April 6 2016, Wednesday
More re-unions
I must be one of the happiest teachers in town! In March alone, I
was re-connected with two former students, Tina and Lawrence. The stories of
re-connections are quite dramatic. I feel so flattered that I can’t help
sharing my pride and joy.
On March 5, I was invited by HKKKWA Sung Fong Chung Primary School and
Bowie Anglo-Chinese Kindergarten in Taipo to give a talk on how parents can
support their children in learning English. That topic has been quite welcomed
by parents of kindergartens and primary schools. In the past years, I have
delivered this talk quite a few times with school hall at full capacity each
time. I keep updating the content though the framework remains the same –
parents are to encourage and support not to teach and that they should respect
school efforts!
Tina has her two sons studying at Bowie Anglo-Chinese Kindergarten.
The audience was adorable responding most appropriately and raising
thought-provoking questions. At the end of the one-hour talk, as I was leaving
the hall, a young lady approached me and spoke to me awkwardly. She told me
that I was her English Language teacher and that she herself is also an English
Language teacher of a primary school in Kowloon Tong. She acted as though she
had just met her superstar idol. We chatted as she walked me to the bus stop.
She even boarded the bus though she lives next door to the school. Tina reminiscence
all the loving memories emphasizing that it was my strict demand of grammatical
accuracy that led to her taking up teaching as her career. She was so full of
compliments of me that I almost blushed. I invited her to join the 10th
Anniversary Ceremony of the Hong Kong Women Teachers’ Organization.
On March 23, I received an email
message from a former student, Lawrence. He is now a senior training Captain of
Singapore Airlines. He and his classmates are trying to organize a reunion
event. So he searched for his teachers and found my blog entries. In his first message,
Lawrence wrote fondly “You would be pleased to know that many of the students
that you had nurtured have achieved great accolades in their respective fields
today.” He repeated a number of times that it was because of me he has a strong
foundation in English. We have been in correspondence for a week now by both
email and WhatsApp messaging. He even sent me stunning photos of lightening and
halo and islands as seen from the cockpit. I have promised to attend their
gathering to be held in July.
What more can a teacher ask for! I
am blessed!
