to promote chemistry in schools and surrounding communities. In ChemConnect sessions, the students act as mediators who teach the basics of chemistry. Some of their activities include shirt tie-dyeing, and soap and toothpaste making. Reyes says that these are like stepping stones to help others find a sustainable livelihood.
Reyes says that in school, ChemConnect happens during vacant classes or double periods. Students teach nearby communities on weekends.
Aside from ChemConnect, Reyes has another contribution to the chemistry research field. He initiated research on the production of bioethanol from a low-value crop called kaonayan.
“The research started in 2012 because our science program supervisor asked us to come up with projects in connection with a science investigatory competition for teachers,” he says.
Adding kaonayan fuel to gasoline will half not only its harmful environmental effects, but also its price. Their work on kaonayan became the 2015 Bicol Regional Inventors’ Conference (DOST-BRICE) Champion, and later on, as the first runner-up in the national level of the said conference.
Reyes says he and his colleagues randomly chose
kaonayan. They found out, after a series of tests, that the root crop contains 19-percent ethanol, which makes it a viable ingredient. He adds that the root crop is also abundant in the Philippines and other countries. And they grow even in different types of soils.
Currently, Reyes and his group are still testing the product before putting it out for mass consumption. Reyes says his research continues and he does not plan to stop anytime soon.
“Research never stops. I promote a culture of research and lifelong learning,” he enthuses.
TEACHING FOR RENEWAL
While most teachers stay within schools and universities, one educator has gone out of her way to teach at one of the toughest institutions in her area: the Bataan District Jail (BDJ).
Dr. Bernadeth Gabor explains that the opportunity to teach there was an act of providence.
“I met a friend who was the Inmates Welfare Development (IWD) officer at the Bataan District Jail. During our chat, we had the chance to talk about her work. She said she needed to develop incomegenerating projects. She asked for my help,” Gabor says.
Her first major project in BDJ was pastry and bread production. At that time, there was still no national assessment, and she was just teaching to provide help. The production didn’t even have a capital, but she pushed on. The income generated from food selling became the revolving fund. The thriving bakery eventually got the attention of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), which donated equipment worth thousands.
Gabor says that the residents used the equipment to improve their list of services. She adds that there are now two bakeries inside BDJ. The bakeries’ income goes to operational expenses and to pay the residents who work there.
After some time, Gabor was able to set an agreement with the Bataan Peninsula State University in Balanga City, where she teaches. With the help of the university, she established a project called Hope Behind Bars, which now offers courses for candle making; shirt printing; salon services; housekeeping and food and beverage services; automotive mechanics; and welding and fabrication, among others.
Only residents aged 18 and above are accepted in the trainings, which last from three to four months. After that, the students’ profiles are submitted to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for the national assessment.
After two years of doing the work alone, Gabor’s colleagues started to support her cause. Now, she says, there are about 40 to 50 volunteers including students and faculty members.
The livelihood project has yielded positive results. “The residents are now able to give money to their families. I did a study on the effectiveness of the training, and we found out that a certain number of inmates are now able to contribute to their house or even buy appliances. That is a big thing for them,” says Gabor.
Gabor shares that some of the residents have become certified skilled workers. Some of them have even landed jobs here and abroad.
“When I get old, I still see myself doing this. You need to share what you have. We don’t have enough money but we have the knowledge and skills,” says Gabor on her future plans.
These four teachers saw the need and were not afraid to bridge the gap. Their actions sparked inspiration and motivation in individuals and within communities. This is their legacy, their contribution to moving the nation forward.