All good things have to come to an end. It was very difficult to say goodbye to the LMU students and the Teach for the Philippines Staff and Fellows. I have been in the United States for a week and I sometime wake up in the middle of the night thinking I am still in Manila. But, we are all grateful for the wonderful experience that we have had over the last 19 days. The various blog posts are a testament to the many activities that we completed. It was truly an honor to share my home with my LMU students. They were such troopers putting up with the heat and horrible traffic. No on complained even when they had to use a roadride toilet in Tagaytay! They saw beyond the heat and dust and will always remember their Teach for the Philippines Fellows and the students they taught in Marikina. Seven of the 11 students were in the morning shift so they had to be ready to go to work at 4:45AM. The afternoon shift did not have it easy. While the afternoon group did not have to be at work until 11:30AM, I did not pick them up until 6:00PM and they had to deal with the rush hour traffic.
On our last day, I was honored to have been presented with a wonderful gift from my students:
On our last day, I was honored to have been presented with a wonderful gift from my students:
I honestly do not know when they had the time to create the "Brady Bunch" gift but the picture will surely have a place of honor in my home in San Francisco. Most importantly, these students will always occupy a special place in my heart.
The LMU Study Abroad program in the Philippines is one of the major initiatives of the LMU/Teach for the Philippines partnership. Over the last two and a half years, LMU has worked with Teach for the Philippines on professional development activities (including presenting at TFP's Summer Institute in Dagupan). I have acted as an informal sounding board to the TFP staff as well. We hope to continue the relationships between LMU teachers and the TFP Fellow via videoconferencing. As a Filipino living in the United States, I have always wanted to find a way to give back to the Phlippines. I am so proud to be affiliated with Teach for the Philippines and will always remember the transformative work of the Teach for the Philippines Fellows.
The LMU Study Abroad program in the Philippines is one of the major initiatives of the LMU/Teach for the Philippines partnership. Over the last two and a half years, LMU has worked with Teach for the Philippines on professional development activities (including presenting at TFP's Summer Institute in Dagupan). I have acted as an informal sounding board to the TFP staff as well. We hope to continue the relationships between LMU teachers and the TFP Fellow via videoconferencing. As a Filipino living in the United States, I have always wanted to find a way to give back to the Phlippines. I am so proud to be affiliated with Teach for the Philippines and will always remember the transformative work of the Teach for the Philippines Fellows.
Thank you to the Teach for the Philippines Fellows and Staff for making the first LMU School of Education Study Abroad program in the Philippines truly memorable. I would also like to thank the administrators and staff at St. Paul University in Quezon City for providing us with excellent accomodations and meals at their MAT training hotel. We are grateful to Sr. Helen Malubay, Dean Rodehlia Macaspac, Chef Guia Gutierrez, the sweet Ate Evon. We all gained weight because of the cooking of Ate Evon!
i hope you have enjoyed following the posts of the community of learners in the LMU School of Education Study Abroad program. While this is the end for now, I hope it is the beginning of many good things to come between the LMU Urban Education teachers and the Teach for the Philippines Fellows.