Teachers Helping Teachers

As a school teacher, I am saddened to see my beloved country facing a mournful

scenario. Public school graduates especially in impoverished communities are suffering

a shortage of quality education. Some reasons lie on ineffective classroom

management, lack of preparation in dealing with 21st century learners, deficiency in

school resources and facilities, and other factors.

However, in my current school, the situation is different: there are no problems with

mentioned issues for teachers. Administrators are regularly trained to become better.

Moreover, parents are educated toward effective parenthood and Christian doctrine.

The emphasis of education is not solely in academics but also in educating as a whole.

Home-school collaboration, personal formation, and fidelity to the teaching of the

Catholic Church are also manifested. I hope the same scheme will be considered and

emulated in Philippine education system.

Students here are lucky. They do not experience having classes in makeshift

classrooms such as a divided covered court. Classrooms are not overcrowded and

students are using varied resources and materials. They learn from well-trained

teachers. Our school is conducive to learning and promotes best strategies to maximize

the talents and potentials of students.

As a response to Pope Francis's call to help others, Southridge Teacher Reaching Out

(STRO) was born. Its aim is to aid fellow public school teachers. This project aims to

establish a partnership, through providing assistance and services, with selected public

schools in Muntinlupa area. This happened last May 31-June 1, 2017.

STRO aims to provide opportunities for the faculty to get involved in community affairs

by way of helping the public schools. Further, it is a way for the faculty to share their

skills and expertise with the teachers in adopted schools. This could hopefully help them

improve the teacher training program, develop awareness of the needs of the adopted

schools, and plan a program to help them.

Instead of spending summer in lucrative vacation or staycation, Southridge teachers

decided to do something meaningful. Through our initiative, we spent our time, effort

and money to help the public schools. We doled out some money for the food and

materials needed for the workshop of about 250 public school teachers. In return, they

were grateful that they learned best practices in teaching, character-based discipline,

classroom strategies, and how to handle students with special needs. Done with a

sincere intention of helping fellow teachers in public schools, we donated pre-loved

books and several materials for faculty use. Also, we went to their schools offering

manpower and volunteering services such as fixing broken chairs, painting walls, lifting

cabinets, and cleaning the surroundings.

The notion of teachers helping teachers, for the welfare of students and for the

betterment of education, is viable. STRO is the concrete evidence. It allows us to

understand that, if willing, we can create a ripple effect of positive change in the

community. This also suggests that both public and private school teachers should

collaborate for the sake of improving the quality of education in the Philippines. Later

on, students, who are the leaders of tomorrow, will surely benefit from this endeavor.