MAGIS

Dear Kuya Jess
By Jay Perez, Grade 5 Science Teacher

Posted Thursday, 09-Jun-2005 3:56 PM

… slowly, a kite gains altitude.

It gets higher and higher

Till you can barely see it…

… till you can barely hold on to it…

… then you realize, you are holding

the end of your string…

… and you have no other choice

but to let it go…

…and watch it go even higher…

… this, for me, is what teaching

is all about…

- jayaperez -

Dear Kuya Jess,

  You were a teacher and the whole world was your class. Your material was yourself. Your words. Your deeds. Your love.

  Well, I never wanted to be a teacher. I had so many other plans. Plans that were mostly rooted to financial concerns. A teacher doesn’t earn much, unlike other professions.

  But I guess you had plans for me, too, when you brought me to Xavier School . For me, it was just a matter of having a job. Not for you, kuya Jess, not for you…

  I am now on my tenth year and I couldn’t imagine how I stayed on. I never had any formal training in teaching, and yet, my students have been very grateful. I know it was you who provided for what I lacked. I guess its YOU whom they see in me. It is you who speaks through me.

I never wanted to be a teacher. But it was you who wanted me to be one. Back in college, a lot of my classmates say that I can be a good teacher someday when I help them out with the lessons we’re having. Maybe they were your angels telling me that I should follow your steps. I was just not listening.

Thank you for the joys that really outweigh the difficulties. The smiles that my students share. The trust that they give. The admiration that they show. The companionship that they offer. The chance for me to see in them how I was as a child and how I should be in the years to come. Indeed, when you work for the Lord, the investment is very high, but the interest is out of this world !!!

You give me a group of students every year. It is my offering to bring them back to you as better persons. Teaching is a vocation. Being able to teach, touch other people’s lives, to be a part of them, is a gift that you have blessed me with.

As long as you want me to, I will be here to help you out in your vocation to open hearts and minds of these students for them to help out the least of your brothers.

Be with me kuya Jess. May I have more kites to fly so that everytime they reach the heavens, think of it as my “thank you” note to you.

Basta ikaw, Lord ! Basta ikaw, kuya Jess.           

Always,

 Jay

GS Baguio Retreat Photo Gallery

Jay Perez was inspired to write this letter and poem in one of the many reflection periods in the The Teacher With In retreat that was held at the Mirador Jesuit Villa, Baguio City last May 21-24, 2005. He teaches Grade 5 Science. You can send feedback to Mr. Perez via his email address, kurt_ot@yahoo.com.

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