Congresswoman Limkaichong: Teachers Are Not Heroes – They’re Superheroes!
Rep. Jocelyn Limkaichong of the 1st District of Negros Oriental, central Philippines, delivered before thousands of teachers in her home province late last week a heartwarming, to say the least, speech paying tribute to our world's heroes - our teachers - in celebration of the World Teachers' Day.
Dumaguete City, Philippines, October 14, 2011 --(PR.com)-- For Negros Oriental's 1st District Representative Jocelyn S. Limkaichong, teachers are not heroes.
Don’t get her wrong, though. This hardworking congresswoman believes that these teachers ought to be called “superheroes.”
Speaking before thousands of teachers during the provincewide celebration of the World Teachers’ Day at Negros Oriental Convention Center, Cong. Limkaichong pointed out that the word “hero” is not just the right word to describe what teachers are and what they do amid today’s debilitating educational system and consequently, their “inhumane” working conditions.
The congresswoman enumerated reasons why they should be called so, what their “superpowers” are, and when these “superpowers” are shown.
In a barrio school where there is a scarcity for classrooms, she said, our teachers use their “superhuman ability” to find, and improvise, a classroom under an acacia tree, or a mango tree, whichever is endemic in the community.
Teachers, according to her, also have that “superpower” of endless, limitless, bottomless energy. “In a school where there’s scarcity of teachers, you volunteer, or are obliged, to teach in at least two shifts, or from 7am to 5pm. And that doesn’t end your day, at home, you still prepare your lesson plans for the following day, prepare dinner for your family, tutor your own children, wash your clothes, and Facebook, or Twitter, if you are a social networking fan.”
Cong. Limkaichong also recognized our teachers’ crucial role in values formation, and their inherent ability to take on different roles depending on the situation: as a parent, sibling, or friend to their students. “We can’t explain it but many of you are gifted with this superpower: the superpower of listening, acting, sympathizing and empathizing, and motivating.”
She also signified her deep sense of admiration to our 500,000-strong army of teachers. She noted – and wasn’t able to keep herself from marveling: “In a system where teachers receive relatively meager salaries, you still are able to go to school every day, ably discuss lessons – and speak the whole day – as if you don’t have worries that at the end of the day, you still would have to find money just to secure food on the table at home. And yes, survive the next 15 days.”
She quipped: “That’s what we call ‘magic’!”
The congresswoman from Negros Oriental, who is also the Senior Vice Chairperson of the Philippines 15th Congress’ Committee on Appropriations, cautioned that she is not trivializing our teachers’ issues. In fact, she affirmed that she is highly-aware of their plight and expressed her solidarity with the sector: “I am with you in this fight.”
Noting that the profession is the “most influential, most powerful profession,” she advised teachers to continue doing their best “on a daily, and long-term basis” as they are “the vanguards of our students’ – and our country’s – future.”
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Don’t get her wrong, though. This hardworking congresswoman believes that these teachers ought to be called “superheroes.”
Speaking before thousands of teachers during the provincewide celebration of the World Teachers’ Day at Negros Oriental Convention Center, Cong. Limkaichong pointed out that the word “hero” is not just the right word to describe what teachers are and what they do amid today’s debilitating educational system and consequently, their “inhumane” working conditions.
The congresswoman enumerated reasons why they should be called so, what their “superpowers” are, and when these “superpowers” are shown.
In a barrio school where there is a scarcity for classrooms, she said, our teachers use their “superhuman ability” to find, and improvise, a classroom under an acacia tree, or a mango tree, whichever is endemic in the community.
Teachers, according to her, also have that “superpower” of endless, limitless, bottomless energy. “In a school where there’s scarcity of teachers, you volunteer, or are obliged, to teach in at least two shifts, or from 7am to 5pm. And that doesn’t end your day, at home, you still prepare your lesson plans for the following day, prepare dinner for your family, tutor your own children, wash your clothes, and Facebook, or Twitter, if you are a social networking fan.”
Cong. Limkaichong also recognized our teachers’ crucial role in values formation, and their inherent ability to take on different roles depending on the situation: as a parent, sibling, or friend to their students. “We can’t explain it but many of you are gifted with this superpower: the superpower of listening, acting, sympathizing and empathizing, and motivating.”
She also signified her deep sense of admiration to our 500,000-strong army of teachers. She noted – and wasn’t able to keep herself from marveling: “In a system where teachers receive relatively meager salaries, you still are able to go to school every day, ably discuss lessons – and speak the whole day – as if you don’t have worries that at the end of the day, you still would have to find money just to secure food on the table at home. And yes, survive the next 15 days.”
She quipped: “That’s what we call ‘magic’!”
The congresswoman from Negros Oriental, who is also the Senior Vice Chairperson of the Philippines 15th Congress’ Committee on Appropriations, cautioned that she is not trivializing our teachers’ issues. In fact, she affirmed that she is highly-aware of their plight and expressed her solidarity with the sector: “I am with you in this fight.”
Noting that the profession is the “most influential, most powerful profession,” she advised teachers to continue doing their best “on a daily, and long-term basis” as they are “the vanguards of our students’ – and our country’s – future.”
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Contact
Office of Congresswoman Jocelyn S. Limkaichong
James Inawasan
(+632) 931-5001
www.congress.gov.ph/
James Inawasan
(+632) 931-5001
www.congress.gov.ph/
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