This speech was delivered by Mr. Jonathan Lacson during the Appreciation Day Prayer Service held at the High School Gym last September 24, 2004)

      Good morning to everyone.  Today is a day devoted to showing appreciation to our teachers.  We are all gathered here in the gym, and, as in the past years, the students perform numbers for the teachers, greet them "Happy Appreciation Day!" and give them various tokens of appreciation. In behalf of the teachers, I would like to thank you, dear students, for this memorable day.  We, your teachers, appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity.  We would like you to know that we are grateful.

      Yes, appreciation does not go in only one direction. It goes both ways.  Students are grateful to their teachers, and teachers are also grateful to their students.  Many of you, dear students, may be wondering what things there are to appreciate in a bunch of students who do not take down notes, who talk among themselves instead of listening and contributing to class discussions, who cannot maintain two straight lines during troop movement, who cannot distinguish between a clean and orderly classroom and a pig sty, and so on and so forth.  Yet, despite these shortcomings on the students’ part, we teachers can still see reasons for us to keep on going to Xavier School and face our classes every school day.

      During my first year of teaching here in Xavier, I had a very rowdy High One class.  Going to that class is comparable to entering a dark and dangerous jungle filled with toxic plants and savage creatures.  Every meeting with that class guaranteed a huge dose of frustration, resentment and every other conceivable negative feeling.   However, there was one young man in that class who was different.   He was soft-spoken, respectful, helpful, diligent, determined.   He would volunteer to erase the writings on the blackboard without asking for bonus points.  He would patiently listen and take down notes during discussions.  He would ask questions, whether in class or outside the classroom, about aspects of the lesson that he did not understand.  This student provided me with a ray of hope.  Although he was only one student, it was enough for me to move on and teach that class.  I saw humility in him and the hunger for knowledge.  For that, I am grateful.  I am grateful to Val Steven Iyong.  Because of him, I realized that my efforts were not entirely useless.

      One Saturday morning in December a few years back, during the visit of the high school community to families in Tondo, Manila, I found myself alone, since none of my advisees showed up to accompany me to meet our adopted Tondo family and give our cash donation, clothes and grocery items.  Fortunately, two students from H2D, a class where I was the English subject teacher, helped me.  Despite the rain and the flooding, these two students uncomplainingly helped me carry the bags and boxes meant for the Tondo family. With the help of these students, a Tondo family became very happy even for just one Christmas.  For that, I am grateful to Martin Yu and Ryan Sherwin Tan.

      Two summers ago, I was thinking about what to place on the bulletin board and how to decorate my advisory classroom.  Thankfully, one of my advisees for that incoming school year approached me, introduced himself and offered to help me in preparing the classroom for the opening of the school year.  This student was able to recruit a few more of his classmates to help out.  Indeed, I did not have to worry much about the classroom because of the initiative and thoughtfulness of this group of students.  I am referring to Walther Neil Hontiveros, the leader of that group.  The other members were Jon Derrick Lee, Reno Ong, Thomas O, Neilsen Bernardo, Rainier Tiam-Lee and Justin Tuquib.  I am grateful to all of you.

      Just this school year, on my birthday, I received letters and greetings from my present students in H2A, H2E, H2F and H2H, my advisory class, and even my former students, those who are now in H3A and H4F.   Thank you for remembering me on my special day.  I am especially grateful to Angelo Yu, my advisee in H2H, for spearheading this activity.

      I can go on and on telling you about many other instances, many of them seemingly simple and trivial but nevertheless worthy of appreciation.   Instances like a student thanking me for watching their intrams game, or an advisee asking me if I had already eaten my lunch as I am supervising my advisees in decorating the bulletin board, may not seem to be much, but as the saying goes, "Big things come in small packages."

      The time is not enough for me to mention all the other heartwarming encounters I have had with Xaverians over the years, but I would like to assure my students, present and former, that even if I am not able to mention your name here and now and tell your story, I am thankful for the opportunity to have gotten to know you and be with you. 

I am certain that my fellow teachers have also had similar experiences with their respective students which they cherish and which serve to make them continue in their noble mission of forming the future and hope of our country.

      My appeal to you dear students is that you should not only show appreciation for your teachers on Appreciation Day.  The more important way of showing it is in the day-to-day movement of school life.   Listen during discussions.  Ask questions.  Share your ideas.  Take down notes.  Take your studies seriously.  Show that you care, because more than you will ever know, more than you will ever realize, your teachers care for you.

Mr. Jonathan Lacson is presently the class adviser and English teacher of H2H. He also handles three other H2 English classes. Moreover, he is the President of the HS FACAMPA.

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