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| Gloria Grifenhagen with fellow teachers of Eskwelahang Munti |
One of
the teacher honorees selected by the Filipino-American Community of
the Carolinas Inc. (FACC) needs no introduction.
Gloria
Cagadas-Grifenhagen is a very active FACC member and volunteers her
God given talents whenever needed for public service. Teaching is
also in her DNA.
Gloria
is the school director of the Eskwelahang Munti (EM) or Little
School in Tagalog four years ago. The school is committed to teach
the Tagalog language and Philippine culture to Filipino-American
children living in the Charlotte area.
When
asked when the idea for the school was planted, Gloria recalled that
it came following her retirement from teaching.
She
said she wanted to find something meaningful and worthwhile to give
back to the community that accepted her warmly years ago in
Charlotte. “I was one of the first Filipinos to arrive in
Charlotte,” she said.
Eskwelahang
Munti drew a crowd of Filipino-American families in the past who are
quite patriotic in teaching their children the values, culture,
traditions and the language through EM.
There
was a hiatus of sorts for the EM but Gloria converted the class from
children to adults. When asked why she taught Tagalog, Gloria said
her children grew up without learning the Filipino language.
“They
still blame me for not teaching them. I am making up for it by
teaching other children,” she said. Ma'am Gloria holds classes for
learning Tagalog classes either at the Asian Library or at her
house.
Most
of the students are adults and one of them is Ann Gonzales of the
Carolinas Asian-American Chamber of Commerce and a co-owner at
Create-ster. Ann is a Filipino by heart who was born in the Philippines but grew up in US and
who loved to learn Tagalog again,the language of her youth.
A
quick flashback; she recalled hearing students of different countries
speak their native language while she taught in public schools and
noticing that they did so with pride.
“I
wish the same for our Filipino children,” Ma'am Gloria said. She
noticed that in the Philippines people speak “Taglish” or
Tagalog-English and most Filipino TV programs don't carry Tagalog in
its pure form. “I am worried that someday our language will become
obsolete,” Gloria said.
When
not travelling and teaching, Ma'am Gloria is into yoga. She has a
degree in Elementary Education from the Philippine Normal University
and got her masters degree in Special Education.
Also
in her resume are credits on various continuing education topics at
the Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) and the University of
North Carolina Charlote (UNCCH).
Ma'am
Gloria's teaching career started in Manila's public schools and
spanned two school systems in Charlotte starting in 1969 through the
Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools and Union County.
These
experiences made Grifenhagen the exceptional teacher that she is
today.
Back
in those days, Ma'am Gloria said it is the responsibility of teachers
to contact parents regarding the progress and needs of students.
Ma'am
Gloria said she alerted parents when their children exhibit unusual
behavior in order to remedy the problem before it worsens.
“Also
at the end of each grading period, a parent teacher conference is
done to discuss how to help the student perform better. In the upper
grades,students are encouraged to do some form of community service,”
she said.
Ma'am
Gloria enumerated the challenges faced by teachers not least of which
is the breakdown of the family since it weighs heavily on a child.
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| Ma'am Gloria with her husband William |
“They
act up because they have difficulty dealing with the situation. It is
up to the teacher to make the child feel some sense of security so
that they can function in the classroom,” she said.
She
said illegal drug use is a major problem since drug-addled students
are unable to concentrate because they are spaced out or high on
these dangerous substances.
“Sometimes
they sell to support their habit and when they are caught by the law
they end up in jail thus interrupting their education,” she said.
Ma'am Gloria said underage pregnancies are also a real problem.
“Teachers
have to find ways to meet their educational needs. The teacher's
hands are tied when it comes to discipline yet most parents blame
teachers for any shortcomings their child has,” she said.
Teachers
also have to deal with combative administrators and supervisors whose
ideas contradict with their own. “In some cases, teachers don't
have the support when there are serious discipline problems in the
classroom. Students in higher grades don't respect adults and persons
in authority,” Ma'am Gloria said.
When
asked about her thoughts on recent teaching practices, she replied
without hesitation that there has been too much emphasis on testing.
“Teachers
end up teaching and giving tests. Too many tests are required that a
lot of time is used in testing instead of teaching,” Ma'am Gloria
said.
She
considers teaching as a noble profession and the more exposure she
has with children, the more she values and appreciates teaching.
Ma'am Gloria said teachers can impact heavily on a child's decision
to pick a career.
“Teachers
need to push the students to do their best while making the classroom
interesting and creative. We shape the future generation,” she
said.
Ma'am
Gloria said she has one memorable story worth sharing. ““After
teaching in the lower grades for almost 18 years, I was assigned to
teach high school Integrated math and Algebra. Considering that my
experience in teaching math before was very basic, this was an
uncharted territory for me,” she said.
She
said it had been over 50 years when she took up Algebra in high
school year and she left the interview in a fog. “But the school
that offered me the job was near to my house so I accepted the
challenge,” Ma'am Gloria said.
She
spent many nights studying so she can get ahead of her students. “I
came to class the first day telling myself over and over I can do
it.” And she did it,” she said.
After
the first semester geometry was added to her teaching load. Despite
this, Ma'am Gloria said a rewarding moment came when a student
approached her and thanked her for showing him how to work a problem
step by step.
“The
year ended well and I felt proud of myself facing the challenge,”
she said. And I can see in my mind's eye the smile in Ma'am Gloria's
face even if the interview was done through email.
On
Saturday this week, May 20, Ma'am Gloria would be joining her
comrades in the profession in a simple appreciation ceremony hosted
by the FACC at the Asian Library.
To be
honest, I think it would be the other way around; the FACC and the
Filipino-American community would be honored to be around the
presence of Gloria Grifenhagen./Susan Palmes-Dennis
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